Five Ohio self-defense incidents in a month are five more than gun-controller says happens nationwide, ever

On June 7, 2014, Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, went on CNN's "New Day Saturday" to discuss persons exercising their right to open carry in Texas. Show host Victor Blackwell asked "Where a bad guy with a gun has been stopped in any other way or by a person other than a law enforcement officer with a gun or by killing himself?”

“This has never happened,” replied Watts.

When Guns.com later pressed Watts to back up her assertion that self-defense acts with firearms have "never happened," a Moms Demand Action spokesperson said "What we mean to say is that these events are extremely rare."

Following are five incidents of self-defense with a firearm in Ohio over a span of 28 days.

May 29 - Home invasion suspect arraigned in wheelchair due to gunshot wounds

A male suspect attempting to break into a Kessler Frederick Road was shot three times by the homeowner, according to police.

“He was shot in the hand, and in the leg,” said Miami County Lieutenant Eric Lachey.

The suspect was transported to the hospital for injuries that were not life threatening.

The suspect accessed the home through a pet door, according to deputies.

Lachey said there have been previous home and vehicle breakins in the area.

“We have been looking for a suspect for some time,” he said. “This could be our suspect.”

June 6 - Franklin purse snatching foiled by pistol-packing granny

A woman being called a "pistol-packing granny" helped an 84-year-old woman who was targeted by a robber Monday morning.

...[Mary] Moore said while she was on her way to pick up her grandchildren, she saw the woman chasing a robber along North Main Street in Franklin. A man had snatched her purse outside a business.

...Moore said the man appeared to have a gun in a holster. She has had her concealed carry weapon for four years because she wanted to avoid being victimized while she had breast cancer. It paid off.

"I alerted him that I had my CCW and that I would like him to please drop her purse and to stop, that the police were on their way. He dropped the purse, turned his back to me, held his hands up in the air and said, 'You can't shoot me in the back and I'm going to go ahead and go,'" Moore said.

He then took off.

Moore calls him a coward.

June 13 - Man shot, killed in East Toledo

Police say a man was shot by a property manager in an East Toledo apartment overnight after they believe the man broke into the apartment.

Travis Perkins, 44, whose last known address was the Cherry Street Mission, was found with at least one gunshot wound in the 400 block of East Broadway Street at approximately 1:58 a.m., according to Toledo police.

...A woman who resides at the East Broadway Street apartment called the property manager when she saw someone sleeping on a second floor patio, said Toledo Police spokesman Lt. Joe Heffernan.

Initial reports show Mr. Perkins was a stranger to the woman, said Lieutenant Heffernan.

The building manager, who’s name has not been released, arrived at the residence and a struggle ensued between him and Mr. Perkins, said Lieutenant Heffernan. The building manager then fired a shot and struck Mr. Perkins in the chest, Lieutenant Heffernan said.

June 19 - Woman shot in Conneaut Monday suspected of breaking into home

At 2:41 a.m., police were dispatched to an address in the 200 block of Woodland Avenue for a home invasion incident that also involved a shooting, according to the statement. Information officers obtained in the initial phone call indicated a suspect had been shot with a .22 caliber handgun before fleeing on foot.

Police arriving at the scene heard someone screaming, and discovered a woman on the ground in the 400 block of Dorman Road. ...The woman is considered a suspect in the home invasion, according to Colby's statement.

June 26 - Woman in wheelchair scares off burglars by showing gun

“It was last Monday morning around 10:30,” Melinda Vandal told Fox 8. “I looked at the door and there was a man, right there, right outside looking like he was going for my door.” She said she saw another man cutting the screen on a window of her garage.

Vandal, who is in a wheelchair, said she called police and grabbed her gun.

“I put the gun up to the window of the door and I yelled, 'get off my property,'" Vandal said. She said the suspects dropped a knife and took off.

Chad D. Baus is the Buckeye Firearms Association Secretary, BFA PAC Vice Chairman, and a NRA-certified firearms instructor. He is the editor of BuckeyeFirearms.org, which received the Outdoor Writers of Ohio 2013 Supporting Member Award for Best Website.

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