Armed Citizens in New Mexico, 1959-1979

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1. The Tribune, Albuquerque, NM, 7/10/79 / American Rifleman Issue: 10/1/1979
   
   When two men entered an Albuquerque, N. Mex., convenience store demanding money, night clerk Reno Petrucci thought they were joking. One of the thugs, however, punched Petrucci and two companions. At that, Petrucci pulled a .38 and held the assailant until police arrived; the second man fled the scene.
2. The Journal, Albuquerque, NM / American Rifleman Issue: 9/1/1979
   
   The man who held up an Albuquerque, N.M., food store, got a rude surprise. As he approached the fourth checkstand, he found himself face to face with a lady shopper holding a .25 cal. automatic. To enforce her demand that he put down his gun and surrender, the woman told him that she was an undercover policewoman. With that, the thief gave in, dropped his revolver and waited patiently at gunpoint until the real police arrived to make the arrest. Albuquerque police have since offered the housewife a position on the city force.
3. The Tribune, Albuquerque, NM / American Rifleman Issue: 3/1/1978
   
   Albuquerque, N. Mex., pharmacist Ron Bunt was in his drugstore when two armed robbers entered and demanded narcotics. Bunt filled a small bag with the drugs and handed it to one of the pair, then pulled a cal. .25 pistol and shot one of the thugs to death. The other fled and is being sought by police.
4. The News-Journal, Clovis, NM / American Rifleman Issue: 11/1/1977
   
   Mrs. Cleo Ainsworth saw two young thugs attack her husband outside their farmhouse near rural Dora, N.M. After calling for help, she got her husband's pistol and fired a warning shot. The men fled.
5. The Tribune, Albuquerque, NM / American Rifleman Issue: 10/1/1977
   
   When a young robber entered his Albuquerque, N. Mex., pharmacy and demanded narcotics, Delbert Swindle drew a pistol instead and held the man for police.
6. The Albuquerque Journal, Albuquerque, NM / American Rifleman Issue: 7/1/1976
   
   Two men, one armed with a knife, entered Sidney McQueen's Albuquerque, N.M., gun shop, grabbed up some firearms and then bolted for the front door. But one of the thugs turned and pointed a gun at McQueen. The shop owner fired first, killing one robber and wounding the second.
7. The Alamogordo Daily News, Alamogordo, NM / American Rifleman Issue: 9/1/1974
   
   Awakened by the sounds of a prowler in her Alamogordo, N. Mex., home, Mrs. Teresa Middlestead got her husband's shotgun from the bedroom closet and shouted down the hallway, "I've got a gun." Although Mrs. Middlestead didn't see the intruder, she heard him dash through the kitchen and out the front door. Nothing was stolen.
8. The Albuquerque Journal, Albuquerque, NM / American Rifleman Issue: 9/1/1974
   
   Three youths, one armed with a knife, walked into Mike Seargent's Albuquerque, N. Mex., store intent on robbery. Seargent noticed that the knife was apparently their only weapon, so he took his gun from beside the cash register and held the thieves at bay until police arrived.
9. The Albuquerque Journal, Albuquerque, NM / American Rifleman Issue: 5/1/1974
   
   As he walked his dog near an Albuquerque, N. Mex., apartment development late one night, E.K. Van Aernam and his sister were stopped by two robbers, one armed with a pistol. Van Aernam clutched a handgun in his coat pocket and asked the armed man to "put his gun away." When the attacker refused, Van Aernam slapped the assailant's gun downward and fired six shots at the thugs through his pocket. The men fled, one of them possibly wounded.
10. Hobbs Daily News-Sun, Hobbs, NM / American Rifleman Issue: 6/1/1973
    
    A man began pounding on the front door of Evelyn Burkey's Hobbs, N. Mex., home and refused to identify himself or say what he wanted. When he started pounding on the back door, Mrs. Burkey got a small revolver and threatened to "blow his head off." At this the prowler dove over a back fence and disappeared.
11. The Albuquerque Journal, Albuquerque, NM / American Rifleman Issue: 2/1/1973
    
    Spotting two suspicious men wandering around his Albuquerque, N. Mex., drugstore, owner Carl De Alderete kept a close watch on the pair. When one man reached for a gun, De Alderete drew his own first. One suspect escaped, but the storeowner held the second for police who took the would-be robber's gun in evidence.
12. Aztec Independent Review, Aztec, NM / American Rifleman Issue: 1/1/1973
    
    Brian Blacklock, an Aztec, N. Mex., pharmacist, was working late in his store when a rock smashed through the skylight above him. Blacklock ran outside, got a rifle from his car, and ordered the man on the roof to come down. Police arrived and arrested the rock thrower, along with his less-than-successful lookout man.
13. Tribune, Albuquerque, NM / American Rifleman Issue: 7/1/1967
    
    When 3 men pounded on his back door, laundry owner James Self, Albuquerque, N. Mex., answered and found himself confronted by a robber holding a .410-bore shotgun. Dropping to the floor, he fired a shot from his .22 revolver. The trio fled. Police later got a hospital call — "man with a gunshot wound" — and arrested the wounded man and 2 accomplices on charges of attempted robbery.
14. Tribune, Albuquerque, NM / American Rifleman Issue: 11/1/1961
    
    Armed with a cal. .22 revolver, a thief three months out of prison after serving a 10-year term for armed robbery, entered John Waldrick's Albuquerque, N. Mex., store, forced Waldrick to hand over his wallet and empty the cash register. As the robber reached the door, Waldrick drew his own weapon and felled him.
15. Journal, Albuquerque, NM / American Rifleman Issue: 12/1/1959
    
    Thomas H. Myrick was in the back room of his Albuquerque, N. Mex., liquor store when he heard his wife pleading with a holdup man rifling the register. Myrick rushed out with shotgun in hand. As the bandit fled, Myrick fired 4 blasts over his head. When police arrived, they found Myrick standing over the bandit who cowered on the ground, his pistol and robbery loot beside him.
16. The New Mexican, Santa Fe, NM / American Rifleman Issue: 7/1/1959
    
    In Tierra Amarilla, N. Mex., shopkeeper Albert Wheeler called on neighbor Jack Taylor to cover the front when the intercom alarm rang in the store owner's bedroom. Wheeler went to the rear office where he surprised an armed burglar who attempted to escape. Neighbor Taylor's 12-ga. shotgun dropped him near the door.

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