A 10 year old boy in Bellingham, Washington saved his mother’s life with a BB gun last week.
When a man who had been renting a room in the mother’s house became enraged and angry and began attacking the mother, the boy hit him with a board. The man then chased the boy around the house and when he followed him outside, the boy and mother tried locking the man out. But the man then tried to get back in through a window and grabbed the mother, threatening to kill both of them. That’s when the boy grabbed his pump-action BB gun and shot the man four times, buying him and his mother time to run away and call the police, who arrived and nabbed the attacker.
Didn’t even shoot his eye out either!
Read the whole article: “Bellingham Boy Shoots Mom’s Attacker in Face with BB Gun“
Hat tip to Travis H. for this link.
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{ 45 comments… read them below or add one }
Awesome, good for that little boy. Too bad the mom didn’t have a 9mm in her nightstand to protect herself!
Kid should get a proper firearm for Christmas. And some quality instruction on its safe and proper use.
True, the only man in the building, was a child!
Freakin’ Sweet! I hope the mom introduced her son to the ‘Christmas Story’ movie.
Kid will probably be sued by the perp, the ACLU, and the Brady Center all at once…
Still, good for him!
I’m saving that article for my son to read.
I agree that it was a heroic of that young man, while it may not have been how I or anyone else here would have handled the situation. He done what he could with the tools, he had available to him. He stood proudly in the breach when it was needed. There is nothing more that needs to be commented on about him or the situation. i wish he had been better armed, but that doesn’t matter neither.
This kid deserves his Man Card a couple of years early
Dredd, you really don’t have any idea what the ACLU does, do you?
No need to understand it, every time you see them on the news they’re standing for something totally wrong.
Good shooting to the little man. I have a .45 I would proudly donate to his arsenal. If someone springs for some real training.
Smiley
“This kid deserves his Man Card a couple of years early.” -Brent
Indeed. Wish I could meet him.
Anyone who says they don’t need to understand something they dislike is an idiot.
That being said, good on the kid for keeping his composure well enough to evaluate his options and pick an effective one. Time to take him to the range to practice shooting a .22 now.
What a stud.
What kind of a woman takes in a grown man to live under her roof in the first place?
Robert Black,
Maybe the kind of woman who’s doing what she can to provide for her son.
Robert Black – A woman that needs money for her and her son survival.
Some people have harder lives than others…
Wish I could guarantee that I’d be that able to effect changes in a bad situation. That kid has already done more to help someone than I feel I ever have or will!
Katrina & Jeff: You both have valid points. The ACLU has done some good, but they have a reputation for representing some really ignorant cases. There’s a lot wrong with the world. Can we just get over it and go back to admitting that this kid did something that most adults would have been afraid to to?
The mother might be well advised to get her and her son training in the saftey and shooting of weaponry and keep a gun well at hand if she to rent part of her home to strangers.
It takes minutes for the police to arrive when seconds count.
Jeez, what decade are you in Robert Black? People sublet to other genders all the time.
If the kid and mom get any legal retribution from this guy, I volunteer to go choke him out with no tapout and shove the bb gun up his ass. Promise
I’m with Robert Black on this one. You all are saying stuff about her providing for her family and “geez this is the 21st century” when you are literally reading an article that makes a pretty good point as to why it’s probably not a good idea.
Single moms have been renting rooms out of their homes since at least the 1960′s. Two examples from recent popular culture are “Forrest Gump” and “Hearts in Atlantis.” However, we all know the average man nowadays isn’t anywhere near the gentleman from that time. So I don’t know what the answer is.
Eric G / James K: I agree. The broad women-should-not-sublet-to-men thing is, of course, nuts. On the other hand *this*-woman-should-not-sublet-to-*this*-guy looks like perfect sense in hindsight.
I suspect he looked a lot better when she drew up the lease.
Shawn Elliott,
I have to disagree. If everytime you met someone, he or she punched you in the eye, do you really have to “understand” that person before you dislike him or her? Also, “idiot”? C’mon man, you are an Art of Manliness reader like myself, so I’m sure your use of the tell-tale sign of a weak mind (i.e. hyperbole) when attacking someone for his alleged weak mind was a momentary lapse of judgment. Based on your interests, I’m guessing you were too intelligent to resort to those tactics.
That issue aside, kudos to the kid.
Not to help this thing get farther off topic, but for what it’s worth the ACLU is one of those organizations that you’re more likely to disapprove of the less you know about it… Just like the NRA.
Bad laws target deplorable people first, so anybody looking to fight bad laws before they build up momentum will end up defending some deplorable people. You can’t judge a civil rights organization by headlines and sound bites.
I _do_ wish the ACLU would stop trying to pander to urban liberal donors by pigheadedly reading the Second Amendment out of the Bill of Rights and refusing to stand up for it while simultaneously claiming to defend “the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States,” but that’s really an argument for another place, isn’t it?
When I was a kid , years ago, you did whatever necessary to put food on the table and shelter for the family. She is probably poor and trying to make it herself. Have you walked it her shoes?
What has more guts than a wagon full of hagis and saved his mom’s life? This kid!
Small note: the gun in the picture with the article is a lever action, not pump action.
Brett, Is there a way that we as a group of men, can send this boy a copy of “Manvotionals”. I’m willing to purchase the book for him and then have it sent. Would you consider signing the book?
Agreed, the boy deserves his man card early. I actually don’t agree with the “better armed” sentiment however. The BB gun was obviously sufficient for the job at hand. Honestly, I think its a weakness to be overly willing to kill someone else. There’s a reason killing/murder is considered a sin in every religion, and a crime in every civilized country. Protect those you love and who love you. If you are able to affect that without taking a life, good on you. I imagine this is likely an unpopular stance on the venerable forum, but its my belief, and I’m standing by it.
Honestly, I think its a weakness to be overly willing to kill someone else. There’s a reason killing/murder is considered a sin in every religion, and a crime in every civilized country.
Civilized people recognize that killing in self defense is not murder, and don’t glibly conflate the two concepts.
Killing is an act whose moral status is context dependent. It can be deplorable, excusable, or laudable depending on the circumstances. Being unwilling to kill to protect innocent lives is not a virtue.
Today, a BB gun hero. Tomorrow, another idiot who accidentally shoots his wife when he uses his gun to drill a hole in the wall to run some illegal cable.
“…[he] was trying to use a .22-caliber pistol to shoot a hole through the wall in the couple’s home to enable them to run a wire through to the television. His first shot was apparently unsuccessful in penetrating the wall and his second shot somehow hit his wife in the chest, 34-year-old Patsy Long. She was pronounced dead on Saturday night…”
http://www.switched.com/2008/03/26/man-accidentally-kills-wife-during-botched-satellite-tv-install/
Thanks Darwin….
To a few points raised in the comments:
1. A woman renting out a room to a man is not a condemnable thing. What she is guilty of is apparently not running a background check.
2. There is a great difference between killing and murdering. If you research the oldest known copies of the Bible, you know that there are many inadequate translations from language to language and there is a very strong case that the commandment normally listed as “Thou shall not kill.” originally read “Thou shall not murder”. Not a fan of religion? No problem. Ever heard of something called killing in self-defense?
3. “Today, a BB gun hero. Tomorrow, another idiot who accidentally shoots his wife when he uses his gun to drill a hole in the wall to run some illegal cable.” I may have misinterpreted your meaning, but comparing a kid who was watching a man hurting and threatening to kill his mom and did what he could to stop him to someone who disregarded every single rule of safe firearms handling is a very weak way to make a point. A firearm is a dangerous thing and should be handled appropriately and that does not make every gun owner a complete nutjob.
As for my opinion on the article, all I say is I’m glad that boy had the bravery to stand up and defend his mom with what he had at hand. He probably saw his world crumbling and thought that his mother was going to die. Had I been in his situation, I want to believe that I would also give all I had to stop the assailant.
Tom O’Leary have you ever shot a gun? instead of reading about a 10 year old you shot some ass hole a few time with a bb gun would you rather read (Mom and ten year old son killed by crazy man) Sure there are some dumb people that would shoot holes in the wall before seeing were everybody is but not all gun owner are that dumb. the “illegal cable” is not illegal cable anyway not in my state. That story must be from Organ lol dame communist. I am an election so yea I do know.
Kinda disappointed by the tone of some of the comments on this article.
When I grew up in DC the nations high crime center …… The old man kept a tanker’s short
Carbine and a double banana cliP hanging in
His closet . I being the oldest male and he traveling & taking BB practice at the local boys
Club. Use to say to me Son shove this clip in here , pull back the lever to load and aim at the middle of the Intruder ‘s chest.
Mind u 4bro & sister , big ole white husky, &
Every house in the area was broken into ….
Never had to use the rifle …..,.., I new I could
If called upon !
DG
Ps: mom had a colt 25 in her dresser!
lol “you’ll shoot ‘yer [attacker's] eye out kid”
I say step that brave lad up to a 22 cal repeating CO2 pellet gun engraved with “Don’t Tread on Mom.”
The kid showed courage and fortitude – more MEN need to stand up and protect their families.
Wow. A 10 yr old boy improvises and does what is necessary to help his mom and all of the sudden this thread goes sideways. Too many people suffering from their Black Friday hangover still? Time for some Merry Christmas, friends.
I’ve been there….yep, early issue man card. Hopefully the kid can get some excellent mentorship and the mom can get on her feet. Good job kid.
Very manly indeed. Not to lessen the situation, but take out the BB gun and and the attacker. The young man saw a problem and without thinking created a solution. Even getting the attacker outside and trying to isolate him. When that fell through he used the only thing left at his disposal to protect his mother. I commend him for using every tool in the box before turning to the gun. He only used it when he had to.
I love stories with outcomes like this one. I feel for the mother, and the boy, I hope they are not adversely effected for long term from the incident. I attempted to rent out a floor of my house a few years ago, and found that you cannot rent to a specific gender in an advertisement. Needless to say i pulled my offer. The floor has just sat empty for three years. I have two boys under the age of 14 so I won’t rent to a male i don’t really know, but i guess i can afford not to rent it out. The laws need to change when you are inviting someone under your roof. it is different if it were an apartment building, and a place of business, such as a rental property managed by a business.
he’s a good boy and its sad he’s now with CPS due to him saving he’s mom from this man. i pray she stays safe.
GREAT JOB!! You are a real hero! If for some reason you are ever in a similar situation again, shoot his eyes out…it could save your life!!