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The dramatic true stories of the
Self-Defense-Banquet Award Recipients

"The Human Right of Self Defense Award"

Presented on the 10th anniversary of Arizona's CCW law

NOTE: The first award presentation was made by attorney Michael Anthony to Patti Noland, the Arizona legislator who pushed through our CCW law in 1994. She is the only recipient who was not directly involved in a Defensive Gun Use (DGU), but helped enable so many others to prudently protect themselves. P.S. After working so long and selflessly to make the banquet happen, and hosting every committee meeting in his conference room, Mike had to leave town for a funeral in Oklahoma, and missed the entire affair. Alan Korwin filled in for him. The organizing committee reviewed scores of cases to arrive at these select few who best exemplified the honorable human right of self defense. Each of the award recipients were met with lengthy and loud standing ovations.

 

The Case of Maryann Watkins
(Presenter: Ed Phillips)


Maryann, a broadcasting industry professional, and currently a school teacher with two sons, prepared for the familiar long desolate ride from Phoenix to Yuma, by packing her Ruger SP101 .38 caliber revolver. She used to carry discreetly in a fanny pack holster, but since a judge had single-handedly outlawed that, she put the firearm on her seat.

Several hours later she stopped at a simple desert rest stop—no amenities, no people around, and one silver 18-wheeler with a red cab and no markings parked in the distance.

She had no conscious premonition, but, “This particular day, I stepped out of the car, and then, for some reason, I cannot tell you what it was, I reached back into the car and took the revolver out of the holster. Always before I’d just put it in the glove box and locked it up, but this time I took it in my right hand, my shooting hand, and held it down at my side, concealed in the folds of my skirt. I know it couldn’t be seen. I was breaking the law, I suppose. Maybe if someone was very close to me they could have seen it, but nobody at a distance would know I had it.”

When she was done, carrying the gun the same way, she stepped out and there he was, waiting for her, ten feet away, the size of an NFL lineman, holding a coiled rodeo rope. “I’m gonna have some reeeeeeal fun now,” he laughed, through a sick grin.

Maryann’s surprise turned to furious anger, and filled her with strength. How dare this man threaten her like that. She raised her arm, took a two-handed grip and a good stance, pointed that handgun right at his chest, and said, “If you want to play, we’ll play with this!”

Stunned, suddenly a big easy target, the attacker dropped his jaw, and the rope, raised his hands and began backing off, muttering over and over, “Bitches with guns. Bitches with guns.”

As she drove away, she stopped at the first phone she found, made a report to DPS, and gave them a description. She never heard back. When she called later, they had no news.

What would she have done if he had advanced? “I would have shot him right smack dab in the middle of the chest! And I would have done that because I value my life. I am convinced that that firearm prevented an assault, a sexual assault, a kidnapping, or a murder. I truly believe I am alive today because of that firearm!” Some people withdraw after an assault, Maryann became vocal about the right of self defense.

In a statement, she said, “I’ve got things to do in this life, things I haven’t finished, and I’m not willingly going to let someone take my life from me. I value it too much. If I don’t value my life, who will? If I don’t defend myself, there is nobody else around to do it. I can’t depend on Officer Friendly to be there. The police can’t always be where you are.”

“The reason my weapon was effective that day was that it was concealed in the folds of my dress. If this guy had seen it as I went into the bathroom, he could have jumped me from behind as I came out, or he could have pulled a weapon out of his vehicle or wherever he had one hidden. One of the only reasons I survived is that he didn’t know I had a gun!”

Maryann fights not just for the right to have a gun, but for the right to carry it concealed, because she knows it’s safer. She says, “I see absolutely no reason to have to beg a police chief or a sheriff for permission to carry. There is only one person who can determine my need to carry a gun concealed for protection, and that is me. Men will say, ‘I drive a Mercedes and that makes me a prime target for people who want to rob and beat me,’ or ‘I’m retired and people know I have a lot of money.’ Well, I don’t drive a Mercedes. I’m a single mom, so I don’t have expensive clothes. I don’t have any valuable jewelry, not one piece. But I have one thing that all of the rest of them don’t have that makes me particularly vulnerable, and that’s the fact that I’m a woman!”

Unfortunately, this woman’s mother fell very ill yesterday, and she is with her tonight in a hospital, in Yuma, but ladies and gentlemen, please join me in recognizing this courageous recipient of the Human Right of Self Defense Award, Ms. Maryann Watkins!!



The Case of Zelda Hunt
(Presenter: Paula Maas)


Zelda is from Arkansas and was raised in the Ozarks. She worked as a long haul trucker and as a waitress, and is now retired.

She came to Arizona in 1952, settling in Tucson. After she retired in 1987 she settled into a quiet life, until one day in October of 1997.

The 72-year-old woman was sleeping in her home when she heard the sound of breaking glass. She instinctively realized it was someone at her front window, not just children breaking bottles outside.

Going to investigate the sound, with her portable phone and her revolver, she discovered a man calmly breaking out her front window and carefully clearing the shards away from the window frame.

She asked him what he was doing, and he said, “I’m fixing the window.”

Zelda replied that she didn’t have any problems with it, at least until he arrived.

He then said, “Well, I have to go get something.”

She replied, “Get your ass on that chair and stay there,” as she pointed her .22 caliber Smith and Wesson “snubbie” revolver directly at him. He wisely complied, and she dialed 911 and requested a pickup.

The Tucson Police dispatcher asked if she was armed, and she replied that she was. She said, “I have the door open, my gun’s ready, and he’s not going anywhere.”

The dispatcher then asked if the gun was loaded, and Zelda replied, “I don’t carry unloaded guns.”

The dispatcher then said, “I need you to put the gun down before officers arrive.”

Zelda said that she would only put the gun down when the officers arrived. She was true to her word.

The officers arrived and took the captured burglar into custody. They asked Zelda if she had put the gun down, checked that she had, and did not touch the firearm, which she had placed on her mantle.

Tucson police spokesman Daniel Mejia later said that the department was pleased that Ms. Hunt was able to defend herself. Chief Douglas Smith later said, “It is not our intent to dissuade citizens from exercising prudent and reasonable methods in defending themselves or their property.”

A Tucson PD detective later told Zelda that the perpetrator was released on a $7,500 dollar bond. She was never notified of the disposition of the case.

Complications from diabetes prevent this courageous woman from traveling here tonight to accept this award, but it will be delivered to her at her residence in Tucson, by a person who will announce his presence and knock politely at her door.

Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in acknowledging the “reasonable and prudent” actions of this recipient of the Human Right of Self Defense Award, Ms. Zelda Hunt!


The Case of Bob Lawrence
(Presenter: Terry Allison)


Bob, a 61-year-old Air Force veteran, lives with chronic back pain. He was driving home with a car full of groceries in Tempe, in May of 2003. Another car, with two men and a woman driving, decided to harass this perfect stranger by swerving around him, tailgating, and pulling alongside.

In a 35-mile-per-hour school zone, annoyed that Bob slowed to the limit, they recklessly pulled along side and tossed a cup of soda through his open window. The lid cut his forehead and the sticky soda covered his glasses. One of the men leaned out the window and yelled, “I’m gonna fuckin’ kill you.”

Bob tried to drive away, and dialed 911 on his cell phone, while they swerved to keep up. Bob had gotten his CCW permit in the early days of the program, and knew that verbal threats were not justification for producing a gun. He hoped desperately that Officer Friendly would arrive in time. Then a traffic light turned red.

In the mirror he watched his tormentors pull right behind him. The two men got out and started towards him. He reached for his nightstick, but realized it would be hopelessly ineffective in the cramped confines of his car, with his limited physical mobility, against two able-bodied attackers. With 911 still on the line, he drew his small, .380 caliber Colt pistol from his ankle holster, pointed the muzzle at the roof with the gun in plain view, and shouted, “Get back in your car.”

The woman, still in her car, shouted to her accomplices, “He’s got a gun!” and both men turned tail, scrambled into their vehicle, and continued to follow Bob as he drove off. He couldn’t see their plates, they swerved into a parking lot, and he drove home. He was delighted to see several police cruisers waiting there after the ordeal.

He got out, enthusiastically offered his CCW permit and pistol, which they took, and asked if he could put his wilting groceries away. One of the officers though was afraid Bob might have another gun in his home, which Bob willingly confirmed. So they escorted him and then out again, to avoid his big German Shepard. The police detained him outside his home, with his cut forehead, soda-covered glasses, and the physical stress from his disability began to build.

He tried humor with one of the officers, also a veteran, to disarm the situation, but the fellow was not amused, and took a light-hearted remark as an insult. (He had said, “The Marines made a man outta you. I was already a man, so I went into the Air Force.”)

They kept Bob outside for two long hours, grilling him, until he became so ill they had to call paramedics and rush him to a hospital emergency room, with a police escort. The questioning continued in the hospital.

The men Bob thought were his rescuers, summoned to find him and protect him, had been dispatched to catch him, because of the “danger he had presented,” to the three perpetrators who had attacked him. The perps had made a 911 call of their own, and reported that a man with a gun had threatened them on the road while they were minding their own business.

Months passed, and Bob’s attempts to get his gun back, and his CCW permit returned were fruitless. He was effectively denied his ability to carry concealed, and his personal property was confiscated without due process.

In late November, six months later, he received a summons to appear for fingerprinting and a hearing. The Maricopa County prosecutor’s office decided he had brandished a gun, and charged him with “aggravated assault - dangerous,” a felony.

He ended up with an attorney, Tait Elkie, who looked at the situation, decided it was bad for Bob, and recommended he cop to a plea bargain, but Bob, to his credit, said no way. Things looked pretty bleak.

And then, by sheer luck, while his lawyer was collecting evidence in the discovery phase, he found a third 911 tape, that had been left out of all the police reports. Another motorist had observed the assault, called 911, and gave a clear description of the unfolding situation. He said an elderly man was being taunted by two men and a woman driving erratically, who had thrown a cup of something through his window. They had shouted at him, waved their fists, and hung outside the windows of their vehicle. It was vindication, plain and simple.

The charges were finally dropped, 11 months after the incident, in April of 2004, at the preliminary court hearing. Despite this, the police still kept his gun and his permit for another four months, blatantly denying him his rights and his property, until August 2004.

No shots were fired, and Bob had presented a sufficiently difficult target to make his aggressors retreat. But if the tyrannical actions of the authorities had been worse, if Bob had been forced to fire, if the third 911 call had not been made, or located, or if it had been destroyed, this man would have landed in a world of hurt he did not deserve. It shows with crystalline clarity, that laws designed to protect victims of aggression, and a vigorous presumption of innocence, are critical if we are to consider our system of justice fair.

Tempe Police Detective Lukow has indicated to Bob that the perpetrators, who violated numerous laws in their vicious attack, who filed a false police report, and who abused the 911 emergency system, will not be charged.

Ladies and gentlemen, please help me acknowledge the courage and perseverence of this recipient of the Human Right of Self Defense Award, Mr. Bob Lawrence!



The Case of James Delcoure and Chuck Robles
(Presenter: Steve Kates)


James was filling in for his son at Tempe Pawn, and turned down the manager’s offer of a sidearm, joking that criminals would shoot at the openly armed person first. He had brought along his own Smith & Wesson J-frame five-shot pocket revolver, with no permit. (Concealed carry is legal without a permit at a place of business, at the owner’s discretion.)

Two of the perpetrators had visited the shop casually around noon, then returned at closing time with a driver and a third person. Arousing no suspicions, the first two entered and struck up a conversation. On a prearranged signal however the three assailants drew handguns and opened fire without warning, at Chuck, the openly armed manager.

During the first barrage, Chuck was shot in the legs and collapsed on the floor behind the counter. One round hit and was deflected by his Benchmade pocket knife and probably saved his life. Another round zipped by James’ head, who, suspecting nothing until the attack began, had just leaned down to check a label on a sewing machine, a move that likely saved his life.

The manager returned fire from the floor with his hip-holstered Beretta Model 92. James drew his concealed revolver and joined with the wounded manager in fighting back. When it was over, the police responded.

One robber was pronounced dead at the scene and another seriously wounded. The driver and the third man escaped but were later arrested. The driver plea bargained and testified against the two surviving robbers who were both convicted of murder and armed robbery. The manager recovered from his wounds.

In a statement, James said, “I am grateful to God for my survival. I am also thankful my friend had the courage and tenacity to stay in the fight even after being shot five times. That took a lot of grit. Having that concealed firearm saved my life and probably others. If these men had escaped, they probably would have been a serious violent threat to others in the community. The fortuitous events that permitted me to retrieve my revolver and join the fight changed the outcome.

“I do not hold a concealed-carry permit issued by any state because I object to seeking permission from the government to carry a firearm or being required to pay a fee so I can use my own guns. As an American citizen, as a human being, I do not require the consent of some bureaucracy for armed self defense. It extends beyond our Bill of Rights and Constitutional protections. It is a fundamental tenet of liberty that protection of one's self exists without the Constitution.

“If the Second Amendment had never been written it would still be my unalienable right and duty to protect myself, my freedom, and my family in any fashion I select. To disarm a man is to render him powerless, and to require him to seek permission from his government for self defense is foolish.”

Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in recognizing two men who are alive today because they had the right to keep and bear arms when it counted most, recipients of the Human Right of Self Defense Award, James Delcoure and Chuck Robles!!

 

For links to the rest of the Self Defense Banquet event,
see the full list under New Stuff
 

COMPLETE ALPHABETICAL LIST OF PRODUCTS
Gun LawsGun Rights Gun PoliticsFree SpeechVideosSelf Defense and Safety
SurvivalPolice GuidesKnivesNovelsThe Founders PackageHistory of Rights
ButtonsRecent Additions  123Women & KidsFirst-Time Gun Owners
E-BooksNewest ProductsCloseoutsPackage Deals
  Home     Books   National Directory Position Papers   Alan’s Blog      FAQ      New Stuff     Search  
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