"If it hadn't been for him (the armed customer), there's no telling what would have happened."

I guess robbing a Tulsa grocery store wasn't such a bright idea. Not when the customers can carry concealed weapons:

Man shot during store robbery
By SHAUN EPPERSON World Staff Writer
3/19/2006

Police say a customer with a concealed-pistol permit shot one of two armed men holding up a Tulsa grocery.

A man was shot Saturday evening as he and another man attempted to rob a Homeland store near 91st Street and Memorial Drive, police reported.

Two men in dark clothing approached a register around 7:15 p.m and demanded money from employees as one of the men brandished a semi-automatic pistol, Capt. Brett Bailey said.

Shortly afterward, a customer in line nearby pulled out a revolver and shot the man holding the pistol, Bailey said.

Police think the customer fired one shot at the robber, he said.

Although police don't know where the gunman was wounded, they know that he was hit, Bailey said.

"There was blood on the floor," he said. "He definitely was hit."

The two bandits then ran into the parking lot and fled in a white four-door sedan, Bailey said.

The vehicle possibly was an older model Oldsmobile, police said.

Police do not know whether the men got any money from the store, they said.

Officers locked down the store and asked everyone inside to give a statement about what they saw, Bailey said.

Police said the customer who shot the robber had a license to carry a concealed pistol.

Several bystanders were in the store, but no one else was injured, police said.

A Homeland employee, Linda Lewis, said she was sacking groceries when she saw two men wearing hoods trying to push their way into a gated area of the store to an office where a safe was located.

"I turned around and saw these guys come in with hoods over their faces," she said.

She lay down on the floor, she said, because she "knew something was going to happen."

Next, she said, she heard gunfire and feared that an employee had been shot.

"I heard two shots, and I didn't know if a customer or a robber was shot," she said. "I thought we'd be next."

Lewis said she was "scared half to death," adding that she was thankful that no cus tomers or employees had been shot.

"If it hadn't been for him (the armed customer), there's no telling what would have happened," she said.

Police were searching for two men in connection with the robbery Saturday.

More:

2 Percent Of Oklahomans Have A Permit To Carry A Concealed Weapon

49,221 people in Oklahoma have a permit to carry a concealed weapon, which is less than 2 percent of the population. One of those is a 75 year old retired man who shot a robbery suspect this weekend inside a Tulsa grocery store.

News on 6 crime reporter Lori Fullbright takes a look at the law.

Tulsa Police say two men confronted a store employee at a Homeland grocery store near 91st and South Memorial on Saturday and demanded money at gunpoint.

A 75-year-old man, who was standing in the checkout line, legally had a revolver hidden inside his pocket. He pulled it out and shot at the robbers. Tulsa Police Sgt Mike Huff: "Fired a couple of shots. One hit one of the suspects in the mid-torso area. We feel he is seriously injured."

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation says 7,622 people in Tulsa County have a permit to carry a concealed weapon anywhere except into government buildings, schools, universities, jails, places that sell beer, places where there's betting, professional sporting events or any other business that forbids it. Violating that part of the law will cost you a $250 fine and you'll have your permit suspended for three months.

The News on 6 could not find a posting at the 91st and Memorial Homeland store, prohibiting firearms.

Tulsa Police say deciding to shoot isn't simple, even when it's legal. Sgt Mike Huff: "We always have to think about our backdrop, what we're shooting at, if we miss it, what will we hit and if there's a gun battle, if they miss us, what are they going to hit. It sounds simple but in a split second, it's a big decision to engage someone in deadly force."

What police officers can't publicly say is most of them secretly applaud citizens who defend their own lives or the lives or others. Sgt Mike Huff: "The bad guys with guns are shooting at people and they have no rules to follow. They obviously disregard the laws. The good, hard-working people are the ones who are following the rules. Over the years, they've acted very responsibly." (Halleluja!)

58 concealed permits are currently under suspension, the state revoked 18 of them last year. (That's less than 0.12% under suspension, less than 0.04% revoked.)

Tulsa Police say this weekend's shooting appears to right in line with the law and folkswith Homeland told us they have no comment.

Tulsa Police say if the robbery suspect doesn't get medical treatment soon, he could die, in fact, they wonder if he might already be dead.

Sweet bleeding Jeebus, GOOD PRESS! (You did note, I hope, that the TV station checked to see if the grocery store was posted against concealed-carry. Like the cops hadn't done that already.) Here are a couple of shots of the wounded bad-guy:

It's reported that the shooter used a .357 Magnum revolver. Looks like it was pretty effective.

And what is it with elderly guys intervening? This reminds me a lot of 72 year-old Due Moore who intervened in an assault occurring in a New Mexico WalMart last August. I fully expect the GFW to wail and gnash their teeth over this shooting just as they did after Mr. Moore saved Ms. Joyce Cordova's life. Screw 'em. Regardless of the repeated "let the professionals handle it" mantra we normally get from the press, the rank-and-file cops on the beat know that citizens who defend themselves are a net asset. It's only for political reasons that cops "can't publicly say" that. Kudos to Sgt. Huff, who will probably catch a lot of flak for saying it on record.

As for the shooter, good on you, sir! There's no telling what would have happened had you not fired, but chances are really good that at least one of those scumbags will never try to rob anyone again.

(All links via AR15.com)