Grandma’s Savage
Survival Lessons from Hometown, the Woods and Grandma!
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I grew up hearing this story being told about my Grandmother and her Savage .32ACP. I believe this was in the 1930s. My grandparents, dad, and uncle lived in an upstairs of a house. There had been reports in the neighborhood of a peeping Tom. My grandfather was at work in the evening and Grandma was home with the kids. The back stairs led to the kitchen. Grandma was feeding my dad and uncle when she heard a knock on the door. She said in a low voice, “Who is it?” No answer. Another knock, she asks again, and still no answer. Grandma was no small frail lady in those days. Whoever was there heard her. I don’t know how long this went on but she soon retrieved the Savage .32ACP.
The next time the knock was heard and she got no answer, she shot through the closed door a few times. As the story was told she heard something or someone tumbling down the stairs. I can’t remember if she ever looked out or called the police, but no one was found when Grandpa got home. The family claims there was never another report of a peeping Tom in the neighborhood after that night. I still have that Savage today; it’s one of the guns I will always keep and I’ll never forget Grandma.
—DC, OH
January 31st, 2011 at 3:20 pm
Agreed. This is a terrifying story. Shooting through a door based on the fact that no one answered when asked “Who is it?” Sounds like a great way to get charged with murder and spend your life in prison.
March 22nd, 2009 at 2:14 pm
Um. So this is quite a terrible story then. Grandma shoots through a door at an unidentified knocking? And then continues to say she heard something or someone tumbling down the stairs, and left well enough alone?
I’m all for home defense with a gun, but this is terrible, and I’m pretty sure grandma committed a felony if this 80 year old story is remotely accurate. In any case, this one should have some big disclaimers around it saying something “DON’T EVER DO THIS, YOU WILL GO TO JAIL. WHY ARE WE EVEN PRINTING THIS? MUST HAVE BEEN A SLOW MONTH!”
And in closing, “It happened to me” stories in CH are something I look forward to reading when they come out.