Hi Jay-I agree, by and large. Goblins getting killed by other goblins generally don't make the count. If it's a homeowner with a joint sitting on the coffee table, or a warrant for unpaid parking tickets, that's one thing. Gerry Gangbanger getting shot by Therri Thug in a battle over drug turf doesn't count...
I wanted to share a couple observations with you regarding home invasions & self-defense shootings.
I set up 2 Google Alerts, one for Self Defense Shooting and one for Home Invasion Shooting back in December... I've been looking at the results- they are emailed to me as soon as they are found on the Inr3rwebz. I get about 30 per day- some are reportings of court cases, press releases from State Attorney offices, etc, but the majority are incident reports.
First observation: There is a crapload of them.
Second: These days, MOST home invasions that involve shootings are drug house related. I.e. - Someone is breaking into a house where drug deals go down, and they get their ass shot off, or the homeowner gets shot, or both are injured/killed and the police are lolz.
(I don't forward the drug-related shootings to you...Goblins that prey on goblins shouldn't be included in the tally, IMHO.)
Third: Since my search is generic and I don't specify WHO gets shot, it seems a huge number of the reported (newsworthy?) home invasion shootings are about homeowners getting shot during a home invasion.I tend to get the ones with the happy ending - where the bad guy kicks in the door and is met with a shower of lead for his troubles. These don't bother me - let's face it, that's an occupational hazard when your job description reads "Goblin". Generally the ones where the homeowners are the ones that wind up on the wrong side of the gun don't make it to the inbox - although I do see a fair amount in the news in general.
When I originally set up the search, I expected to see more fodder for the DGC, but I'm finding the results more distressing...I've shared my results with some folks in my social circle and quite a few non-shooters have started watching local news reports with opened eyes and have made arrangements for trips to the range with me for Intro to Guns - Self Defense 101.
Like 10 people in the last 2 weeks...
Just though you find it interesting- and curious if you had any observations in this area. (Perhaps stuff forwarded to you that doesn't make the cut for the DGC?)
It's a hard metric to track - generally the only time home invasions make the news outside of the immediate area is when something goes horribly wrong. Reporting on a break-in where thieves rush in, steal some consumer electronics, jewelry, and cash and get out is likely to be more of the blurb status; only when folks get hurt does it become a nightly news type event. Even the definition of a home invasion is subject to discussion - some might consider a break-in where someone was home to be a home invasion off the bat; others might claim that it has to be the intent of the invader(s) to catch folks at home.
In any case, it's bound to be an extremely frightening event. "A man's home is his castle", as the saying goes; in a home invasion the single most important things stolen away - one that can never be returned - is one's peace of mind. Once the inner sanctum has been breached, one realizes just how thin the veneer of civilization is and how illusory the concept of "safety" is... There's plenty we can do to minimize the likelihood of invasion - home alarms, guard dogs, etc. - but the single most important thing, IMHO, is having the type of neighborhood that won't tolerate it. I complain about MA - rightfully so - but I know that in my neighborhood, a car parked outside my house that's not immediately recognized by the neighbors will more than likely have the cops called on it (this has actually happened to friends of mine back when I lived with my folks - we were meeting at my house, and I got stuck in traffic, so they wound up sitting outside the house for a bit. Since it was July, and quite hot out, they sat in their car with the motor running and the A/C on - and yes, one of my neighbors called the police).
And, of course, have a plan. It's your house. You have the home field advantage - use it! Stash a pistol safe somewhere in the living room. Hide a 5 D-cell maglight behind the couch. Keep the kitchen knives razor-sharp and have an extra couple in a drawer. You know your house. You know where you can keep something that could be used against an attacker where they wouldn't look. Make sure everyone in the house knows what to do in the event of an invasion - you practice a fire escape plan, right? Do the same with a "bad guy in the house" drill - don't scare the kids, but leave it as a "stranger danger" type learning event for them (this is what you do if someone gets in the house that shouldn't be there).
If in the unlikely event you are the victim of a home invasion, fight as if your life depended on it - because it may very well...
That is all.
4 comments:
A while back, someone came around selling home alarm systems. I told him I already had one. Wanting to mess with him a bit, I told him I wasn't satisfied with it.
I asked him if his system was smart enough to know if the house was occupied. He replied that it was... if you set the alarm before you leave, it knows there should be no movement in the house.
I asked him if the alarm was monitored and if it would send alerts to an external call center. He replied that it would.
I asked if it would send different alerts to different agencies depending on whether or not the house was occupied. If the alarm goes off and the house is not occupied, I need it to send an alert to my insurance company. If the alarm goes off and the house is occupied, I need it to send an alert to the medical examiner's office and schedule a pick-up.
He said he didn't think it would do that.
A great closing line that I didn't think of until he was already gone was "Nevermind. I'll just leave 'em both on speed dial."
This is why my wife and I have a firearm close to hand at all times when at home. You never know when someone might get the wrong house.
Thinking randomly of the sharp knife in the drawer example, per a paper I did years ago in Crim class there is one case in American history where a "weapon" owned by the victim was regularly used against them.
Axe murders, America's original serial/mass killings. Houses were most often unlocked and the household axe was usually out on the stoop or by the woodpile. Even in semi-rural areas the killer could be fairly certain he need not carry a weapon as one would be waiting at his victim's home.
If only there had been laws mandating axes be kept locked up when not in use...
Anyway, random thought association.
This is a very serious topic. One that deserves very specific attention. I don't take it lightly.
But...
Someone is breaking into a house where drug deals go down, and they get their ass shot off, or the homeowner gets shot, or both are injured/killed and the police are lolz.
That made me laugh.
tweaker
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