From - Fri Aug 14 19:33:29 1998 Received: from broadway.sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca (broadway.sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca [198.169.128.1]) by skatter.USask.Ca (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id NAA29646 for ; Wed, 1 Apr 1998 13:49:16 -0600 (CST) Received: from riverview.net (dns1.riverview.net [206.250.30.2]) by broadway.sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca (8.8.8/8.8.8) with SMTP id NAA08210 for ; Wed, 1 Apr 1998 13:43:17 -0600 Message-Id: <199804011943.NAA08210@broadway.sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca> Received: from my-computer by riverview.net with SMTP (IPAD 1.14) id 2411400 ; Wed, 01 Apr 98 14:46:48 UTC From: "R.J.K." To: "Skeeter Abell-Smith" Date: Wed, 1 Apr 1998 14:51:03 +0000 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: Because I was Armed April 1998 Priority: normal X-Lines: 100 Status: RO Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Length: 5926 X-Mozilla-Status: 8001 In this column we report incidents in which victims of criminal attack have repelled one or more assailants with the help of firearms. Each true incedent has been verified by news accounts and, if possible, interviews with the victims involved. Names given may have been changed for privacy reasons or to protect the victims from retaliation. -------------------------------------------------------------- BECAUSE I WAS ARMED April 1998 What you can do with two 22s "Somewhere along the line,'we the people' have to start protecting ourselves, says O. Ryland Moore. The Jacksonville, Florida, resident and another man, Robert Guerry of Birmingham, Alabama, put that philosophy into practice one day in September of 1997. Moore, 69, and his wife were dining in a booth at Sam's St. Johns Seafood in Jacksonville. At the same time, Guerry 81, was in another booth enjoying a meal with his wife and three sisters. Moore and Guerry did not know one another. Suddenly, a large individual strode in wielding a shotgun and ordering everyone to the floor. Moore, who had been sitting unaccustomly with his back to the door, turned to see a hooded man carrying a 12-gauge pump shotgun. As the other diners took to the floor, Moore and his wife, and Guerry and his family, remained in their booths. Moore, who has had a Florida carry permit for five years, generally favors carrying a Star PD .45ACP pistol. However, due to the warm Florida weather, it had been too difficult to conceal that day and he hadn't worn it. But he did have a North American Arms .22 Magnum Mini-revolver. Moore had dropped the small gun into his right hip pocket before going out. Guerry never left home without his .22 Magnum derringer. As Moore turned in his seat to watch, the robber proceeded to a utensil and prep area behind a partition and seized waitress Amy Norton. Because, perhaps, of his concentration on the waitress or maybe because the disguising hood limited his peripheral vision, the gunman didn't respond to the fact that the Moore and Guerry parties had not dropped to the floor. The would-be thief forced the waitress to there register near the front of the restaurant, away from the other diners-but near Moore and Guerry. The two men, independent of one another, had drawn their guns and made up their minds to use them. Ms. Norton cowered low behind the cash register, away from Guerry and out of Moore's line of sight, as the crook tried to make her open the register. The criminal, his body quartered to Moore and Guerry's booths, fixed his attention on the register, his hood blocking his view of the armed citizens. It was now that the armed diners lifted their guns and took action. Because of the size and rudimentary sights of the revolver, Moore, who had risen to his feet, aimed for the center of mass. He fired one shot from the single-action gun. A moment later Guerry's shot rang out. One of the shots struck the ill-fated robber. Each man fired only once. "That gun I didn't trust to try to go for a head shot:' explained Moore."lf I'd had another gun with me," he added, "l'd have gone for a head shot, taken care of it from here to eternity. Wounded, the crook turned and ran for the restaurant's double doors, accidentally smashing the shotgun in the doorway in his panic. From the window Moore watched the man flee down the length of the building.The crook removed the hood as he turned the corner of the restaurant and, Moore later learned, hopped into a waiting getaway car driven~by an accomplice. Moore went outside to make sure the thug was gone, then returned to the restaurant and gave the employees and his fellow patrons the "all clear(' One diner dialed 9-1-1 on her cell phone as employees did the same from the restaurant's telephone. Then something happened that, Moore said, surprised him more than anything else that day. The employees and customers gathered around him and Guerry in thanks, even forming a line to shake their hands. "They practically broke my arm shaking my hand:' noted the heroic Floridian. Ms. Norton credits Moore and the equally heroic Guerry with saving her life, believing that the thief would have shot her had it not been for their swift action. "l'm glad [Moore and Guerryl were here because if that girl couldn't open the register, and he didn't get any money, he might have started shooting:' said Sam Bajalia, the restaurant's owner. "if one of us hadn't hit him, he might have turned around and emptied that shotgun into the dining area:' concurred Guerry. A 17-year-old fitting the description of the gunman was later apprehended at a local hospital where he was being treated for a gun shot wound to the stomach. He was charged with armed robbery and was awaiting trial at press time. Doctors were unable to remove the slug from the suspect, and police have not recovered the other slug, which lodged in woodwork near the doorway. Thus, it is not known whether Moore or Guerry O. Ryland Moore actually fired the decisive shot. In any event, neither Moore, nor Guerry, who holds a carry permit from Alabama, was charged. "We need to protect ourselves:' said Guerry "I always try to be prepared Moore wishes law enforcement was more effective in keeping criminals from firearms, but strongly believes that Florida's right-to-carry is "a very good law(' He adds, "I would like to see reciprocity between the states A former frequent traveller, Moore asserts, "Other states ought to come on board and allow their citizens to defend themselves." There are several happy diners who are glad that Florida does. The American Guardian. April 1998 - Every 13 seconds an American gun owner uses a firearm in defense against a criminal. ______________________________________________ MEMBER ... 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