We’re always comforted by the apparent lack of forethought and planning most burglars use when pulling a job. Take, for instance, this little caper as reported by newstribune.com. Since the two two would-be Dillingers broke into the house in question at 4:00p.m., it seems a safe bet they weren’t expecting the house to be occupied. And a simple knock at the door probably would have told them that someone was, in fact, very much at home. Not that we’re complaining about how things turned out . . .
The homeowner was upstairs when he heard noises and called out to ask who was there. One of the burglars identified himself as a police officer, so the homeowner went downstairs.
“There were two suspects and one of them is armed with a hatchet, which he promptly threw at the homeowner and missed,” police spokesman Mark Fulghum said.
Acting in self-defense, the homeowner fired a shotgun, striking one of the suspects in the shoulder. Both fled on foot.
Makes you wonder if there may be more to these shenanigans than meets the eye. Most hamburglars would have beaten feet at the sound of a homeowner calling down from upstairs. Be that as it may, the leaking reprobate eventually presented himself for treatment and arrest at a nearby hospital.
As someone who works primarily from home, I’m never far from a heater. In fact, one’s usually snoozing quietly on my hip. Moral of the story: home carry.
Home carry should be a near future article on here.
I have 2 kids (ages 3 & 6), and although I want to carry around them, I know they are too young and their morals aren’t built strong enough yet to know what is life-threatening about a real gun. The older has aspergers and teaching him will still take some time…
That being said, when the kids aren’t home or after they go to sleep, my firearm is at my hip the whole time until I go to sleep. When I’m out in the public I do carry, but I usually wear a longer shirt and a crossbreed supertuck. When I get home, dad has to go into the bedroom for a minute before I can come play with the boys. It’s my life cycle.
I also would love to see a full article on home carry. My wife and I have recently started home carrying and we have a 1.5yr old. We made it clear from the start that anything on our belts is a tool and off limits. Haven’t had any problems and I am looking forward to explaining things more in depth as she gets older.
My wife carries a Ruger SR9C IWB and i carry a FN FNX-9 OWB.
I home carry a G 19 and sometimes pocket carry a Kahr PM9. I routinely wrestle with the kiddos with no problems.
The key: Use a good holster.
Really wish my almost two year old understood limits. You got effin lucky guy. My karma is iffy.
I home carry around mine, aged 4 and almost 2. It’s definitely a little bit of an adjustment. Most of the time, they never notice or care; when they do that we just reiterate that this item is on the Do Not Touch list. My older son has an interesting tendency to call things by their associated verb if he’s not sure what they are, so for a long time, my P229 was “Daddy’s shoot.”
I like to think I carry everywhere — definitely in my home. Of course I don’t carry in bed sleeping, in the shower, or when swimming.
My children are fine. I have been carrying in my home since my youngest was 2 years old. Most of the time she doesn’t even know it is at my side. One time when she noticed it and asked about it, I stopped what I was doing and got very serious. I told her in a “hey, this is important” tone of voice that it is a pistol, it is NOT a toy, and that she should never hold it, play with it, or use it unless I give it to her (which is not going to happen until she is quite a bit older of course). To really cement the deal, I took her and my older daughter (who would have been about 9 years old at the time) out to watch me shoot. Everyone had ear muffs and stood about 15 feet behind me. I shot up a piece of wood against a dirt berm. It is amazing how effective that lesson is. Seeing the recoil as well as seeing, hearing, and feeling the blast demonstrates in no uncertain terms that a firearm is nothing to mess around with. It probably would have been quite frightening to the children had my wife and I not been so relaxed and upbeat. So while our conduct told the children they didn’t have to be scared senseless, it did instill respect in them that goes way beyond words.
The moral of the story: carry at home even if you have young children.
Great piece of fathering / teaching right there, sir. Bravo!
Too many adults expect kids to listen to them “just because I said so.” Some kids need an actual, real world demonstration that guns do go bang, and yes, they are dangerous.
PS
I’ll chime in about future articles about home carry as well. I have a 2 year old son, but the most he knows is that Dad has a “special toolbox” that he’s never allowed to touch or open.
While I like the idea of always having something to protect my family with, I also like to rough house / run / play with my son as well. I’d have to give that up to home carry… =/
“One of the burglars identified himself as a police officer”
This time the homeowner came down with a shotgun to find two idiots in his house. If cops had been there with MP5s it could have gotten messy. No knock warrants have given bad guys a line to use.
Yeah I was wondering why the home owner decided to head downstairs to meet the “cops” with a shotgun in his hands. I’m guessing that there is a little more to this story than what is getting reported.
I home carry 95% of the time. My girls are 7 and 4 – they know exactly what is on my hip (Oldest has gone to the range with me and both have been to Eddie Eagle class), and they also know not to discuss it. If I dont have a cover shirt or jacket on and they see my weapon, they may giggle a little, but when I ask what is so funny, they say “we can’t talk about it.” Love ’em.
Enter “home carry” in the TTAG search bar for our articles on the subject.
I home carry. And now open carry, with my 8 year old when we’re out an about. Next installment in Open Carry RI today.
“As someone who works primarily from home, I’m never far from a heater. ”
Dan, I sometimes sit here worrying about you working all alone at home.
Thanks for your thoughts and concerns. I also have two large dogs and a kid who’s 6’4″ and 210 lbs. who’s home from school. With all that added to the firepower, I think we’ll be OK. Probably.
Dan,
OK, I’m breathing easier. Another way to double your firepower defense is for you and Ralph to move in together.
What about my cats? I wouldn’t want them to beat up the Schnauzers.
Schnauzers? That’s RF. I have labs. And they love cats, even though they can be very filling.
Interesting… the reported story has it the perps called back when asked who they were (at least one of them) as LE. YET…. in the past the average joe, not on some police force, claiming that could get in serious legal trouble for “impersonating a police officer.” Now with what SCOTUS had said in regards to the man who claimed to be a vet with a strong combat experience, (that we have a right to lie,) I wonder if they’ll not even be charged.
He can be charged. He just can’t be charged under the Stolen Valor Act.
Never bring a knife….. uh, hatchet…. to a gunfight.
According to the article, this incident is the second burglar shot with a shotgun in the community in the last few weeks. Come on people. Birdshot is for birds. Buckshot is for thugs. They would call it thugshot but it already had a name.
A hatchet is one of my favorite self-protection tools. A gun is scary. A BFK is scarier. A hatchet is the stuff that nightmares are made of.
As an aside, a Michigan appeals court ruled yesterday that stun guns are protected under 2A and the Michigan Constitution. Why not a hatchet?
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