Illustration by Mike Del Rizzo

Home Invasion Repelled
I always try to keep my senses about me when my family and I are out and in unfamiliar surroundings. To make sure I have the means to protect them in situations where danger might catch us off guard, I got a concealed carry license and bought a 9mm Smith & Wesson M&P pistol. I also spend time at the range every month to keep my skills up.

However, with all my planning for threats or attacks when we are away from the home, a string of robberies in my hometown made me realize that I needed to be prepared for attacks inside my home. I purchased a handgun safe for the 9mm pistol that I kept on my bedside table so I could get to it quickly in an emergency. Boy I am glad that I did, because of what happened to us a not too long ago.
At about 2 a.m. on a Wednesday night, I heard what sounded to me to be breaking glass from the direction of our kitchen downstairs. My home is two stories, with our three bedrooms on the second floor. I told my wife to go to our son’s room while I stood guard at the staircase up to the second floor.
Once I was there and knew my wife and son were protected, I called out that I had a gun and was calling the police (my wife had her cell phone and was doing this as I was talking). Just at that moment, a masked man stepped around the corner at the bottom of the staircase (I think he did not believe me) and had a gun in his hands.

It seemed like I reacted before I even realized what was going on. I saw him raise the gun up toward me, so I pointed the 9mm at him and fired. He moved back around the corner, and I moved back a bit into the second floor hallway and waited to see if he was going to make a move up the staircase. I heard what sounded like a lot movement through our kitchen, and my wife said she saw two men running across our backyard (I guess there was another one down there).

The police arrived, and let me know that they had found a wounded man not too far from my house and had arrested him. They did not catch the other guy. I guess there is no honor among thieves. Needless to say, I was very happy that I had that pistol with me that night, as I cannot even think about what might have happened if I had been unarmed.
—HM, AL

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