Armed Good Guys: Chicago Concealed Carry Holder Saved Lives Before He Perished

News stories of civilian self-defense seldom receive adequate media coverage. After all, armed good guys stopping violent felons does not make headlines like the lives of innocents being taken. Bias and agendas play their part, but the media does not cover an event that did not happen, such as a case where a good guy stopped a violent event before it resulted in the loss of innocent life. However, these are exactly the type of stories we need to highlight to educate non gun owners before they head to the voting booth.

Concealed Carry Holder Stops Vehicle Attack

Witnesses said the suspect got in his black truck and continuously slammed into three to four cars. He was stopped by one of the drivers, who was carrying a gun. The man with the gun allegedly hit the suspect in the head with the weapon.

“I thought he shot him, but he had pistol-whipped the fellow and that’s what made the gun go off,” said witness John Simpson.

The York County Sheriff’s Office said the person with the gun will not face charges and is a legal concealed-carry gun owner.

“I’m glad the young fellow’s not being charged or anything because he had incredible restraint,” said Simpson.

It’s unclear at this point what prompted the driver of the truck to turn the parking lot into his own demolition derby, but once he gets out of the hospital and into a courtroom, we’ll probably learn more. Right now he’s facing a slew of charges related to the attack, according to York County Sheriff Kevin Tolson.

The driver of the truck will be charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature and property damage crimes, Tolson said. The driver was taken to the hospital and remains at Piedmont Medical Center, according to Tolson and a sheriff’s office report. Detectives have arrest warrants for him, Tolson said.

“It is our intent to charge the suspect upon his release from the hospital,” Tolson said.

When officers arrived on scene they found a chaotic situation unfolding, and it took a few minutes to actually figure out what had happened, since the initial call to authorities was about a man with a gun, not a guy in a truck on a rampage.

Responding officers found a man holding a gun in the parking lot and ordered him to drop the weapon and get on the ground, the report stated. The man with the gun, later identified as a victim in the incident, complied with officer commands, deputies said.

Deputies then found another victim trapped between a pickup truck and another vehicle, deputies said. That victim was freed by officers, according to the report.

Then deputies found the suspect on his back in the parking lot, according to the report. Witnesses and victims told deputies the suspect slammed his truck into vehicles, injuring at least three people, according to Tolson and the report.

Vehicles were hit so hard that some were pushed onto a sidewalk, the report stated.

The driver of that truck is lucky that no one was seriously injured, including himself. As for the armed citizen, I’m glad he’s not facing any charges for stopping the guy. In some jurisdictions the fact that the firearm discharged while he was pistol-whipping the driver could have lead an anti-gun prosecutor or law enforcement official to try and haul him in to court along with the guy responsible for the damage to property and injury to several people.

Armed Bystanders Shoot, Kill Gunman Who Opened Fire at Oklahoma City Restaurant

Chicago Concealed Carry Holder Saved Lives Before He Perished

A food truck operator, father, and concealed carry holder in Chicago was shot and killed Saturday night after he attempted to stop a robbery at a Chicago barber shop.

Derrick Gholston, who operated a food truck in Chicago, was making his rounds Saturday night when he stopped at a Roseland barber shop, according to authorities. Police say he was filling orders when two men approached, pulled out a gun, and demanded his property.

Authorities say that Gholston complied with the demand, but when the suspects went into the barber shop and announced a robbery inside, Gholston, who was a concealed carry permit holder, confronted them.

During the confrontation, shots were fired and Gholston, along with an 18-year-old suspect in the robbery, were both killed.

Gholston could have turned and walked away, but that would have meant leaving the patrons inside the barber shop behind, knowing that the armed robbers could have killed them all. Instead, the concealed carry holder came to the defense of others, and tragically lost his life. Neighbors and those who knew the man are calling him a hero.

“This is what the world is. We need to be able to help each other,” one witness said. “That’s the problem. There’s not enough love and help around here.”

Gholston leaves behind two young boys, and friends are hopeful that they will grow up and know that their father died while trying to protect others.

“It’s sad and I hope everyone is okay and justice will be done,” neighbor Jacqualyn Phelps said.

Meanwhile, the Chicago Tribune seems to be trying to paint Gholston in as negative a light as it can. The paper isn’t going after Gholston personally, but is trying to cast doubt on his actions.

Police and concealed carry instructors generally advise not to fight back during a robbery because property can be replaced; the source said it made sense Gholston didn’t draw his weapon outside when he likely thought the robbers would leave. A CCL holder is within his or her rights to draw a weapon if their life or someone else’s life is in imminent danger. Though details about who drew his weapon first once inside the barbershop weren’t available, one of the robbers had pointed a handgun at Gholston while outside, police said.

According to Tribune data on shootings by Illinois residents with concealed carry licenses, Gholston is at least the third person to die while attempting to defend himself since the state began issuing CCLs in January 2014.

The Tribune has been on an anti-concealed carry kick for a while now. It recently featured a front-page story attacking the right to carry and portraying concealed carry holders in the most negative light possible, even though the endemic violence on Chicago streets has nothing to do with law-abiding concealed carry holders. The paper treats Derrick Gholston as a statistic, and maybe a victim of his own 2^nd Amendment rights. But Derrick Gholston isn’t a statistic, or a talking point. To those who knew him, and to those saved by him, Derrick Gholston was, and is, a hero.

Do you have a story of armed good guys that shows the importance of firearm ownership for self-defense? Share it in the comment section.