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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
April, 1999

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

Kenneth Thornton was beaten with a tire iron and robbed at his business, located in a high-crime area of Memphis, Tennessee, in June 1998. After that traumatic incident, he had taken steps to ensure that he would not be victimized again. Unfortunately, when he buzzed two men in at his equipment supply company one December afternoon, he didn’t recognize that one was an assailant from the earlier incident. The mistake could have cost Thornton his life, but when the second attack began, he grabbed his handgun and fatally shot one of the intruders. The other man fled on foot. (The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, TN, 12/1/98)

When 62-year-old Perry Johns of Pensacola, Florida, answered a knock at his front door one morning, he found a female acquaintance asking to use his telephone. Once inside, the woman asked Johns for money, a request she reinforced by pulling a gun. The scene sent a friend of Johns, who had been visiting, running from the house to summon police. After briefly chasing him, the woman went back inside and ordered Johns to drive her and a companion to a bank money machine to make a withdrawal. But as they stepped outside, Johns grabbed a gun from behind the door and fired several shots, wounding and sending the woman to the ground. Like her companion, she escaped, but was captured shortly thereafter to face charges of home-invasion robbery, aggravated assault with a firearm and kidnaping. (Pensacola News Journal, Pensacola, FL, 1/9/99)

Jerry and Mary Lou Krause had established a plan to protect themselves in case anyone ever tried to invade their Swanton Township, Ohio, home. As it turned out, they desperately needed that plan one evening when two men came to the door asking for directions. As Jerry Krause stood inside talking with the first man, Mary Lou Krause followed the plan and fetched her .22-cal. handgun from the bedroom. When she returned, a second man — this one armed with a gun — was helping the first man force his way inside. In the exchange of gunfire that followed, Mary Lou Krause was grazed and the two intruders were sent hightailing into the night. "… She was absolutely correct in defending herself," said Lucus County Sheriff Jim Talb. (The Blade Toledo, OH, 12/28/98)

While a lookout lay in wait outside a Kansas City, Missouri, residence, his two accomplices set about robbing the homeowner inside. After apparently succeeding in their dastardly deed, the pair exited the home to make good their escape. Much to his dismay, however, the "outside" man soon noticed the homeowner was armed and had taken up the pursuit. An exchange of gunfire between the homeowner and the three armed crooks sent the two invaders fleeing into the night while the lookout staggered to a nearby house with wounds that later proved fatal. (Kansas City Star, Kansas City, MO, 12/24/98)

South Omaha resident Gregory W. Webster was in his basement late one evening when three men wearing ski masks and brandishing guns broke in. "A short scuffle ensued," said police Sgt. Joe Mackevicius. "The people breaking in drew guns and possibly fired shots." Webster, who was wounded in the left shoulder, fought back, firing shots from his own gun. Not confident that his efforts were effective, he reportedly told police that his shots had struck only one assailant. Minutes later, however, police apprehended one wounded man in a vehicle fitting witness descriptions, and another wounded man turned himself in at a local hospital emergency room. (Omaha World-Herald, Omaha, NE, 1/28/99)

After suffering three robberies in only eight days at their Douglas County, Georgia, store, Randy and Barbara Rogers decided to take action. The couple began taking turns guarding the store at night, camping out of sight on the floor. While on watch early one morning, Randy Rogers — armed with his wife’s .38 Spl. revolver — was ready when two men smashed out the glass front door and came inside. Rogers surprised the pair and fired his gun, wounding one of the men in the buttocks and sending both fleeing. Police quickly captured both men and charged them with burglary. (Douglas County Sentinel, Douglas County, GA, 1/14/99)

Business owner Mark E. Duncan was at work in his Holton Package Store in Holton, Indiana, one afternoon when two men walked in and announced, "We’re here to take your money." As one man stood at the door with a hand in his pocket "as to portray having a weapon," according to the police report, the other approached Duncan. That’s when the store owner turned the tables on the would-be crooks. Reaching behind the counter, Duncan retrieved a handgun he kept there for exactly such situations. "The two men, seeing the owner obtain the gun, ran out the door," states the report flatly. (Herald-Tribune, Batesville, IN, 1/6/99)

Residents of a Burnsville, Minnesota, house were rocked awake shortly after 1 a.m. by a man who repeatedly rang the front door bell and then kicked in the door and came inside. After a male resident armed himself and closed the bedroom door, the man pushed it open and punched the resident in the nose. As the two wrestled, the intruder proclaimed "I don’t care if I die." Soon he was going after the female resident of the house. The attacker began choking her and then pushed her head through a closed window, breaking out the glass. When her tormentor came at the woman again, the male resident fired a shot, hitting the intruder in the leg. The wounded home invader left to seek help at a hospital where he was arrested and charged with first-degree burglary. (Burnsville/Lakeville Sun-Current, Bloomington, MN, 12/9/98)

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

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Last Updated — June 20, 2008