Specific examples are hard to find in the mainstream media because
biased reporters and editors
don't want to spread the idea that armed self-defense in one's home is legal and effective.
How often do Americans use
guns for defensive purposes? Criminologist and researcher Gary Kleck, using his own
commissioned phone surveys and number extrapolation, estimates that 2.5 million Americans use guns
for defensive purposes each year. He further found that of those who had used guns defensively,
one in six believed someone would have been dead if they had not resorted to their defensive use of
firearms.
Same story, much older article:
How
Often Are Firearms Used in Self-Defense? There are approximately
two million defensive gun uses per year by law abiding citizens. That was one
of the findings in a national survey conducted by Gary Kleck, a Florida State
University criminologist in 1993.
Same story again:
Simple
metal propulsion: According to a 1993 survey conducted by Florida State
University criminologist Gary Kleck, approximately 2 million law-abiding citizens per
year use guns to resist crimes.
Victim had just
fixed meal when he was assaulted and stabbed.
"If I'd had a trigger lock, I'd be dead."
Check out the Civilian Gun Self-Defense
Blog. Where Clayton Cramer and Pete Drum keep track of civilians using guns in
self-defense.
Somewhat related:
The Gun I Didn't Have. The most
street-wise punk knows it is stupid to bring a knife to a gunfight. I followed the laws, stayed legal,
and left my guns at home when I came here. The gun regulations of our nation's capitol put me face to
face with a criminal who ignores the laws. Law enforcement was not there to protect me and the rules I
followed stole my right to protect myself. Where's the justice in that?
Homeowner fatally shoots burglary suspect.
A homeowner shot and killed a suspected burglar who came at him with a tire iron Tuesday [7/28/2009] after
breaking into a storage shed on the man's property in east Harris County, officals said. Although the
shooting will be referred to a Harris County grand jury, investigators said it appears to be self-defense.
Woman,
70, who killed intruder at motel feels sick about shooting. The 70-year-old woman who shot a would-be robber
at a North Side motel last night is attending the All-American Quarter Horse Congress today and feels sick about the
shooting, according to her son.
Naked Man, 91, Holds Drunken Intruder at
Gunpoint. Authorities said a naked 91-year-old man was able to hold a drunken intruder at gunpoint
until deputies arrived.
Texas Resident Shot and Killed 2 Teenagers
During Home Invasion. Police in Texas say a group of teenagers were trying to break into a home
when a resident opened fire and killed two of the youths. San Marcos Police Chief Howard Williams says
the shootings happened shortly before 2 a.m. Friday [9/4/2009]. He says two 16-year-olds died and a third
teenager was seriously wounded.
Pregnant
woman holds intruder at gun point. The lesson here is never threaten an expecting mother,
especially if she's armed with a shotgun. "I was angry," Randi Fairley says. "I was really mad
that he was in my house."
Business
Owner Fires on 4 Robbers, Killing 2, Police Say. A 72-year-old Harlem business owner used a shotgun to blast
four men who tried to rob his restaurant-supply business Thursday afternoon, killing two and sending two others to the
hospital with gunshot wounds, the New York City police said.
Detroit mugger critical after victim
retaliates. A 32-year-old suffered a graze wound to the head but seriously injured a 17-year-old
trying to rob him at gunpoint in Detroit early today [8/25/2009], according to police. The intended
robbery victim, who has a permit to carry a weapon, pulled out his gun when he was confronted...
Concealed Carry Permits Are Life Savers.
In research sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice, in which almost 2,000 felons were interviewed, 34% of
felons said they had been "scared off, shot at, wounded or captured by an armed victim" and 40% of these
criminals admitted that they had been deterred from committing a crime out of fear that the potential victim
was armed. Allowing law-abiding people to arm themselves offers more than piece of mind for those
individuals — it pays off for everybody through lower crime rates.
Wellington
teacher fatally shoots armed intruder, PBSO says. One man is dead and a couple is left shaken
after a home-invasion robbery turned deadly early Monday [2/16/2009]. The intruder wound up dead after
he was shot by Heath Miller, 34, a popular music teacher at Howell L. Watkins MIddle School. The
dead man is identified as Robert Rishard Tomlin, 22.
Farmer's
daughter disarms terrorist and shoots him dead with AK47. An Indian farmer's daughter disarmed a
terrorist leader who broke into her home, attacked him with an axe and shot him dead with his own gun.
Guns Are Still Saving Lives.
On June 30, 2002, two Iowa youths escaped from a school for troubled teenagers. For twelve hours, they
terrorized the Woods community, stealing four automobiles and managing to evade capture by police. According
to the Rapid City Journal, Pete Paul Fast Horse and Jeremy Feltman were in a stolen Ford four-wheel-drive when
they "sped through an intersection and crashed into an embankment." They then fled on foot from pursuing
police and approached the house of Sena Lauritzen. When the 55-year-old grandmother saw the fugitives
attempting to enter her house through a patio door, she grabbed a shotgun and held them until police arrived.
"This is my little bit of heaven," she said after the incident. "They had no right to invade it."
Child shoots intruder during home break-in. A
ten-year-old boy left home alone with his sister used his mother's gun to shoot an intruder in the face, police said.
Late Tuesday, West Baton Rouge Parish sheriff's deputies received a call to a Port Allen apartment complex after several
shots rang out from inside one of the apartments.
Ambushed pizza man kills attacker.
Three men charged in the attempted pizza robbery Saturday [3/7/2009] had their bond set this morning at
$250,000 each by Magistrate Brian Jeffcoat. ... Each is charged with criminal conspiracy and strong armed
robbery of Pizza Hut delivery man Christopher Steven Miller, 43. Miller shot and killed one of the
assailants who attacked him when he attempted to deliver a pizza to a house on Avery Place Lane near
Irmo High School.
Pizza man says fear he'd die led to shooting.
A pizza deliveryman, who said Monday he has been held up twice before, fired shots that killed a teenager during
a holdup because he feared he would die and not see his wife and 5-year-old daughter again. "I believe
everyone has the right to defend themselves if their lives are threatened," Christopher Miller, 43, said in a
statement issued through police.
Cops:
Cape Girardeau woman kills man who returned to rape her second time. An intended rape victim shot
and killed her attacker this morning [10/31/2008] in Cape Girardeau when he broke into her home to rape her a
second time, police said. The 57-year-old woman shot RonnieW. Preyer, 47, a registered sex offender, in the
chest with a shotgun when he broke through her locked basement door. The woman told police he was the same
man who raped her several days earlier.
Crime-fighting's
future merely a guy with a gun. Chris is an Ocoee [Florida] man who keeps a .40-caliber semiautomatic
pistol in his glove box. Last week, while shopping at his favorite Kangaroo Express, he used it. Chris
had stopped there for a pack of smokes and a slice of pizza with the clerk. While leaving, he noticed a
man casing the joint.
Tables
Turned on Intruder During Home Invasion. The tables turned on a burglar when a homeowner took
matters into his own hands. … The pregnant woman inside the home was getting ready to give her
18-month-old child a bath when she heard noises.
Robbed twice, San
Pablo shop owner was ready to shoot. Amariae Sanders was a 16-year-old boy who may have thought
a San Pablo gift shop would be an easy mark. But when he vaulted the counter while armed with a
sawed-off shotgun, he had no way of knowing that the store owner would fight back, police say.
Man who threatened Christians may lose
eye. A man who came to the home of two women whom he had threatened to decapitate with a
knife received a blow to the head that could cost him an eye, according to Colorado Springs police.
Russell Bowman, who claims to be an atheist, threatened the women because they are Christian on Sept. 8.
On Friday [9/12/2008], he arrived at their apartment and stood in a hallway, according to a police report.
Elderly Woman Grabs Gun, Holds Would-Be Burglar At
Bay. An 85-year-old great-grandmother from Lake Lynn, Fayette County kept an alleged burglar at
bay using a .22-caliber pistol. According to police, a 17-year-old suspect was attempting to burglarize
Leda Smith overnight. That's when Smith grabbed her gun and told the teen that she would shoot him if he
moved, police said.
Robbery ends when employee pulls
out a gun. Two men tried to rob an Old Hickory Sonic restaurant, but an assistant manager pulled out a gun and
fired shots, causing the suspects to flee. Police believe that one or both of the suspects was wounded. Metro
police Capt. Michele Donegan said that at approximately 10:30 p.m. Thursday [7/3/2008], two men, one of whom was armed
with a handgun, went inside the Sonic at 1410 Robinson Road, in Old Hickory [Tennessee].
Customer pulls gun, stops
robbery. It was a busy night Monday at Buck's IGA on the 3000 block of South Meridian Street.
"Charlie," who didn't want his image or name used with this story, was in line to check out. A man
police later identified as Dwain Smith reportedly ran into the store wearing a ski mask and yelling.
Man Cleared for Killing Neighbor's
Burglars. A Texas man who shot and killed two men he believed to be burglarizing his neighbor's
home won't be going to trial. A grand jury today failed to indict Joe Horn, a 61-year-old computer
technician who lives in an affluent subdivision in Pasadena, Texas.
Joe Horn cleared by grand jury in Pasadena
shootings. The shooting of two burglary suspects has sparked heated debate about property rights,
gun control and other issues. A Harris County grand jury decided today that Joe Horn should not be charged
with a crime for shooting two suspected burglars he confronted outside his neighbor's home in Pasadena last fall.
The decision to clear Horn of wrongdoing came two weeks after the grand jury began considering evidence in the case,
including Horn's testimony last week.
'I wouldn't
be here' if not for gun. Glen Soustek knows a handgun saved his life. "If it weren't for
my gun, I wouldn't be here," he said. "The last the world would have heard about me would be a blurb
on Page 8: 'Coin shop owner shot dead in backroom.'"
Right
to carry v. right to know: In a St. Louis suburb this week, Riccardo Crossland was charged
with robbery and assault after he and another thug held a 23-year-old Florida man at gunpoint, demanding his
money. After obtaining his wallet and watch, Crossland turned and took a few steps away from the robbery
victim, then turned back and raised his weapon. Unfortunately for Crossland, the man he was robbing was
legally permitted to carry a concealed handgun — and was carrying one at the time.
'Gun-free'
school zones? What do felons think about an armed citizenry? A survey of
convicted felons by the National Institute of Justice found 74 percent of the felons
agreed that, "One reason burglars avoid houses when people are home is that they fear being
shot during the crime." The survey also asked these felons whether they had abandoned at
least one crime because they feared the intended victim might be armed.
Homeowner Shoots Teen Suspect During Home Invasion.
A 16-year-old home invasion suspect is recovering from gunshot wounds after a Union City man said the teen kicked
in the back door of his townhome Saturday [6/21/2008]. The 28-year-old homeowner said the teen rang the
doorbell, but when no one answered, the suspect went around to the back of the townhouse. Police said the
resident got his gun and shot the teen in the shoulder after the suspect kicked in the back door and entered
the home.
80-year-old
puts attacker in hospital. Investigators say they were definitely going to rob him — possibly
even kill him. But an 80-year-old North Texan wasn't about to let that happen, so he took action. … In short,
even at 80, he is someone you just don't mess with. What the men didn't know is [James] Picket had taken a pistol
and put it in his pocket before opening the door.
80-Year-Old
Man Shoots, Beats Up Attackers. James Picket may be 80, but he's no pushover. The North
Texas man proved that when a couple of guys up to no good knocked on his door last weekend and tried to mess
with him.
Wayne Homeowner Kills Intruder. Three
armed men broke into the home at 2546 Old Mount Olive Highway at about 12:30 a.m. while the family slept
inside. The intruders held two adults and four children, ages 4, 5 and 8, at gunpoint and ransacked the
house, authorities said. During the robbery, one of the suspects fired a shot, prompting the man who
lives in the house to grab a gun and shoot back, authorities said.
Resident Shoots and Kills Home Invader. A Phoenix
homeowner shot and killed a home invader who had kicked in the front door of the house and was attempting to break into the
bedroom where he and his family were sleeping, Phoenix police said.
Wife produces 9mm and husband opens fire.
Couple
at East Dallas cleaners work together to foil, kill robber. Customers picking up pants and shirts pulled up beside a large bloodstain Monday in the parking lot of Joe's
Cleaners. Asked to describe his lethal encounter with a robber a few hours earlier, owner Joseph Baggett
apologized for saying little.
Gunshots deter
break-ins. There were similarities in two attempted burglaries in Jackson on Friday
[9/28/2007]. The residents of both homes were watching television when the alleged suspects
were caught in the act. And in both cases, the suspects were fired on.
Suspected burglar fatally
shot at Harris County home. A southwest Harris County homeowner shot and killed a man he
discovered climbing into a window of his house at about 2:15 a.m. today, investigators said.
Steven Dunbar, who apparently lived several blocks away, died in the window of the home in the
3400 block of Cascadia, Harris County sheriff's homicide Det. Rolf Nelson said.
Fort Lauderdale jeweler shoots two gunmen.
A jewelry store owner critically wounded two armed men in a shootout Wednesday [5/9/2007] after the pair tried
to rob his shop, police said. … A police spokeswoman said it is unlikely that store owner Hugo Villalta,
whose gun is licensed, will face any charges.
Teen shot by Houston homeowner in
alleged break-in. After a sleepless night, [Bob] Manross said that the pistol-carrying teen
broke into his home, called him by his first name and threatened to shoot him unless he handed over his cash.
Manross said he fooled the invader, whom he recognized. "I told him I didn't have the money with me but I'd get
it from the other room," said Manross, who had a loaded rifle just a room away from his kitchen.
Intruder
with sledgehammer is shot and killed. Jamie Buck was asleep early
Friday when a sledgehammer shattered his
side door's window and a stranger burst into his rented home, demanding money or jewelry.
That was the last demand would ever make. Brandenburg, 31, was shot to death inside Buck's Bishop Avenue
home early Friday, seven weeks after Brandenburg's latest release from jail.
Would-be robbers
outgunned at LaFollette home. Two Campbell County [Tennessee] men toting a pellet gun picked the
wrong house to rob Tuesday night [1/9/2007] when the homeowner grabbed a pistol and opened fire, authorities
said. "They brought a BB gun to a real gunfight," LaFollette Police Department Detective Jeff Allen said.
Chicks
Carrying Guns and Kicking Tail. Over the past couple weeks, there have been a couple stories
floating around that just warmed my little heart, but they didn't get a lot of attention, so I have decided
to give them plenty. Do you wonder what kind of story it takes to warm my cold, conservative heart?
Well, wonder no longer.
Chicks
With Guns, Part II. I got more mail from last week's column than any of my others —
some from grandmas, some from single gals, some from shooting instructors. I got new stories, weapon
recommendations, invitations to the shooting range.
Police: Homeowner Shoots Burglary
Suspect. A man accused of breaking into a Daytona Beach home was shot by the homeowner Tuesday
night, according to police. Thomas Lockhart, 28, is in critical condition at Halifax Medical Center after
being shot just after 10 p.m. at a house on Orange Avenue in Daytona Beach. Police said they responded
to a 911 call from Walter Watson, 70, whose house had already been burglarized three times this week, and
found Lockhart suffering from a gunshot wound.
Tennessee
Carjacker Picks the Wrong Guy To Assault: A man who turned the
tables and fatally shot a would-be carjacker in Nashville deserves a "good
citizenship" award for fighting crime, according to a national gun advocacy group.
74-year-old
shoots intruder. Willie Brown said he thought he was back in a foxhole in Korea on Thursday
morning [6/15/2006] when a burglar stood at the door to Brown's bedroom. "He said, 'I got a knife,
don't move,'" Brown recalled. "I reached behind my back and whipped my gun from under my pillow and
said, 'Take this .38,' and I blasted him."
Guns Save Lives. Such a
large number of defensive gun uses poses a problem for gun control activists. When
guns are widely used for self-defense, legislation that makes using them more difficult,
like safe storage, trigger locks, and outright bans, just condemns more people to being
beaten, robbed, raped, and murdered. This happened in Britain, where rates of violent
crime, gun robbery and murder skyrocketed after handguns were banned and registered owners
were required to surrender their weapons.
John
Stossel / ABC News Explode Gun Control Myth: Interviewing a group of
prison inmates, John Stossel reports, "Some maximum security felons I spoke to in New Jersey
scoffed at measures like the Brady law. They said they'll have no trouble getting
guns if they want them. A Justice Department study confirmed what the prisoners
said. But get this: the felons say that the thing they fear the most is not the
police, not time in prison, but, you, another American who might be armed."
Surviving
Home Invasions: "People who defend themselves in a home invasion
fare better than those who don't. That's just how it is." A collection of news
reports of home invasions, anecdotal evidence for the effective use of
guns in self-defense.
11-year-old
shoots, kills assailant threatening his grandmother: When
Tony D. Murry held a box cutter to Sue Gay’s neck Monday night,
Gay’s 11-year-old adopted son ran upstairs and grabbed a gun.
Florida
Dad shoots intruders to save daughter and himself: Semiautomatic
gun under pillow foils attempted robbery in hotel room.
104
cases of lives being saved through the lawful use of
guns. You will rarely - if ever - hear stories like this on the television news.
Exercising
the Right: Case after case in which the lawful
use of guns saved lives.
[More
cases]
[More]
[More]
[More]
[More]
[More]
[More]
[More]
[More!]
The Latest Armed Self-defense News
Stories: Dozens of similar cases!
Huge
collection of anecdotes: Cases in which guns saved lives.
Guns
Save Lives: You would think that a man who saved three people's
lives, at considerable risk to his own, would be recognized as a hero. But his
story would be politically incorrect, so it has received virtually no media
attention and his name remains unknown.
People
don't stop killers. People with guns do. [Both] Virginia Tech [and] the University of
Tennessee … think that by making their campuses "gun-free," they'll make people safer, when in fact
they're only disarming the people who follow rules, law-abiding people who are no danger at all. This
merely ensures that the murderers have a free hand. If there were more responsible, armed people on
campuses, mass murder would be harder.
Armed citizens can defuse terrorist threat: Israeli
Police Inspector General Shlomo Aharonisky has repeatedly called on all concealed-handgun-permit holders to
carry firearms at all times. In March [2002], Israeli police announced they wanted to increase the
number of Israelis carrying handguns by 60,000. "There's no question that weapons in the hands of the
public have prevented acts of terror or stopped them while they were in progress," Aharonisky says.
[Meanwhile in the U.S.,] the police seem more concerned about monitoring law-abiding citizens than in
protecting them.
When It's Guns, Media Miss Big Part Of Picture: When
more than one person gets killed, the crimes get not only national but international news coverage. On
the other hand, when was the last time that you heard the national evening news reporting about a citizen using
a gun to save lives? Few people realize that people use guns defensively to stop about 2 million
crimes a year, according to national surveys.
Guns Save
Lives. Some gun control advocates begrudgingly concede that the Second Amendment
does protect citizens' right to own guns, but nearly all feel that 'reasonable' restrictions
on this right ought to be enforced. Mandatory waiting periods, trigger locks, and
handgun bans: common sense devices to control gun violence. But what do these
measures really accomplish?
How guns save
lives: Florida State University Professor Gary Kleck recently estimated
that Americans use firearms at least 2.5 million times a year for self-defense.
Annie,
Get Your Gun: Women with firearms help make America safer.
Guns in the Hands of Private Citizens Make Us All
Safer: To the anti-gun lobby, the worst news of all had to be the way in which tens of thousands
of Americans reacted to the atrocities of September 11: They went out and bought guns.
Professor Cites Evidence That Guns Stop Crimes: Yale
University Professor John R. Lott Jr., author of "More Guns, Less Crime" says his research shows that guns used defensively
stop about two million crimes a year, five times the amount of crimes in which guns are used.
Related story: The
Great Gun Fight: A debate about the validity of the statements
in John R. Lott Jr.'s book, "More Guns, Less Crime."
Crime Plunges in Pro-gun Town.
Good Kids With Guns: Young
people have used guns responsibly to protect themselves or loved ones from death or injury.
Kids and Guns: With greater youth accessibility
to guns in the past, why wasn't there the kind of violence we see with today's much more restricted access to guns?
Gun Control Science Misfires: Gun
control advocates used to claim that more guns meant more crime. Research demonstrated, though, that more
guns meant less crime. As the criminology argument faded, gun control advocates began arguing guns were
a public health problem.
Politics
Fuels Mandatory Gun Ownership Laws: Behind every door in
Kennesaw, Ga., in theory, is a loaded firearm awaiting anyone who dares to
unlawfully enter a home. In 1982, the Kennesaw City Council voted to put into
effect an ordinance that requires the male head of the household to keep at the
ready a firearm for the protection of his home and family.
Gun
Buying Surge Shows Many Feel 'Responsible for Their Own Safety': Larry
Pratt, president of Gun Owners of America, agrees that the
increased sale of firearms reflects a new attitude among Americans
that they are vulnerable and must take responsibility for
protecting themselves.
Israel is Arming its Civilians
— Why Aren't We? Inundated as we are with anti-gun propaganda, many well-meaning Americans
cannot imagine how guns in private hands might be useful in fighting terror. The Israelis do not suffer
from such confusion.
W. Wimps Out on Guns: The GOP president was
silent about the untold number of gun shootings committed every year in self-defense. Just two weeks ago,
a 12-year-old girl in Clarksdale, Miss., saved her mother's life when she shot and killed an abusive
ex-boyfriend who had forced his way into the apartment and started choking her mom.
Gun
Stops Gunman Before Serious Damage Was Done: [3/22/01] - Unlike
previous school shootings where troubled teens have turned guns on their classmates, it was
the gun of a campus police officer - and his willingness to use it -- that brought a quick
end to Thursday's mayhem.
I
Am Alive, No Thanks to Gun Control.
The
Benefits of Firearms by Miguel A. Faria Jr., M.D.
Firearms
in America: The Facts Martin L. Fackler, MD
says firearms are not the problem.
Camper Wakes Up in Midst of Bear
Attack: A man out camping with his brother woke up with one heck of a headache, only to discover
that a bear was biting him in the head. Thanks to his quick reactions — and to the handgun he
was carrying — Rodney Black, 51, will be OK.
Woman Fatally Shoots Intruder: A
man is dead after police say he tried to sexually assault a woman in her own home.
When
Will We Learn? Guns in the Right Hands Save Lives!
If
You Want to Stop a Killer, You Have to Speak His Language
Huge assortment of RKBA Links.
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