As reported, a convenience store clerk used his gun to save himself and a fellow employee from an armed robber who had opened fire:
Police say that at about 10 PM, a robber who was armed with a handgun entered the Community Food Market on the 100 block of Northwest 5th Avenue in Delray Beach, Florida, and threatened the lives of the two clerks present. One of the clerks reportedly hid behind the counter, at which point the robber opened fire. The other clerk is said to have grabbed his self defense gun and fired at the robber, striking the robber and causing him to flee. A suspect was found laying face down a few blocks from the crime scene, still holding a handgun, and that suspect later died from his wounds, police say. No injuries to the clerks or any bystanders were reported. Police are investigating whether this suspect was behind an earlier robbery in West Palm Beach, during which a pair of robbers killed a clerk and a customer.
Once again, gun ownership has allowed a law abiding person who was going about their peaceful business to defend themselves from unprovoked and violent attack. Had this clerk not been armed, he could have been harmed by the robber for not having enough money to steal, for not handing the money over quickly enough, or perhaps just because the robber felt like harming someone that day. Make no mistake about it – robbery is a violent crime against a person’s body and life, not just a taking of their property. As such, robbery victims are legally and morally entitled to defend themselves with deadly force.