PA Bill Number: HB335
Title: In inchoate crimes, further providing for prohibited offensive weapons.
Description: In inchoate crimes, further providing for prohibited offensive weapons. ...
Last Action: Removed from table
Last Action Date: May 1, 2024
Texas Self-Defense: Defensive Use of AR-15, Man Kills Two, Wounds One Attacker :: 05/07/2017
Arizona -(Ammoland.com)- On May 6th, 2017, an armed man was sitting on his front porch in the 400 block of Glenburnie Drive in Houston, Texas. He had a concealed carry permit. His brother says that he goes to the range often. He was on his porch and had another firearm with him. An AR-15 type rifle.
Three men attacked him in a drive-by shooting at about 2:15 a.m. He fired back, hitting all three. They car they were in crashed, and all three left the vehicle to continue the attack.
The homeowner kept up his defense, shooting back and hitting all three men again. Two died, one at the scene, one at the hospital. One of them was in critical condition.
Over 40 shots were fired, but the home defender was not hit. Not once.
Those who wish a disarmed population tell us that AR-15 rifles and other modern sporting rifles are not useful for self-defense. From bustle.com:
The AR-15 has no business being used for home defense purposes. This has nothing to do with politics, and everything to do with saving lives.
But the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) disagrees.
In paragraph 3.1 under requirements and testing standards we read…
DHS and its components have a requirement for a 5.56x45mm NATO, select-fire firearm suitable for personal defense use in close quarters and/or when maximum concealment is required.
Isn’t that inconvenient for the gun control politicians? In requirement paragraph 3.9.10, they find a need for a 30-round magazine.
The action shall be capable of accepting all standard NATO STANAG 20 and 30 round M16 magazines (NSN 1005-00-921-5004) and Magpul 30 round PMAG (NSN 1005-01-576-5159). The magazine well shall be designed to allow easy insertion of a magazine.
All of the things that make an AR-15 useful to the Department of Homeland Security make them exceptionally useful for home defense. The AR-15 rifles that are available to ordinary citizens are not select fire. They have most of the same valuable qualities desired by the DHS.
Here are a few:
- Easy to control, easy to aim, easy to hit with.
- A sufficient magazine capacity, extremely important for multiple assailants.
- Sufficient power to disable assailants.
- Significant deterrence capability.
- Ease of use, even if disabled.
The first three factors, except were demonstrated in the Houston defensive shooting. From click2houston.com:
According to officers, the Nissan drove by the man's yard and the men started to shoot at the man.
Authorities said the man standing in his yard, who has a concealed handgun license, shot back at the car hit all three men in the vehicle.
Houston police said the Nissan crashed into another vehicle. Police said three of the men got out the Nissan and continued to exchange gunfire with the homeowner. Police said the homeowner struck all three men.
It would be harder to do if the defender had to manually operate the action, change magazines multiple times, and/or be limited to a handgun.
Fortunately, the defender was not hit, so he did not serve as an example for the last point. The attack happened from a moving vehicle, at night, so there was little chance for deterrence to work in the Houston case.
AR-15 and other military weapons were designed for defensive use. Half of warfare is defense. They are superbly suited to the defensive role.
©2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of constitutional carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and recently retired from the Department of Defense after a 30-year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
