Defensive Use of Firearms

To Mel Bernstein, owner of Dragon Arms in Colorado Springs, storing an AR-15 in a synagogue is as common sense as any other safety measure. And in the wake of a massacre in Pittsburg that left 11 Jews dead, he’s putting his money where his mouth is. “I don’t really like what’s going on in the country,” he told KOAA. “And I’m offering them a free AR-15 rifle with two magazines and 100 bullets.”

An Alabama man is being hailed as a hero after he used his concealed firearm to stop a masked gunman at a McDonald’s in southwest Birmingham. The suspect entered the restaurant on Saturday night around 10:45pm just after it had closed, according to local media. He gained access by entering just as an employee was unlocking the door for a father and his two sons to leave. The suspect opened fire as soon as he entered, but the father drew his own concealed weapon and returned fire.

A father in Bloomfield, Ct., used his handgun to save his daughter from a neighbor who was attempting to rape her, local media reported last week. Maurice Gordon saw his 30-year-old daughter being attacked by one of his neighbors, Michael Farrigon, 43, while the woman was parked in the driveway of Gordon’s home. Farrigon approached the car, opened the door, and said he wanted to rape her.

A harrowing incident at a smoke shop in Savannah, Georgia, offers several key takeaways for practitioners of armed self-defense. Jerry Lawrence had just opened Mary Jane’s Vape and Smoke Shop when two customers entered the store. Thinking they were innocent patrons, Lawrence turned his back as walked behind the counter while speaking on the phone with the store’s owner.

Crazy can happen anywhere, but one HVAC repairman in North Carolina was ready. The Charlotte Observer reported last week that a pet Japanese macaque had escaped its enclosure and attacked a neighbor woman in the coastal town of Shallotte, NC. The primate “just went bananas,” Shallotte Detective Sgt. John Holman told the Observer.

A homeowner in a rural neighborhood outside of St. Augustine, Fl., earlier this month fought off five intruders who were in his home at 2am. He killed one with a handgun and forced the remaining four to flee as police arrived. All four suspects are currently in custody, and they’ve been charged with felony murder and attempted robbery.

“I firmly believe that if that man hadn’t walked by when he did and had his gun on him, things could’ve gone VERY differently,” she said on Facebook.

A concealed carry permit holder is being praised by Chicago-area police for helping stop a shootout between officers and a suspect that took place last week near a busy interstate.

“This is a justifiable homicide all day long. You have the right protect yourself,” Sheriff Judd said Wednesday. “This was the intent of the law.”