The Armed Citizen

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Studies indicate that firearms are used more than 2 million times a year for personal protection, and that the presence of a firearm, without a shot being fired, prevents crime in many instances. Shooting usually can be justified only where crime constitutes an immediate, imminent threat to life, limb, or, in some cases, property. Anyone is free to quote or reproduce these accounts.

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Just seeing an armed citizen with an AR-15 in his hands was enough to cause a knife-wielding assailant to stop his assault on a pregnant woman in Kendall County, Ill. “He was half a breath away from getting his head blown off, and he knew that,” the protective neighbor said after he used America’s most popular semi-automatic rifle to thwart the attack. The mother-to-be had ordered a pizza and had gone outside to wait for the delivery driver. While she was standing by, a tenant from her apartment complex started a heated discussion with her. As the argument escalated, the woman’s husband came out to see what was going on. The assailant pulled a knife and stabbed the husband, nicking the woman with the same swipe of the blade. Shouting, including a threat to kill the woman’s baby, ensued. That caught the attention of a neighbor who works as a private security officer. He looked to see what was going on, saw blood in the hallway and grabbed his AR-15. Upon seeing the rifle, the assailant bolted. Police arrived soon thereafter and tracked down the suspect. (The Beacon-News, Aurora, Ill., 3/1/18)

Astory-telling criminal thought he could turn the tables after an armed citizen foiled his attempted carjacking, but it didn’t take long for law enforcement officers to see through his charade. In Fulton County, Ga., an armed thug blocked a woman’s car in her driveway when she was trying to take her grandson to a medical appointment. “He said, ‘Whose car is this? Give me the keys,’” the grandmother told a Fox5 reporter. Rather than complying, the woman started screaming. Fortunately, her son heard her calls for help and came out with a gun. He fired at the bad guy multiple times, hitting him at least once. The assailant drove off to a fire station, where he spun a yarn about being the victim of an interstate shooting. The police doubted his tale and arrested him. No charges were filed against the armed citizen. (Fox5, Atlanta, Ga., 3/14/18)

Early morning noises outside of his home woke up a Ferndale, Wash., resident. The homeowner armed himself before going outside to investigate the source of the disturbance. The armed citizen noticed a broken window in his garage, and then he saw a stranger. The interloper threw himself to the ground after noticing that he had been discovered. The homeowner called 911 and held the suspect at gunpoint until the authorities arrived. (discoverferndale.com, Ferndale, Wash., 3/5/18)

Some criminals might believe that a numerical advantage is enough to come out ahead during a home invasion, but that doesn’t always hold true when the victims exercise their Second Amendment right. Three thugs kicked down a back door during a daylight break-in at a Baker, La., home one day, thinking the odds were in their favor. It was a three-against-one situation, and they used metal pipes to beat the resident. But the stalwart citizen proved that one with a gun can take on three, wounding one of the aggressors critically and sending the others scurrying off. Police were seeking the others. (beproud.com, Baton Rouge, La., 3/6/18)

When a Clear Brook, Va., resident saw an intruder’s hands reaching through his bedroom window, he fired his 12-ga. shotgun, killing the interloper. Deputies found the suspect dead in the yard after they responded to a 911 call when the homeowner reported the shooting. (The Winchester Star, Winchester, Va., 3/5/18)

In South Carolina, an alleged burglar who broke a window and tried to enter a Greenville County home was shot by the armed homeowner. Police documents say the suspect was armed with a knife and threatened the lives of the people in the home before one of them shot in self-defense. The trespasser, who was charged with burglary and related crimes, is reported to have been released from jail on parole several weeks before the incident. (foxcarolina.com, Greenville, S.C., 3/20/18)

Houston police were investigating a case in which a woman used a gun to fend off three attackers who ambushed her in her driveway. The resident arrived home in the overnight hours. Three masked men jumped her as soon as she exited her car. The woman’s mother, who was in the house, noticed the scuffle and called 911. The victim somehow got away from her assailants and took refuge inside the house. That wasn’t enough to deter the troublemakers, who tried to force their way into the home after her. Once inside, the woman grabbed a gun she kept in the home for defensive purposes. As the suspects pushed through the door, the woman fired, sending the men scurrying off. (khou.com, Houston, Texas, 3/27/18)