Episode 227 with Amanda Suffecool

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Rob- Introduction-

Welcome to episode 227 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 working, instructing, recording and booking my summer training schedule ( as a student) …

Rob- We received one more rating on iTunes this week. Please go to the iTunes store where you subscribe to podcasts and let new listeners know what you like.

Amanda- We defend ourselves with a firearm tens of thousands of times each week. Today, we’ll look at a few recent examples and ask what we should do in their place. We give you the links back to the original news article on our podcast webpage.

Our first story took place last week in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Rob- First story- Are you armed when you’re behind the wheel?

You’re driving through downtown Philadelphia. It is almost 9 at night. A car pulls up beside you at a stop light. The man in the car points a gun at you and says to get out of your car.

You own a handgun. You have your Pennsylvania license to carry. You’re armed tonight. You pretend to move the seat belt as you draw your firearm. Your attacker is getting out of his car when you shoot him. He drops his gun so you drive away and call 911.

Police find your attackers. The police call for EMS to transport the wounded robber to the hospital. The police arrest your attacker’s brother as the getaway driver. The two of them had robbed another driver at gunpoint only a few hours earlier and were sitting in the stolen car. Police told you they have surveillance video of both attacks.

Amanda- Our defender had his carry permit.

Carried

When the time came, it sounds like our defender did a lot of good in a little time. he recognized a threat

Made a decision of what to do

Presentation in a car, seatbelt  (this is not easy) 

Armed defense,

Got to safety

Called 911

Made a statement to the police

Rob- This entire event didn’t take much time. 7 seconds, 10 seconds maybe?

Amanda- You don’t have time to get your gun out of your backpack, or out of your trunk.

Rob- The news articles leave out a lot of details. Is there anything else you’d want us to do if this happened to us?

Amanda- I drive a lot. Practicing with an empty gun, have you tried to get to your firearm?

Rob- Carjacking is on the rise across the country.

Amanda- We had about 34 thousand carjackings a year, but that almost doubled last year.

Rob- How do you know about things like that?

Amanda- I’m a professional.

Rob- Yes, you are. What should we say to the police? 

Amanda-  Just the facts.   He pointed a gun at me, I thought my life was in jeopardy,  and I want to speak to my attorney before I give a complete statement.

Rob- Is there anything else you notice?

Amanda- That is enough for now. Our second story happened in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Rob- Second Story- Are you armed at home?   

Your sister has a problem. She is arguing with her boyfriend by text. You knew things were getting bad when the ex-shot at your house and drove off. Your sister called the police, but she didn’t see the attacker. Now, you hear a crashing sound, another gunshot, and screams coming from your sister’s room. You grab your firearm and run towards the screams. You pull open the door and see your sister’s ex-boyfriend hitting her. He has a gun and she is bleeding. You shoot her attacker. Now her attacker stops hitting her and drops his gun. You stop shooting. You call 911. You give a brief statement to the police. EMS declares her attacker dead at the scene. They take your sister to the hospital to treat the gunshot wound on her backside. Police see your broken front door. 

Amanda- You hear a gunshot, and screams and run to save your sister’s life.  I can barely imagine what that must be like.

I like that their doors were locked and the bad guy had to break in. Our defender also had his gun ready for defense. He ran toward a potential threat. He recognized an immediately lethal situation of an armed man beating his sister. He stopped the threat and then stopped shooting when the threat stopped. He got help on the way to treat his sister and the bad guy. He made a brief statement to the police.

Rob- Talk to me about having a firearm ready for defense.

Amanda- This bad guy had shot the defender’s sister and he was beating her as she was bleeding. You can’t wait a minute to get your gun out of the safe, your ammunition out of the lock box, load your magazines, load your gun, and then run to the rescue and face an armed attacker.

Rob- That takes too long.

Amanda- Stop the threat, call 911, and treat the trauma.

Rob- We have about a hundred thousand aggravated assaults each year, but that went up in 2020.

Amanda- Crime was on the rise in 2020.   I want the sister to be armed. I want my students to be armed. What would have happened if the brother was in the bathroom at the back of the house when she was attacked. She could have been killed before he could defend her.

Rob- A good reason to have some medical supplies. Have any of your students been victims of domestic violence?

Amanda – the stories are hair-raising.   And as an instructor, all I can do is give them the tools to persevere.

Amanda- Let’s go on. Our third story happened in Orlando, Florida.

Rob- First this message from Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership.

Rob- Third story- Are you armed at the office?

You work in a day-labor job center. It is after 8 in the morning when a stranger walks around the counter and attacks your female co-worker with a knife. She screams and runs past you. Now, the attacker charges you. You put up your arms in defense and the attacker cuts you. You’re armed. You draw your firearm and shoot your attacker. The stranger runs away.

Other people in the office call 911 and try to tend your wounds. You and your co-worker go to the hospital to have your wounds treated. Your co-worker has severe cuts to her head and may lose some use of her arm.

Your attacker is found a few blocks away. He is taken to the hospital to treat the bullet wound in his leg. Your attacker is charged with two counts of attempted felony homicide, and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

Amanda- Wow. This attacker had a machete – it wasn’t just a knife – it was a big knife. That fact that the defender was armed saved his co-worker and then saved himself. I’m surprised the defender only had one shot on target, or else the attacker ran away as soon as he saw the defender was armed. Our good guy stopped shooting when the attacker ran away, and our good guy didn’t chase the bad guy, but let him go. 

Rob- But Amanda, the attacker only had a knife.

Amanda-  have you seen the Tueller Drill?   If not – go to youtube and pull it up.   You can see how fast someone with a knife can get to you. 

Rob-  What else do you see here?

Amanda- I want the female victim to go armed. I also want my student to learn how to carry on-body and to present from a holster. They could have both been killed if the defender’s gun was in a backpack under his desk or locked in a desk drawer.
Rob- I’ll get it. It’s right over here.. somewhere.

Amanda- While you’re being stabbed.

Rob- Most people don’t know the facts of attacks. Is there a class where you cover that with your students?

Amanda- Let me tell you what some of my students have said to me. They thought they would be safe if they had a gun, some come to the class with the belief that if they have a gun and just the bullets to load it – they would be safe.  As if it’s a magic talisman or something. We talk about the need to carry concealed, and to TRAIN to access the gun in my CCW class.

Amanda- Our last story took place in Bronson, Florida.

Rob- Fourth story- Are you armed in public?

Your neighbor is outside arguing with your family. That is when your neighbor draws a gun and shoots into the air. Your family rushes inside and the neighbor leaves. A while later your troublesome neighbor returns. He stabs one of you, a 41 year old man. You’re a 67 year old man and you shout for the attacker to stop. Now, the neighbor attacks you. You shoot your attacker once in the abdomen. Now, he stops. You and your family call 911.

EMS takes your attacker and his victim to the hospital. 

Amanda- We have a 67 year old man stopping a crazy man with a knife. Our good guy

Was armed

Recognized the threat

Tried verbal commands

Stopped the threat

Stopped shooting

Stayed at the scene

Called police

Made a statement.

Rob- Is there more you’d like your students to do in a situation like this?

Amanda- Call the police the first time that crazy man shoots a gun into the air.  Why wait.  

Rob- We talk about self-defense, but ordinary citizens who legally carry concealed are some of the most law abiding and non-violent people we can find.

Amanda- They have to be. You can’t get into an argument. You HAVE TO walk away.  Your gun should make you more polite, not less polite. 

Rob- When do you talk to your students about the legal use of lethal force?

Amanda-  I talk to them throughout the class, and the jist of it is, exhaust all other options ( and sometimes that happens pretty quickly) before being forced to shoot.

Rob-   Forced to shoot? 

Amanda-  Yes,  it wasn’t you out there looking for a fight.  The bad guy gets to pick the event, the time, the place.  All you get to choose is the defensive tool.  Be skilled with it.

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 Northeastern Ohio. I’m also part of the DCProject. Check out our website at DCProject.info

Rob- After you listen to Amanda’s radio show, then please leave us a message on the podcast facebook page.

Amanda- We share this podcast with you for free.
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Rob- This show is part of the Self-defense radio network. Find more pro-freedom podcasts, like Amanda’s eye on the target radio, at sdrn.us

I’m Rob Morse.  We’ll be back in a few weeks with more Self-Defense Gun Stories.
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