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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, 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

A Randolph County, Illinois, farmer became a warrior in the fight against illicit drugs when he interrupted two trespassers attempting to steal a common liquid fertilizer from his property. According to authorities, the pair intended to use the anhydrous ammonia to manufacture methamphetamine. Their dastardly plans were halted, however, when the farmer confronted them with a shotgun, holding them until police arrived. (The Southern Illinoisan, Carbondale, IL, 4/24/99)

The robber fraternity apparently has failed to spread the word among its members that hitting the Bank of Clarkson, Kentucky, when banker Clyde Bratcher is on duty can be a fatal mistake. Bratcher was in his office one Tuesday afternoon when a man vaulted over the bank counter and declared, “This is a robbery!” Bratcher charged to the rescue, firing twice with a handgun whose shots fatally struck the bandit in the chest. He had protected the bank’s assets in a similar manner only three years earlier by dispatching yet another would-be crook who walked into the bank wielding a rifle and wearing a stocking on his head. Bratcher’s grandfather-also named Clyde Bratcher was a bank president when, in 1958, he ran off three bandits, pointing at them with a gun whose 35-year-old cartridges failed to fire. (The Courier-Journal, Louisville, KY, 6/3/99)

A Heathrow, Florida, woman had endured unwanted advances and spying from a greenskeeper at her local golf course for more than six months. In a final invasion of his victim’s privacy, the stalker, armed with a handgun and a rope, found his way into the woman’s home. After ordering her husband out of the way, the man confronted the woman, pushing her into a back bedroom and letting loose a volley of five shots. The wounded victim was not about to go easily, however, and fired back with one shot from a .38-cal. revolver she had bought for protection. The shot proved fatal to the 50-year- old man whose body was found next to a backpack full of pornography. The stalker was also under indictment for five counts of lewd and lascivious assault on a child. (Boston Herald, Boston, MA, 5/11/99)

Jeff Grenfell was playing a video game in his Billings, Montana, home with his neighbor and his neighbor’s son one Saturday evening when two men rang the doorbell. When Grenfell answered, the pair pushed their way inside and began physically attacking Grenfell throughout the house. Backed against a workbench, Grenfell managed to get his hand on a screwdriver with which he stabbed one of the invaders. Both men fled, whereupon a neighbor, waiting with a .44 Mag. handgun, detained them until police arrived. (Billings Gazette, Billings, MT,12/13/98)

Steve Webb, owner of Beaverdam Quick Stop country store in Hanover, Virginia, was faced with every proprietor’s nightmare: an armed, would-be crook demanding money from the till. This time, though, the bad guy was quickly outmatched. Webb’s .45-cal. semi- automatic easily trumped the ne’er-do-well’s squirt pistol. When police arrived, they found the suspect’s quirt gun nearby-relieved to see them. “I don’t think he blinked the whole 10 minutes he was on the floor,” while being held at bay, said Pat Webb, the store owner’s wife. (The Courier-Tribune, Asheboro, NC, 4/12/99)

Jerry Pommer of Canton, South Dakota, was shocked to find that his herd of medical research sheep had been attacked by a neighbor’s Dobermans. “There was blood, death and injuries. The dogs kept on killing while I stood there,” he said. Running to his house, Pommer was able to retrieve a 12-ga. shotgun and halt the vicious attack by delivering a deadly shot to one dog and injuring another before it escaped. The second dog was later taken by its owner to a veterinarian and put to sleep. The dogs had killed 10 sheep and injured 28 more. “I can bury sheep, but if I had to bury a child, that would be hard to deal with,” Pommer said. (Argus Leader, Sioux Falls, SD, 5/5/99)

The manager of a Farmington Hills, Michigan, motel and his fiancée were in a bedroom early one Sunday morning when a man came inside, threatened the pair and attacked the woman with a hammer. The manager was able to halt the potentially deadly attack with three shots from a .357 Mag, sending the intruder to the hospital in critical condition. (The Detroit News, Detroit, MI, 5/10/99)

When 71-year-old Edith Ledbetter woke to noises in her Slapout, Alabama, home early one Saturday, she retrieved a .410-bore shotgun from her bedroom and fired once at an intruder. The shot found its target, striking the man in the neck and ending the home invasion. “This is one lady who decided not to be a victim,” said Elmore County Sheriff Bill Franklin. “She was protecting herself and her home.” (Montgomery Advertiser, Montgomery, AL, 5/12/99)

Titus Davis and his family arrived back at their Fayetteville, North Carolina, home one Monday night to find a broken window pane in the front door and, inside, a VCR, television set and other items piled on the living room floor. Resolving to investigate, Davis retrieved a rifle from the trunk of his car and entered the house. “When he opened the closet door, the suspect lunged at him, and [Davis] started shooting,” said Cumberland County Sheriff’s Capt. Freddy Johnson. Davis’ shots fatally wounded his attacker who had been armed with a handgun. (Times-News, Burlington, NC, 5/19/99)

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