Concealed Handgun Defense in Oregon

One of the co-owners (Connie Barns) of the Mistic Gentleman's Club (strip club) where bad guy Hjelmeland shot bouncer Brian Rizzo and two others, described the incident as a "random act of violence." It was NOT random.

Almost a week ago, after being rejected from the strip club Hjelmeland returned that same night in a Holloween mask with a gun, made racial slurs, and started shooting. Rizzo among others was shot and he is in critical condition at the time of this writing.

A different bouncer, Jonathan Baer with a concealed handgun license and handgun pulled his gun and shot Hjelmeland just outside of the club as Hjelmeland advanced on others. Ultimately Hjelmeland dies as a result of those shots.

A student in one of our concealed handgun classes had a similar incident in Portland in the late 2000s. He asked I not put his story in my book Oregon Concealed or identify him to our classes. But he did say it was OK to tell his story keeping his name out of it. In that spirit:

I will call him "K." He ordered the drunk Bad Guy out of the club for fighting. Bad Guy turning at the door confronted K. Pointing his fist with fore finger extended and thumb up as if it were a gun said, "I am going to come back and shoot you in the guts." He dropped his thumb as if a hammer was falling.

K called 911. He reported the incident, telling the operator he feared for his life. She said, "Was anyone hurt?"

"No."

"Then we cannot dispatch."

K was amazed. "But I think this was for real."

She responded, "But was anyone hurt?"

Again a "no" from K.

"Then we cannot dispatch."

Forty five minutes later K was on the operating table. He reported he died three times on the operating table. The doctors sewed him up with seven feet of his intestines removed, almost 1/3 of his liver gone. The .357 Magnum messed him up internally in a major way, leaving K with a permanent colostomy. He went from almost 280 lbs. to  135 pounds. The fiance of course was not committed to that kind of long haul. He lost the two other jobs, and had to quit school. The baggy bib coveralls covered the colostomy.

K reminded me of Ron Kolow (sp?) who worked underground in the coal mine with me in Utah. Ron had been caved on and busted up internally. The dug him out. We called him "Lyal" for "Luck Your Alive." He too walked like an old man, all bent over in the same manner as K. Ron used a walking stick and it looked like K should have one too.

At the closest, the police are a 911 call away while the confrontation is in your face. If one cannot defend them self then they are no better off than teachers or federal workers in Oregon.