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Book Review:
“The Man Who
Hated Work and Loved Labor — The Life and Times of Tony Mazzocchi”
This is a fascinating book about a labor leader who has had tremendous
influence on our lives, but whose name is not even known by millions of
Americans. Please read my review.
| | From:
The American Rifleman
November, 1992
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
Eighty-year-old Lawrence Nipp is sick of "young punks taking the country
over." So when his wife told him there was a youth in the back yard of his Ft.
Lauderdale, Florida, home, Nipp retrieved his gun, told his wife to call police and
confronted the teen. Unconvinced by his story claiming several men were trying to kill
him, Nipp held the youthful criminal -- who turned out to be a robbery suspect -- for
police at gunpoint. (The Sun-Sentinel, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, 08/03/93)
Awakened by noises in his Manchester, New Hampshire, home, John Kazakis reached for his
phone to call police. The phone was dead, however, so Kazakis picked up a rifle and went
downstairs to investigate. When he saw a man take something from his mailbox and approach
the house, Kazakis challenged him, and when that had no effect, fired a warning shot into
the ground, prompting the man to flee. Responding police found that phone lines had been
pulled out, apparently in a attempt to disable the home's burglar alarm. (The Citizen,
Laconia, NH, 07/15/93)
William Clark was tending the Indianapolis area liquor store where he works when a man
laid a dollar bill on the counter to pay for a beer. Before Clark could take the money,
however, he pulled a revolver, demanded money and Clark's gun. Clark started toward the
cash register, then pulled his own 9mm and fired, killing the robber. (The Star,
Indianapolis, IN, 08/13/93)
Alerted to an intruder's presence in her Dublin, Georgia, apartment when he began
beating on her locked bedroom door, Dorothy Smith, 64, picked up her pistol. The man
finally broke the door and entered the room, but Smith convinced him to leave by firing a
shot. (The Courier-Herald, Dublin, GA, 07/26/93)
Count NRA member Dale Tipton of Hutchinson, Kansas, among those who have defended
themselves with a gun and have lost their jobs for doing so. Tipton was delivering pizzas
for Pizza Hut after a range session with his AR-15 when three teens tried to rob him. When
one of the teens threatened him with a gun, Tipton hopped back into his car and grabbed
his rifle. "As soon as they saw it, they were trucking," said Tipton. Although
the incident occurred only a month after a unarmed driver was slain in Wichita, and police
said he did nothing wrong, Pizza Hut fired Tipton. (The News, Hutchinson, KS, 08/17/93)
"All of us were convinced he was going to kill us all," said Redwood City,
California, grocer John Pacheco of a man who brandished a pistol, knocked a customer to
the floor and began raving. Pacheco grabbed his .45 from its hiding place and shot twice.
One bullet found its mark, killing the gunman, who had been released from prison only two
months before. (The Mercury News, San Jose, CA, 07/23/93)
Awakened by noises, a Yuma, Arizona, homeowner got his gun before he went to
investigate. When the resident was confronted by the intruder, he fired. Wounded, the
interloper fled but was apprehended by police. (The Daily Sun, Yuma, AZ, 08/10/93)
An attempted home invasion was thwarted when Mary Williams decided the man who had
asked to use her phone had something else in mind. Williams, of Haines City, Florida, went
to get her .38. When she returned, the man was beating her husband over the head with the
phone. Williams ordered him from the home, but when he ignored her, she fired, mortally
wounding him. (The News Chief, Winter Haven, FL, 07/25/93)
Bill Faith used a larger caliber tool to defend himself after he was attacked in his
New Albany, Indiana, liquor store by a man wielding a shovel and hammer. Although
suffering a head wound, Faith was able to pull his pistol and fire three shots. Wounded,
the assailant ran, but was apprehended at a local hospital. "`When a man ... hits you
in the head with a shovel, you shoot him," said the local police chief. (The
Tribune, New Albany, IN, 04/14/93)
Willie Harris let a man use the phone in his Smithfield, Alabama, home, but when the
man returned several hours later, he wasn't interested in a return call. Attacked by the
man an an accomplice, Harris managed to retrieve a pistol he keeps in the house for
personal protection and fired, wounding both attackers, one mortally. (The News,
Birmingham, AL, 08/23/93)
A Zion, Illinois, restaurant owner was ready when a strong-arm robber made his second
appearance in two weeks. The thug, who was found to have cocaine in his blood, jumped the
counter of Bernice Thurmond's eatery, shoved her aside and started grabbing money from the
cash register. Thurmond grabbed a broom and hit the robber several times, then snatched up
a handgun and fired, critically wounding him. The state's attorney said the shooting
appeared justified. (The Tribune, Chicago, IL, 07/05/93)
A late-night robbery attempt in a San Bernardino, California, pizza shop ended when an
employee shot it out with the robbers and killed one. The armed crooks entered the shop
through a back door and started binding the employees with tape. The employee pulled his
gun, and in an exchange of shots, mortally wounded one and wounded the other. (The
Press-Enterprise, San Bernardino, CA, 05/27/93)
If you have had a firsthand “Armed Citizen” experience,
call NRA-ILA Grassroots at (800) 392-8683.
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