When Self-Defense Justification Ends

Every bullet comes with a lawyer attached. Memphis Tenant Shoots Masked Burglar Caught Hauling His TV Out the Door - USA Carry

He interrupted a burglary. The burglar reached into a bag, suggesting he was armed. That is grounds for defense.

One detail worth noting for anyone who carries. The tenant fired twice when the suspect reached into the bag, then twice more as the man ran. Self-defense protects you against an imminent threat, and that protection is strongest in the first exchange. Once a threat turns and flees, the legal ground shifts fast. We do not have every detail here, and prosecutors will weigh all of it, but it is a useful reminder that the justification can end the moment the danger does.

Click thru for more, including a discussion of the changes coming July 1st, which apparently have been exaggerated.

Self-defense is a human right. That doesn't mean you can shoot anyone over anything.

Self-Defense Is About Attitude

Keep fighting. Would-be robber tied up during social media 'prank' at Memphis home, records show | Fox13 Memphis

He came to the door and asked for a lighter.

After initially leaving, Bush allegedly returned armed with what appeared to be a black handgun and pointed it at the men, demanding their keys and belongings.

Instead of complying, the two men — who declined on-camera interviews but confirmed details to FOX13 — fought back.

Court records say they wrestled the weapon away from Bush, restrained him, and held him down until officers reached the scene.

Click thru for details on the charges.

The "gun" was a BB gun. He is a bit lucky he didn't get shot.

And don't open the door.

Hat tip to USA Carry: Memphis Men Wrestle Gun From Robber, Tie Him To The Porch Until Police Arrive

Regarding the "gun."

That makes no difference to the men who faced it. A BB gun and a real pistol look identical when one is pointed at you, and these two had no way to know which they were looking at. I will say it plainly: you are allowed to respond to the threat as it appears.

I used to have a pair of BB guns that were 1911 pistols. They were exact copies. They disappeared in one of my many moves...

Self-defense is a human right. And as for never giving up...

Crazy People Are Dangerous

That doesn't mean that self-defense doesn't apply against them. Homeowner shoots intruder near Westwood, MPD reports

Just before 5 a.m., officers reported a shooting at a residence on West Valley Circle near McClain Road.

Upon arrival, officers found a woman lying in front of the residence with visible gunshot wounds on her upper leg.

The homeowner woke up to noise, and found her in the back of his home. She said she wanted to buy the place.

Cops said she was having a "mental health episode."

She was taken to a local hospital, and then to lockup.

Self-defense is a human right, and this didn't take place in New York City.

We All Need to Spend More Time at the Range

From FOX13 Memphis: Homeowner fires shots at suspects during home invasion in Raleigh

In this instance, Raleigh is a neighborhood in north-central Memphis.

The Memphis Police Department said a masked man rushed into an apartment unit at the Country View Apartments on Stephanie Lane.

"I ran to go grab my protection, and then I started firing shots," the homeowner said. "Especially when I turned and saw them coming in, so I fired shots because I needed them to get out."

It appears, that while they ran like rabbits, no one was injured by the gunfire.

The homeowner’s fiancé and their child were also inside the home at the time of the shooting.

Everyone, including a neighbor, "feels unsafe."

While they may have believed they were safe before this, they were not. You are not protected from crime by the magic dirt under your feet.

Self-defense is a human right, and it appears to by your legal right in Tennessee.

He Suffered a Failure of the Victim-Selection Process

He apparently thought having a gun made him the most dangerous person in the encounter. MPD: Store clerk shoots suspect during attempted robbery | News | Fox13 Memphis

According to the Memphis Police Department (MPD), it happened around 10 a.m. at the Quick Check Store on Alcy Road near Perry Road. Video released shows a man in a white hoodie start to pull out a gun when he jerks back and runs away.

The afternoon of the incident, the police had still not located the would-be robber.

Under Tennessee's Stand Your Ground Law, the clerk was within their rights to shoot. It says any person is justified in using force if they reasonably believe there is an imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury. Pulling out that gun would enforce that "reasonable" belief.

Self-defense is a human right.

If You Break Into Homes ...

You will eventually find an armed resident. Tenant shoots, kills intruder during attempted home burglary | News | FOX13 Memphis

Or how would you respond to an uninvited guest at 3:30 in the morning?

MPD said a man trying to break into the apartment was shot by the tenant. The intruder was rushed to a hospital, where he died, police said.

No other details were released.

So since that isn't enough for a segment on the local TV news, they had to talk to a neighbor. While there was a bit of a "this freaked me out" response, there was also a "We have the right to defend ourselves and our property" response. Click thru; it's refreshing.

People are becoming tired of crime, and I believe more will stand up for themselves.

Self-defense is a human right, and it seems like it might be your legal right in Tennessee as well.

A Mother Defends Her Children

A self-defense shooting that includes video. Video shows woman shooting at intruders who broke into home

In Tennessee you apparently have the right to defend yourself inside your home. This incident took place in the city of Memphis.

A report said three people kicked in the door at the woman's home and went inside without her permission. Investigators identified the alleged suspects as 21-year-old Nala Kelley, 22-year-old Dejwan Payne, and 21-year-old Kimari Burnham.

The resident of the home fired one shot, and hit a woman who had broken into her home.

In the video, you can hear the woman yelling that she has her kids with her and asking the three people to leave.

Kimari Burnham was taken to the hospital in critical condition.

The video at the link is a news story from a local TV station, and is about 2 minutes and 40 seconds long. It includes some commentary from a lawyer.

The three people who broke into the home are facing various charges. Good Guys 3, Bad Guys 0.

What Happens After You Defund the Police?

You get less police, and longer waits for help. From Memphis: Police ‘stretched thin’ as some complain of slow response

So now the people of Memphis are worried about how long it takes police to arrive after a 911 call. I'm shocked.

It was a busy weekend for Memphis Police — from Friday night to Saturday morning, we counted at least nine people shot, two of them fatally.

This is another article that touches on the shootout at the Airbnb that I covered earlier.

So what about defunding the police? Here is a story from 2023: Democrats defunded Memphis police. Here is what happened next

After Michael Brown was shot in the act of assaulting a police officer, the Democrat-controlled city of Memphis , Tennessee, slashed pension benefits for its police department. City officials also vowed to change a police force that was 47% white into something that better reflected a city that was only 27% white.

Hundreds of white police officers got the message they weren’t wanted and left the force. This left the Memphis Police Department hundreds of officers short of what even the Democratic mayor thought was needed to keep residents safe.

Fewer police. Worse benefits. Now they are shocked to discover that it takes a long damn time for cops to respond to a 911 call. What exactly did they think would happen?

Calling 911 is a fine thing to do. They can send a lot of help your way. But they won't be sending that help immediately. You might want to take a first aid class, a CPR class, and consider what you will do in a self-defense situation. Help won't be there instantly.

Is Your Car Worth Your Life?

Because if you go to "confront" car theives, that is a real possibility. Man shot outside own home in Cordova, SCSO says | Fox13 Memphis

Cops were called to home, because the homeowner had been shot.

Though the sheriff's office did not release a motive, a source close to the investigation and neighbors told FOX13 that the man might have been shot while confronting people trying to steal a car outside his home.

His wounds are not life threatening, and he is expected to survive, but that is mostly a bit of luck, than anything he did.

FOX13 previously reported on people being shot while confronting people suspecting of car theft. Last week, a father was shot outside his Orange Mound home after he confronted two men trying to steal his daughter's Kia Forte.

So, how much is your car worth?

He Was Going to Speak Harshly To Them

Is your car, or anything in it, worth your life? Homeowner shot to death after confronting suspected burglars: SCSO

This is a tragedy, and I don't mean to make light of it. But there is an important lesson. It's only stuff.

The [Shelby County Sheriff’s Office] says the homeowner saw people attempting to break into a vehicle in his driveway. He opened the front door and yelled, and then he was shot numerous times.

He was taken to a local hospital, but he did not survive his injuries.

I looked at several articles on this incident, but I could find no information on the homeowner's family, or who he left behind.

I think Data said it best in Star Trek: the Next Generation.

This is just a thing, and things can be replaced. Lives cannot.

Your righteous indignation is not a suit of armor. You have every right to confront people who are trying to steal your stuff. That is not an issue. The question is, "Should you?"

Bad guys today are bad, in all ways. I know someone stealing your stuff makes you angry. I have been burglarized a couple of times and robbed once. It was upsetting each time. It was only stuff, even though some of it was given to me by my grandmother. If there is something you can't stand to lose, it should be in a safe-deposit box. (That's what 2 burglaries taught me.) They will shoot you for less than 50 bucks. That should be a part of your planning.

How Is That Criminal Justice Reform Working Out?

Because holding criminals in jail is unfair, a man is dead. Court records: Man granted diversion weeks before deadly shooting

If you count by the victims, reform is not working out too well.

ABC24 has learned that an 18-year-old man charged in a crime spree and deadly shooting near Memphis International Airport had been granted diversion and probation just weeks before.

According to court records, Vontavious Muirhead, 18, was granted diversion and placed on one year probation on June 13, 2024, on a theft charge. Records show charges for guns and drugs were dismissed as part of that case.

The Left will scream about how more gun laws are required, and then refuse to apply the ones currently on the books, because to do so would be unfair, or would take actual work, or something.

They refuse to put people in jail until they actually kill someone. Is it any wonder that crime is out of control?

They Will Shoot Cops Over Nothing

From The Other McCain we get another post about the mentally unhinged. Crazy People Are Dangerous: Black ‘Sovereign Citizen’ Shoots Memphis Cop

Keep in mind, this was all about a speeding ticket. From the moment I heard about this shooting last week, with the description of Kee’s actions — rolling up the window and refusing to sign the ticket — I suspected he was a “sovereign citizen,” a type of kook I’ve written about before

I don't know what 81 MPH in a 55 MPH zone would be. Is that felony reckless driving, or a couple of hundred bucks and driving school? My guess is that later, given that the officer wasn't trying to arrest the guy at first, just give him a ticket.

Finally, the good news is that Lt. Johnson survived, despite being shot four times. He’s black, the Memphis police chief is also black, and therefore there is no racial “angle” that would draw the interest of the national media to this crime.

Click thru for more on Sovereign Citizens, the guy who shot the cop, and the people who helped him escape from justice, for a while.

Good Guys 2, Bad Guys 0

Did they think they were in New Jersey, and not in Tennessee? Resident shoots at burglars; 1 suspect dead, 1 charged

In this case Raleigh is a neighborhood in north-central Memphis, Tennessee, and not a city in a different state.

A man reportedly shot at two burglars during a Raleigh home invasion Wednesday, killing one. The survivor is being charged.

And since someone was killed during the commission of a felony, the survivor is being charged with "first-degree murder during the perpetration of aggravated burglary, and aggravated robbery." Most people who are not attorneys call that felony murder, and the Left hates it. It is apparently unfair, in the view the Left, for you to be held accountable for the foreseeable consequences of your actions. He set out to commit a home invasion. Someone was killed as the direct consequence of his actions and decisions. Who do you think should be held accountable?

The guy who is charged did get shot, but he survived. He told police that the two men were breaking into apartments, and that in this case they were after Nike shoes.

The homeowner has not been charged because this didn't take place in NYC, it happened in Tennessee.

Another Failure of the Victim-selection Process

I have no idea what the Kroger policy is for being armed on the job, but I wouldn't be surprised if this clerk lost her job. Clerk shoots man at East Memphis Kroger gas station, police say | Fox 13 Memphis

The clerk told police that the 35-year-old man who was shot had been banned from the store due to him being aggressive with her, other store employees and customers, MPD said.

Witnesses told police that the clerk told the man that he wasn't supposed to be in the store and asked him to leave before the shots were fired.

Another witness said that she saw the man throwing stuff at the clerk before the shooting occurred.

The guy who got shot was taken to a local hospital, the clerk was questioned but not charged.

Cops don't make decisions about charges, that is up to the District Attorney. Still, self-defense is a human-right, and Tennessee has not morphed into New Jersey.

Good Guy With a Gun Stops Kidnapping

This story comes from Memphis, Tennessee. Armed Good Samaritan saves woman after two men tried to abduct her as she entered her car | Daily Mail Online

A young Memphis women was grabbed by two men during an apparent kidnapping before an armed Good Samaritan jumped in and rescued the terrified victim.

The attempted adduction took place Friday night around 8pm in the parking lot of an upscale shopping center at the Shops of Saddle Creek located on West Farmington Boulevard in Memphis.

The "upscale shopping center" quote will be important in a minute.

The reason I am quoting from The Daily Mail, is because the Memphis Fox Station didn't mention that the good Samaritan was armed. As Colion Noir stated, they went out of their way to avoid mentioning that. Why would that be?

As for the upscale nature of the venue, neighbors were shocked, because they thought that crime only happened to "other kinds of people" in "other kinds of places." They don't seem to realize that you are not protected by your zip-code. If you can read this, then you live in The Real World™ where crime can, and all too often does, happen.

Colion Noir get's the hat tip, and you should watch his 5 and a half minute video, Caught On Video Good Guy With A Gun Rescues Memphis Woman From Being Kidnapped By 3 Criminals. He goes into the political reasons that the powers-that-be hate the idea of armed self-defense, and why they want you disarmed and scared, and how that feeds their power.

In the meantime, self-defense, and the defense of others, is a human-right.

Two Out of Three Ain't Bad

And concealed carry stopped a minor crime spree. Found shell casing reveals shot fired at Byhalia High School

Officers were called to the shooting just after 3 a.m. on Sunday, June 5, 2022, in the 1200 block of Perkins Terrace. According to the police affidavit, a man told investigators he was walking his dog when he saw a vehicle stop on his street, and three men jump out and run toward a neighbor’s house.

The man told police he asked the men what they were doing, and that’s when one of them fired a shot at him. Police said the man fired back, striking one of the suspects.

The three miscreants were breaking into cars to steal whatever was inside. The car they were in was stolen.

Officers arrived and said they found Ashton Hairston and Chedrick Webber near the scene. According to the affidavit, Hairston told police he and his friend were ‘bobbin’ – slang for breaking into car windows and stealing what’s inside. Police said Webber had been shot in the lower back, and he was taken to Regional One Hospital in critical condition.

Good Guys 2, Bad Guys 0? Well, maybe, if you don't count the one that got away. Self-defense is a human-right.

He Got What He Wanted, and He Still Shot the Victim

"Just give them what they want." That is what the gun-hating Left keep telling us. Too bad it doesn't work. POLICE: Man arrested after 1 killed, 1 injured in Parkway Village shooting

According to court documents, Zona Jefferson was leaving King’s Liquors when a man approached him with a gun and said, " Give me your damn keys and wallet.”

Jefferson told investigators he gave the man his wallet and keys, and the man shot him anyway.

Violent criminals do not stop being violent criminals because of anything you are or are not doing. Cooperation is a strategy for dealing with a violent encounter. It is not a guarantee.

Of course being armed in your own defense is also not a guarantee.

Nothing in this world is absolutely certain but death and next winter’s snow.
   — Marion Zimmer-Bradley. The Saga of the Renunciates (Darkover Saga)

The guy who was killed was armed; he tried to intervene. That also didn't work out too well. Click thru for the details.

The police caught Jonathan Anguiano in the stolen vehicle a short time later, and they have charged him with murder.

He Suffered a Failure of the Victim-selection Process

He thought it would be a good idea to break into an occupied home. Intruder shot after attempted break-in at Hickory Hill home

Investigators say the homeowner spotted 19-year-old Kevin Mitchell hopping the fence in the middle of the afternoon, so she ran into the backyard with her children to confront him.

Police say Mitchell pulled a gun on the family, but the tables quickly turned after the woman’s son pulled his own weapon and opened fire.

He hopped back over the fence and into a car. He ended up at a local hospital.

All of this happened back in March, but he was only arrested last week.

Self-defense is a human-right.

Memphis, Tennessee Hits the 300 Number

300 Murders, that is. Memphis hit 300 homicides in 2020. 'We have to believe something can change.' The 300 number is a record.

The "We have to believe" phrase makes me a bit angry.

Around 9 p.m. Friday, Memphis police responded to a shooting call at the intersection of Kimball Avenue and Prescott Road. One male victim was found dead at the scene.

Of the 300 homicides, 262 are classified as murders, a category which excludes some killings like when a homeowner is justified in killing an intruder.

The difference between 300, and 262 will include negligent and non-negilgent homoicides, as well as justifiable instances of self-defense. It isn't clear to me if that also includes police shootings, though it probably does. (Sometimes non-negligent homicides are included in murders, but since the FBI breaks them out seperately, a lot of PDs do as well.)

The path to the 300th homicide was marked by repeated pleas from officials for increased communication with law enforcement and their tip lines. Millions in federal funding flowed into the city from the Department of Justice for task force initiatives aimed at combating gang-related violence and federal firearms offenses.

They lament the conditions created by the Pandemic, and say "we're just like everyone else" and point to Chicago, and Washington D.C. as examples of other places where things have gone off the rails. If they're just like everyone else, then they are not responsible.

They want all kinds of intervention, and community involvement, though most of that is rarely defined in anything like detailed terms. It comes down to "Have faith in government." You, know, the very organization that has done everything possible over the last 40 or 50 years to create the conditions we have today.

“We fought a war on poverty, and poverty won”
― Ronald Reagan

I don't have the answers to everything that is wrong, but I do know that doing the same thing, and expecting a different outcome is one definition of insanity.