Lynne Russell: Second Amendment Saved Our Lives In Motel Gunfight

Former CNN anchor Lynne Russell credits the Second Amendment, the constitutional right to keep and bear arms, for saving her life and that of her husband in a motel room gun battle on June 30.

She also apparently has a simple message for anti-gun or gun control activists in relation to responsible firearms ownership: “Shut the f**k up.”

In the encounter, an armed holdup man tried to rob Russell and her husband, former CNN reporter Chuck de Caro, at a Motel 6 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, while they were in the midst of a cross-country trip.

Both Russell and de Caro hold concealed carry licenses and were traveling with their handguns.

A former U.S. Army special forces officer, de Caro exchanged gun fire with the thief. Russell’s husband was hit three times and is recovering in a local hospital, while the gunman was killed in the shootout. The assailant was a parole violator from Memphis, Tennessee, according to the Albuquerque Journal.

“He took three shots, including a couple to the abdomen. But magically, his organs were not affected,” Russell said about her husband. “He’s my hero. He saved my life.”

In addition to her career in journalism, Russell served as a deputy sheriff and worked as a private eye.

She told FOX411 that being armed on the night in question saved the couple’s lives.

“The discussion over the debate to own a gun is just ridiculous. As Americans, we have the right to bear arms and as humans the right to protect ourselves. I’m sure that the man who shot my husband did not have a gun permit. Criminals will always have guns. The rest of us legally obtain our gun permits… If you don’t want to carry, please don’t. Then, shut the f**k up about it. Make your own decisions. “

According to the Russell, the solution to the whole gun control thing would be for the government to enact a measure that “If you committed a violent crime, you can’t get a gun permit. Simple law.”

Lynne Russell is a familiar face from CNN’s early days when it launched its then-groundbreaking around-the-clock news coverage, serving as prime time network anchor from 1983 to 2001. She subsequently worked in Canadian media for about five years.

“We would echo Russell’s advice that citizens have a personal choice to make regarding whether or not they want to carry a firearm for personal defense, and that if someone does not desire to defend their own life, that they should simply cease talking about the subject, instead of attempting to force others to join them as easy victims,” the Bearing Arms website contended.

Lynne Russell reaffirmed to Megyn Kelly on The Kelly File Tuesday night her belief that the couple is alive because of the Second Amendment and the actions of her brave husband.

In this video, Lynne Russell talks with CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin about the motel room shootout.

[image via Twitter]