The Armed Citizen® March 8, 2021

by
posted on March 8, 2021
** When you buy products through the links on our site, we may earn a commission that supports NRA's mission to protect, preserve and defend the Second Amendment. **
The Armed Citizen
Armed Citizen® Today

A Pensacola, Fla., man was forced to defend himself when robbers broke into his home early on the morning of March 4, 2021.

The incident began around 3:00 a.m. when intruders cut the power and forced their way into the residence. The man was inside the home at the time and alerted to the break-in from the sound of the intruders entering through a screen window at the back door. He got out of bed and retrieved a firearm kept in his bedroom before moving into the hallway to investigate.

As the man looked into the hallway, he saw one of the intruders just feet away from his doorway. The intruder shouted at the man, demanding that he put his hands up. Instead of retreating, the man stood his ground and shot at the intruder in the dark hallway, prompting all the burglars to flee the scene. Police tracked them all down a short time later, including one male intruder that suffered a non-fatal gunshot wound.

As it turned out, the group of young home intruders included the man's own granddaughter. The group decided to rob the property in order to bail a friend out of jail. Neither the man or his wife, who also also at home, were hurt in the incident. (mynbc15
.com, Pensacola, FLA., 03/04/2021)

From the Armed Citizen® Archives January 1977

When a late-night intruder broke into the rural Fowler, Calif., home of Forest H. Smith, 81, neighbors alerted his son-in-law, Roy Garrett. Garrett and his two teenage sons rushed to the old man's home, where they found the thug holding a knife to Smith's throat. After the man swung at him several times with the knife, Garrett shot him in the shoulder with a rifle, but the powerful crook kept coming.

Garrett's younger son then broke a shotgun over the criminal's head, sending him fleeing outside. There, the other son bashed him with a baseball bat, then held the unconscious burglar for sheriff's deputies. (
The Bee, Fresno, Calif.)

Latest

plastic army soldier
plastic army soldier

Finding The Natural Point Of Aim

Nearly every shooter understands the basic principles of marksmanship: position, grip, sight alignment, breathing, trigger control and follow-through.

Firearm Ownership Reaches New Record

The NSSF estimates there are more than 32 million modern sporting rifles in circulation.

Preview: Hornady 12th Edition Reloading Manual

While the internet offers quick access to information, trusting unvetted recipes for cooking up ammunition is less than ideal, which is why makers of reloading products like Hornady publish thorough books for such tasks.

Review: Bushmaster V-Radicator

The business of dispatching unwanted critters requires a platform capable of a high degree of accuracy. Nuisance animals such as prairie dogs are both small and skittish in nature, meaning that they tend to keep their distance and scurry away upon the arrival of incoming fire.

New for 2026: Smith & Wesson FPC in 5.7x28 mm

The folding carbine line expands to include the 5.7 mm chambering.

The Armed Citizen® Jan. 26, 2026

Read today's "The Armed Citizen" entry for real stories of law-abiding citizens, past and present, who used their firearms to save lives.

Interests



Get the best of American Rifleman delivered to your inbox.