Possumblog

There is an old saying--

--"never bring a knife to a gunfight." However, if you do happen to have the foresight to bring a gun to a gunfight, it would probably be best to remember to bring a loaded one--Auto parts owner, 74, opens fire on robbers

CAROL ROBINSON
News staff writer
A 74-year-old Birmingham shop owner stared into the barrel of a gun inches from his face Thursday, but said he felt no fear.

Joe Montabana could see there were no cartridges in the cylinder of the snub-nosed revolver. It was brandished by a bad guy and pointed straight at him.

Montabana got angry. And he fought back.

The longtime owner of Joe's Auto Parts near the Kingston community grabbed his own revolver, and moments later unleashed five shots toward the would-be robber.

"When he saw my gun, he went out the door really quick."

The fleeing man jumped into a waiting car occupied by two others. It was unknown whether anyone was injured; police were watching area hospitals to see if any gunshot victims would show up.

Montabana said it began when the man came into his 47th Street North store about 1 p.m. and asked him to duplicate a key. Montabana turned his back on the customer briefly, and when he turned back around the man had pulled the gun.

"He said something like `this is a robbery' or `you know what this is,' and he said `go around to the cash register,"` Montabana said. "I saw all the chambers were empty, so I just walked back behind the counter and got my own gun."

The robber immediately dashed for the front door. Montabana followed him and, once outside, opened fire.

"I just walked right here and started shooting," Montabana said, showing where the getaway car had been parked. "If I didn't hit the car, I don't know how I missed it."

Montabana opened the shop in 1965. The only previous trouble for his business happened 20 years ago, he said, when someone robbed the business, firing shots at his wife, who works there with him.

He seemed relatively unscathed by Thursday's event and said he had no qualms about firing his gun.

"He was robbing me. All I'm upset about is my damn lunch got cold."

Although I am all for self-defense, I am concerned what could have happened had this turned out a bit differently--if the robbers were injured, managed to survive, and found themselves a lawyer.

Although the shop owner might have reasonably believed he had been in danger at first glance of a drawn gun, the owner did state that he saw quickly that the gun in the man's hand was empty, and that he had no fear of him. If he realized the gun was empty, and opened fire anyway, it's possible he could be charged with assault, or worse, if any of the shots made contact.

Second, the robber immediately tried to flee, thus becoming much less of a threat. Rather than stopping at the safety of the doorway of the business, the owner went outside and started firing at him. Again, not a good idea--if either robber or accomplice was injured or killed in the one-sided exchange, the owner could have been facing jail time.

Third, since the owner believed the robber's gun to be unloaded, and fired anyway, if he hit anyone other than the robber, it would be much easier to charge him with negligence in the bystander's injury. It's one thing for someone to be injured incidentally in your effort at self-defense, but when it becomes less obviously self-defense on your part, your liability starts going way up for collateral damage.

Alabama (along with Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota and Washington) is currently debating a law to ease the restriction on a private citizen's "duty to retreat" from a threat caused from someone attempting to illegally enter their home or vehicle; in effect, giving citizens the same right as a police officer to stand his ground, and to use lethal force if threat to life seems imminent. Even if the law is passed, however, it still would not give people the right to chase after and shoot at persons who are no longer threatening them.

For those of you who do own firearms for self-defense, be sure to know the legal risks inherent in making use of them. An excellent online primer on the subject (and self-defense in general) can be found at the FOP Range website run by local law officer John Grigsby.

And don't let your lunch get cold.

Posted by Terry Oglesby at March 17, 2006 11:34 AM