Yesterday, the details of a recent brazen daytime home invasion and the ensuing brutal physical assault of a New Jersey woman was revealed to the public. In the story it was reported that last Friday morning a currently unidentified man kicked in the locked and bolted shut rear door of her residence to commit
a robbery that was captured on video.
Before leaving the invaded home with an undisclosed amount of jewelry, the predator viciously attacked the woman with repeated punches to her face, slammed her onto the floor a few times, dragged her across the room, and eventually threw her down a flight of steps leading to the basement over a three minute period.
Miraculously, her three year old daughter, who watched in horror from a nearby couch, and her one year old daughter who was sleeping upstairs were not harmed during the attack. As a result of the beating, the victim suffered serious head injuries including a concussion and numerous scrapes, cuts, and abrasions.
Afterwards, the victim told the media that she wanted the graphic video to be widely broadcast in the media to aid law enforcement in their goal of catching her attacker. She also stated that she made her mind up that she would silently suffer any and all punishment inflicted upon her quietly so that she would not further alarm her child. Although her children were not physically assaulted, I am certain that three year old has suffered mental harm after watching her mom being savagely attacked.
No Home Can Be Made Invader-Proof
As a Personal Protection Instructor, I have been asked repeatedly by many different people what could have been done differently to thwart this violent assault. After going over the available details of the story from several different published media reports over the Internet, I am convinced that nothing short of bolting the residence down like a prison could keep a truly determined monster from invading her home.
A locked and bolted shut door might slow a bad guy down but it can't stop him. In this case, the bad guy obviously knew that he could enter, rob the home of its valuables, assault any inhabitants, and leave without suffering any consequences.
Many of the numerous common sense tactics, that I advocate to my students to adopt, merely serve as a deterrent to a home invasion. As I tell my students, nothing short of living in a castle with a drawbridge over a moat infested with alligators can keep a truly committed invader at bay.
An Effective Solution To A Home-Invasion Is A Loaded Firearm
Once a violent home invader has gained access to your home your immediate action will mean mean the difference between being safe or being violently abused and attacked. If you have precious seconds made available to you while your home is being invaded, a great option is to round up all of your family members and head to a safe room where the inhabitants can barricade themselves inside while calling 9-1-1 for assistance. Obviously, this tactic requires having enough advance notice to be effective.
A more effective solution to the home invasion problem is to always have in your possession a loaded firearm. Yes, I am aware that a loaded gun is not the solution to every problem but in this case - a home invasion - it is a great solution. The NJ lady is lucky that her strategy of offering zero resistance to her attacker did not result in her death and in the death of her two children.
To some, carrying a holstered firearm at home may seem like a radical idea. From a personal protection standpoint, it makes perfect sense. No victim knows the hour of when his home will be invaded by violent predators. In addition, we no longer live in an era where we are afforded the luxury of believing that unspeakable acts of violence can't happen in our neighborhood and in our home. As such, having a loaded firearm on your hip provides fast access to safety and eliminates the need to find a stored gun to unstore, unlock, load, and deploy.
If the victim was lawfully armed with only seconds to act, she would have been equipped to defend her life, defend the lives of her children, and defend her home. Had the victim been able to lawfully shoot the bad guy, she could have saved herself from suffering numerous and serious injuries and deprived her child from having to witness her brutalization.
Most states recognize the Castle Doctrine, a legal concept which recognizes the legality of a person using either lethal force or using less than lethal force to neutralize home invaders. If this attack had occurred in Michigan, the resident would have been justified in shooting the invading bad guy.
You Have A Decision To Make: Be Safe or Trust A Monster
Gun ownership is a grave responsibility. In the same vein, it is also a serious responsibility to be responsible for your safety and the safety of your children. The NJ lady, despite being violently attacked, is lucky. She gets an opportunity to determine what she is going to differently. I pray that she doesn't make the mistake of doing nothing - making no changes - while expecting a different result - to be safe.
Have you given any thought as to what you could do or would do, if a determined monster broke into your home with a total disregard for your presence? Will you arm yourself or will you leave it up to the whims of a violent person?
Your move.
About The Author
Rick Ector is a National Rifle Association credentialed Firearms Trainer, who provides
Michigan CCW Class training in Detroit for students at his firearms school - Rick's Firearm Academy of Detroit.
Ector is a recognized expert in firearm safety and has been featured extensively in the national and local media: Associated Press, UPI, NRAnews, Guns Digest, Tactical-Life, The Truth About Guns, The Politics Daily, Fox News Detroit, The Detroit News, The Detroit Examiner, WJLB, WGPR, and the UrbanShooterPodcast.
For more info about free shooting lessons for women and
Michigan CCW Classes, please contact:
Rick's Firearm Academy of Detroit
Web: http://www.detroitccw.com.
Email: info@detroitccw.com
Phone: 313.733.74
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