All Carol Bowne asked was that she be permitted to exercise her right to protect herself in her own home; instead, she ended up bleeding to death in her driveway.
Not too long ago, a friend of mine tried to argue the benefits of waiting periods for gun purchases. She believed that making someone wait a few days before they buy a gun would make them cool off if they wanted to buy the gun to kill someone. I asked her what about the old lady (hypothetical) who wanted a gun for protection in her home, but was killed by an intruder while she waited for the waiting period? Little did I know my hypothetical had come life.
Carol Bowne is dead — murdered in cold blood on her own property by a violent criminal who would not be restrained by good intentions. But there is no smoking gun, because she lived and died in New Jersey. Bowne was a 39-year-old hairdresser from Berlin Township who had become increasingly nervous about her ex-boyfriend. Convinced that he intended to do her physical harm, she took out a restraining order, had security cameras installed at her home, and purchased an alarm system. She also hoped to buy a firearm for her defense. On April 21 of this year, she began the glacial process of obtaining a New Jersey permit to purchase a gun.
