From: swood@vela.acs.oakland.edu (Scott Wood - EVENSONG)
Subject: The Armed Citizen (NRA publication)
Organization: Oakland University, Rochester MI.
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 04:35:48 GMT


                              THE ARMED ClTIZEN

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
usually can 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 and are reprinted from the
American Hunter magazine.




     John Parker was alone in his Racine, Wis., tavern one evening
when a pair of youthful gang members armed with sawed-off shotguns
burst through the door.  Parker grabbed a .357 Mag. from under the
counter and, as one of the thugs fired a blast at him, unleashed four
shots.  Parker received a slight hand wound, but killed both of his
assailants.  Police said both youths had long police records, and the
district attorney ruled that Parker acted in self-defense. (The
Journal Times, Racine, Wis., 1/15/92)

                                  *     *     *

     Fed up with repeated burglaries at the grocery store where he
works as a clerk, Phil Holznagel of Spokane, Wash., decided to mount
his own stake out.  His plan paid off early one morning when two men
broke into the store.  Holznagel corralled one of the men in the store
and held him at gun point for police.  (The Spokesman-Review and
Chronicle, Spokane, Wash., 3/l/92)

                                  *     *     *

     His shadow proved to be the undoing for a St. Paul, Minn.,
house breaker.  Asleep on the sofa, Bob McQuiston awakened to what he
thought was one of his children upstairs.  "I usually spot their
little shadows when I'm downstairs . . . but this shadow just kept
getting bigger and bigger and bigger," he said.  McQuiston called
police, grabbed his double-barrel shotgun and held the intruder for
police.  (The Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn., 3/1/92)

                                  *     *     *

     Robert Smith missed both, part of the Super bowl and being run
down, but he did capture a man who attempted to burglarize his
neighbor's truck.  Smith grabbed his .38 and went to intervene when he
noticed the man in the truck.  When the criminal's accomplice tried to
run him down, Smith fired two shots, causing the car to veer up over a
curb and into a house.  The driver fled, and Smith held the failed
thief for police.  (The Daily Oklahoman, Oklahoma City, Okla.,
1/28/92)

                                  * * *

     BBs are no match for bullets, a young hoodlum found out when he
attempted to rob a Brooklyn grocery store with a BB gun.  When the
youth entered the store brandishing the gun, the owner fired several
shots with his licensed 9 mm, killing the thug.  The store owner was
not charged.  (The Daily News, New York, N.Y., 3/11/92)

                                  * * *

     Hearing noises outside her Mission, Tex., home, 65-year-old Celia
Munoz found a pair of house-breakers at work.  They beat her, but she
managed to break away and retrieved a .22 rifle.  When one criminal
lunged at her, she put them to flight with a single shot.  Police
later arrested two suspects, one with a hand wound.  "I am never gonna
be without a gun," she said.  "If anybody is kicking my door down, you
better watch out."  (The Valley Morning Star, Harlingen, Tex.,
3/14/92)

                                  * * *

     A clerk working the graveyard shift alone at a Wilco, Va.,
service station unlocked the door to let in what appeared to be a
customer.  Once inside, however, the "customer" pulled a lug wrench
from under his coat and demanded money.  The clerk responded by
pulling a .32 automatic, which convinced the would-be robber to flee.
( The News & Advance, Lynchburg, Va., 1/20/92)

                                  *     *     *

     Charles O'Brien started spending nights in his Plano, Tex., store
after a November burglary.  Awakened one evening by the sounds of
breaking glass next door, O'Brien picked up a pistol, investigated and
found two juveniles holding bags.  A 10-year-old ran off, but O'Brien
held the 16-year-old for police, who found the boy was armed with a
pistol taken in the earlier entry.  (The Star Corier, Plano, Tex.,
1/9/92)

                                  * * *

     A dentist by trade, Fred Sickles recently branched out by
capturing two men who attempted to burglarize his home.  Sickles was
eating breakfast with his wife when the men started pounding on the
doors.  "We had a good idea why they were here, so we just sat quietly
and waited, "Sickles said.  Scared off by an alarm after they broke
down the back door, the men found Sickles waiting for them at their
car with a loaded shotgun.  He fired a warning blast and held the pair
for police.  (The Times, Kenton, Ohio, 2/24/92)

                                  * * *

     Ernie Smith was watching television in his Eugene, Oreg., home
when he heard loud noises coming from his store next door.  Looking
through a peephole, Smith saw a man drop through a hole in the
ceiling.  Smith grabbed his shotgun, ran into the store and held the
burglar for police.  "Hey, I got to defend by wife and the house,"
Smith said.  "And a loaded 12-ga. talks."  (The Register-Guard,
Eugene, Oreg., 1/14/92)

                                  * * *

     An early-morning burglary attempt proved to be fatal when,
instead of loot, the culprit found an armed homeowner.  Mary Berry was
awake because of an earlier burglary at her Louisville, Ky., home, and
when she heard sounds of another forced entry, she called police.  She
was still on the phone when the man entered the kitchen, and Berry
mortally wounded him with a single blast from her shotgun.  (The
Courier Journal, Louisville, Ky., 3/7/92)

                                  * * *

     Hugh Davitt of Scranton, Pa., stopped his car to talk to a group
of teenagers after they snow balled his car.  Instead of talking, the
youths began to beat Davitt.  After one of them sprayed him with Mace,
David pulled his registered pistol and fired a single shot, wounding
one of his assailants and stopping the attack.  Authorities later said
Davitt acted in self-defense and would not be charged.  (The Tribute,
Scranton, Pa., 3/10/92)

                                  * * *

     T.J. Namen credits his insomnia with helping him nab two teens
who were breaking into cars in the lot of the Anchorage, Alaska
apartment building he manages.  Getting a pistol and sneaking outside
after noticing the two, Namen waited until he heard breaking glass,
then jumped up, announced that he was armed and held them for the
police.  (The Daily News, Anchorage, Alaska, 3/31/92)

                                  * * *

     Increased crime prompted Angelo Accurso to get a permit to keep a
gun in his buffalo, N.Y., market.  He put it to good use when a man
walked in one morning and began to beat him with a piece of pipe.
Although seriously injured, Accurso managed to pull his pistol and
loosed several shots.  Severely wounded, Accurso's attacker staggered
from the store and collapsed on the street.  (The News, Buffalo, N.Y.,
4/3/92)

                                  * * *

     Jack Arnold, 81, thought he had escaped the gang violence of his
North Richmond, Calif., home, when he moved into his motor home and
parked it outside of the city.  He was apparently the target of random
violence, however, when a man carrying a knife burst through the door
one evening.  After being threatened and struck, Arnold grabbed a
12-ga. and killed the intruder with a single blast. (The Daily Ledger
/ Post Dispatch, Pittsburg, Calif., 3/5/92)

                                  * * *

     Vincent McCarthy wasn't afraid to lend a hand when he noticed a
police officer struggling with a man and woman at the side of the
road.  He tried to help subdue the man, who was kicking the officer in
the face.  Despite McCarthy's warnings, when the man pressed his
assault, the tour boat captain shot him once in the leg with a pistol
he is licensed to carry and stopped the attack.  Neither the officer
nor McCarthy were seriously injured.  (The Daily Commercial, Leesburg,
Fla., 4/10/92)

                                  * * *

     Peter DelFranco, owner of a Bridgeport, Conn., pizza shop,
ordered a man out of the store after he tried to get change for a roll
of "dimes" actually containing pennies.  Instead of leaving, the man
stepped behind the counter, feigned having a gun and started taking
money from the cash register.  DelFranco fired a single shot from his
pistol, putting the man to flight.  A wounded suspect was found
nearby.  (The Post, Bridgeport, Conn., 1/15/92)

                                  * * *

     Wearing a mask and armed with a sawed-off shotgun, a man bent on
robbery entered Reid's Mart in Hubert, N.C., just as owner Steve Reid
was closing for the night.  Reid at first thought it was a joke, but
when it became evident that the gunman meant business, Reid pulled his
9 mm from his back pocket and fired a single shot, striking the crook
in the chest, killing him.  (The Daily News, Jacksonville, N.C.,
3/25/92)

                                  * * *

     Mike Court was finishing his day's work by making a bank run for
the Tampa, Fla., store where he works.  As he prepared to make the
deposit, a robber stepped up and demanded the money.  Instead, Court
pulled his own .380 and, after a short discussion, the two began to
shoot it out.  The exchange ended when Court wounded the criminal.
"If I'd given him the money, who's to say he wouldn't have shot me
anyway," Court pondered.  (The Times, St. Petersburg, Fla., 2/20/92)

                                  * * *

     Apparently intent on burglary, two hoods cut the phone lines to
Floris Gold's Cape Ferrelo, Oreg., home.  They were busy forcing their
way into the basement when confronted by the 72-year-old-home-owner,
but fled when they noticed she was carrying a shotgun.  One fired a
shot as he was running - missing Gold - which earned him a charge of
attempted murder when police caught up with him and his accomplice a
short time later.  (The Curry Coastal Pilot, Brookings, Oreg.,
2/12/92)

                                  * * *

     After entering through an unlocked back door of an Alcolu, S.C.,
woman's home, a male intruder put an extension cord around the woman's
neck and told her not to scream.  Thinking quickly, the woman fell to
the floor and grabbed a rifle kept under the couch, prompting her
attacker to flee.  (The Item, Sumter, S.C., 2/8/92)

                                  * * *

     Even though Pizza Hut has a policy against drivers carrying
firearms, a Pensacola, Fla., delivery man decided his own safety was
more important than company policy and took his pistol with him.  He
needed it one evening when three criminals tried to rob him.  Making
the delivery, the man decided he didn't like what he saw.  Telling the
trio he was getting their drinks, he instead got his 9 mm.  When one
of the group yelled "Die!" and fired a shot, the delivery man ducked
behind his car and returned fire, driving them away.  A company
official later said the man would keep his job.  (The News Journal,
Pensacola, Fla., 1/29/92)

                                  * * *

     Odell Smith, Jr., a Birmingham, Ala., cabbie, picked up two men
who turned out to be armed robbers.  When the man in the back seat
held a gun to his head and demanded money, Smith grabbed his .38, spun
in the driver's seat and fired three shots, killing the gunman and
then wounding his accomplice.  (The News, Birmingham, Ala., 4/10/92)

                                  * * *

     Napping in her rural Mission, Tex., home with her two children,
Vanessa Cooper heard a car pull up, and, looking out the window, saw
an unfamiliar car in the driveway.  Fearing for the safety of her
children, Cooper picked up a pistol and went to investigate.  She
found a man in the living room, and when he ignored her questions on
why he was there and lunged at her, Cooper fired, killing the
intruder.  (The Valley Morning Star, Harlingen, Tex., 3/13/92)

                                  * * *

     When his stepfather began beating a 16-year-old Kalispell, Mont.,
youth's mother, the boy ordered him to stop.  When the man - who had a
history of alcohol-induced violence against the family - continued his
attack, the teen got a rifle and shot and killed the man.  "The boy
clearly was justifiably concerned about the welfare of his mother and
younger brother and sister when he shot," said the county attorney.
(The Daily InterLake, Kalispell, Mont., 2/21/92)

                                  * * *

     A would-be armed robber found it never pays to bring a knife to a
gunfight when he vaulted a counter in Walter Krasowski's Chicago coin
shop and slashed him with a butcher's knife.  Krasowski pulled a .45
revolver, fired and wounded his assailant twice.  The man fled, with
Krasowski in pursuit.  Police found the man lying in the street, with
Krasowski holding him at gunpoint.  (The Daily Southtown Economist,
Chicago, Ill., 3/20/92)

                                  * * *

     James Summey of Lincolnton, N.C., got the drop on two men who had
broken into his son's home and was holding them at gunpoint while his
wife phoned police.  He almost made a fatal mistake, however, when he
agreed to let one of the house breakers get a cigarette.  Instead of
tobacco, the man came up with a .25 semi-automatic pistol and fired
several shots at Summey; all missed.  Summey returned fire with his
.44 Mag., prompting the gunman to cease hostilities and wait quietly
for police.  His accomplice fled, but turned himself in soon after.
"If Mr. Summey had wanted to harm one of them, he could have really
done it," a detective later said.  (The Lincoln Times-News,
Lincolnton, N.C., 2/19/92)

                                  * * *

     Six burglaries in one week were enough for Todd Bridges, the
manager of several Wichita, Kans., muffler shops.  Armed with his
AR-15, his late-night stakeout was rewarded when a man forced his way
into the shop Bridges was guarding.  Bridges ordered the man to halt,
but when the burglar began running toward the back of the shop, fired
three shots, hitting him once, "I didn't want him to get back there
and start taking shots at me," said Bridges.  (The Eagle, Wichita,
Kans., 3/27/92)

                                  * * *

     David Shanley was content to let the two men who had taken money
from the register of his liquor store flee until one pulled a gun and
threatened to kill him.  When that happened, Shanley, a former New
York City police officer, drew his own gun and opened fire, wounding
both robbers.  Both fled but were apprehended by police while seeking
medical treatment for their wounds.  (Newsday, Long Island, N.Y.,
4/10/92)

                                  * * *

     Ron Simpson carries a gun on the job as a midnight-shift service
station attendant in Aurora, Ill.  He needed it recently - for a third
time in 18 months - when a man walked in, pretended to have a gun and
demanded money from the register.  When the robber dropped his guard,
Simpson pulled his 9 mm pistol and held him for police.  "The gun's
not there to protect the store; it's purely to protect me," Simpson
said.  (The Beacon, Aurora, Ill., 4/23/92)

                                  * * *

     Covering the rioting in Atlanta, Ga., that followed the Rodney
King jury verdict in Los Angeles, a TV-news team found themselves the
targets of the mob.  They were rescued when Garnett Sumpter, the
husband of one of their coworkers, happened onto the scene.  Drawing
his licensed pistol, Sumpter convinced the mob to go elsewhere.  (The
Journal-Constitution, Atlanta, Ga., 5/5/92)


(second generation - taken from a reprint in Outdoor Digest)
-- 
+========================+    -------_________     +=========================+
| WANTED - DEAD OR ALIVE |    o\ o \     ____|o    |  If you see this lure,  |
|  Creek Chub "Plunker"  |      \___\_-o-    viv   | PLEASE send me email!!! |
+========================+            viv          +=========================+
Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns