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The Imprecision Of “Stopping Power” The Unkillable Jack Diamond Written By Will Dabbs, MD

Jack “Legs” Diamond was an old-school thug.
He came from the factory broken. Photo: Public Domain

Just what is “stopping power” anyway? One dude strolled nonchalantly into the ER when I was on duty, having taken a 9mm ball round to the pelvis. He was only minimally inconvenienced. Another guy sped away from a drug deal gone bad with the unlicensed pharmacist throwing 9mm rounds his way with vigorous dispatch.

Then he got home and noticed blood. A 115-grain FMJ round had punched through the trunk, back seat and then front seat before embedding in his back fat. This gentleman legitimately did not know he was shot. And then there was the sweet little old lady who caught a .25 ACP round to the neck during a robbery and will spend the rest of her days in a motorized wheelchair. How well bullets perform in the real world is bizarrely unpredictable. And then there was this guy.

The 1921 Colt Thompson got all the press. However, then,
as now, it was the humble handgun that spilled the most blood.

Origin Story

Nobody is really sure what Jack “Legs” Diamond’s real name was. He went by John Thomas Diamond, as well as John Nolan, John Moran and Gentleman Jack. He was born in the summer of 1897 to Sara and John Moran. It was obvious from the outset this little kid just wasn’t right.

Part of that was likely his sordid environment. Jack’s mom, Sara, was frail by nature and died of an illness when Jack was 16. Jack joined a Manhattan criminal gang called the Hudson Dusters soon thereafter. He was first arrested for burglary a year after his mom’s death.

Diamond enlisted in the Army intending to fight in Europe during World War I but lost his enthusiasm in short order. He deserted, was caught and served several years in Leavenworth.

Prison is grad school for criminals. When Diamond was finally released, he was free to pursue his true calling. In 1921, he entered the employ of a professional criminal named Arnold Rothstein. Diamond’s job description included bodyguard and general thuggery.

Jack Diamond’s nickname “Legs” spawned from one of two possible sources. He was purported to be a fairly competent dancer. He also established a well-earned reputation for being able to expeditiously get out of trouble. Somewhere along the way, his associates began calling him “Legs,” and the moniker stuck.

Being a mob enforcer doesn’t have the greatest retirement plan. Additionally, Jack Diamond was a hyperactive lad and a serial womanizer. Despite being married, he carried on a protracted illicit relationship with a prominent New York showgirl named Marion “Kiki” Roberts.

These suboptimal personal habits and the curiously violent nature of his profession synergistically combined to keep Jack Diamond’s physicians gainfully employed. By 1931, Diamond was known as the “Clay Pigeon of the Underworld.”

Normal people don’t have a nemesis. Jack Diamond, however, was not a normal person. His criminal counterpart was the infamous mobster Dutch Schultz. When describing Diamond, Schultz once remarked to his merry mob of misfits, “Ain’t there nobody that can shoot this guy so he don’t bounce back?”

Gangsters used a variety of handguns during the liquor wars of the 1920s. From left to right, we have the Colt Model 1903 .38 revolver, the .45 ACP Colt M1911 pistol, the 9mm P08 Parabellum
and the .32 ACP Colt Model 1903.

A Curiously Hazardous Profession

Prohibition ran from 1920 until 1933. The stock market crash that accompanied the Great Depression kicked off in 1929. The toxic combination of these two events meant there was a great deal of money to be made for those willing to ignore the law.

Diamond saw this as an opportunity and traveled to Europe in search of alcohol and drugs. He returned with barrels of liquor that he had dumped into New York Harbor. Partially filled, these barrels floated low in the water. By studying the tides, Diamond could predict where they might make landfall. He paid local children a nickel apiece to retrieve these containers.

Diamond was the partial owner of the Hotsy Totsy Club on Broadway. With a name like Hotsy Totsy Club, they weren’t hosting Sunday School brunches or teaching underprivileged blind kids to read.

Diamond used his club as a home base for all manner of illicit activities. In July of 1929, Diamond and an associate named Charles Entratta broke up a fight in the club by shooting three of the participants.

Two of the inebriated thugs, Simon Walker and William Cassidy, died as a result. William’s brother, Peter, was badly wounded. In response, the three men’s criminal associates kidnapped the Hotsy Totsy’s bartender, three members of the waitstaff and the cute hatcheck girl. One of the five was later found murdered in neighboring New Jersey. The other four were never heard from again.

There followed arrests for kidnapping, assault and sundry other crimes. Diamond attempted to flee to Europe but was unwelcome in the UK, Belgium and France. Eventually, German police deported him back to Philadelphia.

The first time Jack Diamond was shot, it was with a 12-bore shotgun. This vintage Remington Model 11 is typical of the genre.

A Notoriously Hard Man to Kill

Jack Diamond was the target of at least five assassination attempts. The first occurred in 1924 while he was attempting to hijack a truck full of liquor belonging to a rival criminal gang. Diamond caught a charge of 12-gauge shot to the face and head but recovered.

Three years later, Diamond was pulling bodyguard duty for a proper villain named Jacob “Little Augie” Orgen. While the two men were walking in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, they were confronted by a trio of assailants.

These three shooters opened fire at close range, killing Orgen outright and hitting Diamond twice in the chest. Both rounds passed beneath the gangster’s heart, and he recovered after a protracted hospital stay. Though he undoubtedly knew the men who shot him and killed his boss, Diamond refused to reveal their identities to police. Jack Diamond was a lot of things, but he wasn’t a snitch.

In October of 1930, Diamond was a guest at the Hotel Monticello on Manhattan’s West Side. Three assassins forced their way into his room and shot him five times. The shooters then fled. Diamond, for his part, stopped long enough to drink two shots of whiskey before staggering into the hallway in his pajamas where he collapsed. After two and a half months in the hospital, Legs Diamond was released to sow yet more chaos.

In 1930, Diamond and a pair of thugs kidnapped and beat a truck driver named Grover Parks, who was carrying a load of hard cider for a rival gang. Even if the victim is a thug himself, it was still against the law to beat people within an inch of their lives. In April of 1931, Diamond was arrested for Parks’ assault. Two days after his arrest, Diamond was released on a $25,000 bond.

Five days after that, Diamond was a guest at the Aratoga Inn, a roadhouse near Cairo, NY. After taking a meal with three associates in the roadhouse restaurant, Diamond stepped outside to get some air. Gunmen masquerading as duck hunters opened fire from a parked car and shot him three times at close range. Bystanders drove the bleeding Diamond to the hospital, where he recovered yet again after a protracted stay. By now, he was likely growing weary of hospital food.

Jack Diamond’s weapon of choice was a 4″ P08 Parabellum pistol equipped with the 32-round snail-drum magazine from an Artillery Luger.

Nobody is Immortal

If you’re counting, by then, Legs Diamond had been shot with 10 handgun rounds and an unknown number of shotgun pellets. The rock-hard mobster seemed unkillable. However, on December 18, 1931, Jack Diamond’s luck ran out.

By now, Diamond was staying at a rooming house in Albany, NY. He took dinner out with friends at a local restaurant before partying the night away with his mistress, Kiki Roberts. Come the dawn, Diamond staggered back to his boarding house and passed out on his bed.

Two attackers entered his room soon thereafter with a key. One man held him in place while the other pumped three rounds into the back of his head. The two gunmen fled, but one had second thoughts, ran back to the room and shot him several more times.

Mrs. Laura Woods, Diamond’s landlady, later testified that she heard one of the shooters say, “Oh, hell, that’s enough. Come on.” His killers were never caught.

There was ample conjecture. Some suspected local mafia hit men. Others postulated that the shooters had been crooked members of the Albany police force. Regardless, Legs Diamond was finally well and truly dead.

Legs Diamond was buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Maspeth, Queens, NY. Though there was no formal service, there were around 200 people who attended just to gawk.

Two years later, the body of Legs Diamond’s widow, Alice Kenny Diamond, was discovered shot to death in her apartment. Mob watchers suspected she was murdered to keep her from telling what she knew about her husband’s nefarious dealings.

This is the SS Belgenland. In 1930, Jack Diamond took this ship to Europe in search of illicit booze and drugs during Prohibition. Photo: Public Domain

The 9mm P08 Parabellum and the Colt M1911 .45 were both powerful and concealable gangster weapons used during the Roaring ’20s.

Ruminations

Legs Diamond was a killer. His weapon of choice was a German P-08 Parabellum pistol with a 4″ barrel and a 32-round snail-drum magazine. In the years following the First World War, such martial firearms would have been relatively commonplace, having been brought back from Doughboys serving overseas.

The 9mm round was appealing then for the same reasons it is appealing now. A drum-equipped Luger pistol was sort of concealable and offered unparalleled firepower.

So, what are the tactical lessons to be learned from the sordid life and gory death of Jack Diamond? For starters, handguns can be pretty substandard manstoppers, particularly firing ball ammo.

They will certainly do the job, but shot placement and ammunition selection are critical. In a social exchange of gunfire, most any rifle is more effective than most any pistol. At appropriate ranges, most any shotgun is more effective than most any rifle. It finally took 16 pistol rounds and Lord only knows how many shotgun pellets to put Jack Diamond down.

Jack Diamond shuffled off this mortal coil in 1931 at age 34. By the time he finally expired in a pool of his own blood, Legs had seen and done an awful lot of bad things. However, even nearly a century later, he can still teach us a great deal about the art of armed combat.

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All About Guns Cops

LESSONS FROM A GUNFIGHTING TEXAS RANGER BY MASSAD AYOOB

Situation: Early in your life, you find yourself set against the most dangerous and vicious criminals of your place and time.

Lesson: You will be proud of stopping murderous violence. You will regret not being present when you might have been able to do so. And you’ll find ways to do things differently and, sometimes, better.

The year 2023 is the 200th anniversary year of the Texas Rangers. James Gillett (1856-1937) wrote his autobiographical Six Years With the Texas Rangers in 1921. He is one of the few gunfighters of the Old West who left an account of his adventures in his own words. Remembered by firearms historians as the proponent of an unusual method for carrying a six-gun, his legacy includes more lessons than that.

Early Start With Firearms

Gillett wrote that at the age of 12, he bought an Enfield percussion musket for $3.50. “It was almost as long as a fence rail, and at my age, I could not begin to hold it out and shoot it off-hand, so I had to use a rest … I could cock my gun with both hands, but if I failed to get a shot, I was not strong enough to let the hammer down without letting it get away, so I had to carry it cocked.

To keep from losing the (percussion) cap, I would take it off the tube and put it in my pocket until I had a chance for another shot,” he wrote. Gillett added that a year later, “I bought a double-barrel shotgun for $12. With it, I killed quail, ducks, and other small game, all of which I sold on the streets of Austin. By the fall of 1870, I was 14 years old and could handle a gun rather well for one of my age.”

Gillett became a working cowboy at about age 16, and it wasn’t long after that he joined the Texas Rangers. It was 1875, and he would have been about 19. He was not the only teen to join that storied band. The youngest Texas Ranger killed in the line of duty, as historian Tom Clavin reports in his book Follow Me To Hell: McNelly’s Texas Rangers and the Rise of Frontier Justice, was L.B. “Sonny” Smith, shot and killed at age 17 by rustlers in a pitched gun battle in June of 1875. Other Rangers avenged the death, shooting the young man’s killers “to doll rags” in the parlance of the time.

First Blood

One element of a Texas Ranger’s job description in that time and place was “Indian Fighter.” It was a couple of months after young Smith’s death that Jim Gillett got into his first shootout, a battle between a company of Rangers and a group of well-armed Indians. Wrote Gillett, “The captain with a smile turned to us and said, ‘Boys, they are going to fight us. See how beautifully the old chief forms his line of battle.’ From a little boy, I had longed to be a Ranger and fight the Indians. At last, I was up against the real thing, and with not so much as an umbrella behind which to hide, I was nervous. I was awfully nervous.”

Gillett continued, “In a minute, we had killed two horses and one Indian was seen to be badly wounded.” The situation devolved into the Rangers pursuing their foe, both on horseback. Gillett related, “The redskin riding behind would point his gun back and fire at me, holding it in one hand. I retaliated by firing at him every time I could get a cartridge in my old Sharps carbine. I looked back and saw Ed Seiker coming to my aid as fast as (his horse) would run. He waved encouragement to me. Finally, the old brave ceased shooting, and as I drew a little closer, he held out his gun at arm’s length and let it drop, probably thinking I would stop to get it. I gave it but a passing glance as I galloped by …

I drew up within 20 steps of the brave, jumped from my mount, and made a sort of random shot at the horse, Indian and all. The big .50 caliber bullet struck the Indian pony just where its head coupled on its neck, passed through the head, and came out over the left eye. It killed the horse at once, which fell forward 20 feet.”

Then, wrote Gillette, “By this time Ed Seiker had arrived and was dismounting. The fugitive warrior now peeped from behind a tree, and I got a fine shot at his face but overshot him 6″, cutting off a limb just over his head. He broke to run again, and as he came into view, Ed placed a bullet between his shoulders. He was dead in a minute … Seiker scalped him. We took his bow, shield, and a fine pair of moccasins.”

Early Start With Firearms

 

Gillett wrote that at the age of 12, he bought an Enfield percussion musket for $3.50. “It was almost as long as a fence rail, and at my age, I could not begin to hold it out and shoot it off-hand, so I had to use a rest … I could cock my gun with both hands, but if I failed to get a shot, I was not strong enough to let the hammer down without letting it get away, so I had to carry it cocked. To keep from losing the (percussion) cap, I would take it off the tube and put it in my pocket until I had a chance for another shot,” he wrote. Gillett added that a year later, “I bought a double-barrel shotgun for $12. With it, I killed quail, ducks, and other small game, all of which I sold on the streets of Austin. By the fall of 1870, I was 14 years old and could handle a gun rather well for one of my age.”

Gillett became a working cowboy at about age 16, and it wasn’t long after that he joined the Texas Rangers. It was 1875, and he would have been about 19. He was not the only teen to join that storied band. The youngest Texas Ranger killed in the line of duty, as historian Tom Clavin reports in his book Follow Me To Hell: McNelly’s Texas Rangers and the Rise of Frontier Justice, was L.B. “Sonny” Smith, shot and killed at age 17 by rustlers in a pitched gun battle in June of 1875. Other Rangers avenged the death, shooting the young man’s killers “to doll rags” in the parlance of the time.

First Blood

One element of a Texas Ranger’s job description in that time and place was “Indian Fighter.” It was a couple of months after young Smith’s death that Jim Gillett got into his first shootout, a battle between a company of Rangers and a group of well-armed Indians. Wrote Gillett, “The captain with a smile turned to us and said, ‘Boys, they are going to fight us. See how beautifully the old chief forms his line of battle.’ From a little boy, I had longed to be a Ranger and fight the Indians. At last, I was up against the real thing, and with not so much as an umbrella behind which to hide, I was nervous. I was awfully nervous.”

Gillett continued, “In a minute, we had killed two horses and one Indian was seen to be badly wounded.” The situation devolved into the Rangers pursuing their foe, both on horseback. Gillett related, “The redskin riding behind would point his gun back and fire at me, holding it in one hand. I retaliated by firing at him every time I could get a cartridge in my old Sharps carbine. I looked back and saw Ed Seiker coming to my aid as fast as (his horse) would run. He waved encouragement to me. Finally, the old brave ceased shooting, and as I drew a little closer, he held out his gun at arm’s length and let it drop, probably thinking I would stop to get it. I gave it but a passing glance as I galloped by …

I drew up within 20 steps of the brave, jumped from my mount, and made a sort of random shot at the horse, Indian and all. The big .50 caliber bullet struck the Indian pony just where its head coupled on its neck, passed through the head, and came out over the left eye. It killed the horse at once, which fell forward 20 feet.”

Then, wrote Gillette, “By this time Ed Seiker had arrived and was dismounting. The fugitive warrior now peeped from behind a tree, and I got a fine shot at his face but overshot him 6″, cutting off a limb just over his head. He broke to run again, and as he came into view, Ed placed a bullet between his shoulders. He was dead in a minute … Seiker scalped him. We took his bow, shield, and a fine pair of moccasins.”

Fleeing Felon

 

In December of 1877, the Rangers were after a murder suspect named Dick Dublin. When they caught up with him, Gillett wrote, “We were so close upon Dublin that he had no time to mount his horse or get his gun, so he made a run for the brush. I was within 25 yards of him when he came from behind the wagon, running as fast as a big man could. I ordered him to halt and surrender, but he had heard that call too many times and kept going. Holding my Winchester carbine in my right hand, I fired a shot directly at him as I ran. In a moment, he was out of sight.”

Gillett continued, “I hurried to the place where he was last seen and spied him running up a little ravine. I stopped, drew a bead on him, and again ordered him to halt. As he ran, Dublin threw his hand back under his coat as though he were attempting to draw a pistol. I fired. My bullet struck the fugitive in the small of the back just over the right hip bone and passed out near his left collar bone. It killed him instantly. He was bending over as he ran, and this caused the unusual course of my ball …We found him unarmed, but he had a belt of cartridges around his waist.”

Near Misses

There were times when Gillett was on the scene of famous gun battles but wasn’t the man who pulled the trigger on the outlaw in question. Gillett was among the party that took down infamous outlaw Sam Bass. He wrote, however, “Bass’ death wound was given him by Dick Ware, who used a .45 caliber Colt’s long-barreled six-shooter.

The ball from Ware’s pistol struck Bass’ belt, cutting two cartridges in pieces and entering his back just above the right hip bone. The bullet mushroomed badly and made a fearful wound that tore the victim’s right kidney all to pieces. From the moment he was shot until his death three days later, Bass suffered untold agonies.”

Gillett was among the many who pursued the great Apache war chief Victorio, and reading between the lines of the Ranger’s autobiography, it’s clear he wanted to be in on the kill of an enemy he considered responsible for the murder of many innocent settlers. Many whites in the West bitterly believed “the only good Indian was a dead Indian,” and Gillett’s chapter on the Apache chief was, in fact, titled “Victorio Becomes a Good Indian.” The chief had been killed in a battle with Mexican forces. Gillett bore a grudging respect for Victorio and declared him a brilliant strategist. Such was the hatred — and occasional atrocity — that manifested on both sides of the Indian Wars on the 19th Century American frontier.

Kidnap Or … ?

At the end of 1881, two Mexican brothers murdered a New Mexico newspaper publisher in Socorro and fled across the border. The brothers were spotted in El Paso, Texas, where their uncle was a judge. Gillett arrested one brother (and, mistakenly, another innocent man) and angrily refused the judge’s bribe of $1,000 to let his nephew go. A month later, acting on a tip, Gillett and fellow Ranger George Lloyd crossed into Mexico, seized the other killer brother, and brought him back across the border. The suspect was snatched from Gillett by a lynch mob and promptly strung up.

“Expedited extradition” or kidnap? Gillett answered that question himself. He wrote, “… I thought I might as well ’fess up.’ I told (Texas Ranger Captain Baylor) I had arrested Baca at Saragosa and kidnapped him out of Mexico. Captain Baylor’s eyes at once bulged to twice their natural size.”

Though Gillett was not criminally charged for his action, it brought his six-year career with the Texas Rangers to an end.

In Old El Paso

Gillett wrote, “Immediately on leaving the Rangers, I had accepted a position as a captain of guards on the Santa Fe Railroad under my friend, Captain Thatcher. I did not remain long in the railroad’s employ, however, resigning after a few months to become assistant city marshal under Mr. (Dallas) Stoudenmire (in El Paso).

On his resignation as marshal, I was appointed to succeed him.” Stoudenmire was unfortunately on an alcoholic downward spiral and soon got into a brawl with an ex-deputy named Page at the Acme Saloon. The local newspaper reported, “Stoudenmire drew his pistol and fired at Page; the latter, however, knocked the weapon upward, and the ball went into the ceiling. Page then wrenched the pistol from Stoudenmire and the latter drew a second pistol and the two combatants were about to perforate each other when Marshal Gillett appeared on the premises with a double-barrel shotgun and corralled both of them.” Stoudenmire would later die in another booze-fueled saloon shoot-out.

In the spring of 1885, Jim Gillett resigned from El Paso to go into ranching. He died peacefully at age 80 in 1937 at his ranch in Marfa, Texas.

When Jim Met John

We old gun guys consider the book Triggernometry: A Gallery of Gunfighters by Eugene Cunningham (1896–1957) to be a classic “must read” in the field. Younger gun guys and gals should consider it likewise. It was first published in 1941. Its author knew some of the last surviving Old West gunfighters. He dedicated the book to a pair of straight-shooting Texas Rangers who had personally mentored him. One was the legendary John Hughes. The other was … Jim Gillett.

Cunningham wrote, “During (John Wesley Hardin’s) transfer from one jail to another in the custody of Ranger Lieutenant N.O. Reynolds, the Ranger guards were very curious, as men of arms, to see what this wizard of the sixes could do. With Lieutenant Reynolds’ grudging consent, they handed Hardin empty pistols and told him to show his stunts. Jim Gillett says nothing he had ever dreamed of compared with Hardin’s speed and skill. The quick draw, the spin, the rolls, pinwheeling, border shift — he did them all with magical precision.”

Though he was known to carry guns in many holsters or even stuffed inside his shirt, Hardin was famous for having designed and often worn a leather vest with holsters built in, butt forward, riding in a similar fashion to shoulder holsters. Gillett was clearly aware of this.

Added Cunningham, “When James B. Gillett succeeded Dallas Stoudenmire as chief of police of old El Paso … (his admirers) presented him with a beautiful pair of white-handled double-action six-shooters, holstered in a John Wesley Hardin vest. Captain Gillett relates with much enthusiasm his pride in the outfit. He went back to his office and exhibited the vest and pistols to his deputies. They were impressed by the elegance of the rigout. They asked for a demonstration of Wes Hardin’s cross-arm draw. Gillett says he lifted his hands to shoulder level, then snapped them down, crossing each other to the butts of the new weapons. His hands interfered with each other. The pistols, coming out, clashed together. He tried it again and again, with little more success. Deputy Marshal Scotten said gravely, ‘Jim, that’s a tony rig-out … We’ll bury you, later in the week, in that vest.’ ‘And I was having the same idea,’ Captain Gillett told me.”

Which leads us to …

Gillett’s Quick Draw Rig

Cunningham quotes Gillett as having told him, “I had always worn a pistol in a belt holster, and I was used to drawing fast from that position. This was no time for me to be changing my style of drawing! I got out of that vest, and later it was raffled off. A little later, I put on a belt which carried two Colts without holsters. I like that belt better than anything I’ve ever used on the ground.”

Per Cunningham’s description, “On the belt is riveted a plate slotted to receive the hand-made pin-headed screw which replaces the regular hammer-screw of the single-action Colt. To carry the pistol, the pin is entered in the slot, and the pistol pushed back until the pin drops into the slight depression at the rear end of the slot. It hangs there, swinging easily.”

Cunningham continues, “‘I used to have to watch the gambling games,’ Captain Gillett says. ‘So I’d sit on the edge of a table or on the bar in a saloon. I could swing the gun muzzles up or down, and they were out of the way and, at the same time, ready for instant use. I could shoot the pistols — though I never had to — without drawing them, just as one shoots out of an open-toed swivel holster.’”

Gillett was an innovative soul to the end of his days. The Texas History Blog notes, “(Gillett) had an active mind, and in 1936, he was issued a patent for a safe bathtub. It came equipped with a stout rope to be attached to the ceiling. If a user started to slip, he could grab the rope, steady himself and ‘utter a prayer of thanksgiving to Mr. Gillett’s patent,’ a newspaper account stated.”

Lessons

Regarding Gillett’s killing of Dick Dublin, we have to remember in that time and place, gunfire was considered an acceptable method to stop the flight of felony suspects. Dublin was wanted for the murder of two men and, until that day, had proven exceptionally elusive.

Remember, too, Gillett’s account of Dublin reaching as if for a concealed handgun when the Ranger shot him. This is known in our time as a “furtive movement shooting.” This movement is reasonably consistent with reaching for a gun and not reasonably consistent with anything else when considering the totality of the circumstances. The rule has always been, “You don’t have to be right; you have to be reasonable.” Sadly, today there are prosecutors who charge “good guys” who shoot “bad guys” under these circumstances, notwithstanding having graduated from three years of law school and passing a bar exam. Perhaps such things were better understood in the 19th Century.

Today, the anti-gun movement wants to ban young adults aged 18 to 20 from purchasing even rifles or shotguns. They advance the theory the human brain is not fully formed and capable of responsible decision-making until age 25 or so. Gillett’s experience long ago gives the lie to this. He became a Texas Ranger in his late teens, was quickly promoted to sergeant, and was appointed the chief law enforcement officer of the city of El Paso at the age of 25. His skill at arms learned very early stood him in good stead when he had to fight for his life and to protect the innocent.

The racial hatred of the Indian Wars, and the atrocities known to be perpetrated by both sides, is apparent in Gillett’s book. Dehumanizing the opponent is a characteristic of war. Gillett’s attitude is a classic example.

Even in the 1880s, Gillett was miraculously lucky to escape charges for the kidnapping in Mexico. Sometimes justice and law are two different things. Gillett was lucky this breach of the latter cost him only his career with the Texas Rangers.

Oh, and the gun stud on the belt slot? That didn’t catch on. One can picture the revolver flopping constantly, and not being where the hand reached for it if the draw was preceded by dynamic movement. A photo of Gillett during his Ranger years shows him wearing his 7.5″-barrel Colt single action .45 in a relatively high-riding leather scabbard on his right hip. Shooting from the hip, one rationale for Gillett’s belt contraption has never been a sure thing. We note that when he shot the murder suspect Dublin, Gillett himself said he “drew a bead” first.

Bibliography: Six Years With The Texas Rangers: 1975 to 1881 by James B. Gillett, ©1921, published 1925 by Yale University Press; Triggernometry: A Gallery of Gunfighters by Eugene Cunningham, University of Oklahoma Press, 1941; Follow Me to Hell: McNelly’s Texas Rangers and the Rise of Frontier Justice by Tom Clavin, St. Martin’s Press, 2023; The Texas History Blog, “James Buchanan Gillett, Texas Ranger” https://texoso66.com/2016/09/15/james-buchanan-gillett-texas-ranger/

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All About Guns Cops

Dr Dabbs – The Winchester Lever-Action Anti-Aircraft Gun BY Will Dabbs

It is supposed to be tough to hit an aircraft in flight with a gun. Apparently some idiot in North Carolina did it with a deer rifle without even trying hard.

Never, ever underestimate the capacity of young men for stupidity. Testosterone is the most potent poison known to man. Even in small doses, this horrible stuff can indeed be lethal.

The Boeing 737 is an undeniably big target, but it was moving really fast.

What Happened

At 5:25 PM on 31 December 1986, 30-year-old Barry Rollins of Brooklyn, New York, was sitting in coach aboard United Airlines Flight 1502 out of Wilmington, North Carolina. The Boeing 737 was traveling light carrying only sixteen passengers and five crewmembers. As the plane was on short final into Raleigh-Durham Airport, Mr. Rollins watched eagerly out the window. His plan was to catch a separate flight into New York City and make it to Times Square in time to see the ball drop for the New Year.

The plane was two miles south of the airport and roughly twenty seconds from touchdown. With the aircraft about 300 feet off the ground, a .30-caliber bullet pierced the bottom of the fuselage, passed through Rollins’ right thigh, and then lodged in the left side of his face. Rollins felt as though he had been struck with a baseball bat. Fragments of the round ended up behind his left ear.

The pilot landed the aircraft without incident. He had been unaware anything was amiss. Mr. Rollins was rushed to the local hospital where he underwent surgery and spent several days recovering. United Airlines covered all of his medical costs and flew his three brothers and two sisters in from New York to be at his bedside.

Poor Misled People

As you might imagine, the world pretty much came unglued over that. Wake County Commissioner Merrie R. Hedrick was quoted as having said, “It is just another in a long list of cases that point out to me that we need to do something about the county gun ordinances. It would certainly seem to me that if people were shooting that close by, it was just a question of when something would happen.”

Bless their hearts, most gun control advocates really don’t have a great grasp of the way the real world works. There are more than 400 million guns in circulation in America. Gun control might have worked 350 million guns ago, but that ship has sailed.

A point of personal privilege–Let that sink in for a second. Wake County Commissioner Merrie R. Hedrick actually thought that the way to keep people from shooting at passing airliners was to pass more gun control laws. Wow. That must be a fascinating place to live. In my world, the sort of idiot who might take a potshot at a passing airliner is unlikely to be dissuaded by yet more anti-gun legislation.

G. Eric Shuford, the president of the Sir Walter Raleigh Gun Club, had this to say in response, “Whoever perpetrated such an act should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Don’t restrict all the responsible hunters and responsible firearm owners because of one stupid act by one person.” That seems pretty logical to me.

The 1980’s were fairly tame, relatively speaking. When this event happened Osama bin Laden was 29 years old and not yet a raving homicidal maniac. Back then the androgynous singer Boy George could still actually shock people. It was, in short, a very different time. Special Agent Richards of the local FBI office said, “We’ve got so many wackos in the world, you never know. It would be a tragic thing. I just hope it doesn’t give any loonies out there an idea.”

The Idiot Who Shot A Plane

This is most definitely not Robert Proulx, the rocket surgeon who got bored while out hunting and tried to shoot down an airliner. This is, by contrast, some nice guy in Mississippi who killed a really epic whitetail buck. However, both episodes began with somebody wandering around in the woods chasing deer.

Robert Raymond Proulx was a 23-year-old unemployed construction worker who was out hunting at the time the airplane flew over. It’s tough to get your head around what possessed him to take a potshot at a passing airliner, but one of his buddies apparently anonymously ratted him out later. Proulx was arrested within a week of the incident.

When you shoot an innocent guy in a passing airliner it is tough to put a positive spin on that. Proulx knew he was doomed. Once the details of the case became apparent he pled guilty to the charge of damaging an aircraft. This got him out of the worse charge of using a firearm to damage an aircraft. I’m not a lawyer. I have no idea how the American legal system actually works.

Regardless, Proulx still faced a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a quarter-million-dollar fine. For his part, Proulx claimed via his attorney that the weapon had discharged accidentally. He actually said, “I was checking my rifle when it fired. I didn’t mean to hurt anyone.” Really? I was born at night, but not last night. That seems pretty thin to me. Apparently, the judge in the case was not swayed by this explanation, either.

As I see it, Robert Proulx made two big mistakes. The first was being stupid enough to try to shoot down an airliner with a deer rifle. The second is trying it while he had buddies around to rat him out.

What cinched the deal was Proulx’s rat buddy. He later testified that Proulx had actually been trying to hit the pilot. The man’s statement was, “He had committed the above-described act and that he had been aiming for the pilot.” It would have been far better had Proulx been drunk. As it was, he was just without excuse.

All this legal stuff unfolded in February of 1987, some six weeks or so after the event. US District Court Judge Terrence Boyle presided over the sentencing hearing. US Attorney Peter Kellen said, “It was our belief that the defendant in this case was someone whose conduct was wanton and callous. We were not aware of any remorse or concern shown by the defendant for what he had done, and it was our position that an individual of this nature, in order to protect society, needs to be taken off the streets for as long as the law allows.″

In May of that year, Robert Proulx was formally sentenced to twenty years in prison. He was also ordered to pay $33,300 in restitution to the airline to cover the medical bills of the man he shot. Considering the poor guy had multiple surgeries and a substantial inpatient stay, that seems like a bargain. Nowadays in most modern hospitals 33 grand likely wouldn’t cover much more than your ghastly meals and those squeezie things they put on your feet.

I have some reliable information that this sucks. Robert Proulx apparently agreed.

The following year Proulx was growing weary of being in prison and appealed to have his sentence reduced. This appeal was rejected for being outside of some timely filing window. As I said, I don’t begin to understand the American legal system.

The Gun – A Winchester Rifle

News reports filed after the event described Proulx’s gun as a Winchester Model 74 in .30-30. The Winchester 74 was actually a semiautomatic tube-fed sporting rifle chambered in .22 rimfire. It was produced from 1938 until 1955. 406,574 copies were manufactured. I am fairly certain the gun in question would have been a Model 94. The Winchester 94 was the archetypal .30-30 lever-action deer rifle. Media types seem congenitally incapable of getting gun stuff right.

The Winchester 94 reflects what was arguably the apogee of lever-action deer guns.

The Winchester 94 was designed by John Moses Browning in, you guessed it, 1894. Those first guns were chambered in either .32-40 or .32-55 Winchester, both black powder rounds. In 1895 the Model 94 was offered in .30 Winchester Center Fire. This was the first commercially successful rifle chambered for a smokeless cartridge. Over time the .30 WCF became known as the .30-30.

The Model 1894 was produced by Winchester Repeating Arms until 1980 and then offered by US Repeating Arms under the Winchester banner until 2006. Well over seven million copies were produced. Newly-manufactured reproductions remain on the market today.

I realize this is was the most powerful man in the world with control of 5,428 nuclear warheads. However, I’m not sure I’d trust this guy unsupervised with a firearm.

The Model 94 was the first sporting rifle to sell more than 7 million units. The millionth rifle was gifted to President Calvin Coolidge. Serial number 1.5 million went to President Harry S. Truman. The two millionth gun was given to President Dwight Eisenhower. If somebody gave a gun to our current President I’m not convinced that would end well. My, haven’t times changed?

The US government bought 1,800 commercial Model 94 rifles along with 50,000 rounds of .30-30 ammunition for use by ground troops during WW1. These rifles were marked with a “US” and the flaming bomb of the Ordnance Department. I rather suspect these GI-issue lever guns would be fairly spendy in collector’s circles today.

The British Royal Navy bought another 5,000 of the rifles for use in shipboard security and mine-clearing operations. The French purchased 15,100 Model 94s, but their guns sported left-sided sling mounts and adjustable rear sights marked in meters.

The Winchester Model 94 figured prominently in the John Wayne epic True Grit.

The Model 94 was offered with either a 20, 24, or 26-inch barrel. Magazine capacities for each of these configurations was 7, 8, and 9 rounds respectively. The 20-inch gun was the most popular. This version weighed 6.8 pounds and was 38 inches long overall.

Ruminations

I don’t know where you stand on the subject of prison as either punishment or rehabilitation. I’m typically a pretty forgiving guy. Jesus forgave me of a great deal, and I try to return the favor whenever possible. However, some people are just too dangerous to be allowed to wander about unsupervised.

A 20-year prison sentence for a 23-year-old is an undeniable life-wrecker. There’s no getting around that. However, shooting at a passing airliner is pretty extra special stupid as well. The fact that he connected is fairly impressive, I guess, but that still doesn’t seem like a terribly marketable skill, particularly in 1986.

It typically takes some rarefied skill and dedicated equipment to hit an aircraft in flight with a firearm. Robert Proulx made it look easy.

With the gear down and the flaps set at thirty degrees, a Boeing 737 sports a final approach speed of 140 knots indicated. That’s about 162 miles per hour. Considering our hero fired at a slant range of about 300 feet and was apparently aiming for the cockpit he apparently just didn’t lead the plane far enough. The end result had he been a slightly better wing shooter would have been cataclysmic.

I never found out what happened to Robert Proulx. He should obviously be out of prison by now. He’d be about sixty today. Apparently, the man he shot, Barry Rollins, fully recovered. It was announced that he planned to seek civil damages, but an unemployed carpenter remanded to prison for two decades is likely not a terribly lucrative mark for a plaintiff’s attorney.

Perhaps he sued the airline, but for what exactly? It hardly seems like negligence that you witlessly flew over a homicidal moron on the final approach into Raleigh-Durham. That just seems more like random testosterone poisoning to me.

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Cops

Look Before You Thieve And Other 10-Ring Tales By Commander Gilmore

Evilio waltzed into a stop-and-rob convenience store without a second glance at cars parked outside, never checked the clothing of customers inside, and stuck a gun in the clerk’s face.

Had he looked, he might have noticed Wilbur Fernander standing by a cooler, wearing a black T-shirt with bold yellow letters reading Hollywood Police. He might also have noticed the gun on his hip, maybe the badge on his belt. But he got a chance to see them later.

Fernander, assigned to a street crimes unit, was conducting a routine business check while his partner waited in their unit outside. He only hesitated a second, surprised at Evilio The Oblivious pulling a heist with an officer in attendance, then alerted his partner by radio, stepped up behind Palau, and played a brief version of my-gun’s-bigger-than-your-gun.

“When he finally looked at me, his eyes got really big,” Fernander later told reporters. Yeah, we bet. And that sucking sound you heard, that was, well, never mind.

Palau, already wanted for parole violation, took the semi-smart option and dropped his .357 Magnum revolver on the counter. He was charged with armed robbery, possession of a firearm by a violent career criminal, and not-looking-around-real-good-before-pulling-a-stickup.

He might go into stand-up comedy. His story got a lot of laughs from other inmates at Broward County Jail.

Pause That Refreshes

 

It wasn’t his pistol that foiled Thomas Springer’s crime, but what done him in did begin — or you could say it ended — with a “P.” The former congressional press secretary had successfully held up the Crestar Bank in Vienna, Va., and was making good on his escape from the scene when he paused in mid-hotfoot to attend a call of nature.

About to jump into his getaway wheels, Tom stopped to take a public leak a short distance from the bank, and when he unzipped, a local dowager flipped.

When the masked robber revealed The Masked Avenger, the outraged citizen copied down the license number of the degenerate’s car and called the police. After a brief — very brief — series of remarks along the lines of, “Hey, this dude fits the description of …” the police had their suspect in hand.

Not the way he had just had himself in hand, see, but … you know what we mean.

Computer News

The Silver Bullet Award, given anonymously on the Internet, recently went to a poacher who took a shot at a buck standing on an overhanging ledge just above him. The deer was killed and — you guessed it — fell on the poacher, killing him.

Now we can say there are three types of justice left in America: Street, Poetic, and Occasionally-In-The-Woods.

And in other computer news, let’s hear it for Sebastian Strzalkowski, a 14-year-old lad living in Antigua, Guatemala, who helped the FBI land a most-wanted crook after the crook helped Sebastian identify him.

“Mr. Young,” Sebastian’s friendly neighbor, helped wire up the kid’s computer for Internet access. Sebastian then fired up the FBI’s homepage and found a photo of, yup, good ol’ Mr. Young, a most-wanted dude fleeing from a series of bank robberies in the U.S.

Leslie Isben Rogge, aka Mr. Young, had been languishing on the list for six years, but he became the FBI’s first Internet hit with an assist from Sebastian — and himself.

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COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cops

Elementary, Mr. Watson … Written By Will Dabbs, MD

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a classic Renaissance Man. He seemed to do most everything well.
Public domain.

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was born in 1859 in Edinburgh, Scotland. His father was an alcoholic with a history of psychiatric illness. Young Arthur’s family was subsequently all but destitute.

Despite his squalid upbringing, Arthur was a quick study. Supported by wealthy uncles, the boy was sent to boarding school, where he availed himself of a classical education. He eventually attended a Jesuit school in Austria before returning to Scotland to study at the University of Edinburgh Medical School. Along the way, he made time to master botany and begin writing short stories.

The young doctor was a gifted athlete. He was an amateur boxer, a compulsive cricketer, and a goalkeeper for the Portsmouth Association Football Club.

An avid marksman, he founded the Undershaw Rifle Club at his home, replete with a 100-yard known distance firing range. Doyle was also recognized for his skill at skiing, golf, and billiards. In 1901, Arthur Doyle served as one of three official judges for the world’s first male bodybuilding competition.

Doyle was a prolific scribe, ultimately producing more than 30 book-length pieces and at least 150 short stories. Sprinkled across all of that were hundreds of essays and magazine articles. What Arthur Conan Doyle is truly remembered for, however, is creating Sherlock Holmes.

Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes series captivated readers around the world. Public domain.

Doyle’s Super Sleuth

 

Sherlock Holmes’ capacity for observation and deduction was like a superpower. His first work was A Study in Scarlet. Doyle penned this piece over the span of three weeks when he was 27 years old and then, predictably, struggled to find a publisher. Ward Lock and Co eventually printed the piece in 1886. Doyle earned £25 for his efforts. That would be about $4,700 today.

Doyle patterned his gifted detective upon one of his university professors named Joseph Bell. In a 1892 letter to Bell, he wrote, “It is most certainly to you that I owe Sherlock Holmes … round the centre of deduction and inference and observation which I have heard you inculcate I have tried to build up a man.”

Once the reading public got a taste of Sherlock Holmes, they could not be satiated. Doyle grew weary of such pigeonholed writing in short order and considered killing the acerbic super sleuth off. In an effort to rid himself of the Holmes burden, the author began demanding exorbitant sums from his publishers. However, they willingly paid whatever he asked to get more Holmes material.

Modern depictions of Doyle’s classic characters are reliably compelling even today.
Promotional still from the TV series Sherlock.

Life Imitates Art

As an aspiring professional writer myself, I can tell you that we all write from life. My early efforts were utterly tripe until I had accumulated enough experience to depict things realistically.

It was only after engineering school, eight years as an Army officer, and a second career as a physician that I finally accumulated a portfolio of experience adequate to inform a decent literary career. In the case of Arthur Doyle, MD, some of Sherlock Holmes’ amazing capacity for deduction bled over into his day job.

Dr. Doyle worked in a hospital in Edinburgh and was once consulted to evaluate a particularly sick child. The youngster was pale and listless. Despite being obviously well-nourished, the boy had little to no strength in his wrists. Doyle pondered the case briefly and directed the patient’s mother to stop painting the child’s crib.

When she inquired what the connection might be between the color of his crib and her child’s sickness, Doyle observed that the woman had flecks of white paint on her hands.

White paint in the 19th century invariably contained large amounts of elemental lead. Little children chew on anything they can fit into their mouths. Dr. Doyle rightly deduced that the kid had been gnawing on his freshly-painted crib and had developed plumbism.

Plumbism is the doctor word for lead poisoning. Back then, lead was found in lots of household stuff. This made lead intoxication a serious concern, particularly for inquisitive children. Chronic lead exposure can lead to belly pain, cognitive defects, and irreversible brain damage. Arthur Conan Doyle’s deductive skills uncovered the source of the kid’s problem so that it might be rectified.

Arthur Conan Doyle’s last words were directed at his wife
when he said, “You are wonderful.”

Ruminations

Doyle personally investigated two real-world closed cases in a relentless pursuit of justice. Both men were eventually exonerated as a result of his efforts. Doyle covered the second man’s legal expenses out of his own pocket.

In 1903, Doyle founded what he called The Crimes Club. This was an exclusive social club limited to 100 members that met four times a year at the Imperial Hotel on Russell Square in London. Their objective was to foment discussion on crime and criminal detection. The club has been perpetuated in its original form to the present day. Their logo is a silhouette of Doyle.

In July of 1930, Doyle suffered a catastrophic heart attack. He left behind five children, none of whom had kids of their own. As a result, Arthur Conan Doyle produced no direct descendants. His last words were directed at his wife when he said, “You are wonderful.” It was a fitting end for a truly exceptional scribe.

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Cops Fieldcraft

What Does the Castle Doctrine Defend? By Peter Suciu

Editor’s Note: This article is not intended as legal advice. Please familiarize yourself with your state and local laws, and contact a qualified attorney with any questions you might have.

There is the old saying that a man’s home is his castle — albeit smaller and certainly with better creature comforts like indoor plumbing, central heat, and likely air conditioning. Castles were defended by a lord’s personal troops, where an individual must defend the home and protect his or her family.

does castle doctrine applies to your car
When danger reaches the driver’s seat, some state laws allow individuals to claim Castle Doctrine protections within their own vehicle. Others do not.

The “Castle Doctrine” governs when a person may lawfully use force, including deadly force, to defend themselves within their home or other protected spaces.

The Castle Doctrine originated in early 17th-century English common law, establishing that an individual has no duty to retreat when attacked in their own home, treating the home as a “castle.”

This concept was famously articulated by Sir Edward Coke in 1604 as “the house of everyone is to him as his castle and fortress.” It legally justifies the use of reasonable, sometimes deadly, force against intruders. It might seem odd that this originated in England, even as it remains a foundation of American self-defense law.

The doctrine was adopted into American law following independence and has been deeply embedded in the American understanding of self-defense, property rights, and individual protection. In the 19th century, U.S. courts, notably in Ohio in 1876, reinforced this by holding that a “true man” is not obliged to flee an assailant, thereby expanding the idea of defending one’s home and honor.

home defense and castle doctrine
The home has long been considered a person’s “castle,” where the right to defend oneself is most strongly protected under the law. Image: Jeremy Tremp

According to criminal defense attorney Emma K. Wittmann of Attorneys For Freedom Law Firm and “Attorneys On Retainer” (AOR), the Castle Doctrine may seem straightforward in principle. Yet, its application varies dramatically across jurisdictions and often raises nuanced questions of reasonableness, necessity, and proportionality.

Castle Doctrine: No Need to Flee the Home

As established, those in their home don’t need to attempt to flee or engage in a “duty to retreat,” as they might while outside the home.

“The Castle Doctrine establishes that individuals have no duty to retreat when defending themselves in their own home, based on the principle that ‘a person’s home is his castle.’ At its core, the Castle Doctrine provides that a person who is lawfully present in their dwelling has no duty to retreat before using reasonable — even deadly — force against an intruder who unlawfully enters or attempts to enter,” explained Wittmann.

firearm at home for self defense
Castle Doctrine laws center on the idea that individuals may use force to defend themselves against intruders in their own homes.

“In contrast, the traditional duty to retreat requires individuals to avoid using deadly force if they can safely retreat and escape the threat. The castle doctrine serves to remove this requirement within one’s ‘castle’ or home,” Wittmann added.

Reasonable Belief in Danger

The most important thing to understand about the Castle Doctrine is that it does not grant a blanket license to use lethal force. It is also not limited just to the home, depending on the state.

The Castle Doctrine is a concept that all 50 states agree on, at least to some extent. However, there are numerous subtle differences in Castle Doctrine laws across the United States, which can dramatically affect whether an individual can be charged with a crime.

man with Springfield Armory pistol and mounted laser in home defense
A private residence represents the core setting for Castle Doctrine protections, where there is typically no duty to retreat. However, familiarize yourself with the laws.

Some states have a Castle Doctrine that only covers your home, whereas other states’ Castle Doctrine protects additional places, such as one’s vehicles.

A key point is that the Castle Doctrine requires that an individual using self-defense must “reasonably believe” that an intruder poses an imminent threat of death, serious bodily injury, or the commission of a forcible felony. To this end, the defender must determine that the deadly physical force was therefore necessary to prevent imminent harm or death to themselves or another person and respond proportionally.

“In any Self-Defense analysis, we are evaluating what a ‘reasonable’ person would have done if they were in your shoes,” said Wittmann.

“Reasonable belief” or “reasonable person” also refers to a hypothetical average person, or someone who uses common sense, exercises ordinary judgment, and reacts proportionally to the situation, Wittmann noted.

She said that, in practice, “reasonable” is determined by the jurors at trial, thereby highlighting the stakes.

“Picture you are at trial and the Jurors, members of your local community, are hearing about your case. They decide if they would have responded the same way you did. The Jurors decide if you acted reasonably under the circumstances,” Wittmann continued. “You still need to show that you did have a real, honest belief that the intruder posed an imminent danger of death or serious physical injury. This is your subjective belief.

carrying XD-S Mod.2 pistol at home for personal protection
When danger enters the home, Castle Doctrine may allow residents to use force to protect themselves and their household.

“But when we talk about what a reasonable person would have done in your situation, we evaluate it from an objective viewpoint. Would other members of your jury, local community, and the public have thought the same way you did about the threat posed?”

Where You Live Matters — A Lot!

When it comes to firearms and self-defense, there is no substitute for knowledge. Gun owners are expected to know and then observe the laws in their state and their local community. That includes knowing how the Castle Doctrine applies.

It is also something that should never be assumed, regardless of whether the home is in California, New York, Texas, or Montana.

keeping a Hellcat pistol for home protection in a lock box David Sullivan
A securely stored Springfield Armory Hellcat pistol reflects the balance between home defense readiness and responsible firearm storage. Image: David Sullivan

“While all 50 states agree on the concept of Castle Doctrine, there are subtle differences among the states,” warned Wittmann. “For example, the rules can differ regarding when a person is allowed to use deadly force, such as whether it is necessary to wait until an intruder has entered the home, or if an attempted entry alone is sufficient to justify it. It is always important to educate yourself on your state laws, so you know how to act within the legal bounds of your state.”

For example, New York’s Castle Doctrine allows residents to use reasonable force, including deadly force, against an intruder without a duty to retreat if they are inside their home. It does not apply to the surrounding property, where a duty to retreat typically exists. As New York is not a “Stand Your Ground” state, outside the home, individuals generally have a duty to retreat if they can do so safely, including the yard, porch, or driveway.

Other states, such as Michigan, do not require residents to flee or retreat, including the use of reasonable force if an intruder is breaking into a dwelling or business, or attempting to remove someone from a house or car unlawfully. The Castle Doctrine also applies to the curtilage, which is the area around the home, including an attached garage.

drawing Echelon in home defense castle doctrine situation
In a home invasion, accessing a Springfield Armory Echelon pistol may be part of asserting one’s right to self-defense under Castle Doctrine.

Yet, the use of reasonable force is still based on the threat.

“Attached garages are generally covered by the Castle Doctrine protections, while typically detached garages or storage sheds would not qualify for the same protection, though this can vary by state,” said Wittmann. “When it comes to a property theft in garage settings, Castle Doctrine protection is generally limited to situations involving threats to personal safety rather than pure property protection.”

Protecting People Not Property

Using deadly force to stop a car theft would likely not be considered a reasonable use of force unless there was also a threat to an individual. For the same reason, deadly force is not considered reasonable if someone is causing property damage.

There are situations where it can become a bit blurrier.

“The Castle Doctrine and crime prevention statutes both involve the justified use of defensive force, but they apply in distinct legal contexts with differing scopes and thresholds,” suggested Wittmann. “The Castle Doctrine does not protect property; it protects people. Generally, individuals are not allowed to use deadly physical force to protect just personal property.”

self defense stand your ground to protect people not property
The core purpose of Castle Doctrine laws is the preservation of human safety, not the protection of possessions. Also, laws differ from state to state regarding self-defense outside the home.

Yet, crime prevention statutes, by contrast, do state that a person is justified in threatening or using physical or deadly force against another if they reasonably believe it is immediately necessary to prevent another from committing a specific criminal offense.

It is also important to note that individuals need to understand when an intruder is no longer a threat.

“The Castle Doctrine requires the individual using self-defense to reasonably believe that the intruder poses an imminent threat of death, serious bodily injury, or the commission of a forcible felony,” said Wittmann. “Imminent means ‘right now.’ The Castle Doctrine does not protect individuals pursuing or retaliating against an intruder if the immediate threat has ended.”

Someone attempting to flee, even with items stolen from the house, isn’t an imminent threat any longer.

“If the homeowner no longer has a reasonable belief that the intruder poses an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury and the person is actively leaving or has left the premises, the homeowner is going to have a much more difficult time arguing that his use of force is justified,” Wittmann continued.

It’s Never a “Get Out of Jail Free Card”

Obviously, the Castle Doctrine should never be viewed as a “get out of jail free card,” and it doesn’t provide blanket immunity for using deadly force in the home. Regardless of the situation, homeowners who used deadly force, even when they viewed it as necessary, should expect an investigation.

XD-M Elite pistol for home defense
A lock box ensures that a Springfield Armory XD-M Elite pistol is both protected from unauthorized access while also available in an emergency.

The law creates a “rebuttable presumption” of fear, meaning it tilts in favor of the homeowner. Yet, prosecutors can argue that the defender was not actually in reasonable fear for their safety. Likewise, the Castle Doctrine generally does not apply if the person entering has a right to be there (e.g., a co-owner), is a law enforcement officer in performance of duties, or if the homeowner is engaged in illegal activity at the time.

“The Castle Doctrine provides powerful legal protection, but it is not absolute,” explained Wittmann. “Castle Doctrine does not provide a blanket authorization for using deadly physical force in every scenario involving a perceived risk. Remember, the Castle Doctrine is a defense and not a preclusion of prosecution. Self-defense is a justification for an act that would otherwise be a crime.”

Some states have crime prevention statutes that say a person is justified in threatening or using physical or deadly force against another if they reasonably believe it is immediately necessary to prevent another from committing a specific criminal offense. That may include preventing arson of an occupied structure or burglary.

“Any time you act in self-defense in this type of scenario, you should expect and prepare to be the subject of a criminal investigation,” said Wittmann. “The result of the investigation hinges on your set of facts, any statements you choose to make to the police, and your state’s laws.”

Conclusion

Thank you to Emma K. Wittmann of Attorneys On Retainer for the insight on understanding the Castle Doctrine for the purposes of this article. The Attorneys On Retainer Program provides self-defense legal coverage, incident-related assistance, and affiliate program features. AOR operates through a direct attorney-client relationship, ensuring personalized legal representation in all 50 states. AOR is backed by The Attorneys For Freedom Law Firm, the only law firm in the nation that exclusively handles self-defense cases.

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Anti Civil Rights ideas & "Friends" Born again Cynic! Cops

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Cops EVIL MF

El Paso Gunfight or The Battle of Keating’s Saloon By Kathy Weiser-Alexander

Street in El Paso, Texas, 1888

The El Paso Gunfight, sometimes referred to as the “Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight” or the “Battle of Keating’s Saloon,” occurred on April 14, 1881. The whole affair began when the Manning Brothers had stolen a herd of about 30 head of cattle in Mexico and drove them into Texas to sell. When Texas Ranger Ed Fitch and two Mexican farmhands named Sanchez and Juarique investigated, the two Mexican men were killed. This led to a Mexican posse of more than 75 men crossing into Texas seeking an investigation.

At the request of the Mexican posse, Gus Krempkau, an El Paso constable, accompanied the posse to the ranch of Johnny Hale, a local ranch owner, and known cattle rustler. There, they found the bodies of the two Mexican farmhands. The El Paso Court soon held an inquest into the deaths of the two men, with Krempkau acting as an interpreter.

Dallas Stoudemire

Afterward, Constable Krempkau went next door to Keating’s Saloon, one of the worst pestholes in El Paso, Texas. A confrontation erupted between Krempkau and ex-City Marshal George Campbell, a friend of John Hale’s. Also in the saloon was Hale himself, who was unarmed, heavily intoxicated, and also upset with Krempkau due to his involvement in the investigation. Suddenly, the drunken Hale pulled one of Campbell’s two pistols, shouting, “George, I’ve got you covered!” Hale then shot Krempkau, who fell wounded against the saloon door. Realizing what he had done, Hale ran behind a post in front of the saloon just as Marshal Dallas Stoudenmire appeared with his pistols raised. Stoudenmire then shot once, but the bullet went wild, hitting an innocent Mexican bystander. When Hale peeked out from behind the post, Stoudenmire fired again, hitting Hale between his eyes and killing him instantly.

In the meantime, when Campbell saw Hale go down, he exited the saloon, waving his gun and yelling, “Gentlemen, this is not my fight!” However, the wounded Krempkau disagreed and though down, fired at Campbell, striking him in the wrist and toe. At the same time, Stoudenmire whirled and fired on Campbell, pumping three bullets into his stomach. As Campbell crashed to the dusty street, he shouted, “You s.o.b., you have murdered me!” When the dust cleared, both George Campbell and Constable Kremkau lay dead.

Saloon Gunfight

In less than five seconds in a near comic opera gun battle, four men lay dead. The killers of the two Mexican farmhands were never caught.

 

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Cops EVIL MF HUH! Paint me surprised by this Stupid Hit Well I thought it was funny!

Anti-Violence Advocate Arrested on Felony Gun Charges