Many people purchase self defense products so that they have protection in the event that their home is broken into, but there are ambiguities in some peoples’ minds about what they can and cannot do in such a circumstance. Like so many other things in life, if you think about it at, all common sense should prevail. While I am not a lawyer and urge you to research the laws where you live before you seriously plan your own course of action, its usually safe to assume that you can do whatever you must to protect yourself and your family from harm.
Personally, I don’t defend the actions of people who feel that someone creeping through their backyard should be attacked with lethal force – I’m sorry I just don’t think that your lawnmower or bicycles or your car is worth someone’s life. I have friends who disagree with me – so maybe we shouldn’t go there.
Instead take a minute to think seriously about what you WILL do if someone breaks into your home. Most important is the emphasis on the word WILL – not should, or could or might. It’s important to think this through and decide ahead of time what your plan of action will be- because believe me, if you wake up in the middle of the night to the certainty that someone uninvited is creeping through your home, your decision making abilities will NOT be a their best.
Now – the situation I described is one of the worst, but it’s not the most frequent. Far more likely to happen is that you’ll come home one day and see that your home has been broken into. Just because the average television character, encountering this circumstance will immediately enter the premises (with our without a drawn weapon- which depends entirely on what show you’re watching) it doesn’t mean this is a good idea.
In fact, it’s a lousy idea! So why do people do it? Two reasons I can think of, the first being a misguided aggressive response and the second being that they just didn’t think about it. If you’re going to react aggressively – I have nothing to say to you- except of course to very casually point out you might get yourself killed. If you just haven’t given it any thought before – time to think now. And the question is, what if there is someone still inside? You don’t want to ever unnecessarily confront someone committing a criminal act, and so the only thing you need to remember if you come home and you can see that someone broke in – is do not go inside. Call the police and wait for them to go in first. It’s what they are trained and paid to do.
Let me share a true story. When I was just a kid my best friend was grocery shopping with her mother on a weekday afternoon. When they returned home, the front door was open. Megan’s mom was concerned enough to tell Megan to stay in the car and not to follow her into the house, but not concerned enough to stay outside herself.
There was still someone in the house who snuck up on her from behind, knocked her unconscious and proceeded to set a fire. Megan was still sitting in the car, and stayed there until she saw the smoke at which point she ran across the street and banged on a neighbor’s door, who called the fire dept.
They pulled Megan’s mom out of the house. She’d been tied up. She had to be treated for smoke inhalation and they never found the intruder. Had Megan not been in the car with her that day, her mom would have died – most horribly in the fire..
Don’t go inside
