Today’s feel good story
Old Trooper sends a link to a feel good article about an 82-year-old who dispatched an intruder to his house in the early morning hours;
The 82-year-old homeowner woke up at 6 a.m. after hearing someone at his backdoor, the report said. He armed himself with a .45 automatic and fired a single shot through the door, the report said. The suspected burglar was hit in the abdomen and likely died minutes later.
The suspect was described as a white male in a ski mask who was carrying a hammer and screwdriver at the time of the shooting. Police have tentatively identified the suspect as the man wanted for other burglaries in the neighborhood, the report said.
The local police chief went on to say that the homeowner did what the law enforcement and legal system couldn’t accomplish – put the dude out of business. I’d advise people who think that robbing old guys is a potential career path – all of us old guys don’t fart around with puny .380 (9mm Kurz) or 9mm handguns that punch little holes. We learned to shoot with .45s and that’s what we’re comfortable with. A quarter ounce of lead traveling at 930 feet per second doesn’t leave you standing long enough for the second round.
Category: Guns
Gut shot by a .45………that’s gonna leave a mark.
You had a typo old dude? Could NOT do?
Anyway, Speak for yourself…I hope to have my Glock 21 this year, meanwhile I’ll make do with a .38/.357. Or a 12 gauge. [shrug]
I reckon my little old 22 short would do the job – properly used.
It IS an interesting tactical issue. When my dogs go off at night I grab my SKS, not a pistol. With dogs the frame changes.
.45 ACP in the gut? Ouch.
Spray bottle of vinegar?
First choice here is the snub-nosed 20ga, with a 9mm Sig and 38 S&W back-up. Or whatever is at hand. Like a ball bat. Or a rolling pin.
He shot at someone/something without even taking the trouble to see what it was? A little quick with the trigger finger, wouldn’t you say. What if it was some kids pulling a prank? I’m gald he’s OK, but only on this site would someone’s death be considered a “feel good story”.
Well Joe then those kids would have been violating his property. But it seems pretty clear he was trying to gain entry. Something one doesn’t usually do for a prank
But thanks for playing Joe
I thought you had to be in fear of imminent death or severe physical harm to justify homocide?
Homicide? Guy breaking into his home gets blown away. That’s called prtecting your castle by people with normally functioning brain cells.
“…but only on this site would someone’s death be considered a “feel good story”.”
That’s why you come here, Joe. You should rejoice with the rest of us that Daytona Beach is measurably safer today.
No “repeat offender” in that neighborhood. Good job, armed American.
I’m guessing Joe has led quite the sheltered life.
You believe in Darwinism/Natural Selection, right Joe? And the world is overpopulated? Two birds, one stone in this case. You should be ecstatic.
I think the story left a lot out of what happened. I doubt the old geezer just goes around arbitrarily shooting and things he can’t see. The implication is that he was about to become a victim of a home invasion and any reasonable person would have thought the same.
I can see the logic with the kid prank or whatever. We did kid pranks too but we never tried to forcefully open someone’s door at 6:15am as a prank. We weren’t even up that early. Usually it was ding/dong ditch pranks, toilet paper trees, etc. Nothing harmful or even marginally criminal.
So the idea that he could have killed a kid is a bad argument to make.
@12: Two birds, one round………not nitpicking, but I think it has a better ring to it, heh, heh, heh.
As for Joe: Sucks to be the bad guy in this case, eh? Evidently; you’re the only one that has a problem with this (other than the gut shot dead bad guy). The home owner didn’t, the police didn’t. The neighborhood that had been victimized several times by gut shot dead bad guy doesn’t. I guess it’s a win-win all the way around. You are right about one aspect, though; most states the perp has to actually get in the door before you ventilate their colon, but obviously, not in Florida. I do, also, agree that one should have target confirmation before blasting, but the circumstances in this case didn’t lend themselves to it being a Girl Scout selling cookies, which was confirmed by a gut shot dead bad guy in full bad guy regalia complete with ski mask and bad guy tools of the trade.
Yeah, I’m glad where ever it is is safer today, I enjoy a law abiding society as much as the next guy, I just can’t rejoice that someone got shot and killed over a TV or something. Glad it wasn’t the guy reading the water meter….
@15: Oh, come on, Joe, when the hell have you ever seen a municipal or utility employee out reading a meter at 6 am?
Well, hind sight is 20/20. The bad guys is dead. It all worked out…this time. Still don’t like the idea of shooting at something you can’t see; as someone else noted what he did is illegal in most states. But it’s a very done deal…
Um, Joey? Meter readers don’t usually show up in a ski mask, carrying a hammer and screwdriver,trying to force the door open at 6 in the a.m.
And, weren’t you the guy who got his panties in a bunch over the armed robber who got ventilated in Ohio? So, peddle your “I enjoy a law abiding society” bullshit elsewhere, mmm-kay?
And, as a sign that hangs on my house says, “Nothing worth dying for in here”.
Joe, of course, is assuming that the home owner could not see the bad guy. Why make THAT assumption, except that it makes him FEEL better about saying it was a baaaaad thing for a man to protect his home.
After all, it might have only been a unicorn.
Joe, rare is the back door that has no window with which to view the back yard.
Rare is the meter reader/neighbor kid jokester out to discover a door they could jimmy with a large screwdriver and face mask, at 0600.
Also, Joe, to have awakened the homeowner, he had to have been making a awful racket with that hammer and screwdriver. Which means the dead guy was not simply standing there peeking in. Do you have any doubt the old man wasn’t yelling “Go away! Go away!”?
Hell, all I’d have given him would be: “Hey, I count to three and you are dead. One–Two— Oh hey, I lied.”
Hell, all I’d have given him would be: “Hey, I count to three and you are dead. One–Two— Oh hey, I lied.”
Now that’s funny.
and likely died
Really? They don’t know if he’s dead or not?
And Joey, seriously. Unplug your fucking meter already.
A good quality, compact 9mm has its place as a concealed weapon. If a weapon is too large or heavy and you start thinking “jeez this is uncomfortable maybe I’ll leave it home today” then how good is it? A nice Mossberg 500 in 12 guage is an almost perfect home defense firearm. It provides both auditory, through racking the slide, and visual, thats a pretty big hole there at the end of the gun, intimidation. You also don’t need to to worry about your fine motor skills in aiming. You pretty much just point the thing.
I’m also going to chime in on this. I’m pretty sure the guy didn’t fire through a solid door. He must have looked through the glass and saw a guy in a mask with a hammer rattling the door. In that case, sucks to be the bad guy. Myself, I’m not going to stop and ask the guy if he has bad intentions, I’m going to assume that he does and doom on him.
jonp–I have a Remington 870 Super Express 12-gauge, 18 1/2″ barrel.
Perfect close quarters weapon when loaded up with five rounds of 00-buck, not that you’d need more than one.
And no, I’m not one of those guys who believes in racking the slide or giving a “warning shot.” You’re stupid enough to threaten me and mine, you’re not smart enough to recognized when you’re fucked anyway.
So at 43 I must be an old guy since my bedside, truck and carry guns are .45 ACP ans .357 Mag with a Mossburg 12Gauge loaded with buck and slug behind the bedroom door.
@25: Springfield XDm .40 with 185 grain JHP, Armalite AR15M4C with 55 grain JHP, Remington 870 Express Magnum 18 1/2 police barrel with Nitro Pheasent Loads (#6 shot that makes a nice tight mess with more power than 00 buck), Mosin-Nagant (7.62x54R) with 203 grain soft points. Of course, that’s what they can deal with if they get past the 170 lb. Great Dane.
“A quarter ounce of lead traveling at 930 feet per second doesn’t leave you standing long enough for the second round.”
Nonsense.
http://www.gunslot.com/files/gunslot/imagecache/page/images/35543.jpg
And here I was this morning reading the section of “On Combat” where Grossman talks about the ability of the body to suck up lots of bullets, to include a gang member who took five .45 caliber rounds to the chest and kept going.
“I just can’t rejoice that someone got shot and killed over a TV or something”
Don’t worry, I’ll do it for you.
@29: “I just can’t rejoice that someone got shot and killed over a TV or something”
As I have said in the past, and obviously Joe missed, is this: When an anti-gun type says to me “is your tv/stereo/car worth killing someone?” I say in rebuttal “Is my tv/stereo/car worth dying over?”
Exactly, OT.
Wonder if those whiny idiots who are concerned with killing someone over a TV leave all their valuables out on the porch at night? Then the bad guys can just come by and take them – saving the expense of replacing broken locks and doors.
@ Joe: “…but only on this site would someone’s death be considered a “feel good story”.
Yes, Joe…that’s right. Because unlike you, we’re not a bunch of hand wringing, progressive pole smokers.
I’m sure you’d feel a lot better if they mope had broken in and beat the old man to death with that claw hammer, now wouldn’t you?
As for killing someone over a TV, here’s my take: everything I own…EVERYTHING represents time an sweat on my part to earn money…by working, not taking a handout…since I was a teenager. Some POS breaks into my home wanting to STEAL my and my wife’s possessions just because they are too stupid/lazy/immoral to work at a job to earn their own money…well guess what…I’m going to fucking shoot them.
When someone steals something from someone that they spent hours/days/weeks/years of labor earning, they steal part of their life.
Precisely–because when you invade my home, you’re taking much more than mere posessions.