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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
August, 1998

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

Manhattan jewelry store owner Gary Austen, 43, was bound with a necktie during a morning heist in which armed bandits menaced a customer and emptied the safe. Once free, Austen ran out of the store shouting, "Call the cops!" Then chasing one suspect, he came face to face with the man at a blocked subway entrance. Austen drew his licensed .25 cal. handgun and fired twice. The bleeding man fled and was later caught hiding in the basement of a pharmacy. He was hospitalized in serious condition and charged with first-degree robbery and weapons possession. A female accomplice escaped. Austen was not charged in the incident. (The New York Times, New York, NY, 5//9/98)

According to Elko County, Nevada, Sheriff Neil Harris, a man who had befriended and later stalked Tracy Templeton deliberately waited until Templeton’s husband was away one morning before entering the couple’s house. The man beat Templeton in the face with the heel of his hand in an attempt to deliver a tactical blow designed to kill. But Templeton’s 15-year-old son, who was in the house along with her 3-year-old son, came to his mother’s rescue. He first attempted to pull the man away, then ran into a bedroom, where he grabbed a semiautomatic .22-cal. handgun. When he returned, he fired three shots, killing the attacker. Templeton suffered a deep cut over her right eye, a broken cheek bone, a broken nose, and bruises seq. The assailant had been released from jail ] the previous night after serving time for the stalking. (Elko Daily Free Press, Elko, NV, 4/10/98)

After five break-ins at his Venice, Florida, home in fewer than six months, Jack Foster had had enough. Foster, a retired policeman, was awakened early one morning in yet another invasion of his privacy and soon found himself scuffling with a scofflaw. Foster grabbed a gun and fired three shots at the intruder, seriously wounding him. "You have the inalienable right to defend yourself, up to and including using deadly force when you feel your life or the life of a family member is threatened," said Sarasota County Sheriff’s Lt. Bill Stookey of the incident. (Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Sarasota, FL, 4/21/98)

Just as Corpus Christi, Texas, resident Candace McLallen was about to step into the shower one afternoon, she was interrupted by the front doorbell. Looking outside, McLallen saw an unfamiliar car and three equally unfamiliar men. Determined not to let them in, and in a quandary as to what to do next, she was stunned by the loud noise and flying splinters of the front door as it slammed open. McLallen raced to her bedroom, where she kept a .38-cal. revolver for home protection. Once there, she grabbed the gun in one hand and her one-year-old daughter in the other and let two shots ring out. The home invaders were so scared when they realized their i intended "victim" was armed that they fled the scene, leaving the getaway car behind. (Corpus Christi Caller-Times, Corpus Christi, TX, 5/7/98)

When a ne’r-do-well entered the Pick-A-Flick video store in Nashville and shoved a gun in the face of employee Gary Williams the would-be robber didn’t realize his life was hanging in the balance. According to Metro Police spokesman Don Aaron, "The clerk knocked the gun away from his face, the suspect shot and [the clerk] shot." Williams suffered a minor hand wound but when he retrieved his own gun and fired back, a fatal shot struck the would-be robber’s head. Shortly afterward, police arrested another man they suspected of being the getaway driver. (The Tennessean, Nashville, TN, 5/15/98)

As she entered her apartment one afternoon, 18-year-old Karen Walkden was followed and confronted by her landlord, with whom she had earlier had a dispute. According to police, Walkden said the man made certain comments that led her to believe he was going to sexually assault her. When Walkden told the man to leave, he grabbed her, police said. She then ran into another room and retrieved a shotgun that she had purchased only weeks earlier for home protection. Walkden fired one shot into the man’s chest. Within 10 minutes, he was pronounced dead by paramedics. (Daily News, Woodland Hills, CA, 4/24/98)

When one of three masked gunmen who had entered a Boynton Beach Florida, eatery demanded Edward Greifer’s wallet, Greifer pulled out his .25-cal. handgun instead, pointed it at the man’s neck, and said, "Are you sure you want my wallet?" At that point, according to police, the robbers decided it was time to leave, but still managed to escape with $1,600 and a woman’s purse. (Palm Beach Post, Palm Beach, FL, 12/19/97)

A masked gun-wielding man who grabbed the arm of an employee one evening at Bruno’ Pizza Pie in Tampa, Florida, didn’t count on such swift "service" from the restaurant’s manager. As the tense situation played out, the manager came to the employee’s rescue with a gun and shot the robber, critically wounding him and sending him fleeing. Police found the man collapsed in a vacant field shortly thereafter with a ski mask and gun a short distance away. No charges were filed against the manager. (Tampa Tribune, Tampa, FL, 5/5/98)

In yet another botched pizza shop robbery, two masked men walked into Cara Mia Pizza in Reading, Pennsylvania, pointed a rifle at the shop’s owner and, when they could not open the cash drawer, attempted to make off with the entire cash register. Recognizing the dire nature of the situation, employee Anthony Ferrante, 39, ran to the back of the store, retrieved his licensed 9 mm handgun, and started firing at the bandits. The two men quickly fled the scene. (Reading Eagle/Reading Times, Reading, PA, 5/13/98)

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