Episode 35 with Amber Kunau

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Introduction- Rob- Welcome to episode 35 of Self-Defense Gun Stories.  This podcast is now part of the Self-Defense Radio Network.  I’m Rob Morse and we’re joined this week by self-defense instructor Amber Kunau.  I think this is the fifth time Amber and I have been together on this podcast.  How have you been?

 

Amber – Hi, Rob.   I’m good.  I want to welcome our new listeners, and say welcome back our regular listeners. Together, Rob and I report and analyze examples of armed civilian defense.  We inform you about the news, and I hope we inspire you to defend the people you care about.

Our first story took place this month in Georgia

Rob- Are you armed at home in the evening?  A single mother was at home with her three children.  Someone knocked on her front door late in the evening.  The man she saw seemed a stranger, but after a second she recognized him as a friend of her brothers or sisters.  The homeowner didn’t know the man, and asked him to leave.  A few minutes later, she heard a noise at her bedroom window.  The homeowner grabbed her gun and again walked toward the front door.  This time she saw the stranger sitting on her front porch.  The homeowner slightly opened the door and again asked the man to leave.  The man pushed against the door and forced his way inside.  The woman was pushed back into her own home.  She shot the intruder three times in the stomach.

The intruder ran, but was soon arrested by police.  The burglar was a felon and tried to give the Warner Robins police a false name.

Rob- Amber, I could hear you as I read this story for the first time.  The young woman opened the door, didn’t she.

 

Amber – YES and why? You always want to make you and your family’s safety a priority.  The first thing she should have done is call the police. Please let the police do their job! Seconds count so of course you want to have your gun ready in case there is an immediate threat BUT please don’t misjudge or mishandle a situation.  First call the police and then take whatever steps you need to protect yourself.  Have your gun ready, have your kids a safe distance away.  Watch from a safe distance but do NOT open the door….EVER.

Rob- I wish she’d listened to your earlier episodes.  I bet she didn’t have a holster.  So I wonder what she did with her gun when the police arrived.

Amber- Did she have a holster? Did she throw it in the couch cushion? It’s so important when police are coming because of a shooting, possible active shooter the police are armed and at the ready don’t be mistaken for the bad guy things can happen in the blink of an eye, police are extra cautious because of recent nationwide police attacks.

Rob- Domestic violence calls are some of the most dangerous calls the police answer.  She shot someone, but that doesn’t end the story.

Amber -She shot the intruder and her and her family were safe, this is a good thing. But it could have ended up much worse. Don’t discount the feelings you have after shooting someone.  There is a lot to feel.  You’ll face PTSD, guilt, grief, depression as you run through all the what-if scenarios.

Rob- Those are a lot of reasons to keep the door closed.

Amber – Our second story took place in Texas.

Second Story-  Are you armed at work?  Most of us don’t think of retail sales as a dangerous job, but it can be.  It was an ordinary day for a jewelry store in Conroe, Texas.  There were three employees in the store as well as several customers.  That is when four armed men dressed in black pants and black hoodies rushed into the store.  The black robed robbers demanded the purse from an older customer and demanded the money and jewelry in the store.  The robbers thought they would surprise the store employees with their violent actions and because all of the robbers were armed.  The robbers started shooting.  To the robbers surprise, the store employees were all armed as well.  The store employees shot back.  The store owner came out of the back room with his own rifle and also shot at the robbers.  One of the robbers collapsed inside the store, and the other three robbers ran.  Police are studying the surveillance video for clues.  Neither the customers nor the store staff were injured this time.

This family owned store also was the victim of an attempted robbery last year when five intruders tried to break into the store.  Those intruders ran when they saw that the store owner was armed with a shotgun.

Amber-  Of course they had a gun.  They had been robbed before.  It was a family owned store.  The owner and his family worked there.  Can you imagine how the owner felt with his family in the store with him?  He knew they needed a gun to protect themselves.  They carried a personal firearm so they could be safe at work and defend each other.

They were prepared this time.  Good for him.  Good for all of them.

Rob-  They learned from their experience a year ago.  Can we learn from their experience, or do we have to be robbed before we learn that violence is real?

Amber- I hope we learn the easy way.  Most of my students want to learn the easy way, but some of them have been victimized before they decided to go armed.

Rob- I’m sorry for your students who were hurt.   It is smart to learn from other people’s experience as well as our own.  What else did you notice about this attack?

Amber- At first I was glad the store owner had a rifle with a standard capacity magazine.  When taken together, the thugs probably had more ammunition than the store owner with his rifle.

Rob- The thugs could carry large guns with a large capacity.  The robbers were not bothered by a heavy gun they had to carry all day or a gun that was hard to conceal.  Not their problem.

Amber- Exactly.  That small gun that is easy for us to conceal in a belly band doesn’t carry a lot of ammunition and it is hard to shoot accurately.  Small guns require more training and practice if you’re going to be effective with them.  That brings up something else.

Rob- What do you see?

Amber- I also I noticed that his family shot back.  Good for them.  It is much harder for an attacker to defeat several armed defenders.  The family defended each other and didn’t freeze.  That saved their lives.

Rob- There was a lot of shooting going on.

Amber- Yeah, the thugs were firing wildly.  Some of the defenders were shooting accurately, but some of the defenders missed too.  That is where training pays off.  The family could have stopped the threat much sooner if they’d taken training and then practiced.  When is the last time you practiced?

Rob- Yesterday.  Having someone try to kill you is a shock.  Is there counselling that would help them after the attack?

Amber- This family could for sure suffer from PTSD after something like this. When you are in a gun battle for your life there will most likely be unwanted and even dangerous after effects.  Find an emotional trauma counselor for help.

Amber- Our last story also took place in Texas.

 

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Rob- Third story- Are you armed at home in the morning?  A 71 year old disabled veteran heard someone kick in the back door of his Mission Texas home.  The elderly man also heard some moving around in his laundry room.  The vet grabbed his gun and told the intruder to come out.  A young man stepped out of his laundry room, and the old man told him to stop.  The young man moved toward the homeowner and the homeowner shot him.  The young man ran.  The elderly man tried to call police, but his phone line was cut.  The elderly man eventually contacted police and the young man was arrested.  The young man had also called police and claimed someone had shot him.  The young man was taken to the hospital because of a bullet wound to his leg.

Rob- This wasn’t a lost neighbor, was it.

Amber-  No this was someone looking to rob a senior citizen and boy did he get a surprise or what. Big tough guy had to call the police because he committed a crime.

Rob- So want should we learn from this experience?

Amber- Have your gun readily available.  If you have a multi level home have a gun on every floor.  I do.

Rob- I like that you and your family are not going to be an easy victims.  In this case, a young man deliberately chose a 71 year old because he would be an easy victim.

Amber- I’m glad this man was ok and the good guy wins and the bad guy loses.

Exit-  Rob- That wraps up this episode. Amber, thank you for helping me today.  Where can our listeners find out more about you?

Amber- I instruct and compete in Phoenix, Arizona.  Listeners can contact me at Instructor Amber K on Facebook  

Rob- Our listeners can share their thoughts with us by leaving a message on the podcast facebook page.  

Amber – If you liked these examples then please share them with a friend and give us a rating on I-Tunes.

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

Listen to Gun Freedom Radio at http://gunfreedomradio.com