The Armed Citizen® 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. However, when her French doors flew open and her burglar alarm went off, that was all it took-mortal fear-and she fired upon the three men. Her first volley of bird shot struck one suspect in the face and a second suspect was struck in the chest. All three men fled and are in police custody. At least one had been armed, as police found his handgun’s magazine in the yard. The woman received many calls and e-mails cheering her actions. “One of them said ‘Go, Granny, Go’,” she recalled. “I don’t consider myself old, but apparently everyone else does.” (WTVF-TV, Nashville, Tenn., 08/11/01)

The Armed Citizen Extra

(The following account did not appear in the print version of American Rifleman.)

An elderly Washington man was at home early one morning when he heard what sounded like someone breaking into his car. When he went to investigate, the intruder burst into the kitchen and wrestled him to the ground. The homeowner managed to get free, and ran to grab his gun. He shot the suspect twice, and held him at gunpoint with a neighbor until police arrived. (The Seattle Times, Seattle, WA, 04/08/10)

From The Armed Citizen Archives...

October 1979: Shortly before closing-time, two armed men entered a Grand Rapids, Mich., grocery and announced a holdup. When one of them jumped on the counter and pointed a gun at part-owner Theodore Tonning, the grocer pulled a gun and fired, wounding him. The other robber, who was armed with a sawed-off rifle, took a shot at Tonning, but the rifle misfired; Tonning fired and killed the man. (The Press, Grand Rapids, Mich., 06/18)