As reported, a Sarasota, Florida man drove to his house, and stepped out of his vehicle to unlock his fence, when a black pickup truck pulled up behind him. A criminal, who was armed with a shotgun, stepped out of the truck and ordered the man to lay on the ground. The man acted as though he was complying with the criminal’s demands, but then grabbed his concealed handgun. The man opened fire on the armed criminal, striking him in the stomach. The injured criminal dropped the gun and fled in the truck. Shortly thereafter, a black pickup appeared at a nearby hospital, and dropped off a teenager with a gunshot wound to the stomach. Police say that they suspect this teenager was the robber, and he will be taken to the Sarasota County jail one released from the hospital.
Firstly, this self defense case shows the need for concealed carry, and is yet another reason why I am so happy to have a concealed carry permit. Here we have a man who was returning to his home, only to be attacked by an armed and dangerous criminal. Had this man lived in a state without concealed carry, the news story might have read “Sarasota man murdered while opening fence.” Instead, this man lived in an area that allowed concealed carry, enabling him to defend himself against a violent criminal.
Secondly, those who oppose gun rights like to suggest that armed citizens will be unable to draw their gun in time, especially when a criminal is already pointing a gun at that citizen. As this self defense gun use shows, that suggestion is just not true. Here, a man was being held at gunpoint by a criminal armed with a shotgun, which is perhaps the most effective close range weapon ever invented by mankind. Despite the criminal already having a much more powerful gun drawn, this citizen was able to not draw his own gun and shoot the criminal, without being shot himself. Also note that this is by no means an isolated incident. For example, this armed student saved himself and 9 friends from near certain death at the hands of 2 gunmen, who already had their guns. This home owner was being held at knifepoint by a home invading robber, but managed to get his gun and fire in self defense. This armed woman was ambushed by multiple armed home invaders, but managed to go get her gun and then defend her family. This home invasion and kidnapping victim managed to break free from his attacker, grab his self defense gun, and fatally shoot that attacker in self defense. Indeed, many of the self defense stories that I’ve discussed involve citizens who started out at a disadvantage, relative to the criminals who attacked them, yet managed to successfully defend themselves.