Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
On December 18, 2022, at about 6 p.m., a previous customer returned to Famous Sam’s bar in Tucson, Arizona, and fired a round into the ceiling. Another customer pulled his pistol and told the person with the rifle to drop the gun.
When the suspect started to point the rifle at him and another customer, he shot the rifle-toting shooter. KOLD initially reported the story:
TUCSON, Ariz. (KOLD News 13) – A man is battling for his life after a bar fight ended in a shooting near Grant and Silverbell in Tucson late Sunday, Dec. 18.
In an interview with KVOA, Mark Rhude, the bar owner, gave a more detailed account of what happened. From kvoa.com:
A shooting at a bar on Tucson’s west side Sunday was initially reported by multiple media outlets as a “bar fight”, but Famous Sam’s owner Mark Rhude said it was a much different situation that could have been more serious.
Speaking exclusively with News 4 Tucson, Rhude said it was an active shooter situation stopped short by a heroic customer with a gun.
Arizona was the second state to re-establish Constitutional Carry.
Vermont has always had Constitutional Carry since the Bill of Rights was ratified. Alaska re-established Constitutional Carry in 2003. Arizona re-established Constitutional Carry in 2011. In Arizona law, there is a local wrinkle in Constitutional Carry. A person may carry in an establishment that serves alcohol, but the person who is carrying is not allowed to consume alcohol while carrying a concealed firearm. The firearm has to be concealed. From AZleg.gov:
As private property, establishments may ban the carry of firearms altogether if the owner desires to do so.
This story is one of many that goes underreported by the mainstream media because it shows a positive image of a law-abiding gun owner using that tool to defend their life and family. It is our responsibility at AmmoLand to report these stories to you the reader. While we will continue to report these stories, groups like the Crime Prevention Research Center, led by Dr. John Lott, are fastidious in studying the use of firearms for self-defense. Stay up to date with all news on self-defense by following CPRC and Ammoland.