The Armed Citizen® December 29, 2011

December 29, 2011

Upon noticing a car following him into his neighborhood late one night, a homeowner had a bad feeling. Once he turned into his driveway, the car crept by, turned around and again drove by before stopping. Then he heard someone running up the driveway.

The Armed Citizen® December 15, 2011

December 15, 2011

As a repo man prepared to repossess a car, a strange confrontation occurred. Police say a 26-year-old man cursed at the repo man and tried to prevent him from taking the car. Oddly, the suspect was not the owner of the car and didn’t live at the address where it was parked.

The Armed Citizen® November 23, 2011

November 23, 2011

A young woman walked out the door on her way to work when she spotted a pit bull with a history of aggressive behavior on the loose. She quickly ducked back inside her father’s home and called police to report the wandering dog.

The Armed Citizen® November 16, 2011

November 16, 2011

Phillip Ramsey was drinking coffee in his kitchen when there was a knock at the door. “I didn’t recognize him and I didn’t answer the door,” Ramsey recalled. Shortly thereafter a second unknown man knocked at the door.

The Armed Citizen® November 3, 2011

November 03, 2011

Normally Raven Smith leaves his gun in the vehicle before he goes into a restaurant, but something made him reconsider one evening. The concealed-carry permit holder kept his .380-cal. handgun holstered as he stepped out of the car to have dinner with his girlfriend. Before he’d taken three steps, a masked man rushed up behind his girlfriend with what appeared to be a gun. “Get down, get down!” Smith yelled to his girlfriend as he fired four shots. The suspect dropped to the ground with four gun-shot wounds and will be arrested after his release from the hospital. “I’ve only had practice doing casual shooting, as a hobby,” said Smith, an airline mechanic. “It’s completely different using it in a situation like this.” His girlfriend calls him her hero, adding, “I saw orange flashes over my head. And then my ears were ringing.” (St. Petersburg Times, St. Petersburg, VA, 08/08/11) The Armed Citizen Extra (The following account did not appear in the print version of American Rifleman.) A 92-year-old Ohio farmer was outside of his home feeding his cats when he saw a white Chevrolet car racing down his driveway. Upon stopping, several men exited the vehicle and began taking cooper wiring and other supplies from the farmer's barn and putting them into the truck of the car. When the homeowner called out to the men, telling them to stop, one of the suspects began charging at him, so the homeowner grabbed his .38-caliber handgun and fired a warning shot into the ground. The suspects attempted an escape, but their car got stuck in a nearby ditch. They were later charged with breaking and entering. (Portsmouth Daily Times, Portsmouth, OH, 03/31/10)

From The Armed Citizen Archives October 1979: A barking dog and the sounds of forced entry woke Barbara Squires in her Ft. Wayne, Ind., apartment. Squires secured a .38 cal. revolver and investigated, finding a youth in the front hallway of the darkened house. She held the would-be burglar at gunpoint while calling the police. (The Journal Gazette, Ft. Wayne, Ind. 7/6)

The Armed Citizen® October 26, 2011

October 26, 2011

When Ronald Bracey awoke to his wife’s screams, he leapt from bed, got his handgun and stepped out of the bedroom where, to his immense terror, two men were holding guns to his wife’s head. The men wore hats that read “police,” but Bracey knew immediately that these were no officers of the law.

The Armed Citizen® October 21, 2011

October 21, 2011

Upon stopping at an intersection, a motorist noticed a man approaching. Before he could react, the man reached through the window and punched him several times. Stunned by the blows, the motorist reached for his handgun, which he has a permit to carry.

The Armed Citizen® October 12, 2011

October 12, 2011

A 68-year-old grandmother was lying in bed when she was startled by the sound of someone breaking in. So she got up and grabbed her .410 shotgun, a gun she’s kept for self-defense for many years, a gun she was never sure she could actually use on a human being and didn’t want to find out.

The Armed Citizen® October 5, 2011

October 05, 2011

When a gunman entered U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell’s home, attacked his daughter and demanded money, Boswell ran to the entryway and attempted to disarm the suspect. “When you see one of the people that you love very much, you see they’re in that kind of danger, why, you have to do something,” Boswell said.

The Armed Citizen® September 28, 2011

September 28, 2011

It’s a familiar scenario: An armed citizen with a concealed-carry permit is likely once again to have saved multiple lives. Several customers were doing business inside a pawn shop when a man walked inside, pointed a gun toward the ceiling and announced a robbery.