But that philosophy certainly didn't help Frank Petro, owner of Frank's Gun Shop & Taxidermy, in Saltsburg, PA, just outside of Philadelphia. His business also features a "double tap shooting range" as advertised on his webpage, which features a news feed from the NRA-ILA and an NRA-approved training program ("Tuesday is Ladies Night"). Here's his Facebook page for his business.
What could be safer? Not only was this not a "no gun zone" that the pro-gun folks are always saying are so unsafe, but it was literally FULL of guns within easy reach -- and approved by the NRA!
Unfortunately for Mr. Petro, all those guns couldn't save him. In fact, it was one of his OWN GUNS, taken from a display case, that killed him, in his gun shop.
You see, Mr. Petro had an ongoing conflict with a man named Jack Edmundson Jr., who had extorted a large amount of money from Mr. Petro.
Edmundson confronted Petro in the gun shop, took a loaded handgun from a display case, and shot Petro twice. Edmundson then started trying to set the store on fire, when Petro revived and attacked Edmundson, shooting and injuring him, before Edmundson delivered the lethal shooting to Petro.
Petro died, guns in reach. Edmundson is recovering before being arraigned for the shooting.
From an article:
Frank Petro had since contacted an attorney about getting back the money he had given Edmundson, his brother told police.
Surveillance video shows Edmundson grabbing a pistol from a display case at Petro's shop and shooting him twice on Tuesday afternoon, according to the criminal complaint. The video also shows Edmundson pouring black powder around the shop and spraying a fuel, with which police believe Edmundson intended to set fire to the business, the complaint said.
Instead, Petro, who survived the initial shooting, got up and scuffled with Edmundson and shot him in the thigh before Edmundson shot Petro at least one more time in the face, police allege, citing the video.
Online court records don't list an attorney for Edmundson. Dougherty's office said Edmundson was hospitalized and would be arraigned when he's medically stable.
Edmundson is a paramedic and well known to volunteer firefighters in the Saltsburg area, while Petro was well known and liked in the rural community, where hunting is a way of life.
Edmundson worked as a detective for the Lancaster County drug task force in eastern Pennsylvania, a job he lost when he was convicted of stealing rare coins seized during a 1995 drug raid. He was sentenced to one to two years in prison, a term that was knocked down to three to six months in county jail, before being paroled in 2001, Lancaster County detectives said.Every life is precious, but multiple studies show that a gun is far, far more likely to cost you your life than to protect you, as Mr. Petro and others have found out.
[this post is part of an ongoing series of people being shot to death or attacked despite being armed (and sometimes because they are armed)]
