My wife and I had gone to visit my in-laws on a Saturday afternoon in December of 2006. After being there for a few hours and eating dinner we arrived home at 7:55 pm. As I pulled into my driveway, I deactivated the burgarlar alarm. Doing this causes the keypad inside the home to beep. This alerted the two crooks that were inside my house that we were home.
Inside, I found a mini blind that was still bent where one had apparently peeked out after hearing the beep. Fortunately for us, they decided to exit the house rather than confront us. They had found my S&W .357 magnum that I kept in the house for protection. I'm guessing that they thought that I may have had another gun that I carried with me and didn't want to be in a gun fight. In actuality, I didn't have another gun then nor a carry permit at that time. We would have been at their mercy.
We had a monitored alarm but the "expert" alarm salesman told us that for that room we only needed a glass breakage detector because crooks would just break a window to get in. They didn't break a glass. They simply used a screw driver to pry open a window and they were in. That was taken caren of when we got our insurance settlement. EVERY entrance has a contact on it now plus another glass breakage detector.
That night I decided that if I couldn't be sure of being safe entering my own home then I was not going to be unarmed any more when I went anywhere. I signed up for a class right after I got the insurance settlement and bought a replacement gun. I had my permit ASAP and now wear my gun from the time I get out of the shower in the morning until the time that I go to bed at night. Then it is on the nightstand.
I'm not out to save the world but if need be I will intervene in a life or death situation. My wife does not drive so 95% of the time she is with me and doesn't feel the need for a carry permit. She has started shooting, though, and can handle all of my guns now. We were lucky once and if I am in another similar situation I would be happy if I was lucky again but I sure don't want to count on luck anymore. Now I am prepared. I hope that my gun is never out of the holster in a "hostile" manner. I never want to have to shoot anyone but I realize that if I am ever in a situation where a shooting is needed, then I am physically and mentally ready to do what ever is necessary.
Copyright 2009 David Birdsong
