Episode 9 with Jenna Meek

Introduction- Welcome to episode 9 of Self-Defense Gun Stories.  I’m Rob Morse back with self-defense instructor Jenna Meek.  Hello, Jenna.  Together, we report and analyze examples of armed civilian defense each week.

Jenna – I noticed that each example has the armed victim having to shoot.  Usually the attacker will stop when a firearm is presented, but not always.  These attacks evolved too quickly for the attacker to change his mind.

Our first example took place last month at a home in Nashville, Tennessee.

First story-  A woman heard someone loudly banging at the front door of her apartment.  The resident looked through the peephole in her door, and didn’t recognize the man on the other side.  She did not open the door as the man continued to knock.  Instead, she got her gun, her phone, and retreated to her bedroom closet.  She was on the phone with police when the man broke through her front door and entered her apartment.  He then opened her bedroom door and her closet door.  That is when she shot him.  The intruder ran from the apartment and checked himself into the hospital where police were waiting for him.  The intruder was out on bond from an earlier charge of felony theft.  Police said this was clearly a case of self-defense.

Jenna- I love that the resident did not answer the door for a stranger!  She gets bonus points for retreating to the closet with a phone, and a gun and not looking for trouble.  I also wonder what might have happened if she has called out that the police were on the way before she retreated to the closet is the bad guy may have fled instead of entering the home.  Although, that seems unlikely to me since he went straight to where she was hiding instead of grabbing valuables.

Rob- turn on the porch light

Jenna- If the closet is dark, then you can see him well before he can see you.

She used a revolver so there is little chance of the firearm malfunctioning because it was caught against the coats in the closet.

(Jenna’s add: this may not actually be true, the cylinder can in fact get caught up on stuff, such as fabric and that could impede the action from working properly. We’ve seen this happen in purses with the lining getting caught in the cylinder)

The robber gave her time, thank you.  Many robbers now use a smash and grab robbery where you will only have what you carry.

Jenna- where are we going next

Second Story-  Bertha Tate lives in Chicago, and has been a victim before.  Her husband was shot and killed during a home invasion robbery that happened 65 years ago.  She has been a gun owner ever since.  She’s seen friends and relatives killed since then.  This time her son was sitting in an overstuffed chair as someone tried to break through the front window of her apartment.  The family gun was tucked into the cushions of that chair.  Anthony Tate, Bertha’s son, shot the intruder as he came through the window.

The police followed the trail of blood as the intruder ran to his getaway car at the end of the block.  They followed him as the robber check himself into the hospital emergency room with a gunshot wound to his arm.  The 36 year old criminal was expected to recover from his gunshot wound while sitting in the Cook County jail.

Jenna- Good son.  A gun not under personal control.  Bad homeowner.  Again, a 22 revolver was enough gun at that distance.

I am a big fan of using whatever you have to get the job done.  If that means you have a .22 revolver, then I suppose that is better than nothing and it seemed to stop the threat in this case.  I don’t know of any bad guys who stare down a gun and ask the defender hey, what are you about to be shot shoot with.  I am pretty sure bad guys don’t want to meet any resistance, let alone get shot with any type of gun.  Does that mean I carry a .22?  Of course not, but again, it would be better than nothing at all.

poing blank range logo trans Point Blank Range

Third story-  A 60 year old Seattle man stopped by his local 7-11 convenience store.  He nodded to the store clerk, a man about his own age, and then went off fix a cup of coffee as he did many mornings.  The customer at the coffee counter was surprised by a masked man who walked into the store and swung a hatchet at him without saying a word.  The attacker then turned his attention to the store clerk and swung at him.  The clerk was slightly injured before the coffee drinking customer drew his handgun and shot the attacker.  The customer has a licence to carry his handgun concealed.

Police spokeswoman Cindi West said  “This could have been disastrous. Had this guy not shot, who knows what would have happened? We might have a dead clerk right now, and instead we have a dead bad guy.  We consider the gun owner to be a Good Samaritan.  We do not see any wrongdoing on the part of the customer. In fact, he probably saved lives in this case.

The police had photographs of the attacker on file, so he had a police record.

Jenna, I don’t think I’ve see a hatchet used in a training example before.

Jenna- This one is pretty cut and dried.  I think is was a very good thing that permit holder was on site *and* the he was armed.  It sounds like this was his normal routine to go get coffee. I shudder to think what may have happened to the clerk if the armed civilian had decided to leave his gun behind that day for some reason.  Like we can sometimes do.

Also, we get questions from students all the time about acting on behalf of an unknown third party with deadly force.  My standard answer is that they have to know the whole story of what is going on before making the decision to act.  In this case, I think acting was the proper course of action.  Sometimes though appearances can be deceiving and we may not know the whole story.

Jenna- More likely to be attacked outside our home.

Rob- I like it that my home is a relatively safe refuge.

Jenna- I agree, but we still carry at home.

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

Jenna- They can contact me Carry On Colorado Dot Com.  I also have my new book called “Calling the Shots” on Amazon.

Rob- That reminds me.  Listeners can talk to us on our facebook page.  We post transcripts and links to these stories on our web page at self defense gun stories dot com.

I’m Rob Morse.  Please join us next week for more Self-Defense Gun Stories.

Join the Second Amendment Foundation at SAF.org


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