The AR-15 is demonized today following the deadly shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL. It’s being treated like a firearm only used for nefarious purposes when that’s simply not true. Like any firearm, it can be used for good or ill, just as any other tool.

For example, recently in Glen St. Mary, FL, that same demonized weapon was used to help repel a group of armed home invaders.

Three men say they were asleep inside a mobile home in Glen St. Mary about 4 a.m. Sunday when they heard a voice outside yell “Sheriff’s Office!” before the front door burst open. In stormed a masked gunman who fired off a single round before two of the men inside, one armed with an AR-15 rifle and the other with a handgun, emerged from two bedrooms and opened fire. Gunfire ripped into the masked gunman and two other intruders, who crumpled to the floor with multiple gunshot wounds. Those details surfaced Tuesday when the Baker County Sheriff’s Office released an arrest report linked to this weekend’s home invasion turned deadly triple shooting. Five people are charged in the case. Investigators suspect the home invasion escalated from an ongoing feud between two groups that was stoked by social media threats. The victims told deputies they acted in self-defense when they turned their guns on the intruders, with one of them estimating he fired over 30 rounds from an AR-15 before the threat was over. Afterward, the victims retreated to another part of the home before they dialed 911, according to the report. None of them was hurt during the shooting.

One of the would-be invaders later died from his wounds. Another is still being treated, while a third was treated and released to police.

So, do the anti-gunners want to tell us again how an AR-15 isn’t useful for home defense? Do they want to tell us how no one needs a 30-round magazine? Do they even want to acknowledge this one happened at all? Probably not.

You see, they’re not big on facts. They like hyperbole and emotion, but a situation like this? Oh, they’ll most likely pretend it didn’t happen.

The problem for them is, it did. It’s not the only case, either. Last year, a kid in Oklahoma used an AR-15 to defend against multiple home invaders. In both of these cases, the AR-15 was the absolute best choice simply because of the number of people attacking the home.

While most home invasions aren’t groups of people storming a home, the innocent, law-abiding citizen doesn’t get a say in what happens. We have to deal with whatever gets thrown at us. The bad guys always get the initiative, and we have to react. It sucks, but it’s what happens when you’re trying to follow the law.

An AR-15 levels the playing field tremendously, especially with a 30-round magazine.

A handful of guys in Florida are probably more than willing to tell you all about how many rounds they had to fire to finally repulse the attack, though we already know.

Leave our guns alone. We need them to keep ourselves and our family safe–just in case something like this happens to us.