From - Fri Aug 14 19:31:14 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 VAA13548 for ; Tue, 26 May 1998 21:37:52 -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 VAA16048 for ; Tue, 26 May 1998 21:31:12 -0600 Message-Id: <199805270331.VAA16048@broadway.sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca> Received: from my computer by riverview.net with SMTP (IPAD 1.14) id 6015400 ; Tue, 26 May 98 23:32:21 UTC From: "R.J.K." To: "Skeeter Abell-Smith" Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 23:36:13 +0000 MIME-Version: 1.0 Subject: The Armed Citzen June 1998 Return-receipt-to: "R.J.K." Priority: normal Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-MIME-Autoconverted: from Quoted-printable to 8bit by skatter.USask.Ca id VAA13548 X-Lines: 109 Status: RO Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Length: 6380 X-Mozilla-Status: 8001 The Armed Citzen 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------ When Jason Goforth, 22, opened his door after hearing a woman's voice in the early morning hours of December 22, he didn't expect to have a man shove a rifle in his face. Then "[another] subject with a gun in his hand tried to kick the door in and push his way in:' said La Vergne, Tennessee, police Capt. Robert Wolf. A brief struggle ensued, and, according to police, Goforth pulled out his gun and shot the home invader three times. That was apparently enough to discourage two other intruders who had accompanied the first pair. The three who remained were arrested and charged with aggravated burglary and attempted aggravated burglary. "Most of the facts on their face appear that [Goforth] was acting in self-defense:' said Wolf. (The Tennessean, Nashville, TN, 12/23/97) Gene Case was preparing to do landscaping work outside an apartment complex when he noticed a crazed man who had been in a dispute with residents. Fearing a dire situation, Case retrieved a gun from a locked console in his truck before the man yanked a medical monitor away from an 80year-old woman nearby and, according to witnesses, grabbed a 2-year-old girl from her mother's arms. Case yelled at the man throughout the ordeal, warning him to stop. Finally, fearing for the girl's life, Case told the would-be kidnapper that if he didn't release the child he would be killed. The man complied and Case then held him at bay until police arrived. The man was arrested for robbery by force or fear, kidnapping, indecent exposure and assault on a police officer. Case said he had applied for a right-to-carry permit soon after the Oklahoma Self Defense Act became law on Jan. 1, 1996. (Tulsa World, Tulsa OK, 1/31/98) An ordinary withdrawal for bank customer Bobby Holland turned into a fight for his life when two men attempted to rob him at gunpoint. As Holland, 25, who was armed, entered the Union Planters ATM station one Friday evening, two men followed, pointing a gun at him and threatening to kill him, according to police spokesman Lt. Richard True. Holland shot one attacker in the stomach and thigh, which sent the man to a hospital in critical condition. The other man was arrested at a hospital where he underwent treatment for a bullet wound to the thigh. Police said Holland has a state handgun permit to carry a firearm and that he would not be charged in the incident. (The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, TN, 10/21/97) Video store owner David Ragan had to react quickly one Friday afternoon when a 6-foot, 2-inch, razor-wielding "customer" appeared at his counter. After the man grabbed him, Ragan dropped to his knees, sliding out of his loose-fitting shirt. He used his left hand to hit the panic button and with his right hand grabbed his gun, which he is licensed to carry. A customer walking in the store minutes later found the 5-foot, 9-inch Ragan naked from the waist up and staring down at the man who was now spread-eagled on the floor. Ragan, who has a history of positive community activism, was quoted as saying, "I don't want to be killed but I'm not going to take it. It's going totake more of us fighting back to send a message to these criminals that you can't get away with this." The suspect was arrested six minutes after the incident by police and was charged with first-degree robbery, possession of a deadly weapon during a felony and carrying a concealed deadly weapon, according to state police spokesman Cpl. Preston Lewis. (Sunday News Journal, Wilmington, DE, 1/25/98) After two drivers pulled their vehicles into a store Parking lot following a traffic altercation, a more personal, and potentially violent, confrontation occurred. The first driver, a 36-year-old man, came at the second driver with the knife blade of a pocket multitool. The second driver, who was licensed to carry a gun, countered the threat by drawing a 9 mm handgun. The would-be victim held the attacker until police arrived. Witnesses corroborated the victim's story, prompting police to charge the attacker with aggravated assault. (Paradise Valley Independent, Phoenix, AZ, 1/14/98) Shortly before 2 a.m., a Bothell, Washington, homeowner was awakened by the noise of an intruder entering his bedroom through an unlocked sliding door. A brief confrontation ensued, during which the victim sustained injuries and the intruder threatened to kill the man and his wife. At some point during the struggle, the homeowner removed a handgun from a drawer and shot his tormentor, fatally wounding him. The couple was questioned at police headquarters afterward and released, with police calling the shooting an act of self-defense. It turns out that the intruder's rap sheet was extensive and included thefts and assaults in three counties. Said one woman of the neighborhood, where many leave their doors unlocked, "I suppose you always have that false sense of security." (The Seattle Times, Seattle, WA, 12/22/97) A 56-year-old employee of the Illinois attorney general's office turned the tables somewhat on an intruder to the office's parking garage. The victim let the man into the garage after having been convinced that he was there to dispose of the garbage. Once inside, the intruder indicated he had a gun and intended to rob the victim. What the man didn't know was that the victim, already suspicious, had retrieved a .22 handgun from his vehicle. When the imposter garbage collector attempted to "pick up" cash from the victim rather than trash from the garage, the employee pulled his pistol and ordered the wouldbe robber to the ground. The employee held the man until the arrival of police, who discovered that the holdup man possessed only a crack pipe. The employee's gun had been unloaded and in a case, a legal way to transport it, police said. (The State Journal Register, Springfield, IL, 1/16/98) AMERICAN GUARDIAN · June 1998