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Modern sporting rifles are effective home defense tools. They’re easy to use, have sufficient power and the capacity to handle multiple assailants with standard capacity, commonly available magazines. Case in point: this story from Memphis, Tennessee in which a homeowner got into a gunfight with two armed burglars.

From wmcactionnews.com:

“I see my house being ransacked and the dog was still going hysterical in the cage,” he said. “When he saw me he notified the other individual that was with him, ‘hey, they are here.'”

That’s the moment he said when the suspected burglars pulled out guns, but he was able to get to a hall closet to get his.

“I had my own personal AK-47,” he said. …

“I don’t know what’s going on but I know I’m going to defend my life to the best of my ability,” he said.

Both burglars were killed by the homeowner.

MPD said the man responsible for the shootings was detained but later released. The District Attorney General’s office determined that no charges will be filed at this time.

Modern sporting rifles — guns that are mischaracterized by anti-gunners as “weapons of war” — were designed with reliability and defense against multiple assailants in mind. Those who want a disarmed population work hard to outlaw them despite the fact that these rifles are seldom involved in crimes, suicides, or accidents, all of which are predominated by pistols.

MSRs aren’t used much by criminals because they’re much harder to conceal than pistols.

Use of a MSR in a home defense plan calls for thought and consideration of the rifle and ammunition. If the home to be defended is in a country/rural setting, the possibility of over-penetration is less of a problem. In the Memphis case, the brick exterior of the house served to limit penetration problems.

MSRs commonly use popular calibers that are available with bullets designed to limit penetration.

As with any home defense plan, how long the defender may have to wait for reinforcements is a consideration. In the Memphis case, the homeowner had been the victim of a previous shooting, which left bullet pockmarks on the outside of the brick.

A homeowner in Texas prevailed over assailants doing a drive-by shooting at his house, using an AR-15 to defend himself.

©2018 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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47 COMMENTS

  1. If my loving state did not limit me to 10 rounds I think I would opt for a 9mm semi auto carbine with a 30 round mag for my go to home defense weapon.

    As it is I have to make do with a 7+1 12 ga. pump gun. Poor, undergunned me. 🙂

    • Yeah poor you. I live in N.Y same ludicrous laws. The new Ruger pc9 carbine is the latest addition to my collection. It is a takedown similar to the Ruger 10/22 Takedown. The price is great for this rifle. Around $500. Add several 10 round mags & you will be impressed. I think !! Then again , your shotgun is also a great 2 legged varmint deterrent.

      • I have that rifle; I just got around to shooting it for the first time over the Memorial Day weekend. Shot it along with my Sub2K, also for the first time. Both are great, but I found thr Ruger superior.

        If you’re looking for a carry case for the Ruger, I recommend the Just Right Carbine takedown case. It’s not the best out there, but it’s the best for the money and without that “I cheaped out” remorseful feeling.

        Fun fact about the Ruger, at least: you can fire .380 ACP ammo through it. I found this out by accident. My wife was loading the magazine with a near empty box of 9mm, then mistakenly switched over to .380acp to top off the mag when the 9mm box was empty.

        So my first shots out of the Ruger were .380acp. The recoil did seem surprisingly light, but it was an unfamiliar rifle, so it seemed within reason. Then I got to the 9mm rounds in the magazine and the difference was instantly noticeable. I fired two 9mm rounds total and shut it down to investigate what was going on.

        That effort revealed the misloaded magazine. I don’t have a real need for a .380acp rifle option, but I thought it was odd I hadn’t ever heard of subbing .380 for 9mm like that before. Anyone else done that, intentionally or otherwise, before?

        • It would be unreliable both rounds are the same diameter but 9×19 is slightly longer and they headspace off of the case.

        • I’m assuming that the carbine has a strong extractor that is holding the cartridge in place. Otherwise the 380 would sink too deep into the chamber of a 9mm for a firing pin to strike the primer.

      • I have the Kel-Tec Sub 2000 gen2, the Ruger PC carbine, and a 9mm AR with a 4in barrel.

        All great choices for a pcc and I don’t feel like any of them are redundant to each other.

        They all share Glock mags too which is a plus since I have a bunch.

        The Kel-tec feels like a toy compared to the others, but its just so light and slim and quick to deploy. Also being essentially a bullpup its quite short.

        The Ruger is heavy and built like a tank, hope Magpul makes a backpacker stock for it.

        The AR is an AR except super stubby. Love my short guns.

    • Were 30 round mags ever legal in your state? If so you can take advantage of a grandfather clause by buying them out of state. If it were me, I’d just use 30 round mags. Fuck their laws. They don’t decide how I get to defend myself.

  2. Well done. 2 bad guys down, too bad the homeowner probably has to deal with some cleanup (and a few bullet holes).

    Would a Joe Biden Special have worked? Maybe. How much should someone have to bet on “maybe?”

    • This has to be double fake news.

      Shannon, Mike, and Sugardaddy say that DGUs NEVER happen, and, that ‘assault weapons’ (sic: see Modern Sporting Rifle) can’t be used for self defense (they are only used to commit mass destruction).

      I mean, they are the darlings of the media and therefore cannot be wrong.

      /sarc

  3. As for the gentleman who defended his home with his AK-47 , you did what you had to. Bad guys with guns think twice when considering robbing a home with someone willing to fight back. Good shoot , imho.

  4. Wouldn’t the AK be more accurately described as a “Not-so-modern Sporting (and insurgency) Rifle”?

  5. Can we please stop with the disingenuous term “modern sporting rifle?” They can be used for sport, but the primary reasons to get one are:
    1) they’re effective defensive weapons
    2) FYTY

    Let’s not twist ourselves into a linguistic pretzel which ultimately services the notion that gun ownership should primarily be about sport. Sporting use is fun and useful, but that’s a nice side thing.

    • Great point. “Rifle” or if you must, “semi-automatic Rifle” is all the description it requires. The rest sounds like spin, even to a pro-2A person like myself.

    • I wish we could also start owning the term “weapons of war.” What these armed assailants did, effectively, was bring war into this AK-wielding hero’s home. It is totally appropriate that he used a weapon of war (not a mischaracterization) to fight back.

      • I’ve taken to calling it a personal defense rifle. That’s why cops have them, that’s why I have one. Well suited and highly effective for engaging one or several home invaders. Less suited for “assaulting” anything as the lack of automatic fire capability makes it harder to suppress and advance on your target.

    • Hah! I always saw the acronym “MSR” and thought it meant “military style rifle”.

      This is why we should go to great lengths to avoid acronyms.

    • Why do spree killers and terrorists often use the AR15? Because it is reliable, affordable, effective, easy to use and readily available. Why do hunters, law-abiding civilians and police use the AR15? Because it is reliable, affordable, effective, easy to use and readily available. Why have bigots and the ignorant directed their prejudice at those who own and legally enjoy the benefits of the AR15? Because it is reliable, affordable, effective, easy to use and readily available.

      • “…Why have bigots and the ignorant directed their prejudice at those who own and legally enjoy the benefits…”

        Willful disdain for freedom, true liberty, life, and a powerful loathing of anyone that does not think exactly the same way they do.

        Wait, who are the fascists, again? 😉

  6. I’d like more information. It sounds as though the thugs knew the homeowner.

    I’m happy it was a good shoot though – Well Done!

    • In the Memphis case, the homeowner had been the victim of a previous shooting, which left bullet pockmarks on the outside of the brick.
      I think there is more going on here than what we are being told.

    • Lol, but apparently not enough was known. They missed the most important thing and it was right there in the hall closet. Gonna hope he doesn’t continue to keep it there. Now that it’s location has been outed.

  7. High-capacity clipazines have no legit use. Why would you ever need more than 5, or 6 shots; really 1 is enough. Then, you know, swab, charge, patch, ram & prime. Why should a citizen ever need more. If it was good enough for the Hessians, it should be good enough for…

    What? The Hessians lost the US revolution?

    Nevermind.

  8. That’s ridiculous. Nobody ever uses a gun for self-defense, let alone one of these evil high-capacity weapons of war. Besides, who would ever need anything but a hunting rifle…

    What? The CDC said 2.5 million times a year? You know, once those studies leaked out. Oh, um…

    What? Reliable, easy & accurate to point, compact better for indoors, limited range so less follow-on, multiple rounds so can stop one or more BGs. So, about as good as it gets for defending yourself? Oh, um…

    Nevermind.

    • And equally important is how this case speaks to how dangerous and unconstitutional mandatory “safe storage” requirements are. It should be up to the homeowner and extra precautions should be taken if there are children or strangers regularly in the home.

  9. But, but, but … these evil killing machines possess intent. They just kill people, you know, on their own…

    What? It just sits there until somebody picks it up and uses it. Oh, um…

    But they’re rigged to go off. They’re unstable. They go off just sitting there. If you look at them wrong. Or talk smack about their mothers.

    What? It takes at least 5 steps, done right, in the right order to make one of these go off? The whole community, and the whole industry relentlessly develop more effective ways to prevent them from going off until you mean it? Oh, um…

    But Rambo. And gangsters. And confused macho wanna-be’s with their camo and soft minds. These things tempt people to grab them and shoot. Indeed, they are possessed with spirits that reach out to possess anyone who gets near the gun. (We’ve all seen Full Metal Jacket. It’s a freaking documentary, come on.) At night these evil, black killing machines wander the homes they are in, whispering to the soft-minded: “Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill…”

    Wait, what? This gun just sat there until home invaders showed up *and showed their own guns.* Um, oh…

    Nevermind.

  10. But, but, but, evil black killing machines. They have no legitimate use. One example doesn’t prove anything, ask the government!

    What’s that? The feds own studies concluded that the best available personal defensive arm is a semi-auto carbine in an intermediate cartridge. That’s exactly what an AR-pattern in 5.56, or an AK-pattern in 7.62 x 39 is?

    Oh. Um… nevermind.

  11. Good thing he trained that gun to shoot bad people or he would have had to do it all by himself! Thank God for guns that go off by themselves!!

    • It’s an assault rifle, so it naturally knows the command “assault”. The problem is when individuals unknown to the assault rifle are over for supper and someone asks for “salt”. That’s why there is hearing protection and safe storage laws for your eager to obey weapon of war.

    • I’ve been trying to train mine to attack.

      But every time I issue the command, they just lay there. Damn lazy things.

      I tried giving them a push a few time, but they just fall over, maybe bounce a few times.

      I think they are messing with me. Or maybe they died. Wait, how do you tell if you EBR is still alive? Is there a special ‘intent-o-meter’ or something?

  12. It’s a good thing it didn’t jam, oh aK, not AR, ,,Ak’s work using jam, or jelly for lubricant.

  13. An AK47 in a closet that ultimately saved the homeowners life? This should be the the case study/example of why mandatory safety storage requirements should be adjudicated unconstitutional.

  14. I feel sorry for the AK that will likely live in an evidence locker for the foreseeable future. I hope its owner wasn’t shooting corrosive ammo.

    • LOL. Maybe he can ask the police to spray it down with a hose. Amazing that people still shoot that shit these days. I mean, how fucking cheap are you? I own a bunch of AKs and I feed them only the good shit.

  15. IMO, we need to stop with the MSR nonsense. The whole concept of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is do the citizens have a right to possess basic weapons of WAR or does only the State have the right to possess such and have a monopoly. The debate on this started with Aristotle and Plato back in ancient Greece. Aristotle, in his work “Politics,” where he outlines his ideal city-state, describes a state that is a constitutional democracy in which the people possess arms, both for individual self-defense and resistance to tyranny. He explicitly states that if only the rulers have arms, then that is a formula for tyranny. Plato, by contrast, had the ideal city-state as one in which the people are ruled by Philosopher-Kings (i.e. a professional ruling class) and the arms kept in a central location, controlled by the State.

    Aristotle was heavily influential on the Founders. So were Cicero, Algernon Sydney, and John Locke, ALL of whom believed that individual self-defense was a right and I believe also supported the right to keep and bear arms.

    AR-15s are very much weapons of war. “Weapon of war” need not mean “weapon used solely by trained soldiers in a professional military.” War is something that can happen between nation-states, and when it does, said nation-states have professional fighting forces (militaries) to conduct it, but war also happens at the individual level. If someone breaks into your home and is trying to maim and/or kill you, that person has declared a state of war on you. As such, you can very much use a weapon of war back on that person.

    Our modern concepts of how a civilized nation-state should conduct war are grounded in the concept of the individual right to self-defense and the writers that laid the foundation for modern international relations in this sense all talk extensively about the individual right to self-defense.

    Now I would argue that not all weapons of war are something people have a right to (nuclear, biological, chemical weapons for example). But arms as in weapons a person uses to engage in combat against another individual, or individuals, are very much a right. Rifles, pistols, shotguns, knives, tomahawks, axes, swords, bow-and-arrow, crossbow, spear, shield, war hammer, and body armor, all count as arms.

  16. The AK is good, but it will go through wall an could Hit some one way outside, I have my Colt AR15 9mm with the 30 round clips, I am sure that would do the job just as good

      • Lol. “30 round clips” should’ve been the dead giveaway. Anyway- Reid Henrichs from Valor Ridge has an excellent video about AK rounds and the penetration in structures/homes. And of course, there’s even frangible ammo. Yes, some of the hollow point, self defense rounds can be expensive, but a few hundred rounds specifically for Home defense, sitting in mags, is the way to go.

  17. “Memphis case, the brick exterior of the house served to limit penetration problems.””

    Wish they confirmed the ammo he was using.

  18. I don’t say this lightly. It’s very important to see law abiding black people using guns to defend their homes against an invasion, like this man did. I’m also very glad to see an AK47 being used as a defensive weapon. Just like AR15s have been used in self-defense in Texas and Oklahoma.

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