Instilling a respect for the principle of self-defense in her son is one reason why an 88-year-old Chicago woman survived a break-in. The elderly mother was awakened one night by the sound of a gunshot. Fortunately, it had come from her son, who fended off someone who was trying to enter the house through a window. Keeping guns around for self-defense is a practice the elderly woman has followed since her husband was shot and killed during a home invasion more than 50 years ago. “My son said he wasn’t going to let that somebody come in that window. He knew those boys came in the house and killed his father. He wasn’t going to let somebody come in the house and kill me,” the mother told television reporters after the incident. The suspect was taken to a hospital and treated for his injuries. (abc7chicago.com, Chicago, IL, 3/28/16)
The Armed Citizen Extra®
A Louisville, Ky., woman was walking to her vehicle in a parking garage when she was accosted by a strange man. The robber approached her, brandished a knife and told her to “Give me everything you have.” In response, the woman pulled her gun and shot him one time. Once the threat was over, the armed citizen called the police. The robber was taken to a nearby hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. (wlky.com, Louisville, KY, 1/27/16)
From the Armed Citizen® Archives
September 1988
Attempting to rob a Zephyrhills, Fla., grocery store, a man broke a bottle on the floor and threatened the clerk with it. As the robber demanded that the clerk open the cash register, her husband stood up in the back of the store with his registered handgun. The intruder ran out the door, jumped into his car and fled the scene. (The Times, St. Petersburg, FL)
