File Photo Of A Handgun (Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)
Reporting Pamela Jones
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CHICAGO (CBS) — She still has nightmares, but no regrets.
A year ago, a Chicago woman opened fire on two men that were breaking into her home.
One of the suspects never made it out of that South Side home alive.
“I pray every night that there is no one out there waiting to try to rob me or attack me,” the woman tells CBS 2’s Pamela Jones.
But there was someone waiting last February. And Radie — who asked that he last name not be disclosed — says it forced her to pull the trigger of her handgun and take the suspect’s life.
“There are so many things that are going through your mind at that time,” she says.
Radie says she was in her kitchen cooking when she heard someone breaking in.
“I heard glass breaking,” she says. “I went to go see what was happening.”
Police say a man armed with a tire iron tried to attack Radie. But her instinct kicked in.
“I just thank the Lord that I’ve had a gun since I was 21 and that I learned how to shoot,” she says.
Now, she’s supporting a bill which would give Illinois residents the right to carry concealed handguns and protect themselves, even away from their homes.
“We are responsible adults and we can think rationally,” Radie says.
Illinois state Sen. Dan Kotowski, D-Mount Prospect, says the state needs a better plan to protect citizens on the street from handgun violence.
“I was held up at gunpoint, and so I know a lot of people have been impacted,” he says. “But that being said, we need to have a balanced, reasonable approach.”
Radie will give her first speech on conceal-carry legislation at 7 p.m. Monday at Logan Square Auditorium, 2539 N. Kedzie Blvd.
