A home invasion is top of the list on most people’s worst nightmares. Burglary is bad enough, but to qualify as a home invasion, the perpetrator is determined to have violent intent apart from the unlawful entry itself. Put briefly, they’re there to hurt you, not just take your stuff.
The Bureau of Justice statistics on police response times are not especially comforting. More than 60% of incidents of violence reported resulted in a wait of 6-60 minutes after calling 911. The details vary widely by city, time of day, volume of calls, and seriousness of the incident being reported, but even 6 minutes is a lifetime during a home invasion when someone is inside your house, looking to do you harm, and the only thing slowing them down is a fragile, hollow-core interior door.
One Texas mother unfortunately was forced to illustrate the value of armed self-defense last month, while she was on the phone with police, huddled with her children behind just such a bedroom door. Despite announcing that she was armed, and that the police were on the way, the intruder continued to try to force his way in to access the woman and her kids.
Finally, alone, with help still minutes away, and likely fearing for the lives of herself and her children, the woman fired once through the door, striking the intruder in the arm. A bullet was the only thing that stopped what could have been a deeply tragic home invasion, and the suspect was later arrested 100 yards from the home.
It’s something of a cliché, but it rings true nonetheless: When seconds count, police are minutes away. While it’s unlikely that most Americans will face determined violence in their daily lives, when it happens, the rescuer most likely to be available when you need it is you.
