From: hays@ssd.intel.com (Kirk Hays)
Subject: Re: The Armed Citizen
Organization: Intel Supercomputer Systems Division
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1993 17:31:27 GMT

[Errors, typographical, grammatical, and in attribution, are mine - Kirk]

_THE ARMED CITIZEN_, January, 1993

[Mere presence of a firearm, without a shot being fired, prevents
crime in many instances, as shown by news reports sent to _The Armed
Citizen_.  Shooting can usually be justified only where crime
constitutes an immediate, imminent threat to life or limb or, in some
circumstances, property.  The accounts below are from clippings sent
in by NRA Members.  Anyone is free to quote or reproduce them.]

"I'm not the guy to shoot someone, but when a guy comes after you with
an 18" pizza knife, you have to do something," said Brockton Mass.,
restauranteur George Mouraditis.  The pizza maker grabbed his licensed
pistol and went to investigate when he heard breaking glass, and
opened fire when the burglar brandished the knife.  Police said the
incident was a clear case of self defense and mounted a search for the
wounded criminal.(_The Enterprise_, Brockton, Mass., 9/18/92)

When a criminal quartet drew weapons and announced a robbery,
Dorchester, Mass., storekeeper Paul Doung pulled two licensed
semiautos and, in a furious exchange, wounded one thug, and drove all
four from the store.  After reviewing the surveillance videotape,
police ruled Doung legally defended himself and would face no charges.
(_The Globe_, Boston, Mass., 8/18/92)

Working on his truck, Sammy Creech of Ruston, La., glanced across the
street in time to see two male teenagers grab an elderly woman's
purse.  The duo jumped into a car -- occupied by two female youths --
and took off, with Creech in hot pursuit.  The driver of the car
eventually lost control and crashed into a parked car.  Creech walked
up to the car, but when he saw a gun on the floorboards, retreated to
his truck, got a .38 and ordered the foursome, all runaways from New
York, to wait for police.  (_The Daily Leader_, Ruston, La., 10/5/92)

Answering a knock on the door of his Harrisburg, Pa., apartment, Tony
Thompson was greeted by a man brandishing a gun.  During the ensuing
struggle between the homeowner and the masked gunman, Thompson was
shot in the arm but managed to get his own gun and fire, killing his
attacker.  (_The Evening News_, Harrisburg, Pa., 10/27/92)

Supposedly looking for his keys, a man convinced Gary Harr, manager of
a Mapleton, Ill., tavern, to let him into the business after closing.
Once inside, the man shot Harr in the back four times.  Critically
wounded, Harr managed to stumble behind the counter, grab a revolver,
and kill his assailant with several shots.  "He thought he could get
something for nothing, but he got what he deserved," said John Pusser,
owner of the bar and brother of the late Tennessee sheriff Buford
Pusser.  (_The Journal Star_, Peoria, Ill., 9/19/92)

Up and about early one morning, a Salem, Wis., woman became suspicious
when her dog began growling at something outside.  Getting her
revolver, she told her daughter to call police and then went out to
look around.  She found two men trying to take her Corvette from the
garage and fired several shots to scare the men off.  As they were
returning to their van, one thug returned fire, but missed.  (_The
News_, Kenosha, Wis., 11/7/92)

Alerted by noises from outside at 4 a.m., Mesa, Ariz., resident Thomas
Winfield got his pistol, went to investigate and found a man trying to
jimmy his car's ignition with a screwdriver.  Winfield ordered the man
from the car and was holding him for police, but when the man lunged,
Winfield shot him once, mortally wounding him.  (_The Arizona
Republic_, Phoenix, Ariz., 11/6/92)

The target of a recent burglary, Willeen Lansberry was suspicious when
she got several hang-up phone calls in one day.  Hiding in her Niagara
Falls, N.Y., apartment with her .38, her stakeout was rewarded when
two teenagers forced open the door.  Emerging from her hiding place,
Lansberry held the pair for police.  (_The News_, Buffalo, N.Y.,
10/6/92)

The would-be burglar who kicked in the front door of Sonya Poole's
Lakeland, Fla., home, saw something he'll never forget; Poole aiming a
.44 right between his eyes.  Instead of shooting the intruder, Poole
fired several warning shots, chasing him and an accomplice from the
residence.  While Poole called police, a lawn-care worker saw one of
the fleeing men, followed him, and called police on a portable phone
when the man hid in a nearby store.  (_The Ledger_, Lakeland, Fla.,
8/14/92)

Two men were discussing gold bracelets in a New Rochelle, N.Y.,
jewelry store when they announced a robbery and drew pistols.  They
found themselves the targets of a withering hail of fire laid down by
store owner Joseph Soares, who used three firearms, all registered, to
halt the robbery and kill one of the pistol wielding thugs.  A local
district attorney said it appeared that Soares acted justifiably in
self-defense.  (_The Standard-Star_, New Rochelle, N.Y., 8/27/92)

Nervous because three men in a passing car were staring at her, a
Lancaster, Calif., woman got a pistol from her stranded car and loaded
it.  Her precaution proved warranted when the men returned and
demanded money.  Aiming her gun, she ordered the trio to leave, which
they hastily did.  (_The Antelope Valley Press_, Lancaster, Calif.,
11/6/92)

Two teenage girls were asleep at the one's Bakersfield, Calif., home
when two armed, masked men kicked their way in through the door,
confronted the young women and demanded money.  When one man grabbed a
wallet, one girl, a guest in the home, grabbed a 9mm and opened fire,
mortally wounding one of the invaders.  The other escaped.  Police
said the girls wound not face charges.  (_The Californian_,
Bakersfield, Calif., 9/21/92)

---END---

-- 
Kirk Hays - NRA Life.
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to
do nothing."  -- Edmund Burke (1729-1797)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns