What’s at stake in a home invasion

Often discussions related to self defense are conducted in the theoretical. Every now and then, though, something horrible gets captured on video and theory is trumped by cold, hard reality.

Fair warning: In this video you’re going to see a home invader beat an unarmed woman into a pulp in front of her small child. Thankfully she survives the ordeal, but even that knowledge won’t stop your blood from boiling as you watch the vicious attack. This is more disturbing than any gunfight footage I’ve ever posted to Gun Nuts…but I encourage you to watch it at least once because there are lessons here.


In discussions about a possible home invasion we often hear how thieves are just after the TV or the DVD player or the valuables, and how it’s better to let them have the stuff that’s easily replaced than to risk the consequences of using force. That approach assumes that the people who will kick down your front door to come and rob you are rational actors who behave according to motivations that make sense to your typical law-abiding citizen.

If the video above doesn’t make the point clearly enough, let me state flat out: That isn’t the way it works. Criminals do not operate according to a system of values that you or I would recognize. There was no rational reason to beat this poor woman so savagely. She offered no resistance and did nothing to impede the robbery this individual wanted to carry out. Her only thought was to protect her daughter (who witnessed the spectacle of her mother being beaten savagely…that’ll make for some pleasant dreams for the poor little tike) and all she did was try to keep herself between the bad man and her little girl. Doesn’t matter. He still beat her half to death and threw her down some stairs. Why?

Because it was fun.

I say again: There are bad men walking around out there who will beat someone half to death in front of their own children just because they think it’s good sport. If necessary I can start citing case after case in which bad men killed perfectly cooperative, non-resisting victims or just killed people out of the blue, all because it seemed like good fun at the time. My friend John Johnston of Ballistic Radio is going to interview William Aprill in a few weeks, (and if you don’t listen to that show you’re cheating yourself) an expert in criminal psychology and behavior. I attended a lecture Dr. Aprill gave some time ago about criminal actors and among the insights he shared was that a significant number of criminals reported that they felt a sense of accomplishment when they committed a criminal act.

Let me put that in terms you’ll understand: Think about how you felt when you graduated from college, or when you bought your first house, or when you snagged that promotion you worked so hard for, or when you lost that extra weight, or when you completed that big project. Think about what it did for your self worth. Think about what it did for your mood. Do you have it in your mind? Good.

That’s how this guy felt after beating that defenseless woman bloody in front of her small child.

Now I ask you:

Are you willing to let that into your home unchallenged? When that breaks into your home are you going to assume it just wants your jewelry and DVD player? Or perhaps the medications your recently deceased husband was taking to ease his pain from terminal cancer? Are you going to let them have free reign and hope they don’t hurt the people you love?

When a criminal kicks in your door you do not have the luxury of assuming they’ll go away and leave you unhurt if you just give them what they want. You don’t have the luxury of waiting for 911 or the alarm company to send help. There are too many examples that prove those strategies as ineffective to have any faith in them. If you don’t have a home defense plan, get one together. If your existing home defense plan doesn’t include the ability to rapidly employ significant force, fix it.

Home defense isn’t about DVD players. It isn’t about jewelry. It’s about protecting the people you love from men like this.

I’m sure prior to this incident the poor family that was targeted here didn’t really see the need for a home defense plan. They probably live in a “good” neighborhood and everything. Trouble is that a “good” neighborhood turns to a really bad one when the wrong sort of person shows up. Someone like this guy. There is no magic talisman that keeps them away from your home and your loved ones.

Don’t learn this lesson the hard way, folks. Experience is a cruel teacher and she doesn’t grade on a curve. People like this scumbag are out there. They’re walking around on the streets of your town, just looking for an opportunity. Don’t make yourself an easy target. Research ways to harden your home against this kind of intrusion. Make a plan that everybody in the family knows, with ready access to a firearm as a key piece of that plan.

…and resolve in yourself that if someone wants to beat your wife or children half to death that they’re going to have to get through you first.

The average person isn’t terribly intimidating to the typical violent criminal…but somebody who has decided they won’t be a victim and has ready access to a firearm is a different story.

 

5 Comments

  1. Crap! I’m gonna have my wife keep a gun with her at all times while she’s home.

  2. After I got into guns and made the decision to carry I had a friend ask me if my stuff was worth someone’s life.
    They never did have an answer to my response.

    Who says we’re just talking about my stuff? And besides, it’s not my place to decide if my stuff worth a predator’s life. That the predator’s decision to make. And once he or she initiates force then they’re making their choice pretty clear.

    BGM

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