suburban chicagoans defend themselves with handguns

This 16 year old punk messed with the wrong 56 year old woman!

(ZION)-- A Zion woman fired two shots at a 16-year-old home invader Friday night, killing him, police said. The suspected robber, Gerrall N. Davis, had forced open the back door of the home on Jethro Ave., shattering the doorjamb. This according to a press release from Zion police.

Saffiyya A. Darr and her husband told police they heard knocking at their front door, yelled out to see who it was and shortly thereafter the back door of their home was forced open. Police say Mrs. Darr retrieved a 9mm handgun from her bedroom and fired two shots at the armed and masked invader.

Both shots hit Davis, who was on juvenile probation for aggravated battery at the time, the release said. When officers arrived at the home at 10:17 p.m., they found Davis lying on the kitchen floor of the home, wearing a black ski mask, black knit gloves and with a .22 caliber rifle next to him. He was taken to Victory Hospital in Waukegan, where he was pronounced dead. Police did not reveal if Mrs. Darr faces any charges for the shooting.

As reported in this Lake County News Sun story from a few days ago.

Isn't it funny how handguns are the great equalizer, giving a middle-aged woman a fighting chance against a 16 year old male hoodlum? I take no pleasure in anyone's death, but innocent life deserves to be defended, and that is clearly what happened here. If this couple had relied on the police to defend themselves they could very well have ended up dead, with the punk moving on to his next victim.

See also this Trib article for more details on the story.

And about a month ago, a comic book shopkeeper in Roselle defended himself and his store against an armed parolee from St. Louis, as reported here by WBBM 780:

ROSELLE, Ill. (WBBM) -- A 40-year-old parolee from St. Louis was shot dead during a gunfight with the owner of a Roselle collectibles store, who was wounded.

WBBM's Bob Roberts reports.

A digital surveillance video caught the shootout that occurred inside the Westlake Cards, Comics and Coins store, at 1234 W. Lake St., in Roselle. After reviewing the video, DuPage County State's Attorney Joe Birkett declined to press charges against the 49-year-old shopkeeper, a resident of Hanover Park, in the death of ex-convict Geoffrey Webb.

“The question is whether or not this store owner had the right to protect himself and to have a weapon,” Birkett said. “He does. He has a (Firearm Owners Identification) card. He's got that right under Illinois law.”

Roselle Police Chief James Kruger said the surveillance video shows Webb entering the store just before 10:30 a.m. Friday, placing a black bag on the horseshoe-shaped counter and speaking for several minutes with the shopkeeper, whom authorities refused to identify.

Kruger said Webb suddenly pulled a gun from the bag, in which duct tape and handcuffs were later found, and vaulted the counter.

“There was clearly an imminent threat to the store owner's life, and clearly the intruder was in the commission of a forcible felony,” Birkett said...

Of course, here in Chicago the mayor and the council long ago decided that residents of this great city have absolutely no right to defend themselves, as only cops can be trusted to keep handguns within the city limits. We can always count on them to be there in time, can't we? And they never abuse their power, either...