Disabled man stops home invasion with 3 gun shots

By Gerard Valentino

Photo: Star-Banner

Gary Wroblewski is confined to a wheelchair and therefore an easy target for criminals. His physical limitations and lack of mobility are the type of weakness that cowards look for in an easy mark.

But, Mr. Wroblewski is anything but a helpless victim.

Instead, he took the time to arm himself and learn how to properly use his gun. That decision just might have saved his life on December 15th when home invaders decided to attack him inside his home.

From the story at Ocala.com:

The three men — Gonzales, Kenney and the teen — went to Wroblewski's Silver Springs Shores home to commit a home invasion/robbery.

The teen remained in the vehicle while Gonzalez and Kenney went to the home. Gonzalez knocked on the front door and asked Wroblewski for assistance with his car.

When the homeowner refused to come out, Kenney, hiding in the shrubs, barreled through the door and knocked Wroblewski, who uses a wheelchair, down.

As he was going down, Wroblewski fired shots at Kenney. One of the bullets fatally wounded the 24-year-old.

There are a lot of lessons to be learned here. Mr. Wroblewski trusted that little voice telling him something just wasn't right. Doing so at best saved him from being victimized, and at worst saved his life. Too often we hear that someone failed to heed the warning signs in a case like this and lived to regret it – or didn't live at all.

A bigger lesson is how a gun in the hands of an honest, peaceful, law abiding citizen changes the dynamic in a violent encounter. While nobody likes to see a young man die, in this case, the stark reality is the outcome is all we can wish for. Remember, it wasn't the victim who initiated the encounter, it was a common thug who was willing to attack a man in wheelchair.

If the anti-gun crusaders in America had their way, instead of a .45 in his hand to ward off his attackers, Mr. Wroblewski would have had a telephone to dial 911.

Under the circumstances there is little chance he could have made the call before the attacker was upon him. All the police could do under those circumstances is notify his next of kin and start an investigation into his murder.

This story is a perfect example of how the private ownership of a firearm empowers honest people when they are put in a horrible situation. Unlike his attackers, Mr. Wroblewski clearly values life and most importantly valued his own life enough to make the choice to keep a gun for self-defense.

He also refused to heed the misguided and misleading warnings conjured up by anti-gun organizations that claim a gun in the home is a safety risk. In his case, the real risk was in keeping his gun locked in a safe, or unloaded, as there wasn't enough time to retrieve it, load it and then use it for self defense.

He needed his gun, and he needed it in a split second, so having it at hand was the only way it was any use in this case.

For the anti-gun community, cases similar to this one have the worst possible outcome. Not only was an honest homeowner able to use a gun for self-defense, he was in a wheelchair and clearly someone that had need for a gun. While reporters are always quick to ambush pro-gun advocates with questions about accidental gun deaths and spree killings, they are deficient in asking the anti-gun loons about cases where people are brutally attacked and only saved through the use of a gun.

This case is a shining example of why banning handgun ownership will lead to an increase in violence. Without a gun, most Americans are no match for criminals trained from birth to be thoughtless, violent killers.

Mr. Wroblewski's only chance when faced with such a thug was his firearm. He is the reason the fight to protect the right to bear arms must never waver, it must never falter, and never be overshadowed by other issues.

Our liberty is predicated on feeling secure in our own homes. Without that, the American experiment is a failure.

The leadership of Buckeye Firearms Association gets asked quite often about why we donate hours of our time to the pro-gun cause. We also get accused of helping arm thugs and spree killers because there are still people out there so misinformed they believe more gun laws are required to stop gun crime.

But stories like this one remind us why this fight is so important to the cause of liberty and freedom in America. Although this tragic incident happened in Florida, it could have easily happened anywhere. Including where you live.

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