Links I Like

The Ethical Spectacle
NRA
Fascinating Video Lecture
International Journal
    of Occupational and
    Environmental Health
Students for Concealed
     Carry on Campus

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
March, 1995

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

Even after Korean-born Joseph Choi told the armed robber to take whatever he wanted, the intruder forced the shopkeeper to his hands and knees and threatened to kill him. When the robber locked the door to his Spokane, Washington, watch repair shop, Choi made a decision. "I had to take a chance. I die or he die. I'm not lucky, I die," said Choi, who grabbed the man's wrist, attempting to wrench the gun loose. During the ensuing struggle, Choi reached his own handgun and was able to unleash three shots. Two were on target, fatally wounding the robber, who authorities said had an extensive criminal record. (The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA, 12/16/94)

State and local law enforcement officials praised Elva, Kentucky, resident Anthony Sexton, his brother, and two cousins after they captured four men being sought in a manhunt after burglarizing a nearby home. Sexton came upon two of the wanted men on a road and confronted them. His relatives found two more suspects hiding in the woods. When one of the criminals attempted to pull a stolen .357 Mag., it became entangled in the lining of his jacket — a fortunate thing for the criminal. "He doesn't know how close he came to getting killed right there," said Sexton, who had a gun of his own. The criminals were held at gunpoint until police could arrive. (The Sun, Paducah, KY, 11/2/94)

Rebecca Griffin awoke to the screams of her daughter, who was being bound and gagged by two kidnappers in her Washington, D.C., home. She confronted the men, one of whom was carrying knife, and brought the attack to a quick halt when she was able to break free and retrieve a .32 cal. revolver from the basement, shooting the knife-wielder four times. The other suspect fled. Griffin and one daughter were slashed during the attack. Some news accounts made no mention that the handgun that saved the Griffins is illegal in the District. (The Times, Washington, D.C., 12/14/94)

Rochester, New York, market owner Ali Amireh still carries a bullet lodged next to his heart after being shot in the chest during a 1992 armed robbery. He was not about to take another one. When two criminals walked into his store and opened fire on Amireh, he drew his own legally owned .38 and shot back. The armed robber was struck once, while the other suspect fled. The incident was the third in Rochester that month where citizens defended themselves. Just two weeks earlier, a restaurant owner shot a bandit during an attempted robbery. In another incident, two city employees being held up in a parking lot pulled their legally carried firearms and shot and killed their assailant. No charges were filed against the crime victims in any of those incidents. (Times-Union, Rochester, NY, 12/20/94)

Jimmy Kirkpatrick thought it might be friends knocking at the door of his Dallas, Texas, apartment at 2 a.m. Instead, the 26-year-old Army reservist found himself looking down the barrel of a rifle held by one of two strangers. Kirkpatrick, who usually answers the door with a pistol behind his back because his door doesn't have a peephole, stepped quickly to the side as a shot went past him. He then fired a single mortal shot into one man. The surviving intruder told police the two had gone to Kirkpatrick's apartment to rob him. Police said Kirkpatrick was justified for shooting his attacker. (The Morning News, Dallas, TX, 12/19/94)

When Lake Los Angeles, California, resident Alfred Abel saw his girlfriend being brutally beaten by her former landlord, he did the only thing he could to stop the attack. Partially paralyzed on his right side, Abel managed to grab his .45 semi-auto pistol. After shouting a warning, Abel fired a single shot at the aggressor, striking him in the abdomen and killing him. Prosecutors refused to file charges against Abel, saying he came to the defense of his girlfriend. (Times, Los Angeles, CA 11/5/94)

Two long criminal careers ended in a hail of gunfire in a Richmond, Virginia, jewelry store. The robbers, aged 56 and 71, were masked and armed as they burst into the store, but owner Gary Baker and his five employees already had revolvers and shotguns in hand. More than 30 shots were fired in a firefight that killed both criminals. Other than a shotgun pellet to Baker's hand, the jewelers were unscathed. (Times-Dispatch, Richmond, VA 12/6/94)

Housebreakers had entered Lillie Mae Ponder's Orlando, Florida, home twice in less then a week, so she grabbed her .38 Spl. when she heard noises from her 77-year-old husband's bedroom. There she found a criminal spraying wheelchair bound Paul Ponder with Mace. Though he turned the irritant on her, too, she was able to fire, killing her attacker. Police said the shooting was justified. (The Sentinel, Orlando, FL 12/8/94)

What police called "fatal attraction" cost a 15-year-old boy his life. Obsessed with a neighborhood woman, he allegedly broke into her Broken Bow, Oklahoma, home three times in a week, once raping the mother of two at knife-point. But when he entered the home the final time carrying a stolen handgun, a pair of handcuffs and a ski mask, the youth encountered two armed men guarding the home in the family's absence. Police said the unidentified citizen who killed the alleged rapist "had no choice." (Gazette Texarkana, TX 11/3/94)

Suspicious after it seemed a "customer" was casing his isolated Woodson, Arkansas, store, Sherman Waldern, 72, reached behind the meat counter for a .357 Mag. while his wife went to lock the store's door. But before she could secure it, three robbers — one armed with a shotgun — burst in. Waldern shot and killed the shotgun wielder as his fellow criminals fled the scene. Police soon identified two other men as suspects. (Democrat Gazette, Little Rock, AR 12/2/94)

If you have had a firsthand “Armed Citizen” experience,
call NRA-ILA Grassroots at (800) 392-8683.

[ Backwards ] [ Home ] [ Up ] [ Forwards ]

Last Updated — June 20, 2008