The Armed Citizen® October 1, 2013

Jan Cooper, 72, was at home with her husband, Bob, 85, when she made a 911 call for help as a man attempted to break into their home. She told police to hurry as the assailant was on her back porch trying to gain entry through a sliding door. She told the police that she was armed with a .357 revolver and that she would shoot if need be. When she heard the door sliding open, she fired. The intruder fled, but was later found and arrested for burglary. "I don't mean to shoot anybody," said Cooper, "but whatever's necessary to literally stop them--he was not going to come into my home." (Foxnews.com, Anaheim, CA, 6/12/13)

Richard Duffy, 48, and his son were watching TV when an intruder broke down their front door. After a brief altercation the intruder was fatally shot, according to a spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety. Another man waited in a car, but fled after he heard the gunshots. (TheBlaze.com, Rome, ME, 10/1/13)

From The Armed Citizen Archives

March 1979: When Claudia Gray entered her El Paso apartment she was jumped by a man wearing only a stocking mask and a t-shirt. After the attacker and wrestled her to the bed, Gray warned him that she was expecting company. He got up and went to lock the front door, whereupon she grabbed a .22 cal. rifle from beneath the bed and shot him twice. After the police arrived and made the arrest, the previously convicted burglar was sentenced to seven years in the state penitentiary. (The Times, El Paso, Tex.)