Sometimes bad guys just don’t listen unless you have a gun, and sometimes just showing the gun is enough of a deterrent. That was the case in Portland, Maine, when a knife-wielding thief accosted a 35-year-old Cumberland woman in a parking lot near a medical center. The would-be thief approached the woman and asked her for her money. She said she had none. The assailant then pulled out a knife and demanded money again. The woman got into her car and grabbed a handgun she kept inside. After brandishing the gun, the perpetrator ran off. Police are still searching for the suspect. (Portland Press Herald, Portland, ME, 6/9/15)
The Armed Citizen® Extra
A contractor who had been hired to paint a family’s garage used a firearm to thwart two would-be burglars when he encountered them attempting to break into his client’s home. The contractor told police that he opened fire when one of the suspects pointed a weapon at him. The armed thief was struck twice, once in the shoulder and once in the hip, and was transported to a nearby hospital for treatment. His accomplice was taken into custody by the authorities at the scene. “All the evidence does indicate they (the contractor) were acting in self-defense,” said Police Chief Rick Park. The two burglars are also suspects in a previous aggravated robbery and another home invasion in the area. (abc13.com, Houston, TX, 8/12/15)
From The Armed Citizen® Archives
January 1983
A young man attempted the armed robbery of a Woodland, Calif., gas station by jumping onto the counter and flashing a 9” knife. The bandit demanded the cash receipts, but he was thwarted when 71-year-old clerk David Baumbach drew a revolver from beneath the counter. Warding off a slash and receiving a stab wound to his left hand, Baumbach fired a shot that sent the robber running to the waiting car. (The Daily Democrat, Woodland-Davis, CA)