The American Rifleman, March 1996

THE ARMED CITIZEN

     Studies indicate that firearms are used over two 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.  Send clippings
to: "The Armed Citizen," 11250 Waples Mill Rd., Fairfax, VA 22030


     The crook pressed the barrel of his .38 tight against 70-year-old
Robert Avery's lips and demanded cash in the Milledgeville, Georgia,
country store Meanwhile, a second robber made a move toward the cash
register. When the first bandit was momentarily distracted by his
accomplice's movements, Avery attempted to wrest the firearm away. In
the ensuing struggle, Avery fell on his back, and succeeded in drawing
his own .22 Mag. pistol from his pocket. The sight of the pistol sent
the criminals scurrying from the store. (The Union-Recorder,
Milledgeville, GA, 10/31/95)
 
     The Rockingham County, Virginia, woman had already dialed 911
after discovering the door to her home ajar, when a Halloween-masked
suspect charged from another room and slashed her with a knife.
Suffering two cuts, the woman dashed upstairs where she barricaded
herself in a bedroom, grabbed her 12-ga. shotgun, and fired a single
shot at the intruder through the door. Police were still searching for
the suspect, who fled the home on foot without any valuables. (The
Daily News-Record, Harrisonburg, VA, 10/24/95)
 
     Despite her frail condition, 82-year-old Elva Holsclaw of
Martinsville, Virginia, fought valiantly when a knife-wielding
housebreaker stole into her bedroom and attacked her. Nearly three
times older than her assailant, Holsclaw routed the man with a single
shot from a handgun she kept next to her bed, fatally wounding him.
Tragically, Holsclaw died days later from injuries sustained in the
attack, and police were investigating the possibility of a second
suspect. (The Bulletin, Martinsville, VA, 11/17/95)
 
     The 38-year-old man yelled at the four South Charleston, South
Carolina, youths to stop beating the pedestrian they were robbing with
sticks, as his son ran in the house to call police. While his orders
to cease the attack went ignored, the sharp report from his .22 cal.
rifle did not, and the youths quickly bounded off. A block away, one
of the teens fell down with a gunshot wound to the leg; police soon
after arrested him. The victim's wallet was found nearby. No charges
were filed against the armed citizen. (The Post and Courier,
Charleston, SC, 10/24/95)
 
     Ottis Spigelmyer, manager of a Reading, Pennsylvania, bus
terminal, was working at his desk when the barrel of a sawed-off
shotgun was stuck in his face by one of three armed robbers.
Spigelmyer pleaded with the man not to hurt anyone and agreed to give
him money, but instead retrieved his own revolver and fired, mortally
wounding the shotgun-wielding crook. Spigelmyer, who has a concealed
carry permit, also fired at the other two robbers, who ran for their
lives.  Authorities said the shooting was justified. (The Times,
Reading, PA, 10/13/95)
 
     Salvatore DeLorenzo, 72, was gardening in his Ridge, NewYork,
backyard when two pit bulls from a neighboring home jumped upon the
man, dragging him to the ground and biting him. Seeing his father
felled by the canines, DeLorenzo's son grabbed a 20-ga. shotgun and
fired a single blast, hitting one of the dogs in the leg. Before he
could fire again, both beasts ran from the yard. (Newsday, Long
Island, NY, 10/20/95)
 
     During an armed robbery outside of a Birmingham, Alabama,
library, 79-year-old Cyril Johnson was shot in the chest by his
assailant as his wife looked on in horror. Wounded, Johnson fell to
the ground and drew his own handgun, fatally wounding the criminal.
Johnson was expected to survive his injuries. (The News, Birmingham,
AL, 12/2/95)
 
     Judy Stanton's crazed former boyfriend had already killed four
people, including a four-month-old girl, in a Columbus, Ohio, shooting
spree and was now headed for Ashland to get her. Just as Stanton and
her husband, Doug, prepared to flee their home with their four
children, the assailant arrived, firing at least three rounds through
a back door before kicking it in. Doug retumed fire with his own
handgun, striking the killer in the chest. Though the shots failed to
seriously injure the bulletproof-vest-clad suspect, they did encourage
a swift retreat. Soon after, he surrendered to police. "He would've
killed them," Columbus Police Sgt. James Longerbone said of the
suspect. "And who knows where he would've gone from there." (The
Columbus Dispatch, Columbus, OH, 11/21/95)
 
     Tom Bakis understood the robbers' demands even over the
frightened screams of his wife. Compliantly, he walked to the cash
register of his Waukegan, Illinois, mini-mart. But instead of drawing
cash from the drawer he drew his .380, and suddenly the two masked men
lost their taste for the crime.  Bakis pursued them into the street,
where another motorist was able to get enough of a description for
police and arrests were soon made. (The News-Sun, Waukegan, IL,
12/9/95)
 
     A teenaged burglar's early morning search for beer in an Idaho
Falls, Idaho, bar came to a flat end after he smashed the business's
front window, tripping an alamm. Answering the call first was the
building's owner, who caught the crook in the act and held him at
gunpoint for police. (The Post Register, Idaho Falls, ID, 12/7/95)
 
     When the bandit grabbed Khaled Al-Yasin's 17-year-old son and put
a gun to his head, Al-Yasin pulled his own fireamm and ducked behind
an aisle in the back of his Minneapolis, Minnesota, mini-market.
Demanding that Al-Yasin drop his gun and give him cash or he would
kill the boy, the criminal met only steely resistance as the
shopkeeper refused, fearing that the moment he dropped his own gun,
the crook would tum killer, slaying both him and his son. Foiled, the
crook released his hostage and left the store. It was the fourth time
in three months that the store had been robbed. (Star Tribune,
Minneapolis, MN, 11/28/95)