Armed Citizen

Around 6:45 P.M. a pair of armed robbers entered Christopher Diamonds in Chandler, Ariz. As the robbery began, the owner of the store heard the commotion and retrieved his firearm. When the owner confronted the criminals, gunfire was exchanged, resulting in one of the criminals being hit, as well as the store owner. The wounded criminal fled to a stolen truck and drove off. He was later found by police and taken to the hospital where he died. The unwounded robber also fled and was found by police in a neighborhood close to the jewelry store. The storeowner is recovering from injuries that are not life-threatening. Chandler police Detective David Rahmer praised the storeowner’s actions, stating, “You have a right to defend yourself, and he did a good job of that. ” (The Arizona Republic, Phoenix, Ariz. 12/21/08; KTAR, Phoenix, Ariz. 12/21/08)

During the decades the American Rifleman has published “The Armed Citizen” column, thousands of incidents of law-abiding Americans using firearms to halt or prevent crime have appeared in the magazine. Editorial space allowing, the total could have been far greater of course, as award-winning survey research shows that each year in the U.S. gun owners use firearms for protection as frequently as 2.5 million times.

This archive contains “Armed Citizen” entries from the present back to 1958. The database is searchable by key word and state and results are displayed in chronological order according to the month of publication in the American Rifleman.