AR15 Style Rifle Used in Defense; Did California Restrictions Handicap Defender?

On 6 June, 2017, at a quiet residential home in Fresno, California, a home invasion resulted in a gunfight . The 30 -year-old  victim who fought back was wounded, two home invaders were killed, as was another victim, the father of the wounded defender. Another man was wounded. His name was not released. The defensive firearm used was described as an AR-15. From abc30.com:

Yang said the family was preparing to celebrate her brother-in-law's birthday when in the early morning two armed suspects walked through their front door. The father, 69-year-old Chong Yee Yang, hollered to warn his children-- one of his son's ran out with an AR-15 and that's when a gun fight began.

"On face value, it appears that these individuals are violent street gang members," said Lt. Dave Madrigal, Fresno Police.

Elijah Mays, 27, and Xavier Williams, 23, are from Stockton and both have extensive criminal histories. Their records include murder, robbery, and home invasion charges.

The home invaders, Mays and Williams, were half-brothers. No drugs were found at the house. This article from last year shows that Asians are being targeted by home invaders. From abc10.com:

The Sacramento Police Department said they sent out an alert via NextDoor in March, warning South Sacramento residents of increases in armed robberies targeting Asians. Most of these were happening in Avondale, Fruitridge Manor, Southeast Village, and Glen Elder. Police said several robberies happened while the victims were at home getting out of their car.

From yourcentralvalley.com:

As a result of the shooting, Mays, Williams, and 69-year old Chong Yang died. Yang was the father of the 30-year old man. That man survived with only a wound to the shoulder, and Dyer said he remains in stable condition. Dyer said Mays and Williams were gang members. Criminal records from San Joaquin County show the two had been arrested previously for robbery, grand theft, and even murder. But why they came to the house armed is still being investigated.

 It is not known if California's severe restrictions on magazine capacity hampered the defensive shooter in this situation.

It is not known how many crimes were prevented, and how many lives saved, by the defenders actions. Both men shot were career criminals. They were fairly young 23, and 27. The had the potential for hundreds, possibly thousands of crimes in their future.

A facebook post by the presumed mother of the home invaders is circulating. I cannot verify if it is legitimate. It has been taken down, but screen shots were taken while it was up.  This site shows the post in its comments section, comment by Tee Ele.

AR-15 type clones are excellent choices for home defense.  They are powerful and easy to handle. With the right ammunition they do not over-penetrate.  Normally, they have excellent magazine capacity to deal with multiple attackers.

Anti-rights activists claim that semi-auto rifles are not useful in defense of home and self. This is another datum disproving that claim.


©2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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