The Armed Citizen® Feb. 28, 2025

by
posted on February 28, 2025
** 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 24-year-old resident of Juneau, Alaska, shot and killed a teen in self-defense in a road-rage incident during which the teen pulled out what appeared to be a rifle and threatened the 24-year-old with it.

Police say that the situation started when the older driver called police after being followed by a driver in a 2001 Volkswagen Jetta. The two drivers then circled a roundabout before stopping alongside each other. An argument broke out between the two men, and the 24-year-old driver noticed what he thought was a rifle in the hands of the younger driver. The teen then pointed the rifle at the 24-year-old driver, prompting him to draw and fire in self-defense.

The older driver waited at the scene for responding officers, who pronounced the teen driver dead on the scene. An investigation found that the teen driver had actually been armed with a C02-powered pellet/BB gun.

"It looked very realistic, very much like a firearm,” Juneau Police Chief Derek Bos told KTUU News. “Responding officers also held the initial belief that it was an actual firearm. It was determined much later in the investigation that it was not.” (KTUU News; Juneau, Alaska; 2/3/25)

From the Armed Citizen® Archives – January 1971

Mrs. Deloris Ehle of Ft. Wayne, Ind., was suspicious of two men who parked in her driveway. Consequently, she did not respond when they knocked first on her front door, then on her back door. But when they took a ladder from her garage and removed one of her window screens, she grabbed a shotgun. Upon seeing the armed homeowner, the two men fled. (Ft. Wayne, Ind., The News Sentinel)

Latest

attack in a back alley
attack in a back alley

Cold Performance: How to Prepare for the Uncertainty of Self-Defense

Defensive gun use is defined by uncertainty. You don’t know when it will happen, how far away the threat will be, how many threats you will face or what position you will be in when it begins.

Derya Goes Silent: The OBone Suppressor

In 2025, Turkish manufacturer Derya Arms opened a new facility in Florida, enabling the company to produce a number of new products domestically, such as its new OBone suppressor.

The Armed Citizen® Oct. 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.

Rifleman Q&A: Understanding a Firearm's Cycle of Operation

The cycle of operation is the mechanical sequence of events that it takes to fire one shot out of a firearm. If one of those steps fails to take place as designed, there is an interruption in the cycle of operation and the gun stops firing.

Review: Sightmark Pinnacle 1-6x24 mm Riflescope

Looking for a performance LPVO without the usual associated cost? The Sightmark Pinnacle 1-6x24 mm might be your answer.

Myths & Misunderstandings About the “Modern Fighting 1911”

The Colt Model 1911 pistol and its derivatives are among the most iconic military handguns ever made. But in 2026, does the M1911 still hold up as a quality defensive arm?

Interests



Get the best of American Rifleman delivered to your inbox.