“Nobody needs an AR-15!”

“You don’t need more than 10 rounds for any legitimate purpose!”

“These are weapons of war and no one uses them to protect themselves.”

Yet there’s a Marion County, Florida man who did need his AR-15 and he is alive right now because he had it.

SUMMERFIELD, Fla. – Two intruders, one of whom was wearing a horror movie mask, were killed Wednesday night in an apparent shootout during a Marion County home invasion, deputies said. – Click on Orlando (Story updates at the link)

The home invasion happened around 8:20 p.m. at a home in the 14900 block of Southeast 32nd Court Road in Summerfield.

Deputies said that when investigators arrived to the scene, they found one of the intruders, 21-year-old Keith Jackson Jr., who was wearing a Jason Voorhees mask from the movie “Friday the 13th,” dead. Another intruder, 21-year-old Keith Jackson Jr., and the homeowner were found suffering from gunshot wounds, according to deputies. Jackson later died, according to officials.

The homeowner is in stable condition. He was found with an AR-15 rifle next to his legs.

Scenario: Multiple Armed Assailants, Home Invasion

Number of home invaders: 4, armed with handguns

Method of contact: Plea for assistance, Known casual contact

He told deputies that a man he vaguely remembered from a Craigslist transaction knocked on his door asking for help with his vehicle. He said he told the man he couldn’t help him and went to sleep a short time later. [Emphasis added]

The homeowner woke up when he heard a loud noise and immediately grabbed his AR-15. He said he and Jackson exchanged gunfire, although he doesn’t know who fired first, according to the affidavit. Doyle then also began firing, hitting the homeowner, so the homeowner shot him, as well, records show. 

Deputies said Robert John Hamilton, 19, and Seth Adam Rodriguez, 22, were located nearby after the home invasion.

They told deputies that they and the other two men had gone to the home to steal marijuana and guns.

Rodriguez was arrested on charges of homicide and home invasion robbery with a firearm. Hamilton was arrested on charges of home invasion robbery with a firearm. – Click on Orlando

This is why you need an AR-15. The four persons involved in the home invasion used a well known technique for reconnaissance of a target and attempt to gain easy entry, the assistance plea. Having established that the homeowner was inside they waited until later in the evening and attacked in force, armed.

Their prior knowledge of the target came from a transaction thousands complete every day, online listed person to person sale of an item. Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, and any other online classified type transaction can also throw the remainder of your property on display for those looking to get the five finger discount.

The “Assistance Plea” and variants

The assistance plea is a surveillance technique that uses a usually innocuous reason to get you to answer and/or open your door. “Hey, my car broke down.” or “Hey, can I use your phone.” are very common, both of which have been largely rendered bullshit excuses with all the ‘apps for that’ that exist to help you out of those situations.

Door to door sales and services are another common method. New roofing, general contracting, lawn services, all are plausible reasons to talk with a resident and either be invited into the house or gain more information about a domicile, both layout and contents.

Door to door services and folks looking for help are genuine real things that happen. That’s why someone scouting a location use that premise for approaching and talking to you. It’s important to try and remember given names and faces, details about vehicles and service trucks, and attempt to file that info away incase it comes into relevance later. People who select a target this way may even be legitimately employed but looking for the easy side score for money, drugs, or weapons.

Be aware. New security systems, like doorbell cameras tied into WiFi, can greatly aid in this evidence collection.

Why you need that AR, AK, etc.

Look at all the circumstances of this situation. The four armed assailants gained knowledge of the house initially by one of them contacting the resident through an online classified. The four returned to the house for “marijuana and guns.” This suggests that stuff was visible on the first encounter, there were indicators out in the open that those things could be found in the residence, the resident said something to indicate he had them, or there was enough of monetary value in the open to sell or exchange for what they wanted.

They initially used the “assistance plea” on the resident to confirm he was or wasn’t home, or to try and gain easy entry.

After confirming he was home they waited until the evening and then, armed, forcibly entered the residence. They know he’s home and they know he is armed. Do the math and consider their probable trains of thought here as they break through the man’s door.

Now is where you are sitting in the place of the resident. This is your home. Four armed individuals just broke through your door. You are outnumbered and, if you grab a handgun, you are outgunned.

What tool gives you the best chance of stacking the odds back in your favor, of surviving the fight that just came through your front door?

I’ll take “What is 30+ round of 77gr 5.56, Alex”

The handgun is a tool of convenience and concealability. The rifle is for fighting. Grab your rifle. Save your life.

This man needed an AR-15, and his reason is one of your reasons too.