Opinion
“Put yourself in a position to ‘be lucky’” ~ Driesell.
“Armed?”
A well-coordinated home invasion involving at least three suspects in CA (LA area) on Tuesday came to an abrupt end when the homeowner shot and critically injured one of the suspects. The other suspects quickly fled the scene.
The single injured suspect (now hospitalized) has been identified. To no one’s surprise, he has an extensive felony record for robbery, illegal weapons possession, and aggravated burglary. He should have been in prison where he could not have harmed anyone, but this is CA, so naturally, he was “out on probation.”
The weapon used by the homeowner was a pistol. Brand/caliber not reported. Number of shots fired was not reported. The suspects reportedly directed pepper spray at the homeowner. Effect (if any) was not reported.
As noted, one wounded suspect is currently hospitalized. Others are still at large.
The homeowner himself was reported as “injured,” but the cause/nature/extent of his injuries was also not reported (amazing that the “media” apparently thinks none of these critical details are important)
Self-Defense Lessons:
- “Symbolic barriers” Home-invasion suspects, in this case, gained entry into this home by smashing through a sliding-glass door. Sliding-glass doors are weak and mostly decorative. They do not represent any formidable/defensible “barrier,” as we see.
- This home invasion occurred in the middle of the afternoon, not the middle of the night, as one might expect. The home was obviously under surveillance, and perpetrators decided to swoop in the moment they saw the homeowner’s wife had departed. They likely thought the home would be unoccupied, but they may not have cared.
- As is usually the case, when violent criminal perpetrators are greeted with righteous gunfire, they promptly flee like frightened mice. Bullies are all alike! When you call their bluff, their phony bravado instantly evaporates.
- “Going armed” means being armed constantly, with a deadly weapon, in a high state of readiness, constantly at your fingertips.
It is reported that this homeowner, at some point, “retrieved a gun” and some time afterward (with a gun in hand) confronted the perpetrator(s). He was not carrying a gun.
In any event, this story has a (relatively) happy ending in that the innocent were not seriously harmed.
But we should all look at the totality of these circumstances as a timely warning!
Having a gun in your home, in an unknown state of readiness, “laying around somewhere,” is not “going armed.” Operators “go armed” every waking moment, whether “home” or “out.” We are ever-capable of an instant response to unlawful deadly force coming our way.
“Death comes for us all, even at our birth. Even at our birth, Death does but stand aside a little. And every day he looks towards us and muses somewhat to himself whether that day, or the next, he will draw nigh.” ~ Sir Thomas More (played by Robert Scofield) in the 1966 movie version of Robert Bolt’s “A Man for all Seasons”.
/John
About John Farnam & Defense Training International, Inc
As a defensive weapons and tactics instructor, John Farnam will urge you, based on your beliefs, to make up your mind about what you would do when faced with an imminent lethal threat. You should, of course, also decide what preparations you should make in advance if any. Defense Training International wants to ensure that its students fully understand the physical, legal, psychological, and societal consequences of their actions or in-actions.
It is our duty to make you aware of certain unpleasant physical realities intrinsic to Planet Earth. Mr. Farnam is happy to be your counselor and advisor. Visit: www.defense-training.com
This was in California so it is unlikely that the handgun was just “laying around somewhere.” Far more likely it was in a lockbox.
I expect few “thumbs up”. After 6 decades as an adult and watching evolution / devolution of my metro-NYC neighborhoods … “churn” from those “voting with their feet”, as well some following their relatives (children of government workers (e.g., FDNY, NYPD, … and hundreds of other similar local departments, … not to mention all of the “teachers”, “administrators”, municipal managers, etc. …) … I look at videos such as in this article and see large houses but no “community”, no “neighborhoods”, … reminds me of a “poor man’s dream” of living where “they do not want nor need to know… Read more »
This said I do not wear a gun in the shower, I do not wear a gun while sleeping at night.
But I wear one most of the time, 100% of the time is near impossible.
Too bad…….no tax free status, no keys to the city……..one perp wounded, two escaped, society is the loser. Need to work on those shooting skills