This will be a collection of the millions of stories of people who were legally armed when confronted by a criminal with an illegal gun, and the result of the confrontation. These are stories you won't read in the national media because they routinely suppress such stories, preferring to highlight stories where a (usually illegally obtained) gun is used to injure or kill someone who is unarmed and thus pretty much defenseless. The point of this page is to give you a place to go to print out such stories as examples to misguided people who have "bought" the "anti-self defense (anti-gun)" people's lies and false statistics. We will be adding to this page on a regular basis until these stories take up more room than we've got in this web site, then we'll create a new site and link to it from this page. If you come back here regularly, you'll soon have plenty of ammunition to use in any debate about self defense and gun control and the efficacy of honest citizens being armed.
SOURCE: TWO MILLION YEARLY USE GUNS IN SELF DEFENSE FIGURE: These data come from the research of Professor Gary Kleck, a member of the ACLU, Amnesty International, and Common Cause. He is a lifelong Democrat. This man is definitely not a "pro-self defense" promoter. At least not until he did his research. He set out to prove gun control was needed, but after more than 20 years of research came to the conclusion that gun control would endanger the safety of citizens.
ANTI-GUN AGENDA: "We're going to have to take one step at a time, and the first step is necessarily -- given the political realities -- going to be very modest Our ultimate goal -- total control of handguns in the United States -- is going to take time. ... The first problem is to slow down the increasing number of handguns being produced.... The second problem is to get handguns registered. And the final problem is to make the possession of all handguns and all handgun ammunition -- except for the military, policemen, licensed security guards, licensed sporting clubs, and licensed gun collectors -- totally illegal." (Soure: Pete Shields, then-chair of Handgun Control, Inc. (now headed by Sarah Brady), July 26, 1976 New Yorker Magazine, pp. 53.)
ANTI-SELF DEFENSE BASED ON FALLACY:The whole idea that if more honest people were armed there would be lots less armed crime is "pooh-poohed" by the anti-self defense freaks. But it is ignored on literally no evidence, and in spite of evidence to the contrary. They completely ignore the fact that in over 2 million cases recently, innocent people who had their own guns stopped armed criminals in their tracks, if they didn't "put them out of action forever." In Israel, where almost everybody carries a gun, including many teenagers, violent crime is way down. What more proof do they need?
In the recent spate of high-profile school and other mass shootings, such occurrences are used as an excuse to promote anti-self defense laws that will do nothing to prevent such occurrences in the future, while they will do much to ensure that they will happen. But even here the proof is unarguable if you believe in logic instead of dreams. Look at what the "CalNews" said about it: "Then while your liberal friends are stammering, hit them with the fact that two of the recent school shootings (in Pearl, Mississippi and Edinboro, Pennsylvania) were ended quickly because teachers had weapons either on their person or in their cars. The teachers used these weapons to stop the killing and hold the suspects until the police arrived -- in both cases about 12 minutes after the teachers had intervened and stopped the mayhem. How many lives were saved because these teachers had ready access to their weapons? How many students and faculty would have been killed in those intervening 12 minutes? If it saves only one life, wouldn't it be worth it to allow teachers to carry concealed weapons on campus or keep them in their cars?
"What if the courageous teacher in Littleton who tried to use library tables to shield his students had instead had a weapon to use? What if he had managed to disarm, dissuade or otherwise stop the gunman as the other two teachers had done? Would it have saved one life? The answers of course are obvious and the conclusions really cannot be avoided. Connecting the dots plainly spells out the message that it is the 30 year long liberal perversion of our culture, corruption of our schools and raping of our constitutional rights that has brought us to where we are. The contrast between the Chico and Littleton high schools is so glaring that all but the most extreme value-phobic liberals will see it."
Read the whole article at: http://www.calnews.com/archives/CalNewsOpEd/ctn061299sar.htm
GUNS STOP CRIME AND SAVE INNOCENT LIVES
NOT WHAT THEY HAD PLANNED: Three thugs came into Eugene Clifford's store and threw His wife to the floor at gunpoint while attempting to rob the store. So Eugene shot all three, killing one and severely wounding the other two. Obviously things didn't turn out the way the criminals planned. This happened in September of 1999. The "Cincinnati Post" story emphasized that by doing this, he had "thrust himself directly into the national debate over handguns." David Bernstein of Handgun Control made the usual lame comeback when presented with evidence of one more in the growing (millions) list of instances where honest citizens who are armed thwart the criminal who is illegally armed when he said: ''The shop owner got lucky, because the chances of misusing a gun in that situation are very great.'' Yeah, right. Innocent people are, according to people like Bernstein, incompetent in the use of guns, while criminals are always competent. I don't think so, because if that were true there would not be such a growing list of dead criminals and criminals who were run off at the very sight of a gun in the hands of their victims. (Source: "The Cincinnati Post," September, 1999)
Surprisingly, the Post recounted several other stories of people exercising their right to self defense, while not giving complete details. They are mentioned here for your information:
In September, 1999 in Covington, Ky., an armed would-be mugger was shot and wounded by his intended victim who happened to be legally toting a concealed weapon.
In 1998, a Taylor Mill, Ky., pawn shop clerk surprised a pair of armed robbers by grabbing a gun under the counter and shooting and wounding the duo.
"These are good examples of why citizens should have guns," says John Snyder of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. "The presence of a firearm is a deterrent to crime. People are tired of being victimized by criminals and tired of being victimized by politicians who say citizens shouldn't be able to defend themselves." Well, he's certainly right because the police certainly can't, unless they happen to be right there when it goes down. Unfortunately, from my experience, they might even shoot both the criminal and the innocent person before they even know what's going on. And it has become common knowledge that police aren't obligated to defend the citizen. Just to clean up after. We don't accept that. If they can't, and even feel they are not obligated to protect us, then we must do it ourselves, then give them something to "clean up." (Source: The "Cincinnati Post," Sept. 9, 1999)
HE RAN INTO A GUN: In Denver, Colorado on December 29, 1999, the owner of a check cashing service shot and killed one and wounded a second would-be robber in a gun fight in his store when the two attempted to rob him at gunpoint. The second one got away, having been seen climbing into a car by a witness who gave police the license number. But have any arrests been made? No, not at least by February 10, 2000. They had to do some thinking to figure out whether or not to charge this man, finally opting to call it "self defense." (Source: The "Denver Rocky Mountain News" and the "Denver Post.")
AGAIN IN DENVER: In Denver, Colorado, on February 12, 2000, an armed robber tried to hold up a liquor store and ran into a gun in the hand of his intended victim. Again it turned out in a way he hadn't planned, with the would-be robber running off with bullets in the chest and legs. Again, an accomplice also fled the scene in the 2200 block of Oneida Street, but according to witnesses, probably wasn't hit. The bad news is that the store clerk didn't get off scott-free this time, having been shot six times in the leg and foot (probably as the robber was falling down). The good news is that soon the bad guys will not be robbing many liquor stores in Denver after word gets around about how dangerous it is. As usual, the police have not apprehended the robber, and may not (as of Feb. 14 anyway) unless someone calls them and tells them exactly where he is. (Source: The "Denver Rocky Mountain News" February 13, 2000)
MAN SHOOTS TWO OF THREE HOME INVADERS: On Saturday, February 19, 2000, three would-be robbers broke into a home in Commerce City, Colorado with the intention of robbing the residents. It didn't happen that way. When one of them pulled a knife, the homeowner shot two of them with his semiautomatic handgun. They jumped into a car and fled, going to their relative's home where they called an ambulance. When they recover, they'll be charged with aggravated robbery. Their names weren't released by Commerce City Police. (Source: "Denver Rocky Mountain News," February 22, 2000)
HE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE EASY: Brian K. Franklin thought it would be easy to force his way into a Mayo, Florida home and "have his way" with the occupants. Franklin, who had evaded a months-long manhunt, walked onto the back porch of the home, but the woman locked the door. So he broke the door down and walked in. When he raised his gun to the woman, her husband blew him away with a 12-ga. shotgun. Very unexpected. (Source: "Branford News," Branford, Florida, 12/23/99 via "Keep and Bear Arms Organization.")
HE SHOULD LEARN HOW TO TIE KNOTS: A knife-wielding man invaded the Cumberland County, Tennessee home of Stanley Horn and tied Stanley and his wife up while he proceeded to loot the home. Unfortunately, he did a bad job on Horn's bonds, allowing him to get to his gun. Horn put three into him, killing him. Lesson: If you're going to be a crook, learn how to tie good knots. (Source: "The Knoxville News-Sentinel," 12/22/99 via "Keep and Bear Arms Organization.")
DON'T ASSUME: Judas Lewis Caudle assumed his victim wouldn't be armed when he set about looting the bail-bond office owned by former police officer Juliet Williams. Bad mistake. When he came at her with a crowbar when she walked in on him, she shot him to death with her legally-owned gun. "Assuming" didn't make an ass out of him, but it did make a corpse out of him. (Source: "The Charlotte Observer," Charlotte, NC, 1/2/2000, via "Keep and Bear Arms Organization.")
MAKE SURE THEY CAN'T SHOOT BACK: Two would-be burglars were kicking in the back door to Larry Shahr's home early one morning when one found the hand he had reaching inside to unlock the door grabbed by someone inside. His accomplice fired four shots through the door, causing Spahr to go get his .357 Magnum and fire back. The lucky to be alive bad guys fled. (Source: "The Orange County Register," Santa Ana, Calif., 12/24/99 via "Keep and Bear Arms Organization.")
CHOOSE YOUR VICTIMS BETTER: When you decide to rob someone who was good enough to give you a ride, you should make sure he's not armed. A man and his female companion learned that when they tried to rob Reynaldo Batista. As Batista struggled with the man, he pulled his Glock and killed the man, who had a lengthy criminal record. The story doesn't say what happened to the woman, but I'd bet she's still enroute to the tall timber. (Source: "The Arizona Republic," Phoenix, Ariz., 12/24/99 via "Keep and Bear Arms Organization.")
UPPING THE ANTE: When Clinton, NC convenience store owner Ali Odeh "upped the ante" on a would-be robber with a hammer by pulling a gun, the robber promptly "set sail" for elsewhere. But he was caught by police soon after (Source: The "Sampson Independent," Clinton, N.C., 12/24/99 via "Keep and Bear Arms Organization.")
BAD MISTAKE: When a robber at the next ATM pulled a gun on Garnett Campbell and told him to "give me all your money," he got a fight and a bullet. Campbell shot him to death with a licensed handgun. The dying robber fled, running his car into the front of a convenience store. (Source: "Miami Herald," Miami, Fla., 12/18/99 via "Keep and Bear Arms Organization.")
BETTER DECISION: The man who broke into the home of grandmother Betty Kulas told his mother after Kulas shot him during his crime, "I am so tired of this. I really want to go straight " That's a much better decision than the one to rob this woman's home. He fled into a nearby field where he was apprehended by police. (Source: "St. Petersburg Times," St. Petersburg, Fla., 12/22/99 via "Keep and Bear Arms Organization.")
BAD CHOICE OF HIDEOUTS: James Michael Smith just wanted a place to hide when he ducked into Tom Campbell's Standard Wilson Glass Company in Knoxville, Tennessee while attempting to evade police. He ran into a supply room and tried to reach for his gun. Campbell held him for the police after pulling his .40 cal. Pistol. Campbell noted: "He came awful close to meeting his maker." Police, who were close behind, took him into custody. (Source: The "Knoxville News-Sentinel," Knoxville, Tenn., 12/11/99 via "Keep and Bear Arms Organization.")
83-YEAR-OLD KILLS INTRUDER: A. D. Parker, 83, shot and killed an armed burglar who pried open the back door of his home in Hunters Point (CA) and tried to enter his bedroom. Intruder Michael Moore, 49, a convicted felon, broke in armed with a crowbar and threatened Parker, who was armed with an old gun that hadn't been oiled or fired for thirty years. Incredibly, the police suggest that there might be charges against Parker, but I seriously doubt any such will be filed, and if filed, he will not be convicted, even in the "People's State of San Francisco." (Source: "San Francisco Examiner," Feb. 2, 2000)
NOT GOING TO BE THE SIXTH VICTIM: Khoa Dang Nguyen was determined not to be the sixth victim of robbers, who killed five of his friends. When two armed robbers tried to hold him up, he gave them the money and asked them to leave. When one of them locked the security door, he knew they were not going to be satisfied with taking his money. So he shot them both. Twins Albert and Abbert Gaston, who were wounded, were charged with aggravated robbery. (Source: "Houston Chronicle," Houston, Texas 2/24/2000 via "Keep and Bear Arms Organization.")
HIS VICTIM WAS ARMED: Vincent Lopez, a would-be home invasion robber was in critical condition at UC Davis Medical Center after a potential victim shot him as he tried to break into their home. They're looking for the second robber, who set out for the tall timber and hasn't been seen since (wise move). (Source: "The Sacramento Bee," March 2, 2000 via "The Sierra Times," http://www.SierraTimes.com March 4, 2000)
GRANNY KILLS ARMED ROBBER: Imagine the surprise for the would-be armed robber who became the second criminal to be killed by his intended victim in Houston in one week. He turned his gun on Nora Ghani, a woman in the convenience store he was robbing and she didn't wait. She killed him. Her son Napel thought first that he had been shot. Then that his mother had been shot. But no. It was one of the two robbers. The other one hasn't been seen nor heard from since, according to this story. They're soon going to be short on convenience store robbers in Houston. (Source: "The Houston Chronicle," Feb. 28, 2000, via the "Keep and Bear Arms" web site. URL elsewhere.)
IT WASN'T TO BE: Would-be burglar Charles Richard Milhoan, 34, thought he's found an easy place to burgle when he broke into a garage in Mesa, Arizona, belonging to Bret Hutchison, 25. Upon arriving inside, he saw Hutchinson, and threw a brick at him. Then when he reached for what looked like a gun screaming "I'm going to kill you!", Hutchinson shot him. He is recovering in the hospital and won't be burglarizing any garages for a number of years. Sgt. Don Rosenberger, a spokesman for the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, said Hutchinson would probably not be charged since it appears he acted in self defense. Milhoan will be facing burglary charges when he gets out of the hospital. (Source: "The Arizona Republic," March 9, 2000)
I'M GLAD HE WAS ARMED: This is a comment on a man who used a gun to defend himself from attack. It was written by columnist William Raspberry, an ardent gun-control (translation: "anti-self defense") advocate" in the Monday, March 13, 2000 issue of the "Washington Post." It completely escaped him that his last sentence blew his entire anti-self defense argument away. "Ultimately, though, safety locks, background checks, registration and the rest of it don't really get where a lot of us gun-control advocates want to go. We (or at any rate, I) want to reduce the number of guns in circulation--first by making it more difficult for non-law enforcement people to get them and then by collecting as many already-owned guns as we can. In general, I think we'd all be a lot safer with a lot fewer guns. "On the other hand, I'm very glad A. D. Parker was armed."
SECOND AMENDMENT SISTER: Debra Collins became a "believer" in the Second Amendment the night her abusive husband broke into her mother's house and threatened to kill her. She grabbed a shotgun and held him at bay until the police arrived. She said: "I had been beaten waiting for the police before. "I've learned that a gun is the only thing that will level the playing field for a woman who's being attacked." Now she's taking on the "Million Mom March as Colorado State Coordinator of the Second Amendment Sisters, a newly-formed grass-roots women's group promoting the idea that guns are "a woman's friend." She wants to let people know that the "Million Moms" don't speak for all women.
"The Sisters" have an Internet site if you're interested. it is: http://www.SAS-AIM.org It's statistics show that in 1998, one of every 33 women was a victim of a violent crime and that, according to the National Research Opinion Center, 44% of all adult women either own or have access to guns. It's interesting: the shotgun she used to defend herself, she got from her 20-year-old boyfriend who wouldn't have been able to own a gun under laws proposed by the "anti-self defense" crowd. And if she'd had to fumble with a trigger lock, she would be dead. That's what the anti-self defense crowd's proposals will do to many people -- get them killed. (Source: "The Washington Times," March 20, 2000)
NO STEAL-A-DA MOTORCYCLE: 20-year-old Michael Tafoya tried to convince the Albuquerque Police he had made a $300 down payment on the motorcycle he and a friend were trying to steal from Vincent Alderson's Northeast Heights apartment driveway. When Alderson heard them, he came out with his AK-47 "assault rifle" and held Tafoya at bay until the police arrived. Tafoya's buddy "set sail" and is probably still running. The cops didn't believe a word of it when he said he was buying it "without papers" and without a key. (Source: "The Albuquerque Tribune," March 25, 2000)
DENTIST'S GUN HELPS STOP ROBBERY: In La Jolla, California (a very "self defense unfriendly" state), a dentist's employee grabbed the dentist's gun while the dentist was grappling with a would-be burglar and held the crook at bay until police arrived (one wonders how long that took). The dentist, Dr. Thomas G. Brown, saw a man leaving his office with a bank bag and confronted him. The man bolted and was tackled by the doctor and a lab technician. One employee called 911 while another grabbed the doctor's gun and held him for the police. The unfortunate suspect, Jack Waring, of Logan Heights, was on parole for burglary. Why are we not surprised? "The "Sierra Times" says: "It's a good thing the gun didn't have a trigger lock and wasn't keyed to the dentist's hand." (Source: "Sierra Times," from the Union-Tribune" March 24, 2000)
GAVE HIM A BULLET INSTEAD: A would-be carjacker tried to steal a man's car in a Dunwoody, Georgia shopping plaza and got a bullet instead. Police have not released the names of either the carjacker or the shooter, but the criminal, who was not carrying identification, was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital in critical condition. The shooter was released after questioning with no charges pending or expected. This incident happened about a mile from where Dunwoody high students Louis Nava and Dakarai Sloley were kidnapped and shot in June, 1998. Nava died and Sloley recovered. One wonders what would have happened had either been armed. (Source: "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution")
DON'T BURGLE THIS WOMAN'S HOUSE: It's not wise, as two burglars found when she opened fire on them when she found them in her Charleston, South Carolina house on returning home. One fell immediately and the other lit out for the "tall timber" leaving a trail of blood, and hasn't been seen since at this writing. No charges are planned against the woman since homeowners in South Carolina are allowed to use deadly force to protect their homes. (Source: "The Charleston Post & Courier" Internet Edition April 1, 2000)
COP'S WIFE SHOOTS AND KILLS INTRUDER: Don't mess with the wives of Atlanta cops. A would-be robber learned this to his everlasting sorrow when he tried to enter their apartment. The couple had been married for only a couple of months and he recently bought her a gun. Apparently he taught her well. (Source: "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution")
MAN STOPS FAMILY ABUSE: A woman got her car stuck in Charles Heller's driveway while trying to escape from a drunken common-law husband who was "coming to kill her." Mr. Heller, who had left his gun ijn his car, was offered his 14-year-old son's gun from behind as he stood in his doorway and talked to the woman. The man arrived and was about to "rearrange her skeletal structure" with an axe handle when Mr. Heller showed him his gun and demanded he leave, which he did, so quickly that he hit his side mirror on Heller's mobile home. It's a good thing his son kept his head and was prepared ("Better prepared than I was," says Heller). The police showed up 21 minutes later -- I suppose to write the report on the murder they expected. The suspect did about 2-1/2 years in Florence after leading police on a 65 mile chase and blowing three times the legal limit on the Breathalyzer. He also had drugs in his system. (Source: "Keep and Bear Arms Organization Gun Report," March 31, 2000) Subscriptions to this email report are free. Go to: http://www.keepandbeararms.org
DON'T MESS WITH THIS SEA CAPTAIN: Captain David Davanzati was on his way to Florida to look for a boat captain's job when four scruffy-looking guys in an old wreck of a car tried to rob him. They changed their minds quickly when he took his 9mm Ruger and put it in his belt. They did a magic trick: they disappeared. (Source: "Keep and Bear Arms Organization Gun Report," March 31, 2000) Subscriptions to this email report are free. Go to: http://www.keepandbeararms.org
COPS CAN'T DO ANYTHING: A sixteen-year-old girl who was working alone at a gas station in Elglewood, New Mexico, called 911 to report a suspicious-looking man hanging around, apparently waiting for her to close. He had no car. The cops told her they could do nothing "until something happened." Until what happened? Until he kills her, beats her up, or even rapes her? They were certainly useless that night. They didn't even offer to send someone to sit there and scare him off. That job fell to her father, John Dougherty, who came down and hid in the bushes until the man "committed himself." Then Dougherty showed himself and his shotgun and the man made a fast "u-turn" and went in the other direction. Another case where the police were useless and a man with a gun saved the day just by showing it. (Source: "Keep and Bear Arms Organization Gun Report," March 31, 2000) Subscriptions to this email report are free. Go to: http://www.keepandbeararms.org
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