Would-be Ohio victims practice self-defense; bad guys get hurt

Three incidents across Ohio in the past few days indicate that law-abiding citizens are beginning to fight back against the crime-wave that plagues our state.

In Summit County, an off-duty deputy shot and killed an intruder when he failed to respond to an order not to enter his home. The would-be assailant turned out to be a convicted murderer.
• Off-duty Summit deputy shoots intruder at his house
*In the Canton Repository's Friday poll question, relating to this story, 72% say they'd do the same as this off-duty deputy did.

In Columbus, a store clerk fired at, and apprehended, a man who attempted the armed robbery of his store, which has been the scene of at least four robberies and shootings since 1992, including a fatal one in 2000.
• North Side clerk fights back

In Dayton, home-owners shot a young prowler when he threw a large chuck of concrete through the glass door in the back of their house. The injured assailant was convicted of breaking into the same Hillmont Avenue house last year.
• Juvenile prowler shot at Dayton home

Any instance of attack is a tragedy. But the law-abiding citizens of our state deserve their right to self-defense, to increase the likelihood that it is the attacker, and not themselves, who wind up in the hospital or morgue.