Wedding Ring Saves Man During Shooting

Dec. 4, 2007 — -- A lesson for spouses: Wearing your wedding ring can save your life as it did, quite literally, for one Mississippi man, when his band deflected a bullet.

Donnie Register was at his shop Saturday morning at the Antique Market in Jackson, Miss., when two men came in and said they wanted to talk about coins.

Register retrieved the coin collection. When he returned, he found himself looking down the barrel of a gun.

"[I] faced this fellow and he had a gun pointed right in my face and they demanded money," Register said. "One of them ran towards the door."

"The other one … reached over the counter with a pistol and when he did, I put my hand over my face," he added.

Register said he knew they would shoot him and reenacted the moment, ducking down and putting his hand over the side of his face. Because of that, the bullet just pinged off the side of his head.

"I knew he was fixing to shoot me and he shot me," Register said. "Luckily my wedding band deflected the bullet."

His ring is now dented and a little bloody, but Register was otherwise unharmed.

Register, who has been married for 38 years, credits his marriage for saving his life.

"I knew being married was a good thing," he said. "I just didn't know it was that good."

After the shooting, the assailants got away with a substantial amount of money and police continue to search for the pair, according to The Associated Press.

But Register's wife said she believes the incident serves as a lesson to all married men.

"I think it's a good lesson for men out there to learn that it's a good idea to wear that ring," said Darlene Register. "It could come in handy someday."