Here are two recent accounts of armed citizens saving their lives and the lives of others using guns.

Concertina opens a day after owner shoots and kills would-be robber

(From JS Online)

–Music blared from the speakers as Andy Kochanski served drinks at Kochanski’s Concertina Beer Hall Friday evening, one night after the owner shot and killed a 23-year-old Milwaukee armed robbery suspect at the south side bar.

Kochanski, who was surrounded by family and friends in the polka bar at 1920 S. 37th St., declined to talk about the events of the previous night, saying he had been advised not to make any further statements.

Earlier in the day, Kochanski, 43, told reporters that three armed men tried to rob the establishment Thursday night while he and two customers were inside.

He fired at the robbers, killing one of them. Milwaukee police confirmed those details, and the two other suspects fled, Milwaukee police Lt. Mark Stanmeyer said.

Iowa husband shoots, kills escaped inmate who held him, wife hostage

(From CNN)

— An Iowa man shot and killed an escaped inmate on Tuesday after the convict held him and his wife hostage in their home, investigators said.

Jerome Mauderly, 71, and his wife, Carolyn, 66, were asleep when escaped inmate Rodney Long, 38, broke into their rural Bedford home a little after 10 p.m. on Monday, said Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation spokesman Mitch Mortvedt.

Long — who had allegedly shot a deputy pursuing him on Sunday — woke up the Mauderlys and disabled their landline phones except for a line in the couple’s bedroom. He then took a shotgun that Jerome Mauderly, a retired prison guard and farmer, had loaded that night and placed next to the bed before going to sleep.

“(The Mauderlys) knew the situation. There was an escaped inmate, armed and dangerous. They were not the only people in the community that had loaded weapons that night,” Mortvedt said.

The Mauderlys’ home is isolated, surrounded by cornfields with the nearest neighbor about a mile away.

Long took the shotgun from the bedroom and moved it to the kitchen. He held the Mauderlys hostage at gunpoint for about four hours while he rummaged through their home for supplies and used their cell phone.

Around 2 a.m. Tuesday, while Long was upstairs looking for supplies, Jerome Mauderly sneaked into the kitchen and recovered his shotgun, Mortvedt said. Carolyn Mauderly called 911 from their bedroom. When Long walked down the stairs, Jerome Mauderly shot him in the torso. Long was found lying face down in the kitchen, Mortvedt said.