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How many of you are mothers?

How many of you are at home with your kids?

How many of you expect a man to break into your home with a shovel in one hand and a lug wrench in the other, ready to rape, kill, rob, and who knows what else?

When you hear a scenario like this, what are you imagining the outcome to be?

That's what a 51 year old man on parole after serving 20 years for armed robbery did. It horrifies me to think of what he intended to do to this mother and her two children.

Fortunately, he ended up doing nothing. Not because he had a change of heart and not because the police came in time. It was because the mother was armed and shot him dead to protect her two children.

It's a sad story with a happy ending. What can we learn?

Number one. Could this situation have been avoided?

Perhaps.

Is your home secure enough? How difficult is it to enter?  It may not always be possible to keep an intent home invader from coming in, but the more difficult you make it to give you time to get to a defensive weapon, and for law enforcement to arrive the better.

There are many quick and easy ways to secure your home without spending a fortune.

Number two. Violent home invasions are on the rise as is violent crime in general.

Having a home defense weapon strategically located around the home can make the difference between being a victim or a victor.

If you have minor children, make sure they cannot access these weapons under any circumstances.

and remember to abide by local laws.

And number three, unless the police are at your house at the time the invasion takes place, you're on your own for the duration of the crime.

Law enforcement will do their best to get to you, but they'll likely arrive at a crime scene after the fact.

If you don't take responsibility for being your and your loved one's first responder, then live or die with the consequences.

Safety doesn't begin and end with firearms, but when a heartless, violent beast who's bigger and stronger invades your home and threatens you and your kids, smaller and weaker victims,

What else can equalize the odds as swiftly and decisively as a firearm in the hands of a well-trained defender?

To do what that mother did doesn't happen by buying a gun and some ammo, and thinking you can rise to the occasion and just point and shoot. It happens over time with training, education, and becoming a safe, responsible, confident, and lawful gun owner. If you think you can talk yourself out of every situation, then you haven't been a victim of a violent attack.

If you think non-lethal weapons alone, such as

pepper spray,

stun gun,

or taser,

will always be enough, try that against

multiple attackers.

What will you tell your loved ones when you don't have the means to protect them because you didn't want to have a gun in the house?

I don't believe in guns?

I will never let anything happen to you?

The police will protect us?

Don't end up wishing you would have done it differently had you had the chance.