Florida Sheriff Supports Man Who Defended Home With “AK-47-Style Gun”

A Florida sheriff went viral on social media after saying a homeowner with an “AK-47-style gun” won’t be charged for shooting at armed intruders. 

“He started shooting for his own protection, to get them out of his house and to protect himself,” Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons said in a prerecorded video uploaded on Facebook. 

Simmons said three suspects broke into the man’s home where at least one pointed a handgun at the homeowner, and the other two shoved him to the ground. The victim tried to reach for his pistol when one of the suspects knocked it to the floor. 

The victim was able to escape and ran to a back room of the house, where he retrieved an AK-47-style rifle and unleashed a hail of bullets on the three suspects.  

Simmons said two suspects were identified, and a third person suffered a headshot wound. 

“We get a report of a third individual that had a wound to the head not long after [the home invasion]. The stories he’s giving us as to how he got shot in the head are inconsistent at best. In short, we don’t believe him. So what we’re looking at is to determine whether this is the third person involved,” Simmons said but did not identify the wounded individual. 

“Those of you who may ask a question, is the homeowner going to be charged for shooting at these people? Absolutely not,” the sheriff added. “The homeowner’s protecting himself, and in Florida, in Escambia County, you can protect yourself.”

Not too long ago, another sheriff in Florida said: 

“If somebody’s breaking into your house, you’re more than welcome to shoot them in Santa Rosa County, and we prefer that you do actually.” 

One of the highly debated firearm topics is whether or not a semi-automatic rifle is a good home defense gun. Democrats are on a crusade to ban AR-15s and limit magazine capacity that may inhibit a homeowner from defending themselves against multiple intruders. 

Here’s GOP congressional candidate Jerone Davison from Arizona explaining why “you just might need that semi-automatic [AR-15] and all 30 rounds” in a political ad.