0n January 21, 1998, Kenneth and Mary Ellen Moring registered at the Super 8 Universal Motel near Orlando, Florida's tourist attractions. After getting a bite to eat at a nearby restaurant, they returned to their ground-floor room. The Indiantown, Florida, couple parked their van, and Kenneth walked into the motel ahead of his wife. It was late evening, and lights from the hundreds of restaurants and motels along American Way had come on. Not far away, Universal Studios, Epcot, and Disney World glittered in the night.

Kenneth later recalled, "I'd unloaded all the suitcases and Mary had gone back out after some oranges. I had my back turned and heard someone talking. I thought my wife must have run into somebody from back home. When I turned around, there were two men standing there, one of them had a gun pointed at me."

The smaller of the two robbers was a crack addict well-known to Orange County police. Since he had turned 18 three years before, Demetrius Lowe had been arrested sixteen times. Though small, he was menacing, and now held a semiautomatic pistol. The second robber was positioned near the door.

Kenneth wore a "belly-pack:' a zippered pouch that many tourists used to carry money, car keys, and other personal belongings. They are convenient to use, easy to wear, and hard for pickpockets to access. They are also good for carrying a concealed weapon.

"Give me your money!" Lowe shouted.

Kenneth Moring, looking down the barrel of Lowe's handgun, quickly determined that the robber was going to shoot him and his wife. Mary Ellen Moring stood between her husband and Lowe. She'd read newspaper accounts of Florida tourists who had been murdered because robbers looked on them as easy prey. She quickly decided not to become a victim.

She glanced at her husband. When she saw him reach into his pouch, she knew he was going for his gun. Mary Ellen shouted at Lowe, distracting him. Then she grabbed his handgun and began to wrestle with him. Kenneth quickly pulled his gun and fired at Lowe's accomplice. The bullet thudded into the door-jamb, missing the robber by three inches. The accomplice bolted from the room.

Meanwhile, Mary Ellen continued to struggle with Lowe. She suddenly twisted his arm so hard that he grunted in pain. He crumpled to the floor, with Mary Ellen on top of him. Kenneth stuck his .38-caliber Smith & Wesson Model 15 revolver in Lowe's face.

"Drop it or I'll kill you!" Kenneth shouted.

Lowe slid the gun across the room.

"Don't shoot me, man. Please don't shoot!"

The robber climbed to his knees and clasped his hands in front of his face, as if in prayer. The irony did not escape Kenneth. One moment, his assailant was a violent, foulmouthed thug, the next he was pleading for his life.

Now that the robber was disarmed, Kenneth relaxed his finger on the trigger, but Lowe suddenly jumped to his feet and fled out the door. He attempted to climb into a blue conversion van, but the vehicle screeched off, leaving Lowe behind. The assailant ran down the highway, dodging cars and finally disappearing into the night.

Within a few minutes, both Lowe and the occupants of the blue van were apprehended by police. Kenneth Moring, who had a concealed carry permit, was not charged with any crime.

An investigating officer, speaking to the media, said, "Demetrius Lowe has spent as much time in the Orange County jail during the last three years as some of the staff who work there." Referring to the fact that this crime would carry a state-mandated sentence, he said, "Now maybe he'll spend some time at state expense:'

During a second interview, the police spokesman stated, "Lowe's image with the other inmates might suffer somewhat when they learn a 60year-old woman wrestled him to the ground, took his gun away, and then he begged for his life:"

Kenneth Moring, in an interview after the attempted robbery, said, "We should never let the government take our guns from us. My wife saved my life, and when I got my gun out, I saved both our lives. If I had not had it, who knows what might have happened. You can imagine the worst."

Mary Ellen said simply, "I felt the presence of God in that room and He protected all of us:"

Sadly, Kenneth Moring died of cancer a few months later.