Munsterville

Munsterville was a gated community. A guard stood at the gate checking automobiles and their occupants as they came and went. Why, I do not know. Inside the wrought iron fence wet, stinking garbage lined the curbs, swept there by the wind when dry, only to be plastered there by the rain later. Shards of broken glass glistened across the streets. Crack was dealt openly. So was sex. There was no fear of the law inside that gate. Yeah, Munsterville was a gated community........The kind of fenced in cage that kept the animals inside. Even the ramshackle, crime infested and starving community surrounding Munsterville feared what was contained in those black bars.

Thus, when I received word that a patient was waiting inside for me, I was not without trepidation. I had worked all throughout the area surrounding M'ville. I was familiar with the risks. A po-po escort was out of the question, even though a nurse had been assaulted there only weeks before. The po-po only entered in pairs there....pairs of squad cars, at least four officers at a time, and only on raids. I thought about having someone ride along with me, there is security in numbers. The wrong person would have needed my protection though, and the right people were unavailable. If I would have owned a German Shepherd at that time I would have gone home and picked the dog up to reside in the Grand Cherokeee while I took care of the patient. Alas, Chester was not up to the task.

I always carried stored Little Darling's aluminum softball bat in the rear of the Jeep. It could perform double duty as a non-lethal weapon if needed. I knew I was most vulnerable when I left a home, not when I arrived. Upon leaving, any assailant would know about when I would be exiting, and certainly where I would be going.......Back to my vehicle. I had a convex mirror stuck on my hatchback glass just so I could see behind me right before I opened it to place my nursing bag inside. My nursing bag itself was actually a concealed carry soft sided leather brief case with a stainless .357 magnum in a hidden center compartment. In my SmartCarry holster was a Colt Compact. You would think I would have felt invulnerable. I did not.

I was entering Munsterville to care for a patient. I worried about the teenagers junkies and crackheads the most. The crackheads would bust out your car windows to steal change from your center console, and the junkies, on learning you were a nurse, would want syringes, and believe you were carrying medication dope. The kids would just swarm you like hornets on bicycles to get at your valuables, or to steal what they could to trade to the junkies and crackheads. Munsterville was indian territory, and I wasn't dancing with wolves.

The patient I was to see, Antonio, had no telephone. He was a paraplegic, bound to a wheelchair and fighting decubitus ulcers. To expect him to have a telephone so I could call ahead was to much to ask.

A fat uniformed "guard" manning the gate hailed me as my Jeep approached. I rolled down my window and told him I was going to apartment 234C. He scribbled down the information as I moved on. I suppose he would send out a search party in a few days if anyone came looking for me. I noticed there were banks of locked mailboxes just inside the gate. "Neither snow nor rain not heat nor gloom of night".........Just the derangement of a crackhead and the threat of not leaving in one piece.

Five or six kids jumped joyously on top of a urine soaked mattress and box springs beside a rusty graffitti covered dumpster. They stopped and stared in bewilderment as I drove past. Boney feral cats ran free, hunting rats and spreading disease. I tried to dodge the broken glass, and cringed as it grated underneath my tires. I drove throughout the place, trying to locate 234C. Not a single unit had a number. My Jeep crunched over more glass as I returned to the guard to ask directions. He referred to a crumpled Xeroxed map and directed me around the cul-de-sac.

I parked as close as I could. 234C was on the top of a "dog-trot" unit, so named because of open area between two quadplexes covered by a roof ajoining them. The rusty metal and concrete stairs to the second story units were underneath the roof. I scanned the surroundings before I got out of my vehicle. All was well. I exited, got my bag from the rear, and locked the Jeep. As I slogged through the mud and dead grass towards the building, a kid on a to small BMX bike waddled up. "What you want man?" he inquired.

I glanced his way and turned to face him. "I'm here for a patient. You know Antonio?"

"Yeah, I know Ant. What you want with Ant? You a doctor?"

"Naw man, I'm a nurse."

A nurse? You don't look like no nuss to me. I think you be five-0."

I smiled inscrutably. That could be a good thing. Maybe. "So what if I was?"

"So I'd"........ His words were cut short by a gesture from a young black man in a wheelchair, in the shadows underneath the dogtrot. I walked up and said I'm looking for Antonio.

"That's me," said the young man, his loose short jeans still sagging despite the wheelchair.

"I'm Xavier.....I'm here to take care of your wounds."

I struggled with Ant's wounds for over a year, going into M'ville each day to meet up with him. When I first met him, I explained that I did not carry dope or syringes. I asked him to spread the word. He must have, because my Jeep was never broken into. Ant's apartment was on the second story. His handicap was ignored by whoever rented him his apartment. He solved the problem himself by living with someone on the ground floor. I never saw his actual apartment.

As time wore on, I began to see other people in Munsterville. Ant was just the first.

From the Archives ~ Standing on the X

After I encountered the story of Keith Labrozzi, and that of Stephen Swan and Matthew Butler, I felt compelled to share a few of my lessons learned. I don't know it all, I am no self defense guru, but I have been in and out of some damned spooky places and situations both in the States and third world countries of the Orient. I had the advantage of learning to protect myself through avoidance in countries where I did not speak the language very well. Advantage? Yes. I did not respond to the verbal tactics used to bewilder a victim and place them off guard. To remain safe, I had to study the body language and tactics of those who would do me harm. I found that criminals share many commonalities as they go about their business. There is a lot of bad information, assumptions and beliefs out there, only one of which is the gun being a magic talisman. Hopefully, I will address a couple more here.

Sometimes, because of events I have experienced in my life, I have a fatalistic point of view. When your number is up, when you are standing on that X,......Well, everyone has to die sometime.

But then, as a nurse, I know not everyone dies immediately. Some victims of crime are crippled. Some are paralyzed. Some jockey wheelchairs and wear colostomy bags. They develop decubitus ulcers that demand constant care, lest they become infected, creating sepsis and killing the victim, concluding a tragic chain of events years after a victim's bad decision and a criminal's actions set them in motion. Other victims survive on life support, brain dead, unknowingly generating years of agony and turmoil over every medical and nursing decision their loved ones are forced to face. I do not want to do that to my wife and children.

When I worked Home Health, providing specialized wound care in some of the most crime infested areas of a poverty stricken state, I carried redundant guns. One was on my hip under my lab coat, or in a SmartCarry holster if I was wearing scrubs. One was my nursing bag, secured in a middle compartment, velcroed shut. That bag was actually a soft sided briefcase designed to carry a gun. I recommend a similar bag to every nurse or physician I teach. In my pocket I carried a revolver, because I expected the struggle to be in confined spaces, quickly going to the ground, with the firearm jammed in the criminal's ribs. In the back of my Jeep Cherokee, I carried an aluminum baseball bat, my non-lethal weapon.

Twice over a period of eleven years of this type of work, I felt compelled to draw a weapon. Once, I pulled the bat. Each time, the event could have been avoided by better planning on my part. The learning curve was steep, but I was learning.

There are reasons why a grammar school dropout who cannot multiply 26 by 4 is able to outwit and victimize a person who is of demonstrably higher intelligence and social proficiency.

First, the criminal does this for a living. They are not as dumb as many think they are. If you fail to respect their level of skill, you will be unprepared to deal with them. They are not dumb. They just attended a different "school" and studied a different "curriculum". To understand and predict their behavior, you must know a bit of that curriculum as well. Understanding the behaviors and motivations of different types of criminals is the framework with which a wise person protects themselves. Know your enemy. Then practice avoidance if you can. If avoidance is impossible, try evasion. Try both of these tactics prior to defense. You do not have to "win" a dangerous encounter. Nobody wins a gunfight. They simply survive.

The next reason that a criminal can overcome a victim is they have a plan. They are acting offensively, while the victim is reacting defensively. By having a plan in place before contact is made, the criminal has a distinct advantage. They have considered contingencies. They know what they are going to do. They often work in numbers, confusing and surrounding the victim beforehand. They know what's coming. The victim does not. Know how the criminal works. He has a plan, and is looking for a victim to impose the plan on. The criminal has considered, and quite possibly experienced the reactions he will receive from his victim before the fact. Having a plan of action to deal with criminal activities is vital once you have been targeted. There is no one plan to fit every contingency. Having a counter plan is good, but removing yourself from the victim selection process is a far superior tactic.

The active criminal conceals their intent until they have selected a victim, moved in for the attack, and possibly made a couple of probes to assess the victim's responses. Recognizing the criminal's actual intent is vital. That gives you the edge to counter his plan with a plan of your own. The most frequent mistake that a victim makes is the failure to recognize the threat until it is to late. The criminal works with behavioral devices to conceal his actual purpose. The potential victim must see through the veil and recognize the actual intent if they are to counter the criminal. The criminal may be a scruffy crackhead, or they may be an attractive member of the opposite sex. They may be working alone, or in groups, either seen or unseen. They may even be an angry family member.

Once the criminal's plan is set in motion, the victim must seize the initiative. They must place the criminal on the defense. They must force him into the role of the person who is reacting to the unexpected. Your gun may be unexpected, or it may not be. It is your choices, your behavior that must redirect the conflict, not your firearm.

Analyzing when you are most vulnerable is key. Military men know that insertion is not the time of vulnerability. Extraction is. Crimes that occur when a person is entering a building are often crimes of opportunity, the work of amateurs. The criminal is easily disengaged. This is also a time when a more experienced criminal will size you up. They will sometimes make the first contact on your entrance, knowing that an exit is soon to follow. Crimes that occur when a person exits a building are much more likely to be targeted towards the specific individual, and be premeditated. The criminal knows your presence when you are leaving. While you were otherwise engaged, he was formulating his plan, and perhaps gathering allies. He possibly even knows the path you will take, as it is usually the most direct one to your vehicle. These are much more difficult to avoid and disengage from.

I knew that I was most vulnerable when I left an apartment or house in the crime and gang infested areas where I worked. Before I opened the door of an apartment to leave, I would take a look outside the window. The patients understood why, hell they lived there. I always, on the first patient contact, explained that I did not carry drugs, syringes (a lie), money, or valuables. I wore an ugly old Timex. I carried a beat up camera for wound documentation......I actually took sandpaper to it to make it less desirable. I drove a humble Grand Cherokee with a dented fender and ugly rims. I made certain the young men in the home, often involved in illegal if not outright gang activity, knew my purpose. I was there to provide nursing service, not to act as a police informant. I made sure they knew I would pull out and not only let them rot, but impede further care by other agencies if I was threatened. I did not equivocate on these issues. Often, these young men would serve as my protection against the threats as I came and went about my business. I would talk and listen as I worked, gathering information not just on specifics, but on the emotional climate of the area. I made mental notes of who came and went in the homes, the layout of the homes, as well as blankets hung in doorways and doors padlocked shut. One of the odd beliefs in these areas is that law enforcement needed a separate search warrant for padlocked doors inside a home. Thus, a padlocked door indicated illegal activity within the home. All good information to know. Even though young men or women, often seen as criminals, might serve as my protectors in these neighborhoods, I kept my distance and would not allow them to walk me to my vehicle. They knew why.

I would park where I had alternate routes to my vehicle. I would keep open space around me and structures and objects as much as possible. I made myself a difficult target. Still, I had to approach my Jeep. The criminals knew where to lie in wait. Thus, I was careful to park where I would have some room to see my attacker as he approached my vehicle, and where I could observe the vehicle from inside the home. Time and distance were my protection. I had a square convex mirror stuck on the rear glass of the Cherokee's hatch so I could see an approach from behind as I opened it. I had remote controlled door locks, and I disabled the passenger side and rear outside door handles. I kept the batteries changed in the door remote, giving me max power in opening them, and I kept the Cherokee maintained with a full gas tank.

Today, my situation is different, but I still take the time to realistically recognize my vulnerabilities, and to raise my level of awareness when I am most vulnerable. It is the heightened awareness that prevents a person from being victimized, not the gun concealed on their person.

Drawing and using a gun is only a part of one plan. It is a possible counter action, but not the only one. Keeping your back to the wall in a restaurant is only one technique. We plan for crimes that we hear about, the ones that make the 6:00 news. Most crimes do not occur as the spectacular robbery with multiple patrons in a restaurant or bar. They occur when the victim is alone and vulnerable, in a laundromat, walking a dog, or approaching their automobile or front door. These opportunities for criminals to ply their trade must be countered as well. Gunfighting is not about guns, it's about fighting. You must be willing and able to fight, and fighting is about survival. The gun is only a means of increasing your advantage in a struggle for life and survival. The best way to survive is to recognize and avoid or offset the threat altogether. Survive at all costs.

Related: When Being a Good Guy Isn't Enough
A Tactical Analysis of the Tyler Courthouse Shooting and the Tacoma Mall Shooting
By Syd

From the Archives ~ Recognizing Threats

A couple of weeks years ago I wrote a post on the realities of surviving a gunfight. Much of my writing focused on the need to avoid the conflict. Many believe that they can avoid conflict by avoiding particular areas. This is not always the case. A person must go about one's life, and the criminal element does the same. A person may be more likely to be attacked in certain areas, but they can be victimized virtually anywhere. Indeed, they are often less prepared in their own element. Conflict avoidance requires threat recognition.

To recognize threats, one has to understand how the criminal mind works. The criminal is a predator. He (or she) sees the world as having two types of people.....Other predators and prey. Many honest gun owners like to think of themselves as "sheepdogs" but to the criminal, the sheepdog is simply another brand of predator. Like other beasts, it is a matter of survival for the criminal to prey on those weaker than themselves. To select the wrong victim is to become prey. If you want to survive in the criminal's world, you must be seen as a superior predator. Once you understand the criminal's thought processes, most attacks can be avoided simply by removing oneself from the victim selection process. There are several steps to victimization.

Intent
This is when the criminal decides to commit a crime. He likely has not selected a victim yet. Internally, however, the criminal has made the decision that he must fill a need, whether it be money to pay off his grandma's medicine bill, or cash to buy a bit of crack. He has decided to go to work. He may work alone, or with others, but like anyone else who goes to work, the working criminal's body language and demeanor changes. The criminal must disguise his intent, however, lest he be snared by the ultimate predator, the police. Thus, the working criminal lies in wait, like a lion in the grass, waiting for suitable prey. He is observant, and he will toss out bait to potential prey to see if he gets a nibble. Often, a criminal team will place the least threatening member in view to test potential prey while the others on the team remain hidden. He is not a fisherman, however, he does not require a nibble. The criminal is a predator. Failure to nibble at the bait is also a sign of potential prey. Remember, the only way to be left alone by this predator, or team of predators, is to be seen as a superior predator.
A superior predator may not attack, but they will always recognize other predators. If the criminal is recognized by someone he sees as an equal or superior predator, he will stay in the shadows as long as he or his territory is not threatened. If the recognition comes from someone he sees as prey, however, he begins to work in earnest.

Selection
The criminal, once he has observed a potential victim, will send out some test runs to determine if the person is indeed prey, or predator. These tests may be asking for a match, the time, or change. The initial tests all have one thing in common. They violate boundaries, and determine if the selected person will allow their space and generosity to be violated. The predator is mimicking a common panhandler to get in close, test the waters and position himself for attack. All of these persons are easily recognized by their inappropriate behavior and boundary violations. Like the fish who fails to recognize the moray eel on the reef, the person who fumbles for change with a predator has sealed their fate. The ruses are many and varied. I have seen crackheads target tourists and ask to get their pictures taken. I have seen balloon ladies that had accomplices working in the shadows. I have seen young women toss out lewd comments as their male accomplices tried to blend into the landscape. I have seen kids sitting on trash cans in housing projects while older gang members waited around the corner. I have even seen one teen lay on the side of the road in the projects waiting for a good Samaritan as his accomplices hid behind a dumpster. Like the anglerfish, these predators actively dangle lures to allow them to catch prey. To be seen as a potentially superior predator, one must simply recognize the threat, refuse to engage, and continue without alarm.

If the predator is engaged, a request for change quickly becomes a demand for a dollar, then a twenty, then a blow to the head as soon as the victim refuses. This kind of escalation is common with young gangs who quickly befuddle their prey with unrelated questions and demands from all directions. As the victim struggles with the insistent demands and questions, the gang will begin positioning itself for attack. These criminals work like sharks, first brushing their victim, then bumping it, and finally going after the victim is a swirl of blood and gore as others also jump in.

The most feared predator is the one who uses the silent selection process. This criminal watches the parade of people passing by, while trying to blend into the scenery. He wants to be neither seen or remembered. Once he recognizes and selects a victim, he knows he needs the right time and place to launch his attack. He may follow his selected victim to a more promising location. If he follows his victim, he knows that he must go unrecognized as a predator. He is the tiger in the jungle, relying on stealth to get close enough to quickly subdue his prey. Like the tiger, he leaves his lair to hunt. He may stalk his victim for long periods of time. He may lose interest in a selected victim that never knew he was there. He may follow the victim until the victim enters an area where an attack can be successful. If the time and place are already in his favor when the victim is selected, however, the victim will be like the fly who fails to recognize the chameleon among the leaves. Thankfully, these predators who use the silent selection process are not as common as other predators. They are, however, highly effective, giving the victim very little warning. The key to recognizing them is the last chance of conflict avoidance.

Positioning
The final indicator of an impending attack is positioning. Once positioning commences, the victim has been selected, and an attack is imminent unless immediate action is taken. Positioning is recognizable by escape routes being cut off if the attacker is alone. In the case of multiple predators, attackers will both surround and approach from vulnerable angles. This is the jackal approach to the hunt. Once it occurs, the only choice the victim has is to either fight for their life or pray for the predator's generosity. If the predator moves into position, he has already decided that his victim is prey. He will attack. The only thing that will stop the attack is the sudden realization he has made a fatal error and chosen a superior predator. Proof of this mentality is the many incarcerated criminals who believe their last victim somehow victimized them instead.

And this, finally, is where citizens arming themselves against criminals need to focus. Armed citizens like to think of themselves as sheepdogs. However, inside every sheepdog is a lineage that can be tracked back to the wolf. The sheepdog understands the wolf because he is a wolf with another purpose. He is a predator as well.

On Tactical Reloads

David Armstrong has some incisive thoughts up on tactical reloads. If you are a reader who carries a gun and contemplates effective personal security including lethal force, I suggest you give David's blog, The Thinking Gunfighter a read. Quick, smooth tactical reloads are impressive, especially when performed running and gunning. But are they a viable lifesaving skill in a real gun fight struggle to save one's life?

A while back, I showed a series of photos on how to perform a 1911 reload in this post, and I am fairly proficient at getting the job done. My preference for a handgun reload though, is the shotgun I fought myself to. If I am still in need of ammunition with the smoking shotgun in my hands, I hope there will be another shotgun nearby, or a half empty firearm on the floor.

My thoughts on David's article are in the comments. Thinking Gunfighter.... an apt name to that blog. I'll still carry a spare magazine opposite of the piece on my belt though. A balanced gun belt is a good thing.

On Kirk Caldwell.......

NUGUN said it well. Lets not be too quick to condemn the man who may have had to make the most horrendous decision of his life.

More.

A Kel-Tec PF9

Prose as a Gift

I don’t carry a gun to kill people. I carry a gun to keep from being killed.

I don’t carry a gun to scare people. I carry a gun because sometimes this world can be a scary place.

I don’t carry a gun because I’m paranoid. I carry a gun because there are real threats in the world.

I don’t carry a gun because I’m evil. I carry a gun because I have lived long enough to see the evil in the world.

I don’t carry a gun because I hate the government. I carry a gun because I understand the limitations of government.

I don’t carry a gun because I’m angry. I carry a gun so that I don’t have to spend the rest of my life hating myself for failing to be prepared.

I don’t carry a gun because my sex organs are too small. I carry a gun because I want to continue to use those sex organs for the purpose for which they were intended for a good long time to come.

I don’t carry a gun because I want to shoot someone. I carry a gun because I want to die at a ripe old age in my bed, and not on a sidewalk somewhere tomorrow afternoon.

I don’t carry a gun because I’m a cowboy. I carry a gun because, when I die and go to heaven, I want to be a cowboy.

I don’t carry a gun to make me feel like a man. I carry a gun because men know how to take care of themselves and the ones they love.

I don’t carry a gun because I feel inadequate. I carry a gun because unarmed and facing three armed thugs, I am inadequate.

I don’t carry a gun because I love it. I carry a gun because I love life and the people who make it meaningful to me.

Syd

Thank you for writing this Syd. It is the perfect prose to go with the pistol I am giving my newly minted son-in-law at his Christmas wedding today. That along with directions to Gunsite and Thunder Ranch.

I am certain that some in my extended family may question the gift. That is not my concern, really. My concern is that the man have the means to protect himself and those I love. They will reside in Houston. So, for those who may doubt the wisdom of Syd's words, and my thoughts on the matter, here is one more reason.......

On December 9, 2009 in Houston, Texas, a tire shop owner used his handgun to save his life against four armed and violent felons. Police say that four armed criminals attempted to rob the El Mante Tire Shop on the 11000 block of Bauman Road at about 8:30 PM. Fearing for his life, the store owner drew his lawfully carried handgun and fatally shot one of the robbers. The three surviving robbers turned tail and fled in a black Mercury Mountaineer pimped out with chrome rims.

The store owner was unharmed, alive, and after the expected formalities with law enforcement, went home to his loving family. That is as it should be, but never let it be forgotten that the reason his life was spared was because he refused to die and because he had a gun at hand.

Shot in the Foot

"We get robbed here all the time, we're used to it living in this neighborhood," said a Houston homeowner who shot a burglar through his bedroom window on October 16, 2009.

"I shot him, but I shot him on his foot. I didn't want to shoot him in the chest or head or anything, he was five feet away from me, I could have shot him between the eyes but I didn't want to kill him," said the homeowner.



I'm not one for armchair quarterbacking a man who has been forced to defend himself, and I understand that in Texas, you can shoot to defend property, but there is so much to think about concerning this story...........

Johns Hopkins Student Defends Self with Samurai Sword

Taser Wielding Robber Killed

Memphis Tennessee. A criminal decides to use a taser to rob a convenience store. Unfortunately for him, the clerk has a gun and the willingness to use it.



At this time, on the Memphis FOX poll, 85% of respondents believe armed employees are the best deterrent to crime.

A Conciliatory Request Denied

District Judge Tammy Bass-LeSure has denied a request that Jerome Ersland of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma have access to weapons while he is out on bail for defending his life in an armed robbery attempt. Mr. Ersland, a pharmacist, shot and killed a teenager, one of a pair, who burst into his workplace demanding drugs and money at gunpoint.

"District Attorney David Prater asked the judge to allow Ersland to have access to a gun at work in case the pharmacy is robbed again. The prosecutor said his position "sounds crazy” but he insisted that under the law Ersland has the right to defend himself and others at the pharmacy. At one point, spectators in the courtroom clapped in support of his statements.

The district attorney said he worried crooks now will know it is "open season” at the pharmacy if Ersland is there. He also said Ersland could be fired.

Prater said the pharmacist would not be in court if the two robbers had not come into the drugstore. The judge said, "Then, why did you charge him, Mr. Prater?" The district attorney replied that Ersland went too far."

Prater was referring to the video tape evidence that makes it appear that Ersland returned to the pharmacy, picked up a second handgun, and shot the wounded robber five more times before calling 911. "I’m the one who filed the charge so my butt’s on the line," the District Attorney declared in court. Prosecutors maintain the wounded teen was unarmed and unconscious on his back when he was shot five more times. Mr. Ersland states he acted in self defense when the suspect tried to get up. The actions of the criminal at the time the shots were fired are off camera. The coroner has determined the initial head shot was not the mortal wound.

Jerome Ersland is out on $100,000 bail which was posted by his supporters in gun rights organizations and veteran's organizations. He is a disabled veteran from Desert Storm who wears a back brace and has his back pain controlled with morphine. He is being charged with first degree murder.

A legal defense fund has been set up for Mr. Ersland. Donations can be made to the "Jerome Ersland Defense Fund" at First National Bankd and Truct of Chickasha, 302 W. Chickasha Ave or P.O. Drawer 1130, Chickasha, 73302.

Five Bucks

Elliott Firby was driving home from his job as a night shift letter sorter at the post office when he noticed two teens in a black truck. The truck slowed to let him pass, and then began following him. It was 2:45 AM. "Something is fixing to jump off," stated Mr. Firby at a press conference.

Mr. Firby continued to his home, and after he parked in his driveway, he got out to open the gate. The black truck reappeared and a man with a shotgun hopped out and confronted the postal worker. "Give it up sir'" the armed criminal said politely as he pointed the deadly weapon at the innocent man. Mr. Firby fell to his knees and reached towards his wallet, which only contained five dollars.

A mere five dollars would no doubt only infuriate the criminal with the lethal weapon. Elliott Firby's life was being threatened, and would likely be extinguished over five dollars. His wife, asleep inside their home would likely find her dying husband in a pool of blood because some punk was too stupid and sorry to get a job. Rather than give up his life for under an hour's wage at minimum wage, Mr. Firby did what he had to do.

A year prior, Mr. Firby and his wife had applied for and received their concealed carry licenses under Florida's shall issue legislation. Elliot Firby pulled his .380 pistol from behind his back and began firing. He shot the criminal in the abdomen, and then fired again as the felon ran towards the truck. The bandit made it to the truck, and it sped away into the night. "You have to do something to protect yourself," Mr. Firby says. "The police can’t be there all the time."

911 was called, and a police investigation began. Later in the early morning hours, a sixteen year old appeared at Sarasota Memorial Hospital with a bullet wound. Brandon Ellis was dumped at the emergency entrance from a black pick-up truck. Surveillance cameras captured the black pick-up truck on film. The partner in crime, Cadareus Ray was arrested as a result. Of course, the media is making note of the fact neither criminal had a previous record, and both were star athletes. I'm sure their relatives will appear soon to relate they were on their way to church to feed hungry lepers when the cruel Elliott Firby began shooting at them for no good reason.

There was blood in the Florida streets, but it was not the blood of innocents. Mr. Elliott has not been charged. Under Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law, he is a free man. He is also a man who still breathes. "He was looking at dying," stated Sarasota Police Captain Bill Spitler, "and he has every right to defend himself."

Damned right he does.

Repentant Robber, Forgiving Victim

Outcomes

Howard Nemerov examines two pharmacy robberies, and the actions taken to defend lives.

It's an excellent article of contrasts.

Robbery Victim Charged with Murder

An Oklahoma City pharmacist has been charged with first degree murder after shooting a robber 6 times. The prosecutor says the first shot was justified, but the defender went too far when he shot the teen 5 more times with a .380 caliber pistol while he lay unconscious on the floor. "I do not want the charging of Jerome Ersland with first degree murder to have a chilling effect on any person legitimately in a position to defend themselves from an assailant," Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater said in a news conference.



On May 19, 2009, Antwun Parker and Jevontia Ingram, both teenagers burst into the Reliable Discount Pharmacy wearing masks and carrying a gun. The pharmacist, Jerome Ersland, shot Parker in the head, and then chased the other threat out of the pharmacy. When he returned, the robbery victim took up a second handgun, and shot the fallen robber five more times in the abdomen.

Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater asserts armed robbery victim was justified in shooting Antwun Parker once in the head. However, Prater claims Mr. Ersland broke the law when he shot Parker again while the teen lay unconscious on the floor. Mr. Ersland says the injured criminal was attempting to get up. He further states he grabbed the second handgun before he chased Jevontia Ingram from the phatmacy.

Ersland's attorney, Irven Box, says his client was protecting himself and two women inside the pharmacy. In court, the District Attorney showed a security video (seen above) in which two criminals burst into the pharmacy. One criminal is shot. Ersland is seen chasing the second man outside. Then he walks past Parker to get a second gun. Finally, he is seen firing at Parker again. The autopsy found Parker was still alive after the head shot and died from the stomach wounds.

Mr. Ersland did not burst into Antwun Parker's place of business to kill him. Antwun Parker came to Mr. Ersland forcibly demanding money and drugs while placing an innocent victim's life at risk. Nobody has forgotten who the aggressor was, nor who the victim was. Even so, the victim may well lose everything because a teen aged punk decided to victimize him.

It is often taught that a threat must be shot until it is no longer a threat. The security video does not show the last seconds of Antwun Parker's wasted life. If it did, Mr. Ersland might never have been charged. Unfortunately, the video does show the actions of Mr. Ersland. These actions are open to interpretation. Mr. Ersland has posted $100,000 bail after a preliminary hearing. His attorney believes a jury will rule in the pharmacists’ favor.

Ten Lives, One Will

In College Park, Georgia, two masked thugs crashed a party carrying guns. The home invaders immediately separated the men from the women and demanded wallets and cell phones. Then the two began counting bullets, and one ominously stated he had enough for everybody there. “Apparently, his intent was to rape and murder us all,” said student Charles Bailey.

One of the men held hostage decided he intended to survive. He pulled a gun from a backpack and shot at the criminal guarding the men. The criminal fled. The righteous defender then advanced to the room where the women were being held and found Calvin Lavant preparing to rape one of the women. The defender again began shooting, telling the women to get down. One woman was injured in the barrage of bullets, and Calvin Lavant lept out a window. He was found dead from a gunshot wound near his own apartment, one building away. The injured woman is expected to make a full recovery.

This sounds like a good story, but there are lessons to be learned. First, there were over-penetration issues. This was in an apartment complex. Lady Luck smiled on the defender.

Next, out of ten people, only one had the courage to act. The thugs had the audacity to count bullets in front of their victims. If the reports are true, there was opportunity for unarmed resistance. Five to one.

Finally, a gun was available, but training was apparently lacking. The defender reverted to the spray and pray technique of home defense. He obviously got off shots in time on the first criminal. The second criminal was also caught with his pants down, literally. Whether the defender's intent was to scare off the attackers with an expensive and dangerous noise maker, or whether it was to take a permanent bite out of crime, he could have used more training and education in lethal force and self defense.

But the righteous defender lived. So did all his friends. He was there, I was not. He saw that big gray pachyderm, grabbed it by its trunk and body slammed it across the arena with all his might. He found the will to save lives while his friends succumbed to fear and intimidation. The defender found the foundation that everyone who carries a gun should possess. He found the will under crisis to use a gun to save his life and the lives of others. That is the one element that remains an unknown for many who carry a gun.

The decision to live must be made when the gun is strapped on. The training must be done before the crisis comes. In the crisis, we will all revert back to our level of training........ If we have the will to live.

The Watchmaker

"Do I feel safer? I just want to feel alive."
Four separate robberies. Each a shoot out.
A watchmaker discusses his mental preparation and the consequences of legitimate self defense.



Hat tip to Sailor Bob.

Ten Days

“Did Ned threaten you, physically, I mean?”

“Said I belong to him and no one else. That’s about it. But I know what he means.”

“What did the police say?”


“The last cop, as he was leaving, whispered for me to get a gun.”

I tell her that owning a gun isn’t sufficient. She has to take safety classes, self-defense classes. She has to know what she’s doing. From the counter, I grab a handful of NRA brochures and press them into her hands. I make her promise that she’ll sign up as soon as she gets her gun in ten days.

“Ten days?” she says.........

Go read “I’m Against Guns and Violence, Unfortunately Reality Has Intruded on My Delusional Paradise.” by Robert J. Avrech