Speed, surprise and violence of action. Bad guys use it. So should you. Case in point [via fox13now.com]:
According to police, officers were called to a unit at the Aspenwood Apartment, 4100 South and 4000 West, around 2:30 a.m.
Police believe a party was going on when three masked suspects made their way into the home. Two of the suspects went straight to the back bedroom and started grabbing items, including electronics. The third was holding a handgun and told everyone to get to the ground.
“The [tenant] was like, ‘Are you serious?’ and [the suspect’s] like, ‘Yeah, this is a robbery. Everybody stay down,'” said Lt. Jeff Conger with West Valley City Police.
One of the tenants tried grabbing his things back from one of the suspects while his roommate came out of a bedroom holding a shotgun. He and one of the suspects fought over the gun, police said.
According to police, no shots were fired. The suspects all fled, and they left their handgun at the scene. The suspects are most likely unarmed, according to police.
Huh? Robbers armed with a handgun have, what, given up on the whole have a gun thing? I doubt that. Anyway, shotguns . . .
A shotgun is one of the best “one-stop shot” firearms commonly available to the general public. A such they are a fearsome weapon. Make that a fearsome “long gun.” Which presents an obvious problem: they’re easy to grab and deflect.
The best way to avoid that problem is not to get within arm’s reach of the bad guy. And the best way to do that: either hold them off with the threat of ballistic perforation or, it must be said, shoot them.
Remembering that most jurisdictions prefer that the perforated perp pose an imminent danger of grievous bodily harm or death. In other words, they should be in the act of trying to inflict GBH or RIP. That said, many states regard criminal trespass as an inherently imminent threat.
If the bad guy gets a hold of your shotgun, you can corkscrew the gun to remove offending hands. Or, it must be said, shoot them. Remembering that ServPro knows how to deal with the resulting mess. Like it never happened. Luckily, in this case, it didn’t. Right?