Saturday, January 25, 2014

When Seconds Count…

The saying goes, "When seconds count, the police are only minutes away."

That's not an indictment on the ability of law enforcement "to protect and serve." It's merely fact. The police are not everywhere at once. They're not your personal body guards. They aren't your private security force. And when something goes down, you can't always count on them to be there to protect you.

A recent case in point: After hearing a back window of his home shatter, a homeowner in Memphis, Tenn. called 911 and armed himself with a gun. While the homeowner waited for police to arrive, a pair of burglars attempted to enter the home through the broken window. The homeowner responded by firing at the criminals, striking one and causing the other to flee.

Here's another one: A man was heading to his Dekalb County, Ga. home for lunch when a phone call alerted him to a break-in at his property. When the man arrived home, he went to a back door where he spotted three burglars; prompting him to call 911. While making the call, the three criminals started running towards the homeowner. The homeowner responded by drawing a gun and firing at the burglars, striking one and causing the other two to flee. When police arrived they detained the wounded criminal…

Home invasions are becoming more and more common. And the intruders most often come armed and ready to kill the homeowners.

Consider the next case: 63-year-old Elzie Pipkins was at home in Shreveport, La. when an intruder armed with a shotgun forced his way inside the house. Once inside, the intruder ordered Pipkins’ granddaughter to fill a bag with valuables, while Pipkins begged the criminal to leave with the money in her purse. Pipkins eventually led the intruder to a safe where she keeps some change and a handgun. Pipkins opened the safe and offered the change to the intruder, at which point the criminal took a hand off his shotgun, giving Pipkins an opportunity to retrieve the pistol from the safe and fire it at the robber. The home invader was struck once in the chest and fled before collapsing a block away from Pipkins’ home. Following the shooting, Pipkins made clear she did not relish shooting the criminal, stating to a local news outlet, “Just $55 in coins, and he lost his life, Lord Jesus I wish the young people today would just think, go to school, get an education and a good job and buy what you want... Don’t try to take from someone who has worked all their life and still doesn’t have nothing to give.”

The point I'm trying to make here is that you have a choice — you can either be a victim, or you can decide to protect and defend yourself. How you choose to do that is up to you, but the world is not trending toward more peace and safety. Gone are the days when you can leave the doors to your house unlocked, or the keys in the ignition of your vehicle. In fact, gone are the days when even locked doors can keep the bad guys out.

The police, bless their hearts, too often come along after the incident has already played out, and the most they can do is file a report.

It would be better if that report included your name as a survivor and the bad guys as the losers.

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