Don’s Guns owner provides funds for defibrillators-WEB ONLY

Well-known local gun dealer Don Davis essentially gave a blank check this morning to the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department to equip its fleet of patrol cars with external defibrillators.

Three of the department’s cruisers already have the devices that shock the heart back into normal rhythm. The contribution from Davis could enable the county to purchase 42 more defibrillators so every vehicle is outfitted.

“Whatever the sheriff says they need, I’ll give them,” Davis said.

The cost of a defibrillator typically runs between $1,500 and $2,500, meaning he could donate more than $100,000.

The 75-year-old owner of Don’s Guns in Greenwood said a column appearing last year in IBJ and written by IBJ Media Corp. co-owner Mickey Maurer inspired him to make the donation.

Maurer wrote that Tim Russert, Washington bureau chief for NBC and moderator of “Meet the Press,” may have been saved had an external defibrillator been readily available. Davis said he was a “big fan” of Russert.

Doug Cox, chief deputy of the sheriff’s department in Franklin, said Davis’ gift means as much to him personally as it does professionally. Both of his parents suffered near-fatal heart attacks and were revived by the devices.

“We’re in a rural community,” Cox said. “Many times our officers will beat medical personnel to the scene.”

Davis started his business in 1974 and is widely known for telling television viewers, “I don’t want to make any money, I just love to sell guns.”

The site of this morning’s announcement was an ornamental rock that sits in the lawn of Davis’ home near Greenwood.

An eagle, the U.S. flag and the Second Amendment proclaiming the right to bear arms is inscribed in the large rock, which is 8 feet long and 3 feet high.

The president of his neighborhood association last year attempted to have the rock removed. Davis said his neighbors didn’t complain, and today, “it’s still there.”