When three men claiming to be contractors told 86-year-old Walter Peppel that his roof was leaking-and that he needed to pay them $11,700 to fix it-he smelled a rat. The roof was in good condition, and the men had no uniforms, business cards or logo on their vehicle. One of the men was so bold as to climb atop Peppel’s roof without permission, claiming he needed to inspect it. Peppel told the men to leave the house. Instead, they shouted at Peppel, frightening his wife and demanding he pay them to fix the roof. That’s when Peppel got his original Winchester Model 94 lever-action and pointed it at the scammers. They fled before the Peppels could record their license plate number. (Pocono Record, Stroudsburg, PA, 05/09/11)
The Armed Citzen Extra
(The following account did not appear in the print version of American Rifleman.)
A Fresno, Calif., farmer was irrigating his fields late one evening when he noticed a car pull up to a man on a nearby road. When it became apparent that the men in the car were attempting to rob the man on the road, the farmer drew his handgun and intervened. Pointing his gun at the men in the car, he told them to get off of the property, and the men immediately sped away. (The Fresno Bee, Fresno, CA, 08/18/11)
From The Armed Citizen Archives
August 1976: Mackroy Griffin was checking the gas pumps at the Atlanta, Ga., car rental agency where he works when a man struck him on the head with a sawed-off shotgun and snarled, "Don't move or I'll kill you." Griffin knocked the weapon aside, drew a pistol and shot his assailant, who fled. Police later questioned a suspect with a gunshot wound who entered a local hospital. (The Atlanta Journal, Atlanta, Ga.)
