Restraining Orders Are Not Self-Defense

In recent days, I read two stories of abusive boyfriends who killed their girlfriends:  

• Last month, an Abusive Ex Murdered His Girlfriend in her home in New Jersey leaving behind two young children.  
• Last week, 27-year-old Jenna Soderberg was killed by her abusive boyfriend, 39-year-old Sherrick Byrd, in a Houston Hotel Lobby.  She had recently filed for a protective order which, unfortunately, didn't protect her.  Byrd had already spent time in prison this year for previous abuse of Soderberg.  

Stories like these make me sick.  I cannot understand any "man" who would physically hurt a woman.  These kind of crimes happen all too often.  According to the National Coalition to Prevent Domestic Violence:

• 1 in 2 female murder victims are killed by intimate partners
• 65% of all murder-suicides are perpetrated by intimate partners
• 96% of murder-suicide victims are female

If you are in an abusive relationship, please get help.  I would also consider your options for self-defense.  I'm not saying that carrying a gun is for everyone but, with proper training, it might give you a chance of surviving a deadly encounter like these.