The 17-year-old girl, who used one of her father’s gun to stop an alleged home intrusion Monday morning, told Breitbart News she was able to handle herself confidently because the gun gave her “the upper hand.”

Breitbart News reported that Kimber Wood was home alone when her boyfriend called and alerted her that a burglary suspect might be headed right for her. Kimber called her dad, asked if she could use a gun, then grabbed one and put it under her pillow after he said yes.

Soon, the suspect was in the house, and Kimber pointed the gun in his face and told him to get out. KHQ reported that Kimber ran outside and “fired one shot into the ground” as the suspect fled.

On July 19, Breitbart News talked to Kimber about this event and asked her if she felt confident once she had the gun in her hand. She said, “I knew how to use the gun, and it gave me a peace of mind that I had the upper hand and I was going to be safe.”

Kimber explained that she grew up shooting with her family and learning how to use firearms:

From about the age of six of seven, I was always out in our backyard with my grandpa, my dad, my brother — our family — target practicing. I’d sit there and watch and learn how they prepared themselves and how they used the guns. When I got to the age where my father thought I could use one myself, I tried it and I knew it was something that I needed to keep learning about. I knew guns could be dangerous things, but if I knew how to use one, I would be okay. So weekends we’d go out and shoot, come back and have lunch, then go back out and shoot some more.

Kimber’s dad, Lenny, added, “She was raised around guns, and from the time that she could understand, I drilled into them muzzle control, gun safety, every gun’s loaded, just like every parent across this country ought to do for their child.”

Breitbart News asked Lenny what he would say to Moms Demand Action, Everytown for Gun Safety, and other gun control groups who argue that homes with guns are more dangerous than homes without guns. He said simply, “At the end of the day, I get to hug my daughter — who’s alive and healthy and well — because of the firearm and the training she has had. And the other outcome is unthinkable.”

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.