Both Good And Bad Advice

According to this story on WHNT, Huntsville, Alabama is seeing a great increase in burglaries. Because of this many people are arming themselves against burglars as well they might. According to the story, Huntsville Police said there were 241 burglaries of homes and businesses during the month of October.

WHNT interviewed the head of the Alabama State Rifle and Pistol Association, James Moses of Huntsville, who generally gave some good advice. For example, he emphasized training and safety saying "both long-time and new gun owners (are urged) to brush up on basic firearm safety skills, and take instruction classes if needed." He also emphasized that people need to be able to identify their target and make sure it is an intruder - and not a family member - they are preparing to shoot at.

Where I consider his advice a bit suspect is when he said:

If he (a burglar) is in my house and I can get to my gun and get it loaded, I'm not going to give him a chance to hurt me or hurt my wife.

The question I would ask is why his gun is unloaded. Armed burglars and home invaders are not going to give you the time to open up the gun safe, pull out your shotgun, rummage around for a box of shells, and then load it. If you are worried about small children, then take the advice of Kathy Jackson of Cornered Cat fame and keep your pistol on your body. With the rash of home invasions occuring nationwide, that isn't bad advice for everyone.