"Don't try that here". (Exercising the Right).(store clerk Gary William Cannon shoots, kills assailant during robbery)(Brief Article)

It was hot in Gastonia, North Carolina, on November 28, 2001, so late in the day someone at the West Main Newsstand Book Nook propped the back door open to cool the establishment. Shortly before 10 p.m., six persons remained in the store, including owner Gary William Cannon; a part-time clerk who had just returned from a religious service at a local church; a woman and her two daughters; and the owner of another nearby business.

At around 9:45 p.m., two armed men, their faces covered by pantyhose, entered through the back door and shouted, "This is a robbery." One stayed near the door, pointing his gun at the clerk's head, while the second walked to a table where Cannon and the three women, two of them pregnant, were chatting. He aimed his gun at the store owner and, according to Cannon, threatened his life.

Cannon himself was not armed, but he knew that one of the women normally carried a .45-caliber handgun in her purse. When the second robber pointed his weapon at the women, Cannon reached into the ...