Woman Stabbed Outside Gym Getting Gun License For Personal Safety
NEW ALBANY, Ohio - Women from one community are aiming to keep themselves safe, after a dangerous attack hit close to home.
Rikki Whitaker survived a stabbing outside of her gym in early one morning in March. She's now out of the hospital and learning self-defense.
Whitaker says police are still searching for the man, who attacked her. In fact, next week, she says she'll be helping them put together a better sketch of what he looks like, to help in the investigation.
Before all that, she and her fellow gym members, are empowering themselves by pulling the trigger.
Much like training at the gym, these women are dedicating time to target practice.
Lisa Wright is at the shooting range, AimHi in New Albany, not because she's new to guns, but because she's shooting in support of her new friend, Rikki Whitaker.
“I think it just made everyone realize that we're not as safe as we think,” said friend, Lisa Wright.
After Whitaker was threatened with a gun and stabbed with a knife, outside of the LA Fitness in Hilliard, Wright and other gym members immediately came to her side.
“I think things like that happen when you least expect it,” said 25-year-old Whitaker.
First, the women joined together for self-defense training at a Krav Maga studio, and now they’re learning how to safely handle a gun.
“If I can't fight back physically, as a woman, it's easy to be overpowered by a man and I want to have that gun to defend myself,” said Whitaker.
Obtaining a permit to carry a gun is a three day class, and a lifetime of learning to prepare you for that one moment, when it's truly needed.
“It is an empowering feeling, but I know it's a last resort. It's not something you want to use, but at some point it's something you could need to,” said Whitaker.
At first, she was visibly timid, but with each pull of the trigger, Whitaker aims to regain her sense of strength and normalcy in her daily life.
“I certainly pictured him more than once holding that gun. I can tell you that,” said Whitaker about her attacker.
Part of the process to get the CCW permit is to take a class on gun safety.
Nice to know women too are finally starting to get it.
Krav Maga is brutal. It takes more discipline and aggression to learn that than how to shoot. It's full of brutal strikes and instant takedowns like eye strikes and such, that make it emotionally very costly on the user. IMHO, most women are far better off to learn to use a gun than to cripple or kill with a single blow--but Krav Maga is likely the most effective self defense tool the world has ever seen with the possible exception of the handgun.
"Courage is not just a virtue, but the form of every virtue at the testing point." C. S. Lewis
NRA puts Detroit Police chief on the front cover of "America's first freedom."
It's about time we have big city Police realizing that legal gun owners are their allies, not their enemies. I commend Chief James Craig for his honesty and forthrightness. We need more Police management to come to this realization.
Jack In The Box’s Decision To Ban Guns Just Backfired (And People Are Getting Hurt)
The first event occurred Sunday afternoon...
Earlier this month, two restaurant chains – Jack in the Box and Chipotle – caved to mounting pressure from anti-gun groups to discourage patrons from carrying firearms inside any of their respective locations.
For the former, that decision has apparently proven to be an enticing move for potential criminals. Much to the chagrin of gun-grabbing activists, the fast food chain’s move to ban weapons has coincided with three separate incidents involving armed criminals within a two-week period.
In Nashville, Tenn., a man was shot after he declined a black male’s attempt to sell him drugs. The suspect got away after firing two shots and injuring the victim’s leg.
Robberies in two other Jack in the Box locations – both in Houston, Texas – also resulted in terrorized customers and vanishing suspects.
The first occurred Sunday afternoon, when a man was shot in the arm during a robbery. Responding authorities were unsure whether the victim was the intended target or if the gunman was attempting to target the restaurant.
A few days later, four armed robbers targeted another Houston location during its lunch rush; and although no one was shot during the incident, the men made off with money from multiple employees and customers inside. A vigilant patron pursued the fleeing vehicle, resulting in the arrest of the driver. The other three robbers were able to escape.
While anti-Second Amendment activists insisted the chain prohibit guns after allegations that employees were frightened by customers who were legally carrying firearms, it seems those fears have now been replaced by the genuine threat posed by emboldened criminals who now see Jack in the Box as an easy target.
As Western Journalism recently reported, a newly opened North Carolina restaurant was also targeted by armed robbers this month. Though a correlative relationship would be hard to prove, the eatery prominently displayed a sign on its front door barring the possession of any weapons by customers authorized to carry them.
Only time will tell if Chipotle locations experience a similar rise in armed robbery as a result of its recent decision to prohibit guns.
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) - WKBN received footage Tuesday of a dramatic confrontation during an attempted robbery two weeks ago at a Sami Quick Stop in Struthers.
The video shows the alleged robber drawing what looks to be a gun and yelling at the store’s clerk, who then pulls out a gun of his own and fires one shot at the man. Police said the shot hit and wounded the suspect.
Normally, only the drive-through of the Sami Quick Stop at East Midlothian Boulevard and Youngstown-Poland Road is open at midnight. But because of construction, the entire store was open for customers when police say a pair of 17-year-old boys walked in about 12:15 a.m. on May 21.
Police said there were two employees working at the time. The manager was in a store room and a clerk was behind the counter. The 911 call explains what happened next:
Caller: “I’m up at Sami’s. I am the manager here and we just got a guy come in here and try to rob us.”
According to the police report, Ja’Braelyn Bunn, 17, of Youngstown, and Kimani Hodges walked in the store together, but it was Bunn that produced a rifle and demanded money from the clerk behind the counter, according to police. The clerk, believed to be in his 20s, had a gun of his own and opened fire, hitting Bunn in the side and forcing him to drop his gun.
The frame of the surveillance camera only shows one suspect, but the audio did pick up his demands.
“He demanded the clerk to give him some money. The clerk felt threatened and had a lawful CCW permit, and shot at the suspect,” said Struthers Police Chief Tim Roddy.
Right after the gunshot is heard, the recording captured the suspect crying out in pain. The entire confrontation lasted less than 10 seconds, according to the recording.
Police say both teens ran from the store, but were caught a short time later.
Both Bunn and Hodges are facing charges. After the shooting, medical professionals treated Bunn at St. Elizabeth Health Center, while authorities took Hodges to the Mahoning County Juvenile Justice Center. Both are facing charges.
As for the clerk, police are calling the shooting justified.
“In the right situation, someone who is responsible and very knowledgeable with a weapon, they have the right to protect themselves,” said Roddy.
Police have the gun and book bag the teens left behind.
Neither of the employees was hurt in the incident.
Pretty good shooting for under stress facing off against an armed robber.
The Right to Bear Arms and Popular Sovereignty They are inextricably linked
By Charles C. W. Cooke
Brutally put, it makes little philosophical sense for the elected representatives of a government that is subordinate to the people to be able to disarm those people. As an enlightened state may by no means act as the arbiter of its critics’ words, it may not remove from the people the basic rights that are recognized in the very document to which it owes its existence. “Shall not be infringed” and “shall make no law” are clear enough even for the postmodern age. To ask, “Why do you need an AR-15?” is to invert the relationship. A better question: “Why don’t you want me to have one?” And far from being the preserve of two-bit reactionaries, this, I discovered to my consternation, is a deeply — nay, radically — liberal principle, and one of the most beautiful ideas in the history of beautiful ideas. It changed my politics forever.
Husband and wife shoot gunmen who try to enter their St. Louis home, killing 1, police say
Police tape surrounds a section of the 4600 block of Newport Avenue after a shooting late on Monday, June 9, 2014. Photo by Valerie Schremp Hahn
UPDATED at 1:40 p.m. with charges against one of the intruders.
ST. LOUIS • A husband and wife armed with guns were able to stave off an apparent home invasion Monday night, police said.
One man was killed and a second taken to a hospital in the incident, which happened about 11 p.m. in the 4600 block of Newport Avenue.
According to police, a 17-year-old girl who lived at the home was outside retrieving something from her car when she was approached by two masked and armed men who forced her into her house, using her as a shield.
The teen's father, 34, saw the men walking with his daughter, got his firearm and fired several shots at them, striking both of the men as they entered his home. The teen's mother, 34, also retrieved a gun and fired once at the men, but did not hit them, police said.
One of the men, Terrell Johnson, 31, of the 4500 block of Natural Bridge Road, collapsed on the living room floor and was pronounced deceased at the scene.
The second man, Cortez McClinton, 33, was standing behind Johnson when Johnson was shot, pointed a gun inside the doorway and also was shot. McClinton then ran away and got his brother to transport him to a hospital, police said. He was treated for gunshot wounds to the chest and both thighs.
McClinton, of the 3100 block of Pennsylvania Avenue, was charged with second-degree murder (also called felony murder), kidnapping, burglary and armed criminal action. McClinton's cash bail was set at $1 million.
A mug shot of McClinton was not immediately available Tuesday.
In May 2010, McClinton was charged with fatally shooting Bryan Reed, 28, the previous month. Reed was sitting with a friend in a car April 24 in the 3700 block of Minnesota Avenue about 12:40 a.m. when a gunman approached and shot Reed several times.
It was not clear why the St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office dropped murder and armed criminal action charges against McClinton in March 2013.
McClinton's criminal history includes convictions of drug possession and distribution and vehicle tampering.
The investigation is ongoing, police said.
No one answered the door at the home Tuesday morning, but broken glass and bullet holes marked the storm door where shots were fired.
CCW has more than doubled since 2007, but homicides declined
john lott
A new report released Wednesday by the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC) reveals more than 11.1 million Americans now possess concealed carry permits and licenses, more than double the estimated 4.6 million who had licenses in 2007.
That 11.1 million number may be conservative, too. The report, which may be read here, acknowledges “numbers are not available for all states that issue permits.” It also does not account for the number of citizens carrying concealed in the four states, and most of Montana, where no license or permit is required to carry a concealed handgun.
Here in Washington State, the Department of Licensing last week confirmed to Examiner that more than 461,000 active concealed pistol licenses are in circulation. That was a bounce of more than 4,100 new CPLs since June 2.
Yet with all of these millions of legally-armed citizens in the United States, the FBI Uniform Crime Report data shows that homicides are down. That includes murders involving firearms. In 2007, according to the report, there were 14,831 homicides including 10,086 involving firearms. In 2012, the year for which the most recent data is available, there were 12,765 slayings, of which 8,885 involved guns.
Clearly, when anti-gunners talk about "30,000 deaths from gun violence" each year, they are tossing in suicides and accidents, as well as justifiable self-defense homicides. At best, that's disingenuous, but firearms activists say it is simply dishonest.
Veteran researcher John Lott is president of the CPRC. In that organization’s summary it notes that “8 million Americans held a concealed carry permit” three years ago, according to a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
“The rapid increase in concealed carry permits is mirrored by the rapid increase in gun sales, “ the report states. “NICS background checks soared from 11.2 million to 21.2 million between 2007 and 2013. The sale of guns accelerated further over the last two years, averaging 14 million during 2008 to 2011 and over 20 million during 2012 and 2013”
All of this suggests that gun prohibitionists have been wrong, a subject Examiner discussed with author and Second Amendment expert Joyce Lee Malcolm yesterday. Even USA Today, in a story published on-line this morning, reported, “After the bloody Fourth of July holiday weekend in Chicago, which left 14 dead, and frequent reports of mass shootings, the public might easily conclude that gun violence is on the rise. The opposite is true.”
The report goes on to explain, “Most Americans are unaware that gun crimes have dropped over the past 20 years, with 56% stating that they think the crimes have gone up, according to a Pew Research Center survey.”
Another weekend is looming in Chicago. By Monday, one can expect more grim news, but the body count cannot be blamed on law-abiding gun owners who are tired of being penalized and demonized for things they haven’t done, and that will not be prevented by more erosion of their rights.
The report also notes:
•Three states (South Dakota, Indiana, and Alabama) now have over 10 percent of their adult populations with permits, and 10 states have at least 8 percent of their adult populations with permits.
•The number of concealed carry permit holders is likely much higher than 11.1 million.
•Between 2007 and the preliminary estimates for 2013, murder rates have fallen from 5.6 to 4.4 per 100,000 – a 22 percent drop in the murder rate at the same time that the percentage of the adult population with permits soared by 130 percent. Overall violent crime also fell by 22 percent over that period of time.
Detroit police chief: ‘No question in my mind’ legal gun ownership deters crime
Detroit has experienced 37 percent fewer robberies than it did last year, and Police Chief James Craig is crediting armed citizens for the drop.
“Criminals are getting the message that good Detroiters are armed and will use that weapon,” said Chief Craig, who has been an open advocate for private gun ownership, the Detroit News reported. “I don’t want to take away from the good work our investigators are doing, but I think part of the drop in crime, and robberies in particular, is because criminals are thinking twice that citizens could be armed.
“I can’t say what specific percentage is caused by this, but there’s no question in my mind it has had an effect,” he added.
In addition to the drop in robberies, Detroit has seen 22 percent fewer break-ins of businesses and homes and 30 percent fewer carjackings in 2014 than during the same period last year, the Detroit News reported.
Pennsylvania hospital: Wounded doctor fired back at gunman, officials say
DARBY, Pa. – A doctor who was grazed by gunfire from a patient in his office at a suburban hospital on Thursday helped stop him by apparently returning fire with his own weapon and severely injuring him, but not before a caseworker was killed, authorities said.
Yeadon Police Chief Donald Molineux said that, "without a doubt, I believe the doctor saved lives."
"Without that firearm, this guy (the patient) could have went out in the hallway and just walked down the offices until he ran out of ammunition," Molineux said.
Crazy people (& criminals) don't follow gun free zone signs?! Who knew...
From the 2nd link:
It was not clear why Silverman, a doctor for nearly 25 years, was armed at the office. Bernice Ho, a spokeswoman for Mercy Fitzgerald, said Thursday it was against hospital policy for anyone other than security guards to carry weapons.
He will be lucky if he isn't fired or possibly even charged for violating hospital policy....when seconds count the police (security gurards) are minutes away.
