19-Year-Old Shoots, Kills Would-be Carjacker

When a man-and-woman team reportedly tried to steal a young man’s car at a gas station in Phoenix, Arizona, the 19-year-old intended victim defended himself with a handgun, killing the knife-wielding man and sending the woman fleeing.

It was late at night; police got the call at 1:30 AM. The young vehicle owner was sitting in his car at a gas pump with the door open when a woman approached and began to distract him. He then noticed a man with a knife coming at him from the rear of his car.

The bad guy demanded to be given the car; instead, the good guy produced his handgun and gave him some lead.

The 28-year-old woman ran away, but was later apprehended and booked on one count of felony murder in the first degree and armed robbery.

The knife guy was pronounced dead at the scene.

This story has as happy an ending as we could hope for, but there’s more to this tale than a single incident of self-defense. At age 19, the intended victim wouldn’t have been able to defend himself with a firearm in many states, including Florida, where he couldn’t even have legally purchased a firearm before age 21!

Arizona is a Constitutional-carry state, meaning Arizona residents do not have to seek government approval, nor must they submit extortion money, in order to legally carry a firearm for self-defense.

This is how it should be. If things were this way everywhere, we would see fewer carjackings as well as lower crime overall.

‘Common-sense gun laws’ means ‘get rid of restrictive gun laws.’

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.