Most Unexpected Government Report Ever

From Colorado Center for Healthcare & Environmental Data:

24.7% of Colorado firearms homicides 2016-2920 are Justifiable Self-defense. 

Count on This Being Misrepresented

8/31/23 NBC News:

"The homeowner who fatally shot a 20-year-old University of South Carolina student who tried to enter the wrong home on the street he lived on Saturday morning will not face charges because the incident was deemed "a justifiable homicide" under state law, Columbia police announced Wednesday....

"While the woman was on the phone with police, Donofrio broke a glass window on the front door "and reached inside to manipulate the doorknob," at which point the male resident fired the shot through the broken window that struck Donofrio in his upper body, according to police."

I have seen this before.  Some years back, there was a similar incident in Ukiah, California, where a drunk walked six miles north to his home.  Unfortunately, he needed to walk six miles south.  The house into which he forced entry was not his.  The resident shot him with a hunting rifle.  He lost his arm.

Tragic, but I would be surprised if this kid at University of South Carolina was sober.

Weird Hatchet News of the Day

Because so many U.S. mass murders involve axes or hatchets, this news story caused great wonder.  7/6/18 Fox News Channel 19:

Middletown police were called to the 1300 block of Woodlawn Avenue on a report of a burglary early Friday morning.

Kaylie Stacy found Michael Robert McClain, 39, "with his pants down, holding his penis with his right hand and had a hatchet, deadly weapon, in his left hand," the police report states.

"I came in, and my bedroom light was on, which is never left on we always turn it off," she said.
Stacy asked her husband Tim to help get McClain out of the residence. He was armed with a gun when he tried to wake up McClain, police said.

Yes, if you find a man without pants and a weapon in one hand, a handgun is recommended.  From the mugshot and news report, a shave and shower (and an antipsychotic medicine) are in order.

"For a Stomach Disorder, Make a Run for The Border"

You may remember this parody of a Taco Bell jingle of some years ago.  In this case, lead causes it.  9/7/17 CBS Pittsburgh:

CLEVELAND (AP) – Police say three employees of a Cleveland Taco Bell opened fire on two armed robbers, killing one.

Police have said two masked robbers entered the restaurant early Wednesday and ordered three employees to lie on the floor. Police say three other employees pulled out handguns and opened fire, shooting one of the suspects six times. The other suspect ran off.

So far, no threats from Taco Bell to punish the good guys.  Maybe the SJWs haven't taken over.

Nice Email

The Civilian Gun Self-Defense Blog often gets either spam comments or people who want the death of a felonious loved one to disappear (no way: your crimes will outlive you) and more rarely good guys who are afraid of the negative publicity for being a good guy with a gun.

Today, I received email from a civilian defender thanking me for publicizing his pizza self-defense.

VPC Tells A Whopper And Few Journalists Know Enough to Realize They Are Being Misled

They are still pushing the "look how few justifiable homicides civilians have" claim from FBI UCR data.  As I pointed out here:

Gun control advocates like to point to the FBI’s civilian “justifiable homicide”table in the Uniform Crime Reports series. This is very misleading, because this only includes those killings that are initially identified by the police as justifiable homicide. A shooting might be charged as murder, or manslaughter, and then reclassified as justifiable homicide during the police investigation, or while the district attorney is considering the case. The grand jury might refuse to issue an indictment, or at trial, either the judge orthe jury might rule the killing justifiable.

Also, look at the FBI's manual on reporting justifiable homicides on p. 17:

Justifiable homicide, by definition, occurs in conjunction with other offenses. Therefore, the crime being committed when the justifiable homicide took place must be reported as a separate offense. Reporting agencies should take care to ensure that they do not classify a killing as justifiable or excusable solely on the claims of self-defense or on the action of a coroner, prosecutor, grand jury, or court.

Why Leaving Your Kids in Possession of Guns is a Bad Idea

From Nov. 10, 2015 WCSC:

LADSON, SC (WCSC) -
Authorities say one burglary suspect is dead and another arrested after a 13-year-old boy opened fire at a home in Ladson on Tuesday.

The Charleston County Coroner's Office identified the deceased suspect as 31-year-old Lamar Brown of Summerville who died at Trident Hospital at 2:32 p.m. from gunshot wounds.

Investigators with the Charleston County Sheriff's Office arrested 28-year-old Ira J. Bennett of North Charleston and charged him with first-degree burglary and possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime.

Around 1:53 p.m., deputies responded to a home on Elderwood Drive in the Woodside community for a report of shots fired.

An incident report states the 13-year-old was asked to come out of the home. Deputies say the boy then exited the home without incident.

Deputies spoke to the teenager who said he was home alone when a vehicle pulled up behind his home.

The boy said one of the two suspects attempted to get into the home, at which time the teen said he feared for his safety, got his mother's gun and began firing at the suspect.

"He saw a subject out back trying to get inside so he fired his mother's gun through the door and the subject reportedly fired back," CCSO officials said.

According to authorities, the juvenile fired several more times as the vehicle drove away.
Several neighbors reported to detectives that they heard gunshots, and saw a grey small car pull out near the home and speed away.

CCSO officials say a grey Chevy Sonic arrived at Trident Hospital with several gunshot holes.
An affidavit states the passenger in the car had three gunshot wounds, and was rushed to ER in critical condition.

Read more: http://www.foxcarolina.com/story/30483472/ccso-one-person-dead-after-13-year-old-opens-fire-at-suspected-burglar#ixzz3t5yHD7A8

NAU "Rampage Shooting" Apparently Not

I completely missed this tragedy.  From Oct. 9, 2015 AFP:

Los Angeles:  One person was killed and three others wounded in a shooting at an Arizona university early on Friday before police captured the gunman, university officials said.

The deadly shooting at Northern Arizona University (NAU) comes just over a week after the October 1 shooting rampage at Umpqua Community College in Oregon, in which a 26-year-old gunman shot dead nine people, then committed suicide.

The first emergency calls came through to police at 1:20 am Friday, when most NAU students would have been in bed at the university campus in the city of Flagstaff.

The motive for the shooting -- just the latest at colleges and universities in the United States -- was not immediately clear and the identity of the shooter and the victims was not immediately known.

But there's another side to the story.  From Nov. 20, 2015 Arizona Republic:

Northern Arizona University shooting suspect Steven Jones told police he was being charged by other students when he fired shots, killing one student and wounding three others, according to reports released Friday by the NAU police.

Jones, 18, claimed he and two friends were first attacked and beaten outside an apartment complex in the Oct. 9 incident and then chased to his car by another group of students who shouted obscenities and threatened to kill them.

But the surviving victims and other witnesses told varying stories that corroborated some of Jones' statements and contradicted others.

Jones, who wept during police interviews, claimed he got his Glock pistol from the car and told the pursuers, who were then surrounding his friends, that he had a gun. He said he shot two of the attackers, again saying they would kill him, when they charged him.

Colin Brough, 20, was pronounced dead at the scene. Nicholas Piring, 20, was the second student shot.

One of the friends who was with Jones corroborated the initial fight and that they ran from their attackers. He told police that Jones pointed the gun and told two men to get to the ground, but one lunged at him and was shot twice. Then he shot the other student, he said.

Jones has been indicted, but it sounds like he has at least a plausible argument for self-defense.

UPDATE: The story gets more interesting.  From Nov. 30, 2015 Arizona Daily Sun:

Accused killer Steven Jones was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol when he shot four fellow Northern Arizona University students, killing one.

But all four of the victims had alcohol, drugs or both in their systems on the night of the fatal shooting.

According to a new section of the police report released by NAU Police Department Monday, Arizona Department of Public Safety Crime Laboratory technicians found no alcohol or drugs in blood recovered from Jones, 18, after he shot Colin Brough, Nicholas Prato, Nicholas Piring and Kyle Zienteck, all 20 years old, in what he characterized as an act of self-defense in the early morning hours of Oct. 9.

The same police report cited lab results that listed Prato’s blood alcohol content at 0.92 percent, Zientek’s blood alcohol content at 0.181 percent and Piring’s blood alcohol content at 0.208 percent. All three readings were above the 0.08 percent blood alcohol content used to determine whether a person is driving under the influence, although, as 20-year-olds, having any alcohol in their systems would be illegal. The lab tests also detected cannabis in Prato and Zienteck’s blood. Piring’s drug screening results were not included in the report.

Jones' claim looks more and more believable.

 

Jury Rules Self-Defense

From Nov. 20, 2015 Tri-City Herald:

A Benton County jury decided Tyree Q. Houfmuse was acting in self defense when he fired six shots at his girlfriend’s ex last Thanksgiving eve.

Jurors deliberated for a little more than 3  1/2 hours Thursday before returning the verdict against Houfmuse for the shooting that left Anthony L. Asselin paralyzed.

If convicted, Houfmuse, 33, could have faced more than 30 years in prison for first-degree assault with a gun.

Jurors, however, found him guilty of second-degree unlawful possession of a gun by a felon.
Houfmuse had been in custody on $200,000 bail since December. Since he’s facing a sentence of time served, Judge Robert Swisher released him without bail.

Read more here: http://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/local/crime/article45660051.html#storylink=cpy

Remember: Self-Defense With A Gun Is Really Rare

From Nov. 29, 2015 KJRH:

TULSA - Police say a man was shot Sunday evening during an attempted armed robbery at a Burger King in midtown Tulsa.

Officers responded to the fast food restaurant near East 41st Street and South Memorial Drive around 5:30 p.m.

They say a suspect was carrying a crowbar when he tried to rob another man outside the restaurant.

Police say the victim then pulled out a gun and shot the man accused of threatening him once in the shoulder.

Police say the suspect was able to drive away from the scene in a blue car with license plate number 828-BDX. Once they find him, police say he will face assault with a deadly weapon charges.

They say the shooter will not face charges because he was acting in self-defense.

Sef-defense With AR-15

From the Nov. 26, 2015 Wyoming Tribune-Eagle:

 - While detectives continue to investigate a dual homicide that happened here Sunday night, the Cheyenne Police Department announced Friday that at least one of the deaths seems to have involved self-defense.
Justin Morrison and Darius Mathis, both 23 and of Cheyenne, were killed by shots fired around 11:30 p.m. Sunday outside 4523 E. 14th St. in east Cheyenne.
"The investigation's not completed, and we're still waiting on some of the physical evidence," police spokesman Officer Dan Long said. "(But) they've gotten a lot of that preliminary information back."
Newly released information says Mathis, who died on scene, was shot with an AR-15 rifle by a third person, identified by police as 20-year-old Brandon Painter.
Painter reportedly was a resident of the house along with Morrison and two others.

You Can always Tell Which Side Progressives Are On

From Nov. 16, 2015 WVCB Boston:

PORTLAND, Maine —A disabled former lobsterman who shot an intruder after buying a gun to defend himself sued his landlord Monday over a policy that prohibits him from keeping a gun in his subsidized apartment.

Harvey Lembo, who uses a motorized wheelchair, was warned by his property management company that tenants are prohibited from having firearms after he shot an alleged burglar in the shoulder after five break-ins.

Unsurprisingly comments on the article are taking the side of the burglar having a right  to a gun-free workplace.

Never Bring A Homemade Weapon to A Gunfight

From Nov. 12, 2015 channel 11:

Investigators determined that 24-year-old Fawbush and Richard Vawter followed Campbell to his home after the initial disagreement on Braselton Highway. The incident escalated in Campbell's driveway on Windsong Park Drive.

"The suspects approached him with a homemade weapon of some sort," said Cpl. Michele Pihera, a Gwinnett County Police spokeswoman.

That's when Campbell pulled out his gun and fired at least one shot," Pihera said.

"Based on what he said to our first-responders and investigators, he felt his life was in jeopardy and he had to use lethal force," said Pihera.

Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Prizes

From Oct. 22, 2015 Mlive:

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – The mother of a man killed outside of New York Fried Chicken has filed a $5 million wrongful-death lawsuit against the restaurant for allegedly failing to call 911.

Kimberly Williams contends that her son, Terrance Bruce Williams, 24, could have survived if emergency workers were summoned earlier.

Her son's Oct. 21, 2012, killing in the restaurant parking lot was ruled justifiable homicide.

Surveillance video showed Williams approach Thomas Albert-Earl Davis with what appeared to be a gun, pointed at Davis, police said.

Davis hunched down, popped up and fired at Williams. Williams ran to a van that left for the hospital, police said.

Police said he died after surgery.

Do I understand this?  Her son did something so stupid and unlawful that his death was ruled justifiable homicide, and she is demanding $5 million because the restaurant didn't call 911?

I remember many years ago taking a concealed weapons class in Cal8ifornia, and the deputy sheriff teaching it explained that if you ever engage in a completely righteous shoot, all the dead guy's family will come out of the woodwork to file suit. Proof positive.

Ruled Self-Defense

From Nov. 7, 2015 channel 11 Atlanta:

ATLANTA -- Atlanta police are investigating after finding a man shot to death in a southeast Atlanta front yard.

Police arrived on the scene at the 400 block of Holly Drive where officials said they found a man lying face down with gun shot wounds to the face and arm....

Lt. Charles Hampton said the victim walked onto the couples' property brandishing a weapon. The homeowner opened fire on him.

Emergency crews from Grady Memorial Medical Center arrived at the scene to render aid but pronounced the victim dead at the scene.

Officials said that no charges will likely be filed in the incident due to claims of self-defense.

Never Bring A Fake Gun To A Real Gunfight

From Nov. 2, 2015 Washington Post:

On Saturday evening, a man wearing a mask walked into a South Side Chicago bodega, pulled out a gun and announced a robbery.

As the robber pointed his gun at the store’s employees, however, a customer pulled out his own gun.
The robber’s gun, it turns out, was fake.

The customer’s was not.

Now the robbery suspect is dead, gunned down by the concealed-weapon-toting customer.

The case is the latest in a string of incidents across the country in which bystanders have pulled out their concealed weapons and used them against suspected criminals.

At least this fool wasn't a suspected criminal.  As one comment observed:

And an object lesson here...play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

Remember: Gun Self-Defense Is Really Rare

Or so, the anti-gunners keep insisting.  From Oct. 26, 2015 Orlando Sentinel:

Tyrell Owens returned home early Sunday with a case of beer and a pistol tucked in his pants.

It was 1:53 a.m. in Pine Hills, moments before 911 calls flooded the Orange County Sheriff's Office.
"Give it up," Owens was told. And then the stranger's voice blurted, "Oh, [expletive], he has a gun, too."

In the seconds that followed, multiple gunshots exploded at Avesta Rolling Hills apartments on Pine Chase Drive.

When it was over, Owens survived uninjured.

The stranger ran away leaving a trail of blood. He ran to a white Mercedes-Benz SUV with after-market rims waiting in the parking lot. He fell at least once as a result of his wounds. Later identified as Wilmar Jolteus, 32, he jumped into the passenger seat, and it sped away, a report says,

Later in the night, he was dumped outside the emergency room at Orlando Regional Medical Center, records show.

Jolteus — a convicted felon with 11 prior arrests in South Florida — had been shot in the left leg and his right buttock, records show.

Sheriff's records complimented Owens' coolness under fire.