Exercising the Right;armed self-defense

Josey1

Exercising the Rightby Robert W. Lee"... the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."Dog DaysRecommend this article to a friend. Friend's Name:Friend's E-Mail:Your Name:Your E-Mail: Names and email addresses are not harvested from this feature. We respect your privacy and as such you will not be added to an email list. In the late afternoon of March 27th, 12-year-old Zachary Patterson was walking to his home on a private drive in Harpswell, Maine, when he noticed a neighbor's dog standing in the drive. The large pit bull terrier had menaced him and his mother before, and had once bitten the latter (her injuries were not serious).Zachary began yelling and running toward the house, with the dog in hot pursuit. Ramona Patterson, 32, heard the commotion, and when she rushed to assist her son the dog turned on her. This time, however, she was armed with a semi-automatic handgun. As the dog approached, barking viciously and nipping at her, she fired a single shot, knocking the animal to the ground. It crawled to a nearby snow bank and died.Harpswell's acting animal control officer, Dick Wyer, told the Portland Press Herald for March 29th that the dog "had a considerable history," and that the "town itself was going for a dangerous dog decree on him, but hadn't got around to it yet."Patterson, who had clearly acted in defense of herself and her son, was not charged. The dog's owner, however, was charged with keeping a dangerous dog and allowing it to run loose.Family FeudDr. and Mrs. Charles C. Wyatt of Colleyville, Texas, were struggling with marriage problems when they dined together at a Fort Worth restaurant on October 10, 2000. At some point during the evening they began arguing and Dr. Wyatt, 44, grabbed his wife, 39, by her hair. She filed an assault * injury charge, and with their two children opted to stay that night at her parents' home in Hurst. Fearing for their safety, she brought a .357-caliber handgun.Later that night Dr. Wyatt drove to the home, banged on the locked door, and eventually broke in. Mrs. Wyatt, her parents, and the children had retreated to a bedroom and locked themselves in. When Dr. Wyatt broke through the door, Mrs. Wyatt fired twice, striking him once in the chest.No charges were filed against Mrs. Wyatt since, in the words of Hurst Police Detective James Wilkerson, "she shot him in self-defense." Dr. Wyatt recovered and, in addition to the earlier assault * injury complaint, was charged with criminal trespass. He faced a possible year in prison and $4,000 fine on each count, but in October of this year opted instead for a plea agreement under which he pleaded guilty to both charges and was sentenced to two years' probation. The couple divorced earlier in the year.Clerk Fights BackShortly before 11:00 a.m. on October 8th, a would-be robber wearing a mask entered an Amoco gas station in Durham, North Carolina. He ordered everyone, including clerk Atta Rehman, 36, onto the floor and fled with an undisclosed amount of money.Rehman grabbed a shotgun and chased the armed robber through a neighboring used-car lot. During a brief standoff, the robber threatened Rehman and ordered him to drop the shotgun, but the clerk instead opened fire, striking Rodney Lamont Cameron, 31, in the face and chest.Cameron was taken to a local hospital in critical condition but was later upgraded to serious. On October 15th, he was indicted by a Durham County grand jury on a charge of armed robbery. The jurors also held that Rehman, having acted in self-defense, should not be prosecuted.Flare for CrimeAt 3:45 in the afternoon of August 15th, a man entered the family-owned Maida Pharmacy in Arlington, Massachusetts. Armed with what he claimed was a flare gun, and with his shirt pulled over his head to serve as a mask, he announced a holdup and ordered the five patrons in the store at the time to the floor. Before he could ask for money and/or drugs, however, store owner Larry Maida Sr. pulled a small handgun, which he was licensed to carry, and fired two shots into the ceiling. It was enough to send the miscreant scurrying empty-handed out the door and into a waiting vehicle. He and an accomplice sped away in a Cadillac DeVille, but were apprehended by police minutes later.Brian Rowe and John Valmanuto were each charged with a single count of armed assault with intent to rob and six counts of assault with a dangerous weapon.Sobering ExperienceMonice Peterson, 78, was asleep in her Franklin, Indiana, home on October 21st when she was awakened shortly before 1 a.m. by someone pounding on the back porch door. She went to investigate and found a man kicking a hole in the wall next to the door. She hurriedly called 911, but while she was on the phone the intruder kicked a hole large enough to enable him to crawl through.Unbeknownst to him, however, the elderly homeowner was armed with a .25-caliber semiautomatic handgun. She warned him that she would shoot if he did not stop, and when he continued to move toward her she fired. The shot missed, striking the porch wall, but it let the intruder know that she meant business. He scurried back to his hole and attempted to escape, but police arrived before he could wriggle free. Two officers dragged him the rest of the way out and handcuffed him.Earl S. Feathers, 50, told police that he thought he had been trying to enter his own home. A police report noted that his eyes were bloodshot, his speech was slurred. He tested 0.136 for blood alcohol concentration, well above the Hoosier State's legal limit of 0.08. He was charged with residential entry and public intoxication.Intruder BewareNinety-three-year-old Leo J. Pratts Sr. of Abita Springs, Louisiana, was awakened shortly before 4 a.m. on September 30th by someone breaking through the front door of his home. The intruder, later identified as Michael Patterson, 22, began beating Pratts with a tree branch. The retired postal worker told the New Orleans Times-Picayune for October 1st that Patterson "acted like he wanted to beat me to death." Fortunately, however, Pratts was able to reach under his pillow, grab a .38 caliber pistol he kept there for protection, and fire a number of shots at his assailant. Patterson dropped to the floor and was subsequently pronounced dead at a local hospital. http://www.thenewamerican.com/tna/2001/12-03-2001/vo17no25_right.htm

badboybob

Instant justice is the best kind. It saves us tax payers money while preventing future crimes from the unlamented deceased.