Man Shoots Intruder Armed With Bat

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. -- Police say a man shot an intruder who was armed with a baseball bat Tuesday night.

Mark Farrell, 24, of Beatty, entered Jim Westman's house armed with a wooden baseball bat, said Klamath Falls Sheriff Timothy Evinger in a news release.

Farrell attempted to assault Westman with the bat and Westman fired one round from a .22-caliber rifle, which hit Farrell in the right forearm. Farrell continued to assault Westman after he was shot, Evinger said.

Roxann Klobucar, Westman's mother, was able to wrestle the bat from Farrell. Klobucar hit Farrell several times in the head until he was subdued, Evinger said.

Prior to entering the house, Farrell damaged Westman's vehicle with the bat, Evinger said.


http://www.kptv.com/news/20816201/detail.html

[NaturalHigh]

1. Never bring a bat to a gunfight.

[Treo]

4. Why not? Sounds like the Guy W/ the bat won

I think you mean never bring a .22 to a gun fight

[Statistical]

9. I think you mean never bring a .22 to a bat fight.

Seriously though I love .22. They are fun & cheap to shoot. Good for introducing noobs to firearms, have almost no recoil, and a great for mastering the fundamentals w/ ammo 1/5th to 1/10th the cost.

For home defense step it up to 9mm or .38 at a minimum (.380 auto is the minimum I would consider to conceal carry).

[imdjh]

2. My gun dealer told me a .22 wouldn't stop a man who is bats.

[saigon68]

3. A well placed .357 Magnum to the head

Would have ended this nonsense

[Ecumenist]

5. At first, I thought you meant that the homeowner was armed with

a bat that fired bullets. :shrug:

[slackmaster]

7. Here's a cool video of a guy playing The Star Spangled Banner on a baseball bat violin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9LXHrzOVYA

[proteus_lives]

6. .22 is not enough for self-defense.

.38 or higher.

[Euromutt]

8. Those smaller calibers are tricky: potentially lethal but not reliably incapacitating

Mr. Murphy is always ready to visit, which generally means that if you suffer an ND with a .22LR, you can count on it going wherever it will cause the most (and preferably irreparable) damage, but when the manure strikes the ventilator, you can't count on it stopping anything larger than an irate squirrel.

Various Israeli agencies (like their sky marshals and Mossad hit squads) used Beretta model 70 and 71 pistols to good effect, but their technique relied to a large extent on relying on the .22LR's low recoil to dump entire magazines (often more than one, from multiple shooters) into the target as fast as they could. The main advantage the Berettas offered was that they were small, light, and easily concealable.

[Statistical]

10. Exactly the goal is to stop the attack....

while a .22LR is lethal it has a low chance of immediately stopping the attack. You are essentially hoping for a psychological reaction that causes the intruder to chose to stop the attack.

A firearm fired in self defense (that strikes intruder) can have 4 possible outcomes

a) immediately ends the attack but not lethal
b) immediately ends the attack and lethal
c) does not immediately end the attack and not lethal
d) does not immediately end the attack and is lethal

You are looking for an a or b outcome. If the intruder dies or not 30 to 90 minutes after he killed your isn't really material anymore (c or d).

[yost69]

11. +1

[GreenStormCloud]

12. I read that they used .22 shorts.

Less noise and recoil. You are right that two or three shooters would empty their guns into the victim. The victim, taken by surprise and riddled with bullets, would drop instantly.

[Pavulon]

14. Correct. Spec Ops guys using small stuff suppressed.

is not an example for the norm. Offensive use of a suppressed weapon is different than a reactive situation. 9mm hollow point or larger is the common sense requirement. In your home a 12 ga shotgun is the best option.

22 is fine if you are shooting targets or squirrels. not designed for self defense.

[GreenStormCloud]

13. Proving, once again, the value of shot placement.

A hit in the forearm, even from a major caliber, is unlikely to incapacitate. However, a .38 or larger in the forearm will be likely to put that arm out of business, even if the rest of the assailant is able to continue. And you would stand a real good chance of being able to get in a second shot as he reacts to the first shot. With a .22, he may not know he has been shot.

[Hoopla Phil]

15. Another innocent saved through the use of a firearm.