On three different recent occasions, violent criminals were thwarted by good guys smart enough to be armed and brave enough to act.
Police in Philadelphia are searching for two attempted armed robbers who thought they had found the perfect victim — a 71-year-old man walking home from picking up Chinese takeout. They were mistaken.
As the elderly gentleman ambled along with his dinner Thursday night, two suspects dressed in black sprang from an alleyway and attempted to rob him at gunpoint. But police say the intended victim withdrew his own revolver and exchanged gunfire with the would-be robbers.
They quickly fled into the night. Investigators found two spent shell casings believed to be from the suspect’s firearm or firearms. The older man was struck once in the ankle and transported to Temple University Hospital.
It is unknown if either of the two assailants was hit by his defensive gunfire, but clearly they had no intention in engaging with an armed citizen.
It is unlikely that Philadelphia’s leadership will have much if anything to say about this heroic act. They have been quite busy lately disparaging the Second Amendment, with Mayor Jim Kenney complaining that it’s easier to buy guns than alcohol in the city.
The mayor recently recounted the tale of seeing an elderly man having trouble purchasing eight bottles of wine. Kenney observed that “if we control guns like we control the sale of liquor and wine, we’d be in much better shape than we are now.”
This is a fallacy. A 2016 federal study showed that a mere 10% of prison inmates acquired their firearms through retailers, and under 1% from gun shows.
Down near the Mexican border, police say a 29-year-old man with the unlikely name of Bruce Wayne Murphy had the misfortune Thursday to break into the wrong home.
According to reports, the suspect forced his way into the residence with three people and a dog just before 9 a.m. The occupants report Murphy fired a weapon and injured the dog.
This did not go over well with the residents, and authorities said that 37-year-old Sean Patrick Suniga fired his own weapon, striking Murphy.
About an hour later, Murphy was found in the middle of a nearby intersection calling for help. He is being treated for his wound and will face a charge of burglary of a habitation once recovered. There’s no word on the condition of man’s best friend, but here’s hoping for a full recovery.
And the day before, in Kingsport, Tennessee, a homeowner was confronted by an alleged intruder around 8 p.m. Local media report the armed homeowner found “an individual exiting his home and approaching him in a manner that caused the resident to fear for his safety.”
It was then that the homeowner produced his handgun and shot the alleged intruder. The suspect was taken to a local hospital for treatment of his wound, which officials believe was not life-threatening.
Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Andy Seabolt told reporters that “there is no danger to the public.”
These are incidents that should be front page news, but likely they were buried if reported at all. As a Second Amendment advocate, it is great to know that many Americans are armed and ready to defend themselves from those who would cause them harm.
And while misguided political leaders and their media allies want to strip your right to self-defense from you, remember these instances when the presence of a lawful firearm likely prevented a tragic outcome.
