A Tennessee homeowner had the Castle Doctrine on his side during a home invasion. Garry Swanner was awakened by the sound of glass breaking and the thud of an intruder landing inside his home. Swanner, who has a right-to-carry permit, chambered a round into his .40-cal. Glock, and fired one shot when the stranger started coming toward him, hitting and killing the intruder. Swanner spent the next nine minutes on the phone with a 911 operator explaining the situation and reporting that since the threat was over he had unloaded his gun and put it on a table. Knox County District Attorney General Charme P. Allen said Swanner would not be charged because he acted in accordance with the Castle Doctrine, which governs the use of deadly force when you are in your home and face a threat of physical harm from an intruder. (News Sentinel, Knoxville, TN, 7/7/15)
The Armed Citizen® Extra
Having a firearm handy helped an elderly Carter County, Ky., man turn the tables on a burglar. The homeowner was taking a nap when he was awakened by the noise of an intruder ransacking his place. Armed with a gun that he always keeps nearby, the resident went to investigate, eventually finding the criminal as he rifled through the drawers in one of the bedrooms. Pointing the gun at the interloper, the senior citizen instructed the man to lay flat on the floor of the bedroom and then held him there at gunpoint until the authorities could arrive. No charges were filed against the armed citizen for the defensive use of his firearm. (wsaz.com, Huntington, WV, 9/23/15)
From the Armed Citizen® Archives
June 1973
Hearing a racket outside his Felton, Calif., home, Timothy Halpin, handicapped by a broken leg, hobbled to the front door to see a man tearing shingles off the side of the house. The man then ran around to the front porch, breaking down a fence as he came. Halpin phoned the police and returned to the porch with a rifle. The intruder attacked him and forced him back inside the house. Halpin fired two shots and killed the man. (Santa Cruz Sentinel, Santa Cruz, CA)
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