An attorney living in an upscale suburb of Louisville, Kentucky is speaking out after his home was invaded over the weekend, forcing him to fire a shot in self-defense.
The armed citizen spoke to Louisville television station WDRB about his encounter with the intruders last Saturday evening, though he understandably wanted to remain anonymous while recounting his run-in with the masked men.
“I was in bed at 6:30, believe it or not, and the dog started barking. … They were barking in an unusual manner,” he said. “So I reached into the drawer of the table next to my bed and pulled out my .44 Magnum pistol and I went out the entrance to the bedroom.”
That’s when he came face-to-face with two masked intruders in the middle of his home.
“And I said, ‘What’s going on?’ And they turned around and took off, and I tried to shoot ’em,” he said. “I missed but I tried.”
The suspects escaped through a back door, jumped over a rear railing and disappeared into a wooded area near a nearby park. A man walking his dogs told the homeowner he was nearly run over by the men, who were speaking Spanish and fled the scene in a waiting SUV.
The homeowner believes the suspects were part of an organized group — possibly a transnational burglary ring — that carefully scoped out the home in advance.
“Until I talked to the police and then I got a better idea of their M.O., I knew they watched for houses they thought were vacant,” he said. “There’s no doubt they had my house under surveillance for a period of time … to establish there was nothing going on inside.”
He said the suspects were dressed in dark sweat suits and wore masks. They didn’t steal anything, but he believes they were targeting high-end valuables that can’t easily be traced.
“They go to the master bedroom and steal property — money, jewelry, clothes, shoes, things that are of value but are not readily identifiable,” he said. “They don’t take guns, because guns have serial numbers and can be traced.”
The armed citizen says that after speaking with others in the neighborhood, he believes that this crew has been operating in the area for at least two years and is responsible for the theft of at least $100,000 in belongings.
He’s also using his own experience to encourage others to “have a plan” if their home is invaded, including having “some kind of protection” as well as keeping doors locked and equipping their home with an alarm system.
Those are all smart suggestions, but I would also add that in some states, the armed attorney might not have been able to access his pistol before the masked intruders walked in to his bedroom. Gun control activists love to impose one-size-fits-all storage requirements on firearm owners that require them to keep their guns locked up at all times unless they’re actively being carried or are “under the control” of an authorized user, even if there are no kids in the home.
Kentucky, thankfully, doesn’t have a mandate like that in place, but if he lived in a state like Massachusetts or New York he would have been required to keep his pistol locked up while he slept or else face fines or even time behind bars. I’m all in favor of gun owners storing their firearms in a way that they’re off limits to young children or any other household member who doesn’t need access, but this incident is a chilling reminder that mandating how firearms must be stored can put residents at risk if intruders decide to pay them a visit.
Editor’s Note: Every day on Bearing Arms’ Cam and Company we’re covering armed citizen stories like this one.
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