Armed Citizen

“Today I hug my wife and children,” NRA Benefactor Life member Terry Lee wrote in an email to the NRA. The trouble began when Lee heard a muffled crash downstairs, then another. He grabbed his Kimber .45-caliber pistol and went to investigate. A naked man had broken in. Asked what he was doing, the intruder responded with expletives. Lee held the man at gunpoint and yelled for his wife to dial 9-1-1. “The man made a couple attempts to get up, but I was able to convince him to stay on the floor to avoid being shot,” Lee explained. Police determined the suspect was high on drugs. He was also on probation, with priors for burglary and theft. “With [the NRA’s] guidance over the years, I was able to keep calm and make rational decisions in a difficult and stressful situation,” Lee said. (Iron County, UT, Sheriff’s Office Law Incident Report, 06/06/08)

It is every bank customer’s worst nightmare. Police say a man handed a teller a note, demanding money and claimed to have a bomb strapped to his chest. Meanwhile, Nabil Fawzi was making a transaction with the adjacent teller when she whispered to him, “We might be getting robbed.” Fawzi, who has a concealed carry permit, decided to take action. Drawing his handgun, he told the robber the heist was over. “But I have a bomb,” the robber replied. “I don’t care,” said Fawzi. “You are not robbing this bank today.” Fawzi approached the robber, determined he wasn’t wearing a bomb or carrying a weapon, and held him for police. “In my situation, I felt like I could do it, and I just did it because it was the right thing to do,” he said. Fawzi and his business partner celebrated by discounting gas by 5 cents and giving away free hot dogs at their station. (The Ann Arbor News, Ann Arbor, MI, 06/18/08)

Police say a man suspected in a burglary incident was already due in court for a separate, prior burglary. This time, however, he may have learned his lesson. Troy Howard woke to the sound of breaking glass as the suspect and at least one accomplice forcefully entered the home. Howard’s wife of nearly 50 years locked the bedroom door and hid in the closet. Meanwhile, Howard grabbed his double-barreled shotgun just in time to see a beam from the suspect’s flashlight shining under the door. When the suspect tried to force the door open, Howard emptied both barrels. The wounded suspects fled. (News at Norman, Lake Norman, NC, 06/25/08)

An employee of Chanellos Pizza was making a delivery when five juveniles sprang from the residence and began assaulting him, allegedly laughing and enjoying their attack. The deliveryman tried to run away, but the suspects wouldn’t let him. Fearing the onslaught would continue until he was dead, the deliveryman drew his handgun and shot one of the suspects several times. The wounded suspect and his accomplices were arrested at the hospital. Unlike the incident involving a Pizza Hut deliveryman reported in July, the Chanellos deliveryman has his employer’s full support. “I’m glad he did have a gun,” said John Campbell, owner of Chanellos Pizza. “He might have been killed if he didn’t.” Campbell gave the deliveryman time off to recover. (The Daily Reflector, Greenville, NC, 06/19/08)

Seventy-year-old Billy Jackson and his wife were cleaning an apartment attached to their home when two masked men, one of them carrying a stolen gun, forced their way inside. Police say the intruders got the jump on Jackson, putting the gun in his face. “They had the weapon two feet from my head—I thought I was dead,” recalls Jackson, who wanted to prevent the men from reaching his wife in the kitchen. Thinking quickly, Jackson feigned a heart attack, buying himself time to reach for the gun he had tucked in his waistband. He drew the pistol, killing both intruders. “I’m so sorry for the people I hurt,” Jackson explained. “But I had no choice. I thought I was dead and my wife was dead.” (The Courier-Journal, Louisville, KY, 06/05/08)