When two gunmen smashed through the front glass door...

[mingoglia]

I for one am very much pro-gun. Admittedly my firearms are inaccessible if the below situation were to happen to me. I have my shotgun completely disassembled with the ammunition locked away until I purchase a safe it will fit in. I have done this because I have a 5 year old and 3 year old. Many on this forum are against weapons; I'm curious your thoughts on the following. I'm hoping this thread in itself doesn't turn into a battle as I'm just interested in understanding the alternate viewpoints.

BLUE MOUND, Texas — When two gunmen smashed through the glass front door of her suburban Fort Worth home, Kellie Hoehn didn't think twice.

The 34-year-old mother of two grabbed a shotgun that had been pointed at her face early Wednesday, starting a struggle that ended with one intruder killed with his own weapon and another in the hospital.

"I wasn't going to let them get to my babies," she said, recalling the moment when she pushed up the muzzle of the shotgun, pointing it away from her children's rooms.

Although the intruders told her to keep quiet, she screamed for her husband. She told her 12-year-old son, who was awakened by the sound of the shattering glass front door, to get his 5-year-old sister and hide.

"It was like a horror movie," her husband, 32-year-old Keith Hoehn, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "I thought I was a dead man. We're fighting for our lives."

With Kellie Hoehn clinging to the weapon's muzzle, her husband tackled the man who held the shotgun. She knocked the intruder in the head with a jar candle, giving her husband a chance to wrest the shotgun.

By then the tussle had spilled out onto the front lawn. Keith Hoehn shot one of the men who had a pistol, police said. Wounded, that man ran away.

Then the intruder who initially had the shotgun charged Keith Hoehn.

Kellie Hoehn told The Dallas Morning News that she screamed at her husband, "Shoot him, shoot him, shoot him."

Her husband fired the shotgun and the man fell to the ground. Then the shot man lunged a second time.

"Well, I shot him again, and I guess that was it," Keith Hoehn said.

Dakota Scott Benoit, 20, of Richland Hills, was pronounced dead at a hospital. John Garland Pierson, 25, of Haltom City, was in critical condition and in police custody at the hospital.

"I am not happy that someone is dead," Kellie Hoehn said. "But I am glad that my family is alive."

Police said Pierson was shot in the left arm and the bullet pierced his diaphragm and other organs but his condition was improving. He will face charges of burglary of habitation with intent to commit another felony, police said.

Investigators say the couple were just defending their family and probably won't be charged.

Suburban couple subdue gun-toting intruders - CNN.com

[eagle33199]

Definitely a good ending to the story. On to the issue of gun control...

This is another field, like many that have been politicized, where you're painted in one extreme or another. I don't think too many people on the boards here are actually against guns - they simply favor better, tighter gun control. It's a fairly common belief that better control, banning automatics and semi-automatics will make things safer. It still allows avid hunters access to their shot guns and rifles, and your average person access to relatively simple handguns that, in cases where they're actually accessible (read: not in a different room, locked in a safe you won't have time to open ), could help prevent home invasions like that in the OP.


I guess it really comes down to what your intentions are with owning a gun. Hunting and home protection shouldn't really require all that much, and it shouldn't matter if you have to wait a few extra days or weeks to obtain your gun - at least in theory. If you're going by the constitution and bearing arms for the purposes of serving as a one-man militia should the need arise, your desires are going to be vastly different than the average hunter/home owner - and really, given how much the US spends on its military, i doubt a militia is really necessary anymore. And if you're bearing arms with the intent of fighting against the government should it grow out of control of the people, then I'm sorry to say you're going to be horribly out gunned.

So, while there are individuals who are completely and totally opposed to guns in all forms, i think they're in the minority. Rather, people tend to take sides on where the line should be drawn on gun accessibility, not if they should be accessible.

[freshmtt]

Good for them!!!! I think what the family did was acceptable. I have no sympathy or pity for the dead man or the other idiot that was wounded. You break into someone's home and commit a crime you take the chance of being shot and killed. If more situations like this happened I think we would have a lot less crime if the stupid ass criminals would know that they are not the only ones capable of pulling that trigger.

[Devil's Advocate]

God I love Texas!

[miscrms]

To me it proves a number of things.

1. You have to be pretty stupid to try a home invasion style robbery. Why take a risk at winding up like these clowns, when there are plenty of safer targets?

2. Despite being one of the main concerns of many gun owners, home invasion robberies are pretty rare because most potential thieves aren't that stupid.

3. As you mention, in the vast majority of cases, even if you own guns they will be of no use to you because they are stored away in a safe manner

4. If you keep your guns readily at hand and loaded for just such a situation, the chances of your kids finding them and killing themselves or their friends are much higher than your actually needing them for defense.

5. Having a gun gives you a false sense of security. These guys had the guns and had the element of surprise on their side, and look how well things turned out for them.

6. If any moron couldn't just walk into a pawn shop and buy a shotgun or handgun for $50, these types of situations would probably be even less common.

I enjoy guns a good deal, but have no interest in having them in my home with two small children. Nor do I feel that my desire to have access to them justifies the amount of harm done by their being readily available. There will always be people who are going to commit crimes. But there are few people who would be bold enough to try and force their way into someones home without a gun. The very palpable power that emanates from holding a firearm, the ease of its discharge, and the immediacy of it effects, give people the courage to do things they would never otherwise undertake.

Rob

[NoMoShocks]

What the story tells me is that Jar Candles are every bit if not more important means for protecting yourself.

[tripp]

Clearly unless these poor folks had actually had their weapons on them at the time any weapons in the house would have been useless. They were very brave to fight fight back and I'm glad that they escaped with no physical harm. Psychological damage will be extreme and I feel really sorry for them.

I own a number of weapons including an AR-15, a 12 gauge, and a 30-06. We had some dumbass kids kick in our front door at about 11 PM one night about a year ago. Scared the living shite out of us. After the first kick I was up out of bed and racing down stairs, completely unarmed, and thinking "sod this, I wish I had my AR". The kids just ran off and were later apprehended by the cops (they'd already done this to a couple of other houses).

Once I settled down I thought about how it might have ended if I had been armed with a loaded assault rifle. I'm not sure where it would have gone, but the thought that the rounds fired from that weapon would have passed through many bodies/walls/doors before coming to a halt would have made me somewhat reluctant to fire it. The loaded 12 gauge would have been a MUCH better option in that situation, but still it was unloaded under the bed. I've got two young daughters and I don't want ammunition anywhere near those weapons. So down the stairs in me boxers it was. I found it hard to get to sleep for a couple of weeks. You really real violated and edgy. I can't imagine what those folks will go through in the months and years ahead.

I'm guessing the lads who tried the robbery were meth-heads. Who else would be so f*cking stupid? The tossers got what they deserved. It's just too bad that the family that they attacked will carry psychological scars for years to come.

[Dave_PH]

I keep my gun loaded and handy. I load 2 clips with fresh hydorschocks every year.

[Dave_PH]

Originally Posted by miscrms

To me it proves a number of things.

14. If you keep your guns readily at hand and loaded for just such a situation, the chances of your kids finding them and killing themselves or their friends are much higher than your actually needing them for defense.


6. If any moron couldn't just walk into a pawn shop and buy a shotgun or handgun for $50, these types of situations would probably be even less common.


Rob

Feel free to show me the data on this

[Dave_PH]

[quote=eagle33199;714688] banning automatics and semi-automatics will make things safer.

quote]

Right, a revolver is sooo much safer.

-Dirty Harry