Exercising the right.(instances of guns in self-defense)(Brief Article)

Justifiable Self-Defense

Bobby T. Davis of Homing, Oklahoma, was staying at the Regency Inn & Suites in Topeka, Kansas, on January 20th when he heard a knock on the door at around 8 p.m. Armed with a handgun, he opened the door with the chain in place. Anthony D. Hamilton, 28, asked if he could use the phone and, when Davis refused, forced his way into the room, grabbed the 73-year-old man by the throat, and demanded money.

According to a Topeka Police Department account of the incident, Hamilton was about to strike Davis when the elderly hotel patron shot him once in the chest. Hamilton stumbled from the room, collapsed on the sidewalk just outside the door, and was subsequently pronounced dead at the scene.

The January 23rd Topeka Capital-Journal reported that the attempted robbery was not Hamilton's first in Topeka. In 1996 he had been convicted on one count of the crime and sentenced to 29 months in prison. "Court records also indicated," the Capital-Journal noted, that he "had been slated to go on trial in June for burglarizing five Topeka businesses and possessing a crack pipe."

A police spokesman told reporters that the department believed that Davis had acted in justifiable self-defense, so no charges were expected to be filed against him. The case was, however, routinely referred to the district attorney's office for a final ruling.

Caller I.D. Identifies Would-be Robber

An alert armed citizen and caller I.D. recently combined to thwart a robbery and enable police to promptly apprehend the suspect without a shot being fired.