Episode 201 with Amanda Suffecool

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Rob- Introduction-

Welcome to episode 201 of Self-Defense Gun Stories. We’re glad you found us if you’re well trained and also if you’re new to self-defense. I’m Rob Morse and we’re joined this week by firearms instructor Amanda Suffecool.

Amanda- Hi, Rob.  I’ve been traveling and training at the Ambassador Academy.  Amazing time and I strongly recommend it.  

Rob- We received a rating and a comment on iTunes this week. Our listener recommends competition shooting after you have some instruction in self-defense (165/97). I’ve done that, and Amanda, I know you have too. Please go to the iTunes store where you subscribe to podcasts and let new listeners know what you like.

Amanda- 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 Lubbock, Texas.

Rob- First story- Are you armed at home?  

It is 11 at night and you hear someone bang against the door to your apartment. Then, the stranger starts kicking your door. You grab your gun and back away from the door. When the door finally gives way, you shoot your intruder. They run away and you call the police.

You’re 63 years old. You are in hospice and legally blind. The police arrest your intruder and charge her with burglary, resisting arrest, and public intoxication. Your attacker said she was too drunk to know this wasn’t her apartment.

Amanda- Legally blind means you can’t read a book, but you might still be able to read its cover. You can certainly hear and see that someone broke through your door. The defender also said that his apartment had been broken into before.

Rob- What else did your defender do correctly?

Amanda- He had multiple intruders and he was in poor health. He defended himself when he faced an immediate, dangerous, and unavoidable threat. He shot while there was a threat. He stopped shooting when the threat stopped. He didn’t chase the bad guys, and he called the police. It is sad, but many people who are ill are attacked at home by people who want to steal their medications.

Rob- How can we use a gun if we can’t see the sights?

Amanda- Let me tell you about instinctive or point shooting. You see where the gun points even if you are not looking at the sights. It is the same way you point your finger or point a broomstick.

Rob- Please contrast what this defender did with identifying your target before you shoot.

Amanda-  Well – it was a closed and locked door that they kicked in.  they were not coming in to take him to the prom.  

Rob- Anything else?

Amanda- That is enough for now. Our second story happened in Columbia, Missouri.

Rob- Second Story- Are you armed at home? and here 

You and your wife are at home. It is about 9 at night when your alarm goes off. You check your video cameras and see two men break into a window at the side of your house. You’re armed and upstairs.  Your attackers move toward you and you shoot them. They run away and you call the police.

Police find your two attackers outside. Both of them are wounded and one of them is unresponsive. EMTs declare your attacker dead at the scene.

Your attacker is charged with murder and burglary.

(Not sure if the defender stayed upstairs or came downstairs and confronted his attacker.)

Amanda- The story said the defender saw his intruders break in. It also said he was upstairs. This is a great rationale for the newer style video monitoring systems.

Rob- He did a lot of things to make his house safer.

Amanda- He did, but here we run into the problems with a news story. There are things we want to do that the typical news story won’t tell us about.

It seems our defender locked his doors and windows. That is a good start. He had an alarm or camera system. That is great.

There were two people at home, so I want both of them armed. Think of it this way, It is a bad plan to go down stairs unarmed. It is also a bad plan to go downstairs and leave your partner unarmed behind you.

Also, since there are two of you, I want one of you on the phone right now.

I probably want you to stay together – at the top of the stairs and let the police arrest the bad guys who are downstairs.

Rob- What would have happened if one of the robbers was armed?

Amanda- Then our homeowner could have been shot and killed, and his wife left unarmed. Your family is more important than your TV.

Rob- What should you do and what should you say to the police?

Amanda- Keep talking with 911 until the police get there. Tell them what you both look like, and where you are. That would be a great time for you to unlock the front door and then go upstairs ( or somewhere together)  and wait for the police to arrive. That is also another great reason to go armed, so you have a holster to put your gun into when the police get there.

Amanda- Our third story happened West of Lansing, Michigan

Rob- First this message from BFF

Rob- Third story- Are you armed when you’re driving?

You’re driving down the road at about 8:30 in the morning. You hear horns honking and see traffic stop and go unexpectedly up ahead. There is a man walking toward you in the median, and he is shooting a handgun in the air. He points his gun at one car and makes them stop. The gunman shifts his aim to you, and you swerve and stop your car. You have your Michigan Concealed Pistol License. You’re armed. You open your car door and get behind your car. There, you shoot your attacker. (Other reports say you fired from inside your car.) Your attacker drops to the ground and stops shooting. Police arrive as you are calling 911.

Amanda- I’ve read stories like this one. Someone on the road sees a motorist being attacked, or a police officer being attacked, or, in this case, it is unfortunately your turn to be attacked. Two thirds of assaults with a weapon happen away from home. Some people don’t carry, some can’t carry, but stories like this are why I want you to carry whenever you can.

Rob- I agree. What else do you notice?

Amanda- We don’t expect to see an armed man shooting at us as we drive down the street. We expect to see someone with a cell phone in his hand, not with a gun pointed at us. I think the biggest thing our defender did correctly is he believed his eyes. Our defender took it seriously.

He stopped. He got into a firing position, and he defended himself. He stayed at the scene, and he talked to the police.

Rob- The police said they had over ten calls as the assault was happening.

Amanda- I believe it. I don’t have much more to say, other than you might want to drive a few hundred yards to safety and then call the police yourself.  Remember the old adage – when seconds count, the police are minutes away. 

Rob- Our defender saved lives.

Amanda- His, and the lives of other drivers. Our forth story took place in Houston, Texas.

Rob- Fourth story- Are you armed in public?

You’re walking to your mom’s apartment on a Sunday morning at a little after 5am. You start to open the door, when you hear her dogs barking and shouts from inside. A man opens the door. The man is wearing a mask and he has a gun in his hands. You’re surprised, and the man pushes you back and threatens you with his gun. You try to enter your mom’s apartment, and the man shoots you.

You’re armed. You present your firearm and shoot back. Now, your attacker runs. Another man from inside the apartment runs down the hall too. You don’t shoot at him. 

You shout for help, and stumble inside to check on your mom. Then you call 911.

Police say that three men broke in through a balcony door in your mom’s apartment. They tied up your mom until you arrived. One of her attackers went back out the balcony and down a ladder.

The police find your attacker dead in the hallway. EMTs take you to the hospital to treat your gunshot wound. You answer their questions.

Amanda- Remember in the second story this week when I talked about the intruder being armed, well here it is.

You go out to get something for your mom, and you come back to find an armed robbery in progress. Welcome to Sunday morning. Our defender fought back. Our defender worked through his surprise and fought back.

Rob- While he was injured.

Amanda- Yep. He was injured and kept fighting to save himself and his mom.

Rob- What would you like us to do in a situation like this one?

Amanda- Lock your upstairs doors that lead onto outside balconies. Lock your upstairs windows too.  Mom didn’t have an alarm. She had dogs, but she wasn’t awake until the robbers were in her bedroom.

Rob- I’d like mom to be armed. It doesn’t say where our defender was shot. It would have been nice if he had a tourniquet. 

Amanda- The good guy didn’t shoot as his attacker was running away. That takes great presence of mind. Great job.

Exit-  Rob- that wraps up this episode. Thank you for helping us again. I might see you at the Rod of Iron festival in Pennsylvania (October) next month. Where can we learn more about you?

Amanda- I have a nationally syndicated radio show eye on the target radio. Call in and talk with us Sunday nights from 5 to 7 eastern time. I also instruct on the weekends in central Ohio. I’m part of the DCProject. That is 50 pro-gun women from 50 states and we advocate for 2A issues to congress. Check out our website at DCProject.info

Rob- After you subscribe to Amanda podcast, then please leave us a message on the podcast facebook page.

Amanda- 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- Like Amanda’s podcast, Eye on the target radio, 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.