Armed Citizens Make a Difference

Studies indicate that firearms are used over 1 million times a year for personal protection, and that 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 or limb, or, in some cases, property. Anyone is free to quote or reproduce these accounts. Send clippings to: "The Armed Citizen," 470 Spring Park Place, Suite 1000, Herndon, Va. 22070.

Eighty-year-old Lawrence Nipp is sick of "young punks taking the county over." So when his wife told him there was a youth in the back yard of his Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, home, Nipp retrieved his gun, told his wife to call police and confronted the teen. Unconvinced by his story claiming several men were trying to kill him, Nipp held the youthful criminal--who turned out to be a robbery suspect--for police at gunpoint. (The Sun-Sentinel, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, 08/03/93)

Awakened by noises in his Manchester, New Hampshire, home, John Kazakis reached for his phone to call police. The phone was dead, however, so Kazakis picked up a rifle and went downstairs to investigate. When he saw a man take something from his mail- box and approach the house, Kazakis challenged him, and when that had no effect, fired a warning shot into the ground, prompting the man to flee. Responding police found that phone lines had been pulled out, apparently in an attempt to disable the home's burglar alarm. (The Citizen, Laconia, NH, 07/15/93)

William Clark was tending the Indianapolis area liquor store where he works when a man laid a dollar bill on the counter to pay for a beer. Before Clark could take the money, however, he pulled a revolver, demanded money and Clark's gun. Clark started toward the cash register, then pulled his own 9 mm and fired, killing the robber. (The Star, Indianapolis, IN, 08/13/93)

Alerted to an intruder's presence in her Dublin, Georgia, apartment when he began beating on her locked bedroom door, Dorothy Smith, 64, picked up her pistol. The man finally broke the door and entered the room, but Smith convinced him to leave by firing a shot. (The Courier Herald, Dublin, GA, 07/26/93)

Count NRA member Dale Tipton of Hutchinson, Kansas, among those who have defended themselves with a gun and have lost their jobs for doing so. Tipton was delivering pizzas for Pizza Hut after a range session with his AR-15 when three teens tried to rob him. When one of the teens threatened him with a gun, Tipton hopped back into his car and grabbed his rifle. "As soon as they saw it, they were trucking," said Tipton. Although the incident occurred only a month after an unarmed driver was slain in Wichita, and police said he did nothing wrong, Pizza Hut fired Tipton. (The News, Hutchinson, KS, 08/17/93)

"All of us were convinced he was going to kill us all," said Redwood City, California, grover John Pacheco of a man who brandished a pistol, knocked a customer to the floor and began raving. Pacheco grabbed his .45 from its hiding place and shot twice. One bullet found its mark, killing the gunman, who had been released from prison only two months before (The Mercury News, San Jose, CA, 07/23/93)

Awakened by noises, a Yuma, Arizona, homeowner got his gun before he went to investigate. When the resident was confronted by the intruder, he fired. Wounded, the interloper fled but was apprehended by police. (The Daily Sun, Yuma, AZ, 08/10/93)

An attempted home invasion was thwarted when Mary Williams decided the man who asked to use her phone had something else in mind. Williams of Haines City, Florida, went to get her .38. When she returned, the man was beating her husband over the head with the phone. Williams ordered him from the home, but when he ignored her, she fired, mortally wounding him. (The News Chief, Winter Haven, FL, 07/25/93)

Bill Faith used a larger caliber tool to defend himself after he was attacked in his New Albany, Indiana, liquor store by a man wielding a shovel and hammer. Although suffering from a head wound, Faith was able to pull his pistol and fire three shots. Wounded, the assailant ran, but was apprehended at a local hospital. "When a man ... hits you in the head with a shovel, you shoot him," said the local police chief. (The Tribune, New Albany, IN, 04/15/93)

Willie Harris let a man use the phone in his Smithfield, Alabama, home, but when the man returned several hours later, he wasn't interested in a return call. Attacked by the man and an accomplice, Harris managed to retrieve a pistol he keeps in the house for personal protection and fired, wounding both attackers, one mortally. (The News, Birmingham, AL, 08/23/93)

A Zion, Illinois, restaurant owner was ready when a strong-arm robber made his second appearance in two weeks. The thug, who was found to have cocaine in his blood, jumped the counter of Bernice Thurmond's eatery, shoved her aside and started grabbing money from the cash register. Thurmond grabbed a broom and hit the robber several times, then snatched up a handgun and fired, critically wounding him. The state's attorney said the shooting appeared justified. (The Tribune, Chicago, IL, 07/05/93)

A late-night robbery attempt in a San Bernardino, California, pizza shop ended when an employee shot it out with the robbers and killed one The armed crooks entered the shop through a back door and started binding the employees with tape. The employee pulled his gun, and in an exchange of shots, mortally wounded one and wounded the other.

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