Armed Defense- You Save Lives at Home, at Work, and in Public.

We have four new stories of armed defense this week. Honest gun owners like you defend yourselves thousands of times and save hundreds of lives a day. Sometimes you had to press the trigger, but usually you didn’t.

In these stories, the bad guys came with a plan. We want to practice what to do so we don’t freeze when we have no time to think. What are your plans to protect the people you love?

The Self Defense Gun Stories Podcast

The longer discussion of what we should do, and what we should avoid, is on the Self Defense Gun Stories webpage. For now, here are the stories and the links to the original news sources.

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Las Vegas, Nevada- Are you armed at home?

You’re at home with your 70 year old dad. It is about 9 in the morning when you both hear a crashing sound at the back door. You grab your gun. You see two men wearing masks, gloves, and dark clothing. They are slamming themselves against your back door. You fire through the door and the two men run away. You stop shooting. Your dad calls the police. You both stay inside.

You put your gun away when the police are nearby. You let the officers into your house and show them the back door. You describe your attackers. EMS declares one of your attackers dead in your backyard. Police get reports of a wounded man in a car nearby. The car matches the security videos taken from the neighborhood. The man is dressed like your attackers and he has a wounded leg. He is taken to the hospital for treatment and is in police custody. You are not charged with a crime.

Police report that there were similar break ins in the same neighborhood that morning.

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Mesa, Arizona- Are you armed as you return home?

It is Tuesday night when you arrive back home. You live with two women. As you arrive home you’re attacked by four strangers who are inside your home. You present your firearm and shoot at them until they run away. You find your roommates tied up in the bathroom. They have been pepper sprayed and beaten for over an hour while the intruders ransacked your home. You call the police and ask for help. The three of you give statements to the police.

Police find the two women who attacked you at the hospital. They are seeking treatment for gunshot wounds. You recognize one of the men who attacked you. He was inside your home a few hours ago asking for work. He made sure the back door was unlocked and that you’d left home before he and his three accomplices broke into your apartment.

Your roommates will recover. Your attackers are charged with kidnapping, aggravated robbery, and burglary.

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Fall City, Washington- Do you have a firearm nearby in the middle of the night?

It is four in the morning on Monday. You are sleeping in the back room of your gun shop. You are woken up by a horrible crashing sound and the entire building shakes. You roll out of bed and grab your gun. You turn on the lights and shout that you’re armed. You see several men run away from the front of your store. You call the police and tell them what happened.

You give a statement to the police when they arrive. Robbers drove a stolen car through the front door of your store. You have someone at the store every night. You have to replace your front door and put stone and steel columns in front of your store. There are about 28 gun stores robbed each year in Washington State.

Tag- No Shots Fired

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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania- Are you armed at work?

People are lined up across the counter, out the door, and around the corner. Customers stand under a shade tent outside as they wait to order cheesesteak sandwiches. Jimmy’s Cheesesteaks is open from noon until midnight. You stand outside wearing an armored plate carrier and with an AR rifle slung across your chest. You are a licensed security guard. You walk back and forth along the line so that the customers aren’t robbed. You talk to the customers and they talk to you.

The work has been easy so far. Across Philadelphia, dozens of customers were robbed this year, but not here. Several dozen stores were looted this week, but not at Jimmy’s. The gas station on the corner is open after dark, so they have an armed guard too.

The work is mostly outdoors. The shifts will get harder this winter when the weather changes, but at least the food is good.

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These stories sound simple, but it is harder than they appear when you have to recognize a situation and respond in seconds. We have to rely on good habits when we’re too startled to think. That is why it is so important to have a safety plan for you home, for work, and for when you’re in public. If it’s been a few months, then walk through those plans to form those good patterns of behavior.

Thank you for making all of us safer. RM