Piers Morgan may wonder why Americans own firearms, but unlike his countrymen, we have a right to do so. And many of us realize that we are our own first responders. Whether it’s an un-armed Brit bobbie or a Pasco County, Florida deputy, Johnny Law will almost never be there in time to protect you and your loved ones from someone who would do you harm.
Take, for instance, the example of a Hudson, Florida mother of four who encountered an intruder on her property over the weekend.
She first called 911 when he was wandering on her property and came to her door. She didn’t recognize him and called police
From WFLA:
That’s when Richards says she noticed the garage door that’s always open had been shut. She screamed, opened the garage door and called 911 again for a second time.
The second call was made at 12:54 in the morning.
“I have a gun pointed and I need the police to show up immediately,” said Richards on the 911 call. “I called 10 minutes ago and nobody has shown up.”
The terrifying scene would continue for 13 more minutes before the first PCSO deputy arrived at the scene at 1:07 in the morning.
Richards can be heard asking dispatch about the deputies estimated time of arrival multiple times.
“They just said you’re priority, they’re coming lights and sirens,” said dispatch.
It took police a total of 26 minutes to arrive, 13 minutes after the more urgent call.
If that sounds excessive, a 2018 study by Stanford University showed that the mean response time for priority one calls — the most urgent — is 24.8 minutes with a median of 8.8 minutes.
Boil it down, and you can see that depending on a law enforcement response to handle a life-or-death situation is wildly optimistic. Police can’t be everywhere and some agencies cover large areas.
According to the county, the recent average response time for such a call is around 10 minutes and 31 seconds. But in this incident, it was 26 minutes.
Richards had to wait two and a half times longer. Richards’ second call described a burglary in progress.
The recent average response time in this situation is six minutes and nine seconds.
Richards waited 13 minutes for help, twice as long.
As one of the woman’s neighbors put it,
“Had she not had a gun and been ready to protect herself or call the neighbors, she might be standing here cause who knows what would happen,” said Mrs. Nieves.
Buy a gun. Keep it loaded. Get training if possible. Home carry if you can. The life you save could be your own.