Episode 207 with Amanda Suffecool

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Rob- Introduction-

Welcome to episode 207 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 my friend and firearms instructor Amanda Suffecool.

Amanda- Hi, Rob.  I’ve been working, teaching, and training and I’m busy. Students want me to make my classes bigger, but I can’t do that  and still give a good experience.  So I am busy with private and group classes

Rob- Have your students found ammunition to train?

Amanda- Some, and I had a stash that I have been working through to assist them in getting the time behind the gun that they need. 

Rob- I went to Florida for a week’s vacation, but I forgot to tell our listeners. We’re back home and back at work recording.

When we were gone, we received seven more ratings and two new comments on iTunes  184/107. Thanks to our listeners for both.

Commenters said they like our short format, but want us to adlib more and also include more details about the attacks.

I agree, but I don’t know how to do that, particularly with guests I only see once every few months. 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. We give you the links back to the original news article in our show notes.

Our first story took place last week in Pembroke Pines, Florida.

Rob- First story- Are you armed at work?

You own a jewelry store located in a large shopping mall. It is Friday afternoon when you look up and see two men walk in wearing masks. The masks on their faces aren’t unusual, but the hammers in their hands certainly are. These two men smash your display cases and grab your jewelry. They threaten you when you shout for them to stop.

You tell your customer to go to the back of your store. You have your concealed carry permit and you’re armed. You present your firearm and shoot your attackers. The robbers run from the store. You don’t chase them, Instead, you go to the room in back of your store and call 911.

Police find your two attackers in the mall and take them to the local hospital for treatment of cuts and gunshot wounds. No one else was injured. The robbers are charged with aggravated robbery.

Amanda- Let’s look at what our defender did ahead of time. He took a class, got training, purchased a gun and THOUGHT about what action he would take should the unthinkable happen.   He also WENT BACK to the back of the store – where he had sent his customers – and continued to provide that line of protection between the bag guys returning and the customers.

Rob- That is important.

Amanda- Here are some of the things you could do, but that the news report didn’t mention. Know the layout of your place,  thinking it through, knowing where you would send someone for protection – and knowing what is cover vs concealment

Rob- Tell our new listeners about the difference.

Amanda- not much is COVER.  Cover is the safe, the cash machine. Cover stops a bullet. Concealment means he can’t see you.

Rob- Was this shop owner defending his property, his staff, his customers, or himself, and is each of those allowed by the law?

Amanda- All of the above – but first and foremost, human life.   Noone knows what will happen when a stranger comes into an occupied space with a weapon.

Rob- Anything else?

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

Rob- Second Story- Are you armed in public?

You’re sitting in Waffle House finishing your meal. It is about midnight when two young men walk in with masks over their faces. They walk up to the cash register rather than taking one of the empty seats. They shout for the cook to open the register and hand over the money. The two robbers pull handguns from their pockets and point their guns at the cook.

You have your South Carolina concealed weapons permit. You’re armed and carrying concealed. You draw your firearm and point it at the robbers. One of the robbers sees you and both robbers run. One robber shoots at you as they head out the door.

Police review the video from the surveillance cameras and search the area. The two robbers are arrested, charged with armed robbery and also with possession of stolen firearms. They are held without bond.

Amanda- You see a stranger being threatened by two armed men, and what are you going to do? You only have the tools and the training you brought with you. 

Rob- What would you tell your students to do? 

Amanda- I tell my students that there is a fine line between helping and ACTING as an auxiliary police officer.

Rob- Did our defender have to intervene? Couldn’t he have walked away and let the cook defend himself?

Amanda-  That is really the question of the day.   Ohio law is pretty clear that you can protect yourself and those innocent victims around you.   It’s up to you to decide – in a flash – are the people being held at the muzzle of a gun, are they the innocent victims of the attack.

Rob- Would you change your opinion if the waitress and cook were under 21 so you knew they were disarmed?

Amanda- Yeah- it does

Rob- Would our defender be justified in shooting without warning the robbers?
Amanda- The two criminals are robbing people. When will you have a better time to defend yourself, when their guns and their eyes are on someone else, or when their guns and eyes are pointed at you?  It does give you an advantage – as long as the facts of the case AND YOUR Skills support you.  

Our third story happened in Poulsbo, Washington.

Rob- First this message from CPRC

Rob- Third story- Are you armed when you answer the door?

You and your wife are at home. It is about 4:30 in the afternoon when someone pounds on your door. You go see who it is, and a stranger pushes his way into your home. You push back. You’re armed. Your wife is behind you, and you draw and shoot your attacker several times. Now your attacker lets go of you.

You and your wife back up and she calls 911. You holster your gun. EMTs declare your attacker dead at the scene.

Police said your attacker crashed his car into two other vehicles before running across the street and forcing his way into your home.

Amanda- Here is what I want you to have done before crazy comes knocking at your door.   Know your security plan.  Is your door locked?   Does everyone in your house have an assigned job?  Like locking the other doors, protecting the children, calling 911, going to a safe space and locking yourself in.

Rob- Wait a minute. I’ll have to replay the podcast to catch all that, so how can I think of it when a crazy person is in my house and I’m not thinking?

Amanda- You can’t. You have to practice ahead of time.

I want both the wife and the husband armed. What would happen if she answered the door because he was in the back of the house when crazy makes a housecall?

Rob- When do you talk to your students about going armed and answering the door?

Amanda-  Completely stolen from Polite Society Podcast staff  – POGO – pants on gun on.  That way its easier to remember where you put your gun – when it is in your pants. 

Amanda- Our forth story took place in Great Bend, Kansas.

Rob- Fourth story- Are you armed at home?

You and your roommate are at home. It is sunset when a stranger opens your front door and walks in. Neither you nor your roommate know who he is, and you ask the stranger to leave. Your roommate pushes him toward the door, and the stranger pushes back. A few seconds later and they are fighting each other.

You’re armed. You step closer and shoot the stranger in the head. Now your attacker stops and grabs his face. You and your roommate back away and call 911.

Police have to handcuff your attacker before the EMTs can treat him. Your attacker is taken to a hospital in serious but stable condition.

Your attacker is a convicted felon out on parole. He is charged with assault for attacking you and your roommate. His past convictions include drug possession and criminal possession of a weapon.

Amanda- Good job being armed at home. Great idea to get closer to the bad guy so you could take a difficult shot when the two men were fighting with each other.

Rob- I was taught to grab the attacker, so that if he moves, I’ll move with him. That response of moving toward a fight is hard to invent if you’ve never thought about it before.

Amanda-  and it takes TRAINING and GUTS to consider lethal force in the case of a fist fight.  This one was easier to pass the decision test- because the attack happened in your home – with a stranger and completely unprovoked. 

Why didn’t they lock their door, and why weren’t both of the homeowners armed?

Rob- Because they don’t listen to your radio show. Shame on them. When do you talk to your students about close quarters fighting, and do they get to practice that in your classes?

Amanda-   We train up close,  and we do the tueller drill because I want my students to understand how fast it can get up close and personal while they are still mentally going….   Wait, what? 
Rob- Please tell us about that drill.

Amanda- Check the youtube video on the 21 foot rule-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEjxg1m3ORU

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

Amanda- My nationally syndicated radio show is eye on the target radio. Call in and talk with us Sunday nights from 5 to 7 eastern time. I instruct on the weekends in central Ohio. I’m also 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’s podcast, then please leave us a message on the Self Defense Gun Stories 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- This podcast, and Amanda’s radio show, are part of the Self-defense radio network. Find more pro-freedom podcasts at sdrn.us

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