The American Rifleman, May 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


 Police called Timothy Pastuck a hero after the Queens, New York,
man came to the aid of a neighbor being savagely beaten with a
baseball bat and steam iron by her boyfriend. Pastuck retrieved
his unlicensed .22 cal. Ruger rifle and ordered the batterer to
stop, and when the man refused, he shot him three times, wounding
him. Despite the accolades from the public and law enforcement,
Pastuck was initially charged with attempted murder, assault with
a deadly weapon and unlawful possession of a weapon. After 14
hours in jail, the first two charges were dropped. Pastuck then
spent 2 1/2 hours in court where the district attorney finally
decided to drop the weapons charge. "You try to do the right
thing, and the next thing you know you're in the system...I don't
know what they want; people, citizens, to react, don't react,"
said Pastuck. (Newsday, Long Island, NY, 2/8/96)
 
 Sharonda McMurray was working at a Norcross, Georgia, deli when
her former boyfriend charged into the business in a rage and
began repeatedly stabbing her with a knife. Customer Dennis
Benton tackled the assailant, suffering a cut himself before the
suspect broke free and ran outside. NRA Life Member Myron Petro,
also a patron at the time of the attack, followed, noted the
license plate number of the suspect's car, and retrieved his own
handgun from his vehicle. Moments later, the attacker returned to
the deli with another knife and began stabbing McMurray again.
Petro ordered the man to drop his weapon, but the knife-wielding
attacker instead charged Petro, who shot him five times, killing
him. (The Journal-Constitution, Atlanta, GA, 2/22/96)
 
 An 81-year-old Oakland, California, man was entering his
apartment when a hoodlum approached from behind, knocked him to
the floor and began beating him savagely in the face and head.
About to lose consciousness, the elderly man managed to reach a
.32 cal. he kept on a nearby shelf and fired once at his
assailant, wounding him in the neck. (The Tribune, Oakland, CA,
11/23/95)

 Police believe Susan Rood's former husband, armed with a
shotgun, broke into the Lakewood, Colorado, apartment intending
to kill Rood and her boyfriend, Lance Garner. Instead, Garner
armed himself and routed the assailant's attack. Wounded by
Garner, Rood 's former husband turned his shotgun on himself and
committed suicide. Although Garner was injured in the fight,
Susan Rood went unharmed. (The Post, Denver, CO, 12/19/96)
 
 Perry and Debra Jones were in bed in their Waller, Texas, home
when a burglar wearing surgical gloves, black clothes, and
camouflage around his head and neck smashed through their bedroom
window and began climbing into the home. Perry Jones shouted for
the man to halt, but he refused. Jones then grabbed a shotgun he
kept by his bed and fired a single fatal blast at the intruder.
Two accomplices were arrested later that evening. (The Chronicle,
Houston, TX, 12/21/95)
 
 The masked man strode into the Leitersburg, Maryland, liquor
store suspiciously holding his hand in his pocket and demanded
that store owner Dennis Wayne Gigeous fill a paper bag full of
money and then lie on the floor behind the counter. Gigeous
instead grabbed a handgun from beneath the counter and fired at
his assailant, who fled outside and crouched behind a van. The
store owner followed and fired several more shots outside,
wounding the bandit. He then held the would-be robber for police.
(The Morning Herald, Hagerstown, MD, 12/19/95)
 
 "The truth of the matter is people are tired of these thugs
breaking the law. They're taking care of business," said Orange
County, Florida, Sheriff Kevin Beary following the death of a
16-year-old bandit who tried to rob citizen John T. Pride at a
pay phone. Instead of cash, Pride, who has a carry permit, pulled
out his .380 pistol and fatally shot his assailant, marking the
eighth time in 18 months that a criminal had been killed by his
intended victim in Central Florida. Most of the defensive
shootings have taken place in people's homes. "I've always been
one that believes you have a right to protect your property,"
Beary said. "If someone breaks into my home, he's not walking
out." (The Sentinel, Orlando, FL, 1/5/96)
 
 When a pair of masked men burst into a Salisbury, Maryland, home
to rob a group of people gathered there, Terry Wood darted for
his bedroom where his handgun was stored. Moments later, peeking
from behind the bedroom door, Wood encountered one of the bandits
pointing a firearm at him. Wood raised his own gun and shot the
man. The two crooks fled, but the wounded suspect collapsed in a
nearby yard and died later that evening. (The Daily Times,
Salisbury, MD, 1/20/96)
 
 A female bandit used an all-too-real-looking BB pistol to get
the drop on a Jackson, Tennessee, hotel night clerk. While the
robber's attention was on the cash register, the clerk locked
himself in the office, where he watched the woman on a closed
circuit television and armed himself with a .38. Unable to leave
through the lobby's locked door, the robber began pounding on the
office door. The clerk opened fire through the door, killing her.
(The Sun, Jackson, TN, 1/19/96)
 
 Jensen, Utah, rancher Gary Snow suspected a predator when he
couldn't locate his herd of 95 sheep. Shotgun in hand, Snow had
not searched long before two rottweilers charged him from the
banks of the Green River as if to attack. Snow shot the two dogs
just 30 ft. away and to his horror, discovered that they had
chased his sheep more than a mile and into the river, mauling
them along the way. Of the 70 sheep killed, those not slaughtered
by the dogs drowned after their wool became weighted down by the
water. (The Express, Vernal, UT, 1/17/96)