Houston County sheriff backs self-defense training after deadly year of family violence

Sheriff says 14 of 17 homicides last year were tied to family violence.

HOUSTON COUNTY, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — A rise in domestic violence-related homicides in Houston County is renewing efforts to help women protect themselves, including expanded self-defense training focused on prevention, escape and de-escalation.

Houston County Sheriff Matt Moulton says the county recorded 17 homicides last year, with 14 tied to family violence, the highest number the county has seen in nearly 30 years.

“We did see a rise,” he said. “The homicides of course were something we had never seen before. We’ve never seen that many family violence related homicides.”

Responsibly Armed founder and owner Keisha Bibbs says her self-defense classes are designed to give women practical tools to protect themselves in dangerous situations. She teaches key elements including avoidance, escape, defense and de-escalation.

“What we find on a domestic violence situation, there’s a lot of emotions,” she said. “So, we talk about how to bring those emotions down, how to walk away from the situation, so that you can protect yourself… not just with a firearm but overall protection.”

Bibbs says the training focuses situational awareness and personal safety across a range of environments.

“It’s not just about the firearm, it’s about a total self-protection,” she said. “And that includes in a domestic violent situation, a threat situation; how do you protect your home, how to protect yourself inside of a car, how to protect yourself in a relationship.”

She  says domestic violence affects more than just women and encourages anyone concerned about personal safety to attend.

“Often times in our community we think it’s just about women and it is not,” she said. “So, we want to make sure we prepare the community, and all our students are prepared for all situations, that we can prepare them for, so that they are responsibly armed.”

Sheriff Moulton says he supports self-defense education as another layer of protection.

“Anything a woman can do to protect herself, to at least give her the opportunity to make it to a phone to call 911, to get us there, anything she can do, or learn to prepare and how to protect herself, I would support that,” he said.

Bibbs offers self-defense classes through Responsibly Armed at Eagle Gun Range in Macon, located at 109 Woodfield Drive.