This is a repost of mine that I have posted on a couple of other boards.
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On Friday September 18 2009, something happened that changed my life forever.
It was payday, so I decided to run to the ATM and get some cash out. I work from home, so normally, I don't go out during the day unless I need something. I live about 2 minutes from the shopping center where the ATM is located, so I was expecting it to be a short trip.
I was on a conference call for my job that started at 10 AM, so I was very conscious of the time.
10:33 AM - I switched over to my cell phone, so I could stay on the call while I went to the ATM. It took me a few minutes even after I switched over to leave the house, so I'm guessing it was around 10:37 when I leave home. I talked to my neighbor for a minute who is outside taking a smoke, and then left to go to the ATM. I drove my wife's van so I could put gas in it while I was out.
I get to the ATM, and made my withdrawal with no problem. I left the ATM, and decided to drive to a gas station that was a little further away than the closest one because it has much cheaper gas, and that's when everything started to happen.
10:48 AM - My wife calls me on my cell phone. She tells me that someone is ringing the doorbell and knocking on the door. She's now home alone with our 9 month old daughter. My other 3 kids are at school. She calls me because she doesn't recognize the car, and asks me if I am expecting anyone. I tell her no. She's upstairs in our bedroom, and is able to look out the window and see the car, but can't see the person ringing the doorbell. She describes the car, and tells me the car has backed into the driveway. She then tells me she thinks they are leaving and she walks out of the bedroom and into the loft, and then I hear a "crash" through the phone and my wife yelling "GET OUT, GET OUT!"
10:49 AM - I hang up, dial 911, and turn around immediately. Then I hear a message that says to please hold. I'm thinking "hold?, this can't be happening." The operator comes on the line after what seems like 20 seconds (I'm guessing it was half that), and I give her my address and tell her what I just heard. I'm trying to stay calm and speak clearly, but it's not easy. The van is now pushing 110, and the governor keeps kicking in and throttling the engine back down. so I try to hold it at 100 until I get to the turn just before my neighborhood(I stay just off a main highway, and there was no traffic, so I made very good time getting home.)
2 minutes later, I'm home, and I pull up just as the 1st police car does. I identify myself to the officer as the homeowner, and he tells me to stay back as he starts to walk around the back of the house. My wife sees me pull up, and opens the door. She's on the phone with 911, and I am still on the phone w/ the operator I called. We both tell the operators that the police are there, and that we are ok, and hangup.
According to the police, they think it was just someone trying to rob us, and they thought no one was home. I stay in a nice middle class neighborhood, and I realize that criminals will go where they think people have something of value. Unfortunately, this time it was my home.
10:55 AM - My next door neighbor calls to make sure everything is ok because he sees the police cars outside. I've been home for a few minutes by now
(The times were based on the call log on my cell phone, so I am pretty sure they are accurate)
Here are the reasons why I bought a gun.
1) Everything you just read
2) If it had not been my house, it would (and has been) one of my neighbors. This is not the 1st time a house in our neighborhood has been broken into in broad daylight. I was looking at the times on my cell phone, and I realized just how fast everything happened, and it seems that this person was probably watching the street for someone to leave.
3) The next time, the person may not stop just because someone is yelling at them.
4) I can't always be at home and I want my wife to have the ability to fend for herself if necessary.
5) Even if I had been at home, I would not have had more than a baseball bat, and these days that's not enough.
My comments on the whole issue
1) I'm pissed off that someone would even try to come in my home whether I'm there or not. The fact that a person was able to kick the front door in so easily has made me reassess the security of my home. We've come to realize that there are certain things that we can not do anything about, but we have made changes to how we secure our home.
2) The police say the person was not looking for a confrontation. While I understand that is the case, there are too many cases of home invasions where the intruder doesn't stop when someone yells at them. It seems that in the Charlotte area, this is becoming more and more of a daily occurrence. There is at least one, and sometimes more, news story of an attempted home invasion in and around Charlotte.
3) I've never had a problem with guns, and it was not something I was planning to do. I have since attended a safety class, and I had a chance to shoot some. I did enjoy it, and I will probably be going to the range quite a bit. The plan is for me and my wife to attend some additional classes.
4) Could I shoot someone - if it was between them or my family - YES!
5) My car was packed in the garage and my wife's car was parked outside, so I guess it looked as if no one was at home. I have mixed feelings about this, and how I will operate going forward. Now my wife asks that I leave a car in the driveway whenever I leave without her. Yes, she is still upset from the incident, and I am sure it will take some time for her to become comfortable again in her own home, so until she says otherwise that is what I will do. When she leaves, she wants me to make sure my car is in the driveway. Now for me, I don't care if it looks like I'm home or not. The next person that comes through the front door ( or the back) uninvited will have one chance to do the right thing, or they get to say hello to my little friend.
6) I found out the reason the police arrived so quickly is because they were at a traffic stop at the same shopping center where I went to the ATM. I was very surprised to see them there so fast.
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A month after all of this happened, I took a firearms class and proceeded to get my concealed carry permit.
