Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
While most news outlets like CNN and the New York Times would like to pretend that defensive gun uses never happen, in actuality Americans are defending themselves every day from carjackers, home invaders, robbers, stalkers, and other assorted miscreants and malcontents. Here’s a sampling of several recent armed citizen stories that never caught the idea of the national news media, even though lives were saved in each and every one of these situations.
We’ll start with an incident in Wasilla, Alaska, where police recently responded to a report of a home invasion and shooting.
Investigation revealed an intoxicated 66-year-old male forced entry into a residence utilizing an axe while threatening to kill a 55-year-old female. The female homeowner subsequently shot the male with a pistol. EMS transported the intruder to a local hospital where he underwent surgery for non-life-threatening injuries. The Palmer District Attorney’s Office was contacted, and no charges will be filed on the homeowner. Investigation continues regarding burglary and assault charges against the suspect who’s still hospitalized.
I’d love to know the backstory here, but at least we’re aware of the outcome. The armed citizen was able to defend herself, and her alleged attacker is now facing felony charges while recovering from the wounds he received after breaking into the woman’s home.
Next up, a self-defense shooting in Florida, where a delivery driver was forced to defend his life after being targeted by an armed robber.
Lee County deputies say 16-year old Hayden Celin tried robbing the Domino’s driver in a failed setup.
The driver tried delivering a pizza to a home in Pine Manor, but the family inside said they never placed an order.
When the driver returned to his car, he noticed his cell phone was missing.
As the driver went to leave, Celin allegedly punched him in the face, and shot a water gun loaded with pepper spray into the man’s face.
That’s when the driver pulled out a gun he carries for self-defense, and shot several rounds at the suspect as he drove off.
Police were able to take the teenager into custody a short time later, and say the driver’s not expected to face any charges for acting in self-defense.
Another pizza delivery driver in Georgia also shot and killed an alleged armed robber this past weekend. Glynn County Interim Police Chief Rickey Evans says that 37-year old Jeremy Hicks had previously served 15 years for armed robbery, but was released a couple of years ago. Evidently Hicks decided to return to a life of crime at some point, but targeted an armed citizen instead of an unarmed victim.
The driver told police that the man ordered a pizza delivered about 11 p.m. Saturday, but when he got to the address, which turned out to be a vacant mobile home, the man pulled a knife on him. The driver, who police have not named, said he pulled his gun and shot the man in self-defense. Hicks died at the scene.
Ernest Bradham, the owner of the property, told News4Jax that no one lives there and it’s being renovated. He said he lives close by and the gunshot woke him up.
“My wife came about 10 minutes later and said get up and look at all these lights at the trailer. So I got up and police cars are all down the road,” he recounted.
While both drivers have been cleared of criminal charges, it remains to be seen if either will lose their jobs as a result of their defensive gun uses. Dominos, Papa John’s, and most other chains used to have a zero-tolerance policy towards drivers going armed on the job, but over the past few years many of the chains have quietly changed their policy and now leave it up to individual franchise owners to determine whether or not they’ll allow concealed carry holders to carry in self-defense while they’re on the clock.
These are three pretty compelling self-defense stories, but I’d be shocked if any of them receive any national media attention whatsoever. Even though we’re in the midst of the gun control movement’s “Gun Violence Awareness Month,” the mainstream media has no interest in raising awareness of the many armed citizen stories and acts of lawful self-defense that happen in this country each and every day.