Usually, when I share a news report about a home invasion, the residents fare poorly, if they survive at all. In this news story, however, a family recently confronted by an aggressive home invader used their home defense firearms to end a break-in without any harm coming to the residents within the home.
According to a news report, yesterday, an intruder who has been identified as Mitchell Large, approached the back doors of a Winter Haven, FL home. The family within heard the rattling at the french doors and the homeowner’s 20-year-old son checked on the area to find the source of the disturbance. Allegedly, he witnessed Large attempting to gain access to the home and responded by drawing a firearm and firing a warning shot to scare away the would-be burglar. Florida statute 776 provides that a person’s use of lethal force is justifiable if “the person against whom the defensive force was used was in the process of unlawfully and forcefully entering or had unlawfully and forcibly entered a dwelling, residence, or occupied vehicle…” [776.13 Section 1, Line A]. Despite the shot fired, the intruder continued break into the house. When he discovered three of the home’s four residents in the kitchen, they simultaneously opened fire on the home invader until he died.
Here at The Arms Guide, we’ve said before that a self defense firearm (whether for concealed carry or home defense) does not serve as a guarantee of safety. However, stories like that of the thwarted home invasion reported in Florida yesterday provide evidence that home carry could very well save your life. Is your home prepared?
Featured image still from WFLA News video courtesy of WFLA.com
