Widow had good reason to apply for gun permit

Mary Lou Krause of Swanton Township holds her snubnose .38 revolver at the ready in her home after passing a concealed-carry training course.

Mary Lou Krause, a 73-year-old widow who lives in Swanton Township, is among recent graduates of firearms training and has applied to the Lucas County Sheriff's Office for a concealed-carry permit.

She has good reason. She was involved in a shooting during a break-in at her home in 1998, in which she shot and wounded an armed intruder and was herself shot in return.

"It's primarily for protection - for some freedom from fear. So I can go out to shopping malls, movies, dinner. So I do not have to worry about being mugged or hijacked."

Mrs. Krause, a retired cook from the Maumee Youth Center, briefly recalled the burglary-shooting, in which she was grazed in the hip.

Her late husband, Jerry, had gone to the back door and had stepped outside to address a stranger who had come knocking. She went for a handgun. "We had a plan - just like it says in the [current training] book," she said.

Their cautious preparation proved prudent.

An accomplice of the stranger jumped Mr. Krause, and they dragged him inside. Mrs. Krause peeked around the corner of a cinder-block interior wall. "All I could see was a forearm and a gun. I stepped out and fired immediately."

The thug, wounded in the shoulder, returned fire, slightly injuring Mrs. Krause. He ran outside, firing. His partner had disappeared. Authorities caught up with the gunman later at the hospital and arrested him. Eventually, "they got them both," Mrs. Krause recalled.

Sheriff James Telb said at the time the shooting was justified.

When the concealed-carry law took effect, Mrs. Krause did not hesitate to enroll.

"I felt I need to carry a gun. I felt the need to feel as safe on the road as I do at home."