Gun rights made all the difference for these would-be victims

By Amy Swearer and Lucas Drill | The Daily Signal

Contrary to the rhetoric of many gun control advocates, the Second Amendment’s protection of the individual right to keep and bear arms is not a malevolent, outdated barricade to peace that must be demolished or diminished in the name of public safety. Rather, it is a fundamental part of the nation’s scheme of ordered liberty.

Wikimedia Commons/Cimmerian praetor

Firearms are used far more often in self-defense than in crime.

According to a 2013 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which compiled and analyzed various studies involving the defensive use of firearms, Americans use firearms in self-defense between 500,000 and 3 million times annually.

The agency’s own data indicates that approximately 1 million defensive gun uses likely occur every year, far outpacing the number of times guns are used to illegally kill or injure others.

Nevertheless, gun control proponents regularly promote policies such as limiting magazine capacity, banning commonly owned firearms, and restricting the number of firearms a law-abiding citizen may purchase at one time.

These policies not only fail to meaningfully address the underlying causes and mechanisms of gun-related violence, they also would hinder the ability of regular citizens to legally and effectively defend themselves and others.

Every month this year, we’ve reported on Americans who were forced to rely on their Second Amendment rights to defend themselves or their fellow citizens.

Here are several examples from the month of May that shed light on the importance of allowing law-abiding citizens to exercise the right to keep and bear arms:

  • May 1, Detroit. A 59-year-old woman defended herself and her home against three men who broke the security bars on her window. The woman called the police. Then, fearing for her life in the interim, she fired at the intruders. One intruder was wounded and all three fled.
  • May 5, Memphis. A woman called the police twice after spotting a man on her home security cameras who was walking suspiciously along the side of her house. Before officers could arrive, the man kicked down the woman’s door. He was met by a hail of gunfire from the woman and fled the scene wounded, eventually admitting himself to a hospital, where he was arrested.
  • May 7, Lumberton, North Carolina. Two would-be armed robbers confronted a 39-year-old man in an open garage in his own backyard. The man pulled his own firearm and exchanged gunfire with the two assailants and wounded one in the leg. Both were arrested, and one has been charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill.
  • May 9, Huntsville, Alabama. Two armed robbers confronted a 23-year-old concealed carry permit holder and his mother outside a grocery store. After one of the robbers pointed his gun at the mother, the permit holder drew and fired in her defense. The would-be robbers escaped the confrontation in a stolen vehicle and later were apprehended by police.
  • May 12, Lancaster, California. A father shot and killed a man who broke into his home through a window and entered an upstairs bedroom. The same man tried earlier to break into a different house, and the father feared for the safety of himself and his children.
  • May 14, Tallahassee, Florida. A homeowner found himself outnumbered—but not outgunned—by four armed assailants who had stolen his keys and broken into his home. Armed with a rifle, the homeowner fired approximately 25 rounds to defend his life and his property. The suspects returned fire, but ultimately fled the residence and were arrested by law enforcement.
  • May 20, Madison County, Indiana. A 25-year-old man involved in a series of altercations with his family returned one night to threaten family members with a shotgun for several hours. The man’s father retrieved his own gun and shot and wounded his unhinged son.
  • May 24, St. Paul, Minnesota. A concealed carry permit holder fired in self-defense toward a group of males who chased him after he parked his car. One assailant was struck, causing the group to retreat. After the incident, the permit holder immediately called police and waited for them to arrive.
  • May 25, Hudson, Florida. A mother with young children held a would-be intruder at gunpoint for an incredible 26 minutes while she waited for law enforcement to arrive. Although she’d called 911 three times, the first support to arrive was not a police officer, but an armed neighbor.
  • May 27, Chicago. A concealed carry permit holder shot and killed an armed man who approached him, gun drawn, in an alley. The permit holder was unharmed.
  • May 30, Houston. A woman defended herself from three armed men who forced their way into her home while unlawfully impersonating police officers. When the woman realized the intruders were not actually police officers and that one intruder had his firearm drawn, she retrieved her own gun. The fake cops fled after a brief shootout and later may have been involved in another shooting.
  • May 31, Las Vegas. Two brothers protected themselves and their home from an intruder who broke in and started a physical altercation. During the struggle, one of the brothers shot the intruder several times, killing him. A neighbor told the media, “It’s scary. You never know what could happen. … You’ve got to protect yourself at all times.”

These instances of defensive gun use show why the right to keep and bear arms is so critical to the security of a free state. The Second Amendment is not a historical curiosity to be studied from afar, but a real and ongoing safeguard against crime and tyranny in lives of Americans.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Cimmerian praetor

4 thoughts on “Gun rights made all the difference for these would-be victims

  1. Guns save lives,however that goes against the agenda of the civilian disarmament complex’s propagandists,the mainstream media.

    As two masked and armed men broke in, Susan Gonzalez was shot in the chest. She made it back to her bedroom and found her husband’s .22 caliber pistol. Wasting the first rounds on warning shots, she then emptied the single pistol at one attacker. Unfortunately, now out of ammunition, she was shot again by the other armed attacker.

    She was not able to re-load or use a second gun. Both she and her husband were shot twice. Forty-two bullets in all were fired. The gunman fled from the house—but returned. He put his gun to Susan Gonzalez’s head and demanded the keys to the couple’s truck.2
    When three armed intruders carrying what look like semi-automatic pistols broke into the home of a single woman at 3:44 a.m., she dialed 911. No answer. Feng Zhu Chen, dressed in pajamas, held a phone in one hand and took up her pistol in the other and began shooting. She fired numerous shots. She had no place to carry an extra magazine and no way to reload because her left hand held the phone with which she was still trying to call 911. After the shooting was over and two of the armed suspects got away and one lay dead, she did get through to the police. The home security camera video is dramatic.3
    A mother, Melinda Herman, and her nine-year-old twins were at home when an intruder broke in. She and her twins retreated to an upstairs crawl space and hid. Fortunately, she had a .38 caliber revolver. She would need it. The intruder worked his way upstairs, broke through a locked bedroom door and a locked bathroom door, and opened the crawl space door. The family was cornered with no place to run. He stood staring at her and her two children. The mother shot six times, hitting the intruder five
    2 Duncan v. Becerra, 265 F. Supp. 3d 1106, 1130-31 (S.D. Cal. 2017) (citing Jacksonville Times-Union, July 18, 2000). 3    Lindsey Bever, Armed Intruders Kicked in the Door, Washington Post (Sept. 24, 2016), https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/true-crime/wp/2016/09/24/armed-intruders- kicked-in-the-door-what-they-found-was-a-woman-opening- fire/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.80336ab1b09e; see also YouTube, https://youtu.be/ykiSTkmt5-w (last viewed Mar. 20, 2019); Habersham, Raisa, Suspect Faces Murder Charge 18 Months After Homeowner Shot at Him, Intruders, The Atlanta- Journal-Constitution (Mar. 30, 2018) https://www.ajc.com/news/crime–law/suspect- faces-murder-charge-months-after-homeowner-shot-him- intruders/W4CW5wFNFdU6QIEFo0CtGM (last visited Mar. 27, 2019). Although this news account is not in the parties’ exhibits, it is illustrative.

    times, when she ran out of ammunition. Though injured, the intruder was not incapacitated. Fortunately, he decided to flee.4 A. A Need for Self-Defense
    In one year in California (2017), a population of 39 million people endured 56,609 robberies, 105,391 aggravated assaults, and 95,942 residential burglaries.5    There were also 423 homicides in victims’ residences.6 There were no mass shootings in 2017. Nationally, the first study to assess the prevalence of defensive gun use estimated that there are 2.2 to 2.5 million defensive gun uses by civilians each year. Of those, 340,000 to 400,000 defensive gun uses were situations where defenders believed that they had almost certainly saved a life by using the gun.7 Citizens often use a gun to defend against criminal attack. A Special Report by the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics published in 2013, reported that between 2007 and 2011 “there were 235,700 victimizations where the victim used a firearm to threaten or attack an offender.”8 How many more instances are never reported to, or recorded by, authorities? According to another U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Special Report, for each

    These are but a couple of uses cited in Judge ROGER T. BENITEZ United States District Judge in his overturning of California’s magazine ban,if you haven’t yet read it it’s worth the time.

    Judge ROGER BENITEZ did the Californians,the 2 nd. amendment and Americans proud in his decision and finding in the case.
    It will play a part in many future cases both federal and states,I’m sure it will make a appearance in Vermonters V the state of Vermont’s magazine ban currently working it’s way thru the courts.

    http://michellawyers.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Duncan-2019-03-29-Order-Granting-Plaintiffs-MSJ.pdf

  2. “four armed assailants” “homeowner fired approximately 25 rounds to defend his life and his property”

    Hence the need for “high capacity magazine” and light maneuverable rifles, ie AR-15 types. With all the
    leftarded fascist set on letting the criminals roam free with auto clean records we can’t allow any more stupid gun restrictions that will end up costing good guy/gal lives to the leftards assault on the 2nd amendment. As more and more invaders are let in the country your going to see more Team robberies
    and assaults like the one I used.

  3. You can read about this 100 times or more every day. The progressive socialist liberals don’t care. They have an agenda and that’s to disarm America. That way they can control you in everything you do. That’s all you need to do is look at all the socialist societies now and in the past. It’s all about control.
    Wake up America and wake up Vermont..

  4. No, No, No Liberals don’t want to hear or believe these stats, guns are evil and if you own one
    or twenty your evil.

    Liberals have an agenda and you defending yourself isn’t part of it, as you see anytime there is
    a tragedy with a firearm they never, never blame the perpetrators, be it a crook or a crazy person
    they always blame just the weapon……….Idiots.

    Liberals, don’t worry a law-abiding gun owner will even save you if needs be if you meet a crook
    or a crazy ………..Then you’ll thank our founding fathers for the Second Amendment.

Comments are closed.