Could You Shoot An Intruder?

                    If someone forced themselves into your home, could you shoot them?  A recent news article by Rene Lynch in the Los Angeles Times and the story in it presented great evidence of why being an armed citizen is necessary.  Sarah McKinley, an 18-year-old widow and mother of a 3-month-old baby, used a shotgun to defend herself and her son against two men who broke into her home on New Year's Eve.  She will not face charges in connection with the shooting because she acted in self-defense. 

                    McKinley's husband died on Christmas Day of lung cancer.  Less than a week later, Justin Shane Martin (24) and Dustin Louis Stewart (29), reportedly high on prescription drugs, forced themselves into her home looking for more drugs.  One of them knew that someone in that home had recently died of cancer and suspected that narcotics might still be in the residence.  When the men began pounding on the door of her mobile home, McKinley wedged a sofa up against the front door to stop the intruders.  She moved her infant into the bedroom and called 9-1-1 to ask permission to shoot if necessary.

                    Twenty-one minutes later she was still on the line with the dispatcher when Martin broke through the door and past the couch.  McKinley was standing in the door of her bedroom with her shotgun.  No law enforcement officers were in sight.  Martin died with a knife in his gloved hand, and Stewart later turned himself in to the police and confessed.  He is facing first-degree murder charges.

                    There appears to be little confusion about what happened in the home because much of the ordeal was captured on the 9-1-1 recording.  McKinley told the dispatcher that there was a guy at her door and that she was alone with her infant.  She asked permission to shoot if the guy came through the door.  The dispatcher, Diane Graham, told her that she couldn't give her permission to shoot but told her to "do what you have to do to protect your baby."

                    McKinley held off as long as she could in an attempt to wait for police to arrive.  It was only when Martin came through the door that she blasted him.  She "feels bad" that she shot him, but she has "no regrets" about defending herself and her son.

 

                    I thought a lot about McKinley's experience and wondered if I could do the same thing.  A mother's love for her child is very strong, and yet life itself is very dear.  I wondered if I really could pull the trigger and kill another human being or would I be too concerned about legal and eternal consequences.  I am in no way judging McKinley and what she did because I understand that she was in a position where she had to defend herself or possibly suffer horrible results.  We will never know what would have happened to McKinley and her son, Justin, if she had not shot the intruder, but we do know that the men were on drugs and had at least one knife when they broke into her home.

                    I also thought, she is only 18 years old and look at the hard life she faces.  She is a widow with an infant son to rear and now has to have this shooting on her conscience.  I thought of myself, my daughters, and other young women at age eighteen and realize that we were all very naïve and sheltered.  This poor woman!

                    Then I thought of the 21 minutes of terror, 21 minutes waiting for police to arrive.  What if it was only five or ten minutes?  The terror would have been just as great and the result would have been the same.  How long would it be before police could arrive at my home?

                    Maybe McKinley could have prevented the forced entry if she had shouted "I have a shotgun, and I will shoot you if you come through my door!"  Maybe she did warn them.  Maybe she didn't.  It is a horrible dilemma for anyone to face! 

The fact remains that McKinley was prepared to defend herself and she lived through the ordeal.  She is not the only American prepared for defense.  Every month when my Freedom Magazine arrives from the National Rifle Association (NRA) I read true stories of other armed citizens who used their Right to Keep and Bear Arms to protect themselves and their families.  Not all of them have to kill the attackers or intruders, but the fact that they had guns loaded and available protected them and their property.

I understand that gun and ammunition sales increased greatly upon the election of Barack Obama.  I also understand that there was another increase in sales in recent months when Americans saw mobs in Europe attacking and robbing unarmed people who could not defend themselves and recognized that the same thing could happen here.  More and more Americans are arming themselves and preparing to protect themselves, their families, and their property.  How about you?  Could you shoot an intruder?