In the span of less than a week, two merchants in Newark, N.J., shot armed robbers and neither of the businesspeople will face criminal charges. In one case, two armed men entered a variety store, ordered customers to get on the ground and threatened to shoot the owner if she did not give them money. One of the intruders fired one shot. The unidentified business owner responded by retrieving the handgun she keeps in the store. She shot a 23-year-old suspect in the leg. He dropped a pistol on the sidewalk outside before his 50-year-old accomplice drove him to the hospital. The two men have since been charged. Just days earlier, a grocery store owner had shot and killed an armed robber. (NJ.com, Newark, NJ, 1/16/15)
The Armed Citizen® Extra
An attempted carjacking in Edwardsville, Ill., was thwarted thanks to the intervention of an armed neighbor. According to the authorities, a 52-year-old woman was getting into her vehicle when she was approached by a young man armed with a gun. The thug beat the victim, took her car keys and was preparing to drive away in her car when a neighbor who witnessed the attack produced a firearm and fired multiple times. Although none of the bullets found their mark, the confrontation caused the armed criminal to flee the scene on foot, while his two accomplices waiting in a nearby car fled the scene in their vehicle. All three individuals were apprehended by police shortly thereafter, and each now faces charges for aggravated vehicular hijacking, armed robbery, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and aggravated battery. No charges have been filed against the armed citizen. (Belleville News-Democrat, Belleville, IL, 8/12/15
From the Armed Citizen® Archives
April 1976
NRA Life Member Russell Simpson, at work in his Virginia Beach, Va., pharmacy, was startled when a “customer” pulled a semi-automatic rifle from beneath his coat and aimed it at him. The two were struggling over the gun when James Merkle, also an NRA Member, intervened. When the robber swung toward him with the rifle, Merkle drew his revolver, fired once and killed the robber. (The Virginia-Pilot, Norfolk, VA)
