The American Rifleman, April 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


     When three men attempted to rob Cleon Sumner in his Vicco,
Kentucky home, Sumner fought back by shooting at his attackers,
killing one and wounding another as the third man fled. Sumner
suffered only a minor head injury and the third suspect was later
arrested. Sumner was not charged with any wrongdoing. (The
Courier-Journal, Louisville, KY, 12/17/95)
  
     The justice system had failed to protect Wichita, Kansas,
resident Carla Grayson from a violent ex-boyfriend. After three
years of physical abuse, 19 arrest warrants (all of which went
ignored by her tormentor as he repeatedly neglected to appear in
court), and the filing of no-contact orders, Grayson put an end
to the situation. When the abuser burst into her home, she shot
him dead. No charges were filed. (The Eagle, Wichita, KS,
12/17/95)  
 
     A masked housebreaker almost pondered a bit too long as he
stared down the barrel of Marsha Beatty's 9 mm. The criminal, one
of a gang of four, burst into the bedroom of her Fort Wayne,
Indiana, home, but Beatty grabbed his Tec-9 and stuck her own
autoloader between his eyes, ordering him to drop the pistol.
When he hesitated, the householder announced, "All right, I'm
going to kill you." That halted his indecision and he ran,
pursued by Beatty and her roommate, who had taken up her own 9
mm. "When they saw two women with guns, they ran," Beatty said
later. (The News Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN, 12/6/95)  
 
     Enid, Oklahoma, resident Anthony Martin first heard his
doorbell ring, then heard the sound of somebody kicking in his
back door. Martin grabbed his shotgun and went to investigate,
meeting two juveniles in his hallway. Martin held the
housebreakers, one of them armed with a big knife, for police,
but before they could arrive, one of them fled. The remaining
suspect was taken into custody and his accomplice was arrested a
short time later. (The News & Eagle, Enid, OK, 11/30/95)

     "Even the Lord's house isn't holy anymore for these people.
If they're crazy enough to do something like this to a holy
place, there's no telling what they'd do," said Knoxville,
Tennessee, pastor Ted Padgett after using a handgun to capture a
man burglarizing the church office. Alerted by a church
custodian, Rev. Padgett retrieved his .22 from the trunk of his
car and entered the church where he came face to face with the
stunned intruder, a parolee. He then stood the criminal against a
wall and patted him down as the two waited for police. (The
News-Sentinel, Knoxville, TN, 11/30/95)
 
     When a young Prather, California, woman ran to a local
church for protection after being threatened by a violent family
member, the pastor unhesitatingly offered her sanctuary. When the
woman's tormentor arrived with a firearm at the pastor's door, he
exchanged words with the minister and shot him in the hand.
Wounded, the pastor slammed the door shut. His assailant managed
to kick it open, but not before the pastor was able to retrieve
his own firearm. Forced to defend himself, the pastor fired a
single point-blank shot, killing his attacker. (The Mountain
Press, Prather, CA, 12/13/95)  
 
     A prison minister from Little Rock, Arkansas, Jack Seaver
was used to dealing with tough men. So when one of three teenaged
bandits turned angrily toward Seaver after robbing him in his
home and approached with knife in hand, the minister understood
he had to defend himself. Quickly, he grabbed his .22-caliber
rifle and began firing, striking his aggressor. Police later
arrested the wounded suspect and one of his accomplices. "I
wasn't going to shoot anybody at all until I felt threatened,"
the minister said. (The Democrat-Gazette, Little Rock, AR,
1/6/96)   

     Two would-be armed robbers found that a real .357 trumps a
BB gun every time when they tried to hit a Fort Wayne, Indiana,
grocery store. Assistant manager Shaun Imbody quickly identified
the criminals' phony armament and ordered, "Put down your toy,
the game is over." State police, staking the business out,
immediately entered the store and arrested the pair. A police
official noted that Imbody's knowledge of guns and quick action
saved the police a nighttime chase of the two crooks. (The
Journal Gazette, Fort Wayne, IN, 1/1/96) 
 
     Pistol in hand, Vu Vinh Vuong dashed from the kitchen of his
family's Savannah Georgia, restaurant at the sound of his
mother's screams. Encountering an armed bandit clad in a red ski
mask in the dining room, Vuong opened fire, hitting his assailant
and sending him running. The injured suspect was arrested minutes
later. Vuong's father, Do, had decided to purchase the pistol
after a previous robbery left both father and son, then unarmed,
seriously wounded by gunfire. (The News-Press, Savannah, GA,
1/22/96) 
 
     The teenaged bandits had just robbed Jacksonville, Florida,
store clerk Joe Joseph at gunpoint and were attempting to make a
getaway when they found their escape foiled by a locked door.
Armed and cornered, the thugs turned back toward the clerk, who
fired a single shot from the pistol he had retrieved from beneath
the counter. The same bullet struck both crooks, killing one and
wounding the other. (The Times-Union Jacksonville, FL, 12/20/95) 

     Charles Robinson and his wife, Jan had just closed their
Sacramento, California, pizzeria when two thugs shoved revolvers
in their backs and ordered them to the ground of the parking lot.
With the day's receipts taken from him, Robinson heard gunfire
erupt. Fearing that his wife had been shot, the businessman leapt
to his feet and pulled a handgun from his waistband. Shots were
exchanged and the crooks, one of them wounded, fled. Police soon
stopped the suspects' speeding car, arresting one and taking the
other to a hospital where he died. Robinson's wife was not hurt.
(The Bee, Sacramento, CA, 1/31/96)