Episode 96 with Amanda Suffecool

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Rob- Introduction- Welcome to episode 96 of Self-Defense Gun Stories.  This podcast is for people who might want a firearm, and for those who already have one.  I’m your host, Rob Morse.  We have firearms instructor Amanda Suffecool with us to co-host this week..

Amanda, you were gone last week at the the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade show in Las Vegas.  How have you been?

Amanda- Hi, Rob.  I’ve been great.  Spent a week at SHOT and got to see the best that the industry has to offer.  

Rob- You have a fundraising event coming up in about 5 weeks.

Amanda- Yes I do –  We at REALIZE firearms awareness coalition are pleased to announce the 4th annual Preppers Ball.   Where we educate, entertain and give away great prizes.   PreppersBall.com is the website and if you are in Northeastern Ohio near 3/10 consider joining us.  If not – just buy a ticket and get in on the great prizes.   We are giving away a seriously blinged out AR by deltonics that has Offhand gear style added to it.   We are also giving away a suppressor – winners choice of a Torrent Suppressor or a Texas Silencer AND the tax stamp application fee – this along with 10,000$ in prizes.   

Contact information is here http://realizefac.com/preppers_ball

Rob- Amanda, please introduce our podcast.

Amanda- Each week we study three recent examples of armed defense to see what we can learn. Our first story took place last week near Saint Paul, Minnesota. Here is what happened.

Rob- First story-  Are you armed at work?  

It is early evening. You and your partner are at work. You own and operate a liquor store. Two masked men come through the front door with their faces covered. That isn’t too surprising. It is dark and cold outside with the temperature in the 20s and falling fast. Except the two men don’t stop at the door and pull off their gloves and hats. They leave their ski-masks on and rush to the back of the store. They announce a robbery. One of the robbers pulls out a gun and points it at you.  Your partner is working at the back of the store. The robbers hit her. She screams. You have your Minnesota permit to carry. You’re armed and the gun is on your hip. You move to get  a better view. You draw your gun and shoot the robber attacking your partner. Both robbers run away. You run to your partner and see if she is hurt. You call the police and an ambulance. They take your partner to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

The police find her attacker a few blocks away.  He died at the hospital. The robber recently move to the Saint Paul area from Chicago..where he had a criminal history for theft.

Amanda- Great that he was armed. It was essential that the gun was within reach. At work, you could be out on the floor stocking your shelves. At home, you could be in the back bath or in the kid’s rooms. Your gun needs to be with you..or you are disarmed.

Rob- the drawer next to the safe in the back office wasn’t close enough?

Amanda- It wasn’t this time. You’re depending on luck to save your life..and that is a bad plan.

Rob- Do your students say, “I have a gun so I’m safe.” even though the gun is unloaded on a dusty closet?

Amanda-  There are some that do – and others that say, I will surely have time to rack the slide and put one in the pipe….  No, you will not.

Rob- Do we have the right to shoot someone if we’re not being attacked?

Amanda-  In Ohio,  there is a fine line between defending one-self and acting as an “auxiliary police officer” but in this case – yes,  you can defend your partners life with your firearm.  

Rob- This takes some thought and some practice. You don’t want to shoot your partner, but they are right next to their attacker.

Amanda- a steady hand and practice.   Practice.  Close enough, is not necessarily good enough.  

Amanda- Our second story happened last week in Wooster, Ohio.

Rob- Second Story-  Are you armed at your girlfriend’s old house?   

Your fiance left some of her things at her old house. She asks you to go by and pick them up for her. You get there after dark and let yourself in. When you do, you see a stranger inside her old home. You notice some of her things have been moved around. You shout at him and ask him what he’s doing there. He grabs a bottle and hits you in the head.

You shoot him in the stomach and back out of the house.

You call police.

Amanda-   this is in my backyard.   When you think of this – it was a shooting during a struggle while someone is hitting you in the head with something.   THIS is the reason that Pants On, Gun On is a good rule

Our third story happened last week in Phoenix, Arizona.

Please join and support the Second Amendment Foundation at SAF.org

Rob- Third story- Are you armed when you open your store in the morning?

You run a coin shop. You turn off the alarm and unlock the front door. Two people push in behind you before you have the door closed. You turn and see them, one man and one woman. The man has a gun and it is pointed at you. They push you into the store. the front door swings closed and you hear it lock. The armed robber looks at the coins you’ve left out on display. You are armed. You step behind the counter and draw your handgun. You shoot your attacker. He falls and drops his gun. His female accomplice tries to run, but the front door is locked. The wounded attacker tries to leave, but can’t. You hold both robbers at gunpoint and call police.

Amanda-  WOW –  think about it.  Morning,  juggling your starbucks, briefcase, lunch box and a myriad of other things that are in your hand.   The one thing that struck me about this was that the store owner had the opportunity to step backwards – giving himself some space.  And then drawing his firearm.     

Amanda- I love happy endings to what could have been a horrible day at work.

Exit-  Rob- That wraps up this episode. Amanda, thank you for helping us today.  Where can we learn more about you?

Amanda- You can find me at eye on the target radio radio. I have two radio programs and I instruct on the weekends.

Rob- You can share your thoughts with us by leaving a message on the podcast facebook page. 

We share this podcast with you for free.  Please share it with a friend and give us a rating on I-Tunes and Stitcher.  We’re also available on Google Play Music.

Rob- I’m Rob Morse.  We’ll be back next week with more Self-Defense Gun Stories.

Please support Buckeye Firearms Foundation at https://www.buckeyefirearmsfoundation.org/