Episode 191 with Andee Reardon O’Brion

Rob- Introduction-

Welcome to episode 191 of Self-Defense Gun Stories. We’re glad you found us if you’re well trained.. and if you’re new to armed defense. I’m your host Rob Morse and my co-host this week is firearms instructor Andee Reardon O’Brion.

Reports show a lot of new gun owners. Have you been helping them?

Andee- Hi, Rob.  I’ve been busy changing how I do things and helping many new gun owners get comfortable with handling a gun for the first time.

Rob- We didn’t receive a single new rating or review on iTunes this week. (147/87). Please go to the iTunes store where you subscribe to podcasts and let new listeners know this show is worthwhile.

Andee- We’ll talk about recent examples where gun owners were in a life threatening situation. What should we do if we were in their place? We give you the links back to the original news article in our show notes. Our first story took place last week in Deltona, Florida.

Rob- Do you have a gun nearby at night?

It is before 6 in the morning when you hear glass break in the front of your house. You are a single mom and the first thing you do is check on your kids. Once you see that they aren’t hurt, you grab your gun and call the police. A stranger climbs through your broken front window. You shout for him to get out. He comes toward you, and you shoot him. Now he runs away. You check on your kids until the police get there.

The police arrest your intruder and take him to the hospital with a non-life threatening wound on his arm. Your attacker said dinosaurs were chasing him and he needed a place to hide.

Andee- Armed. Her doors and windows were locked! She believed what was happening. Checked on her children. Grabbed her defensive tools. Called the police. Defended her family. Sorry about the window, but great job mom.

Rob- Why was it important for her to lock her doors and windows?

Adnee- The sound of breaking glass acted as an alarm and gave her time to respond.

Rob- What would you tell your students to do in this sort of situation?

Andee- You don’t want your children to run into a dangerous confrontation, so talk to your kids about what to do during an emergency. Hiding under the bed in a back room is a great solution. We made it a game in my house, and we’ve practiced it as a drill.

I also want you to move to your children’s hallway and defend that with your life. You do not have to stand in the middle of your home and get in a fight with a stranger. Don’t get into a gun fight in the middle of your house where the bad guy can see you. You don’t even have to stand in the middle of the hallway that leads to the bedrooms. Open the first door in the hallway and look around the corner into the hallway. From there, you have a full view of the hallway and out into the house. The wall protects you from being attacked from behind, and the bad guy can only see a thin sliver of your face and the front of your gun.

Rob- You’re concealed by the wall.

Andee- Yep. Then I want you to have some first aid training and supplies. 

Andee-  Whatever room you decide will be the room everyone goes to in an emergency should be equipped with a good first aid kit and an emergency phone.

Rob- Anything else?

Andee- That is enough for now. Our second story happened in Chicago, Illinois.

Rob- Are you armed at home 

Two men ring your bell on a Saturday morning. You expect your landscapers to be working outside, so you open the door. Two men wearing masks and gloves say they are the police. Once they are inside they pull guns from their pockets and attack you. Your wife hides your children upstairs. You fight off one of the men, then you run and grab your gun. You shoot one of your attackers. Now, the second attacker runs away. Police arrest him a few blocks away.

The attack is recorded by your security system. The two men brought zip ties and a blowtorch in a bag with them. They thought you had money hidden in the basement of your home. Your wife and your 11 and 14 year old daughters are unhurt. Your attacker is charged with murder for the death of his accomplice during the commission of a felony. They attacked you because they thought you’d be home due to the governor’s stay-at-home orders during the epidemic.

Andee- Our defender had a gun. He had an alarm system. His family retreated to shelter like I mentioned in the first story. He fought his way to his defensive tools. He stopped the attack on his family, and then stopped shooting. He didn’t chase his attackers. He called the police. He gave them the video and made a report. Great job against some serious bad guys were were willing to torture your family.

Rob- Torture?

Andee- They didn’t bring zipties a blowtorch to fix the plumbing.

Rob- What would you like us to do when we hear a knock at the door? 

Andee- Use your security system to see who is at your door. Your gun should be on you, you are depending on luck if you think you can fight your way to your gun. What would you do if your family was down stairs and one of the bad guys grabbed your daughter? Would you leave them behind so you could get your defensive tool? You only have the tools you bring with you.

As an adult, it is your duty to protect your children, so I’d like both parents to be armed. Again, if only one of you is armed, then you’re depending on luck. Are you pretending that the armed adult will always be in the house and the only one to answer the door? It is your job to save your family, and luck isn’t a plan.

Also, I want both parents to plan what to say to the police.

Rob- What should they say?

Andee-  Something like “I knew our lives were in immediate danger, so I used my gun. I will tell you everything once I speak with my lawyer”

Rob- And then call your lawyer.

Andee- Our third story happened in Spokane, County, Washington

Rob- First this message from the Buckeye Firearms Foundation

Rob- Are you armed at home?

It is midnight and you and your wife turn off the TV and head to bed. That is when you hear someone downstairs. You grab your shotgun and go see what is happening. There is a light on in the kitchen. You see a stranger and shout for him to get out of your house. He moves toward you. You put one shot into the floor, but the man keeps coming. Now you shoot him in the legs and he stops. Your wife calls the police.

Police arrest your intruder and take him to the hospital. The intruder said he was looking for a friend and must have been in the wrong house.

(the missing “friend” was in jail) Druggie gets lost and gets shot.

Andee- Again, our defender was armed. He believed what he heard. He grabbed and loaded his defensive tool. The couple acted as a team so she called the police. Our defender didn’t chase the bad guy once he stopped advancing.

Rob- What should we do if this happened to us?

Andee- Close your upstairs door if you hear someone downstairs. Get your gun and call the police. Let the cops chase a crazy druggie who is doing your dishes in the middle of the night.

Rob- Our defender missed with his first shot.

Andee- The article said it was a “warning shot”. That is a horrible idea. A gun is lethal force. It is against the law to threaten to kill someone unless your life is in danger. If your life is in danger then you don’t need to warn anyone. You need to stop the threat right now in order to save your life. Again, does everyone in the house know what to say to the police?

Rob- What would you like us to do?

Andee- You can use your words. Use pepper spray. Use a firearm, but don’t use warning shots.

Andee- Our forth story took place in Las Vegas, Nevada

Rob-Are you armed in as you walk near your home?

You watched a man climb over a barb wire fence and run into a nearby condominium complex. There is a police helicopter overhead. You walk forward and see the fugitive enter an alleyway. Now, the fugitive draws a knife and runs at you. You shout for him to stop, but he keeps coming. You have your Nevada license to carry a firearm in public. You’re armed. You draw your firearm and shoot your attacker when he comes near you. Your attacker stops. You run to get first aid and to call the police.

Later, the police told you that the man had been acting strangely and that the police had been chasing him for miles.

Andee- You had three stories about crazy druggies.

Rob- You caught me, and eighty percent of the criminals who commit aggravated assault are intoxicated.

Andee- We’re told to be a good witness, but then the attacker turns on us with a weapon. Yikes. Our defender owned a gun. He had a carry permit and was armed for a walk around the block to get some exercise. He recognized a threat. He used verbal commands to try and stop the threat, and then he defended his life. He stopped shooting when the attacker stopped advancing. He called the police.

Rob- Who were watching from the helicopter overhead.

Andee- I wonder if our defender could have run away, but watching a stranger seems innocent enough that I wouldn’t think it would make me a victim of an armed attack.

Rob- What should we tell the police?

Andee- Just because it is on video doesn’t mean they will agree with your story. Say little, then ask for your lawyer.

Rob- But I’m the good guy who was defending himself?

Andee- How close were you to your victim when you started shooting? When did you stop shooting? How many times did you shoot? When did you stop shooting? Did you move as you were being attacked?

You don’t know the answers and you can not guess without perjuring yourself. Talk to your lawyer so you make your best presentation of the facts the first time. That keeps you from going to a trial and having to present your story on the witness stand.

Exit-  Rob- that wraps up this episode. Andee, thank you for helping us again. Where can we learn more about you?

Andee- Look for me at EastCoastSchoolofSafety.com and on my facebook and Instagram pages with the same name.

Rob- After you look at Andee articles, then leave us a message on the podcast facebook page.

Andee- We share this podcast with you for free.  Please share the podcast with a friend and give us a rating on I-Tunes and Stitcher. We’re also available on Google Play Music,Tunein, Spotify, Podbean and iHeart Radio.

Rob- This podcast is part of the Self-defense radio network. Find more great shows at sdrn.us

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


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