1)In 2001, a grand jury had to rule on the case of 2 brothers that used firearms to protect their lives and their livelihood for their involvement in a fatal shooting in Reisterstown, Maryland. The grand jury decided not to press criminal charges. The brothers, at the time, had encountered several burglaries at their concrete business. The brothers spent the night in their warehouse armed with shotguns. One night at 1:00 in the morning the burglars returned and the brothers shot and killed 1 burglar and injured 2 of the others. The 2 injured men were charged with burglary and 2 others were charged with burglary in connection with burglaries that had occurred in a previous month at the brother’s warehouse. Burglary is known to be a violent crime and the brothers were particularly worried when they realized a gun of theirs had been stolen in a previous break-in.

2)In 2008, a Waukegan, Illinois, store clerk shot and injured a robber. According to news reports, there was potential the clerk could face criminal charges, even though he acted in self-defense. The store clerk did not have a firearm owner’s identification card and would be charged with a State firearms violation. Additionally, Illinois law does not allow employees to carry a gun in a place of business. Rather, the law only allows individuals to carry a gun in a place of business if that individual is the owner or has proprietary interest.

3)In September 2009, a Lithonia homeowner from Dekalb County, Georgia, was charged with aggravated assault after he shot someone who was trying to knock down the door of his home as an attempt to break into the residence. According to the neighbors, there had been trouble in the neighborhood before. A police spokesperson said the homeowner was charged because the robber was technically not inside the home. The suspected robber was charged with attempted burglary.