Via KTVU:
(Video follows)
Witnesses said that at about 6 a.m. Friday, three loose dogs pounced on 52-year-old Janelle Dalson, who was on a jog through her neighborhood. The woman’s screams woke one neighbor, who came outside to find her fending off the three dogs, which collectively weighed nearly 300 pounds.
“Course she was screaming and begging for help. You know, ‘please help me,’†said responding neighbor Gary Paquet, who choked up while describing what he witnessed. “They actually had her body up off the ground, and they were trying to rend her apart.â€
Fortunately, Paquet came out of his house armed with his Walther PPK Handgun.
“Lead dog came up, and I shot him in the head. And he just dropped right there,†said Paquet.
But as the other two dogs continued their assault, Paquet’s gun jammed. Just then, two other women came running up the street and the two dogs went after them. One of the women was pregnant.
“Those two dogs went right for them, and they took down the pregnant one and started chewing on her,†said Paquet.
Neighbor John Bettencourt also came outside armed with a handgun, and shot the two dogs before they could seriously hurt the pregnant woman.
Mr. Paquet’s version of events suggests that had he not been armed with a handgun, Ms. Dalson would be dead. After shooting the first dog, his gun jammed, and his attempts to get the dogs off of Dalson were unsuccessful until two other passers-by diverted their attention, but only because they then became the targets. Luckily, another neighbor was armed and ready to deal with this attack, preventing further serious injury, and potentially saving an unborn life in the process.
We can learn several things from this experience:
Watch the Video:
Hat tip Wheedle
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Personally, at the house, a 12ga or AR-15 is the first thing I grab. The only value of a pistol is that it’s lighter to carry/conceal, and makes a dandy tool for fighting your way back to where your rifle is stored.
gun jam. slow is smooth. smooth is fast. got it?
/unless you’re piece is junk, then you’re screwed…
In Maryland, it is illegal to keep a loaded handgun in the house. Plus, I probably would have gone to jail for shooting the dog.
That wouldn’t have stopped me.
And yes, I do prefer revolvers. The S&W Model 65 .357 is one nice revolver. Shoots straight, never jams, and you can find them reasonably priced, used, since the cops used to carry them so there are a lot on the market.
I don’t know if a 12ga would have brought down a big dog or just made him mad. I know a .357 round would.
– Pete
I prefer revolvers, shot guns,  good quality knives like Buck or Kabar, aluminum ball bats, golf clubs, etc for home defense.  We have auto pistols too, and yes, they could jam.  If you’re out jogging, bike riding you could carry pepper spray or a lock blade knife or a pointed phillips screwdriver in your pocket.  Another thing you could do with  aggressive dogs is kick/hit them under the  chin/muzzle,  or  in the nose, eyes.   Any other ideas, please post.  Thanks
I have a CCP in Missouri. Â I pack everywhere.
My wife once asked me why I carry that gun everywhere, and I responded with  “I do not ever want to be in a situation where I say to myself  “I wish I had my gun””
Lord willing, Â I will never have to use it, Â but as I have told my wife, Â if you ever see me pull my gun , then cover your ears.
By the way, my favorite conceal ……Glock 40, model 27. Â I have fired 1000’s rounds…..never jammed once.
I sleep like a baby knowing that my Benelli 12 gauge is sitting nearby.
My neighbors would have a very different impression of me if I brought that weapon out to kill some dogs though…
Screw them!, they are wine tasting, yuppie attorneys that would frantically push little buttons on their phones at the sound of their front door being kicked in at 3am.
I’ve found my best home defense is to shake my wife then throw her at the attacker. It’s a lot noisier than a gun but she never jams up and I’m always wearing my ear plugs anyway.
Morale of the story, Get a good gun that doesn’t jam, what if it would have been 3 grown men.
Comments…..
Uh,,, welcome to Kentucky Pete…while conducting target practice around here, if anybody calls the sheriff??
He just joins us and brings us free ammo!!
Comments…..
Welcome to Ky. Pete….while having target practice around here, if any call the sheriff??
He just joins us and we get a little free ammo!
The moral of this story is very simple. Buy a Glock! A 12 gauge in this situation? I don’t think so.
The pistol is a better idea if the screaming is just kids screaming while playing and you made a honest mistake it is easier to quickly hide the pistol the AR15 than makes you the crazy with a gun in the street. And then the person trying to help becomes the “bad Guy” in this current state of affairs. (But still keep the 12 ga and ar handy.)
never….repeat never….go into attack mode with a handgun. violation of this basic combat tenet has cost untold lives.
a handgun , regardless of it’s bullets’  kinetic energy,  is for self defense only.
I don’t know what kind of auto’s you guys are saying that jam, but Glocks, Sigs, Kimbers are just as reliable as a revolver. With 10+ rounds. I’ve been shooting combat matches for 15 years and trust these autos 100 percent. And 12 gage? You could kill a elk or buffalo with one. Everyone should get training. Lots of it. Your shooting skills are very perishable. One tap rack bang would have put that jammed gun back in the ball game. Bless him for coming out and risking his ass to save someone.
There is that old saying, shoot shovel and shut-up, but it’s a bit hard to say nothing if half the neighbourhood is awake from gunfire.
I keep a japanese katana beside my bed, it never jams, it’s hard to miss a target with, and it’s very very quiet. I used it in a banana plantation once and leveled 5 medium sized plants in about ten seconds. I regularly practice on a couple of frangipani trees and some clumps of dracena masangeana (happy plant).
One day I hope to get loose in a sugarcane plantation and practice some forward moving striking. The beauty of such a weapon is that wherever your blows land, a fair amount of damage is guaranteed. All good fun hey.
The guy is a hero! Yeah, his gun jammed, but, hey, it happens.
I’m pretty technical with guns and the revolver vs auto isn’t as cut and dried as many of you think. You should see what a little sand will do in a revolver! …or a stray dime that was in your pocket. Generally, though revolvers tend to be slightly more reliable than an auto. But, I wouldn’t bet on a cheap revolver against a Glock or a Sig. But, this was a PPK! A very reliable gun. What happened? Here is my theory:
You load up the magazine. Pull one extra out of the box and drop it into the chamber and drop the slide on it. You snap the clip in place and you’re ready to go, right? Sure! Now, the gun sets under the bed, behind the pillow, in a drawer for six months. What happens? Well, you cleaned the gun right before you loaded it up. There is, say, a little oil on the inside of the chamber and at the head of the chamber. A PPK is chambered in 380 acp. The cartridge headspaces on the mouth, the front end of the casing. The gun has been setting there for 6 months bearing down on the casing. …and all the oil evaporated. Stuck.
When the hammer falls, the gun fires. Being recoil operated the barrel recoils kicking it and the slide back, attempting to extact the fired casing. But, its stuck! The extractor exceeds its stress level, flexes and rides over the rim of the shell leaving the fired casing in the chamber. As the slide moves rearward, it clears the shells in the magazine, they snap up, the slide moves forward, picks up an unfired case, slides it up the loading ramp and THUD! It stops when the tip of the bullet hits the back of the stuck, fired case!
Jammed! Why? Lack of action. Once a month, I cycle all the shells in each magazine in all of my auto pistols, through. Sometimes I just shoot them out. Other times I just cycle them by hand.
Never let those cartridges stay jammed in that chamber for more than 30 days. Bad idea.
Another tip for auto pistols is don’t use the clip capacity plus 1. A completely full clip over stresses the spring. Fill the clip, snap it in place, drop the slide. If you can’t hit him in 15 shots, is 16 really going to matter?
So, cycle those rounds through occasionally.
Don’t store the gun with the clip completely full.
No autoloader, regardless of the quality, is immune. But, most will be completely reliable if you do the above things and keep them clean.
Also, blowback operated autos are immune to the above type of jam. My carry gun is a Hi-Point C9 Comp. Its a $150 gun. Never jams. NEVER!
I’m impressed that he dropped the first dog with the first shot. He just needs to be a little more vigilant with his maintenance.
Hey Netranger, might want to check your theories against reality.
1st) The PPK is a blowback operated pistol just like your C9. That design requires a solid grip and makes it very susceptible to FTE or FTF jams due to limpwristing.
2nd) Your ideas about the cycling of the ammo aren’t just wrong, they are dangerous.Â
a. The repeated compression/ decompression of the magazine spring is what weakens and wears out the spring. This can lead to malfunctions as proper spring tension is vital to correct function.
b. Repeated cycling of live ammo increases the risk of a discharge due to malfunction or negligence. It also increases the risk of a kaboom from ammo that has had the bullet set back into the casing through repeated chamberings which can increase internal pressures to a dangerous level.
c. Storing a magazine (not a clip, it makes a difference) with less than a full load is probably a wise idea in your Hi Point as they are known for having substandard magazines that are prone to feed lip problems due to the very thin, weak steel used in the mags. On another weapons platform with high quality magazines storing spare mags fully loaded isn’t an issue.
3rd)You are not as technically proficient with firearms as you think you are. Please get some solid firearms training before you hurt yourself or someone else. Also, please quit spewing internet commando bs advice that is liable to get someone hurt if they follow it.
Kthx.
Nice breakdown of the auto issue netranger.
Have you ever seen a webley MkVI .445 centre break revolver? The british empire was built using that gun, no firing pin, just a hammer and you can break it down on the field using a small coin and two empty cartridges as tools. Not a lot of range to it but it packs a 45 punch up close and is the sort of gun you could rely on always firing.
Maintenance takes care of most jams. I personally have put 500 rounds per day on several two day classes through my Taurus 24/7 .45 which most people consider a cheap gun. Never a jam. We have to use spent casings to create a jam to practice malfunction drills.
But NetRanger is right. You let one sit up, or just carry it every day for six months without cleaning and it will possibly jam.  And jams are not the end of the world. They are why you practice malfunction drills. If you don’t practice malfunction drills, you should.  If you don’t know any, take a class. There are a lot of good, reasonably priced instructors around that teach them.
….be very careful of oil near primers.
always be very careful of too much gun oil near the primer- cartridge seal. oil becomes very thin (much less viscous) in a hot gun and may penetrate the primer-cartridge junction and render the primer a dud.
@NetRanger: I agree on the PPK. The PPK must be “broke in” & factory greese completely cleaned out. Very short tight spring. No limp wristing & gun must be cycled & kept clean with very light oil. This gun does not like cheap dirty loads.  Previous factory recall on this weapon also.  Reconditioned weapon has factory pin punch mark on top of rear dove tail.  Â
F@@K the BS here about gun maintenance. A cheap baseball bat would have done the trick without all the crap here about how to prevent a jam. Also works well against crackheads and trailer park trash.
with most of our luck , if this happened to one of us..the ASPCA or PITA would be all over your ass.
Now..who owned these dogs and why arent they in a heap of trouble?
and if they were strays.(pack dogs) whay isnt the animal control dept getting off their duff and taking care of Business?
Poor Dogs.
whay isnt the animal control dept getting off their duff and taking care of Business?…
Probably for the same reason the police are not required to do anything. People are responsible for their own safety.
I wouldn’t want to have had to deal with these dogs with nothing except a club or baseball bat, and neither would many smaller people, or if this were to have happened at night.
I think some people don’t realize that animals can often easily and quickly gain the upper hand in a confrontation. Sometimes people slip.
The dogs didn’t feel sorry for attacking the people, so the people shouldn’t feel sorry for what happened to the dogs.
Next time it might be a bear, an alligator, a cougar, or a fully horned bull… a baseball bat is like a toothpick in that situation.
Beware of “holier than thou” gun guys cruising the net. I run into them frequently. Like this guy. While he may have a few shreds of facts about the PPK, most of the rest of his information is completely flawed andd unproven. While some of what he says has the color of truth, truth it is not. BEWARE. Highly opinionated gun guys can get you in trouble. They can often give you dangerous info.
“The PPK is a blowback operated pistol just like your C9.”
He is are correct on this point. Seems like this is the only one. This does, however, invalidate my theory on what happened. It was probably a clip-stick feed failure. Though, thats not too likely either since the magazine is not a doublestack mag.
“2nd) Your ideas about the cycling of the ammo aren’t just wrong, they are dangerous.”
Opinion noted. I guess I better read up a little bit. But, dangerous to who? The next guy (or dog) you’re going to shoot at? Yes. He is only correct if jamming is safety and feed reliability dangerous. If I were a burgler, I would certainly not want my victims cycling their ammo to increase the feed reliability of their guns. No! THAT would be dangerous!
“a. The repeated compression/ decompression of the magazine spring is what weakens and wears out the spring. This can lead to malfunctions as proper spring tension is vital to correct function.”
Certainly you can wear out the spring. But, spring memory comes into play here. If you experienced it, you know. Quality springs (like the factory mags in the PPK) have memory but they don’t wear out very fast. Memory comes into play MORE if you store the mags fully loaded. You’re much less likely to get spring memory and improper tensioning if you’re one down on the clip. Certainly one would want to replace the magazine after some years. Often you can buy just replacement spings and follows for much less money. A magazine can wear out after some years of cycling ammo through it, however, what are you doing when you go to the range? I’m not talking about cycling it every day. Once a week or so, not every day. Memory will get you long before wear, and so will the next dog or BG! Forget about wear. Worry about stickage and memory.
“b. Repeated cycling of live ammo increases the risk of a discharge due to malfunction or negligence. It also increases the risk of a kaboom from ammo that has had the bullet set back into the casing through repeated chamberings which can increase internal pressures to a dangerous level”
“kaboom”? Ah, yes, laymans’ term for “over pressure head separation” or other gun failure due to an overload. In a properly functioning firearm and good quality ammo, how would one re-seat the bullets? Though the bullet may contact the loading ramp on the way into the chamber, the vector of contact is to steep to cause any re-seat (when a bullet is seated farther back into the cartridge).
Dangerous pressures? Uh, no. Any handloader knows you’re loading way to close to the edge if a few thousandths of an inch of bullet re-seat will produce pressure problems. Bullet seatings certainly has a factory spec, however, in practice they are very variable. Mainly the concern is overal loaded cartridge length. Besides, its very difficult to re-seat 380 bullets. Many .355 bullets used in the 380acp (Assuming its a newer PPK in 380acp, also know as the 9mm short or the 9x17mm) are cannelured so the recoil and vibration of shooting will keep the bullet in its place. Certainly, the bullet is crimped in even if there is no cannelure. (I’ve loaded thousands of them and 9x19s…) Furthermore, the 380 is a fairly short cartridge, thus, the head is nearer the mouth of the cartridge. This means that the (usually brass) of the caseing becomes much thicker, much faster as you move to the rear of the casing. This pretty much eliminates reseating problems to the point of causing, what was it? Ah yes, “kaboom”. I missed that technical term in my studies. Jeez…
“c. Storing a magazine (not a clip, it makes a difference) with less than a full load is probably a wise idea in your Hi Point as they are known for having substandard magazines that are prone to feed lip problems due to the very thin, weak steel used in the mags. On another weapons platform with high quality magazines storing spare mags fully loaded isn’t an issue.”
Honestly, when he caught me on the PPK being a blowback operated auto and not recoil operated, I thought he might actually know something. After reading this, I realize he just got lucky. He obviously has never handled a HP mag before. Once I read this, red flags started going up.
“3rd)You are not as technically proficient with firearms as you think you are. Please get some solid firearms training before you hurt yourself or someone else. Also, please quit spewing internet commando bs advice that is liable to get someone hurt if they follow it.”
Internet commando advice? Really? My Father and myself represent nearly 130 years of firearms technical experience. Mine alone approaches 45 years. Not firearms trivia, actual experience in shooting, hunting, ballistics, reloading and gunsmithing. One of the last things my advice would be considered as “internet commando” advice. Guys with target blocks in their front yards and paths worn to them through the mowed yard usually would not be considered “internet commandos”. When I go to the range, I simply walk out the front door. Thats my pistol/22 range. (up to 50yds). The rifle range is 100yds on out in the field with benches at 100 and 200 yards. Though, mall ninjas will often attack people unprovoked with their untested opinions about firearms subjects, that really only impresses other mall ninjas.
I do admit, I should have said one thing about cycling ammo. (Only a fool needs warned about taking appropriate safety precautions when doing this.) You must remember, cycling ammo does wear the ammo. You cannot do it indefinately. Though it does not wear it like a shooting/reload cycle, it does wear it. It should be first down the range next time you practice.
I never give advice that I do not, myself, follow. I follow all of this. Be careful what people re-tell what they’ve heard and never done. In my 45 years of shooting, reloading, hunting and gunsmitthing, I’ve found that the book information can often be wrong. Some PHD thought it out and put it down and, well, someone thought he was qualified because he had letters after his name. Well, I don’t have 3 letters. I have 45 years of actually doing it. Beware of “training”. It can give you a false sense of importance and superiority. Go to the guys that have done it, not once or twice, but hundreds of times. Go to the guys that live it.
I echo the oil/primer cautions, however, most are sealed, but, can be a problem.
I also echo about the MFDs! As the man said: “A jam is not the end of the world. Thats why we do malfunction drills.”
Tom: All guns benefit from breaking in. Cycling (with safety in mind!) give you a clean environment to cycle. You’re not adding goop to the innards. (Wow! That sounded prefessional, huh?)
But, not only do the guns benefit, so does the ammo. It tends polish the burs off, even though it does wear it. As I said before, too many cycles is not good. But! I have had VERY good luck with guns that jam by cycling a set of ammo through before you shoot it. (Hehe. Like a Jennings J22. Oh, Lord! Consider it a single shot!) Actually, its a great MFD trainer! bang! bang! jam… bang! jam… bang! bang! …you get the idea.Â
as a “semi-literate” gun nut, I would have to say that the Walther PPK is an extremely reliable pistol, and this smells to me like operator error. Â This just stinks like he put some cheap, odd-ball caliber, east european ammo in the thing and it jammed. Â I would bet $100 that it WASNT off the shelf .380 ammo.
The other possibility is that he was so spazzed out that he had both hands clamped over the slide in a death grip. Â Then, when he fired, the slide couldn’t recoil and pick up another round because his hand was on it.
Either case, it was his fault.
Ok, I bought a cheap khan 33 round mag for a glock 9mm. I loaded it with 33 rounds. I let it sit in my safe for one year. I took ot out and ran it through my G26 just as fast as I could pull the trigger. Not one issue. This is my concealed gun that holds 10 in my front pocket I have a 17 round mag on my belt and keep 3, 33 rounders in my car, you never know. I lock it up at night and put my XDm 9 next to my bed with it’s 19 rounds of hollows and 3 more spare mags. I have never had a jam with my XDm or my Glock. I own several other pistols but these are my favorites. I have a few shotguns as well but can’t really see using one in a serious crunch. I suppose if i had a Semi auto i could but pumping while under duress will cause one to short strok resulting in an unloaded chamber. Just my thoughts.
My only comments…
– IMHO, pistol vs. revolver – depends who you ask…and depends which pistol vs. which revolver. Â I do not own any revolvers…yet…but IF I were to act as these people did, my current “go-to” handgun is a Springfield XD40 (5″ barrel)…though a .40 is perhaps a bit much for this situation…
– re Walther PPK – SOME experts advise against them…for just this reason. Â If you really want the 0o7 look, SOME would suggest the Bersa Thunder instead. Â It is very, VERY similar…also shoots 380 auto…is less than half the cost of the PPK…AND is more reliable – according to SOME people. Â Google it, and other Bersas, for more info.
FYI, I own a Bersa Thunder 9 UC (9 mm) – while I wouldn’t compare its reliability to a Glock 19 (about the same size), I probably have 1000 rounds or so through mine with no jams or misfires (it also has great trigger pulls – both single and double action).
Seems like we all have the same idea here. Â I prefer my Ruger, but there are many other fine handguns that work when they need to work.
Netranger:
I think cycling the ammo through the breach a couple of times would have a negligable effect on the shells as far as driving the lead down into the brass case. If they were that sensitive, (ie. if the brass to lead fit was susceptible to such mild compressive forces) then the simple act of loading shells to fire would result in a percentage going Kaboom!
I rather think our modern factory shells are of a much higher standard don’t you.
@wooba
You know a few things about ammo! Actually, loading many thousands of 380s and 9mm Parabellums I have had this trouble using pure lead (147gr Lead Round Nose – I have a six cavity mold.). While I did have the reseat problem, no pressure problems showed up. What I did was a drastic decrease in accuracy. Some reseats, and otherd don’t. It makes for not so good on the accuracy side. Though I did see a slight increase in pressure. I had the problem for 2 reasons: 1) To reduce wear on the casings, I did not crimp the bullets in. 2) The liquid allox lubricates rather well, even after it is dry. The pure lead (well actually, 25 parts lead, 1 part tin, 1 part antimony) bullets are much different than the jacketed ones our dog blasting hero was using. VERY FEW people use cast bullets in 9mm or 380s.
But, factory ammo is all copper jackets and crimped. Now way any reseat could occur unless the gun was, well, just wacked out.
I do find it funny that with my favorite cartridge, the 223 Remington, I set the bullets up to reseat with my bolt gun. It increases the accuracy of nearly any round when the bullet is seated in the riflings as the cartridge is seated. This means that the bullet is farther OUT of the case. This ALSO causes an increase in pressure, believe it not, because the bullet is, essentually, stuck in the riflings and to get it dislodged takes more pressure. It is counter intuitive but deaper seating causes lower pressure in that round. But, because of the smaller capacity (~8 grs, for a 380 and ~35 grs for a 223) the deaper seat would cause elevated pressures. Not enough for a “kaboom” but, detectable.
But, again, you’re right, ammo is much higher of a standard than that. In fact, some bullets are actually shellacked (sp?) in for an increased seal (…the primer to, for us oil worry warts…)
NOTE: Be very careful if you seat the bullets WAY out to contact the riflings or to be reseated by chambering the cartridge. If you decide to extract the round unfired, you could leave the bullet in there. It could be that very large “KABOOM!!!” as you put the next round in and you have two bullets with double the bullet weight. Best stick with factory specs and dimensions until you’ve got a few years into it. Picking those action fragments out of your brain is so tedious when you’re standing at the mirror in the bathroom.
i keep a Ar-15 next to the bed and a S&W 38 special on me as all times. just like this you never know when you will need it and how many lives it can save.
not everyone that carries a gun are evil bad people.
Free Mason hand shake at 1:42. \m/