As the saying goes, don’t start trouble with old men. They’re long past their fighting days, but gnarled fingers can just as well squeeze a trigger.
79-year-old Vietnam War veteran George Karkoc thought both his fighting days and his shooting days were long behind him. Around 7 a.m. on a calm Friday morning in the San Fernando Valley area in California, Karkoc heard a disturbance happening outside of his home. When he emerged into the cool morning air, he discovered his neighbor had been chased inside of her home by a naked intruder either under the influence or experiencing a mental episode.
Karkoc called 911 and then went to fetch his legal firearm in case it was necessary.
Fortunately, it turned out to be a lifesaving decision.
A Quiet Morning Turns Violent
His neighbor ran out her front door with the intruder in hot pursuit where the 79-year-old and others gathered tried to talk the man down, but some form of psychosis and a language barrier made it impossible to deescalate.
The naked intruder then picked up Karkoc, slamming him to the ground. For many 79-year-olds, this might have been the end of the line, but Karkoc isn’t a normal old man. Now with two broken legs, he managed to maneuver his pistol into his attacker's chest, firing two rounds then a third into the man's head, ending the assault.
Karkoc survived the attack and is now recovering.
When De-escalation Fails
Nobody sane wants to take a life. Even an old war veteran tried not to, and you might argue he tried too long and let his attacker get close. That doesn’t matter now, but what does is that Karkoc, his family, and his neighbor are alive and well.
His experience is one many in his age group are familiar with. A younger, more violent attacker thinking they can take advantage of an old man. While it is true that the state of his attacker’s mind was at play here, there is no denying that there are some people who simply have no problem taking advantage of those they deem weaker than themselves.
In cases like this, the firearm is the greatest equalizer. It is the bulwark between life and death for the disadvantaged.
The Hard Truth About Self-Defense
Karkoc shot this man not because he wanted to, there was just no other option. The naked assailant wouldn’t have stopped with him. Incidences of self-defense are just that. Men and women who would rather not take a life being forced to defend themselves. That is the essence of modern 2A advocacy, and it is no better demonstrated than in this case.
Nothing else would have stopped the intruder. Police were called but would not make it in time. Deescalation is a valuable skill in the tool bag of any responsible gun owner and person, but this time it wasn’t going to work. Karkoc tried, and it failed. He wasn’t some trigger-happy gun toting vigilante; he was a man defending himself and others from a young, violent intruder possessed by his vices or failing mental health.
There is a continuing conversation to be had about mental health and its effect on this situation, but that is not a conversation that can be had when faced with an intruder out to kill you. Karkoc did everything he could to not have to pull the trigger, but in the end, his hand was forced and instead he became a vessel for the spirit of gun rights in this country.
You can’t control other people, but you can control yourself, and the one universal protection against an immediate threat is a firearm and a steady hand to wield it.
Become a Right To Bear member and get the backup you can trust