Here’s a horror story for you, with as happy an ending as the horrendous circumstances allowed.
In retrospect, I can say it probably would have ended better if the parents had been able to access a gun. In Massachusetts where it happened, even owning handguns let alone carrying them legally is a hassle, but it can be done. For most of my life I lived in bordering New Hampshire, and back in the day jumped through the hoops to get a non-resident Massachusetts carry permit. That became unnecessary for me when the Bay State’s Bartley-Fox law was amended to allow cops, including out of state cops, to carry off duty there.
My hat is off to these courageous parents. The dad at one point in the struggle with the big, knife-wielding killer yelled to his family to bring him his gun, trying to bluff the monster into surrendering. He didn’t really have one.
I sure hope he got one since. If that mom, dad or now-adult daughter ever read this, I want them to know they have a free tuition at one of my classes (http://massadayoobgroup.com).
For more information, you can get the book here.
It was very lucky that any of them survived that night. Midnight curfew for a 15 year old girl? I don’t think so. Lock your damn doors and give the kids a key. Have an emergency plan. Jump through whatever hoops you have to and get a gun and training. If dad had frozen they would all likely be dead. Mom, hit that POS with something heavy and don’t stop. Going through life with your head in the clouds and thinking nice thoughts is not a plan.
Agreed. Those of us who live in “safe” neighborhoods get complacent.
Horrific. LLEA response seems quite fast-at least per the account- very good thing. While I’m not as much a fan of the shotgun as I was in my younger days, might the regulatory hoops would have been less to jump through? A short barreled 20 gauge would have been a massive help if properly loaded.
Families have to have a plan in advance. If women, and some men, haven’t gotten some…any…training they are of no help but they should be.
WR Moore, you are so right about a 20-gauge shotgun. Even a break-action, accurate, reliable single-shot with a short barrel, equipped with #2 buckshot, 1-ounce Brenneke bear-worthy slugs, and bird shot, all often stored at the buttstock in a tight, quality holder, has long been my favorite all-around indoor-outdoor, handy firearm. Inexpensive, efficient, intimidating when necessary, and quick enough to reload, it is with the more practice, more quickly done. You can carry four extra shells between the digits of the support hand in an emergency, and with any needed, appropriate tactical movement you are good to go against Blackbeard the Pirate, a Manson Gang, or 5 mad grizzlies. The action can be left open and kept unloaded for extreme, obvious safety, but is super-quick to arm and close. I have carried a 20-gauge H & R conveniently for many mountain hikes in California, for example, without ever being successfully annoyed by a single pest of any kind. You cannot beat it for carrying at the trail position, in either hand. The H & R style action is completely safe for uncocked carry, as well as having the hammer visible when uncocked or cocked. Unless you have a full-auto firearm, you can only fire one shot at a time, anyway. Wear a quality vest, bandolier, or belt, with loops well-positioned, and you are way ahead of even Davy Crockett for reload expediency. It is also very easy to clean the open, empty barrel. Nothing is wrong with carrying a reliable pump, lever-action, or semi-auto, they just don’t have the KISS advantages of the single-shot.
I was hiking in California before the non-lead restrictions on hunting ammunition were passed. Research now shows that some non-lead 20-gauge ammo is available, although definitely more expensive than lead. I don’t know if “copper-tipped”
slugs qualify. Special low-recoil home-defense slugs are available, that are still pretty impressive “stoppers.” For dealing with dangerous predator animals, I look at Elmer Keith’s old standard of hand-loaded, 405-grain lead rifle .45-70 bullets at about 1500 feet per second for hunting grizzly, for comparison. Any heavy shotgun slug that gives performance even comparable to the ordinary 1300 fos or more .45-70 loads tends to be held fully capable of stopping a black bear. Belligerent elk and moose can actually be as hard to stop as anything, but a one-ounce 20-gauge slug at around 1400 feet per second or more will definitely get their attention, if properly placed. Some 20-gauge lead loads are given at close to 1500 fps. Barrel length is generally a component of true velocity, but not always exactly regular across the board accordingly.
I’m a New Hampshire resident that lives less than 10 minutes north of the border. I could jump through the hoops to get a Mass carry permit, but it’s such a pain I just don’t go to Massghanistan. I refuse to even attempt it. I won’t support a state that won’t support my rights and treats me like a second class citizen because on an imaginary line on a map. I do consider myself lucky to not HAVE to cross that border. I will not patronize that state in any fashion. I do feel bad for any of our 2nd Amendment brothers and sisters caught behind enemy lines, and as Mas says, “Lucky for you, New Hampshire accepts refugees”.
Household 6 and our daughter in law went to a First Shots handgun class last month. My DIL didn’t want to go alone so my wife went with her. The whole reason behind it was a conversation DIL and I had. Her and my son don’t have kids yet, but she said couldn’t even imagine having a child and not being able to protect them in todays world.
They both learned a lot, and DIL is looking at a Glock 44 .22LR. She has muscle and tissue issues that make her recoil tolerance quite low. Her and my wife also joined our local chapter of A Girl and A Gun. Good news all around!
@Karl J: Some of us have escaped but have children trapped there. 😉
I have family trapped in NJ. It was much worse until recently. The got their 1st after threats related to a family business. Some family have moved to TX. Others are in process of migrating. Some simply cannot get out just now.
Sad to learn Massachussetts have regressed almost back to their status pre-revolution with respect to gun ownership. Why DID those 14,000 armed Colonial militia take up their arms and muster to go and stand against General Gage and his redcoats, anyway? Those men Gage sent out had orders to take up arms, powder, shot, other “military goods” to disarm and subdue the Patriots.
If I’m not mistaken, King George III wanted to tax the colonists at 3% to pay for the French & Indian War, also known as the Seven Years’ War. The colonists were willing to pay that, IF they could get representation in Parliament. King George would not allow that. So, when the British regulars came to take the guns, the colonists rebelled.
A 3% tax sounds pretty good these days. If I got anything wrong, please correct me.
The company I worked for was based just north of Boston, so I had a non-resident MA permit back in the late 90’s for a few years. (Thanks again for the advice on how to get that, Mas!) Then they changed the law such that nonresidents would have to renew in person every year instead of every three, and it became way too much hassle (which was obviously their intent with the new law). Interestingly, once I got my permit in MA, I could carry in more places in MA than I could in NC with my resident CCH permit due to the MA permit being good “for all lawful purposes.”
Even a basic .38 revolver like my wife’s would have enabled that family to center punch the likely serial killer permanently. The state of MA has God knows how much blood on its hands for the anti gun laws imposed on the law abiding people who live or visit there. Another case which comes to mind is that of the Boston Rapist from the late 1980s-early 1990s as featured on Unsolved Mysteries and in local media then. That one goes to trial in March of this year, but a gun in the hands of any of the survivors of his crimes would have saved a great deal of misery.
People who live in New York City, or even London, England, could have used a hammer on the killer’s head. The hammer would be legal in London, but once the victim hits the bad guy on the head with it, I suppose the victim would be arrested and charged with battery. I think you can only restrain bad guys in London.
I like the idea of keeping a baseball bat, sword, or hammer nearby. The baseball bat and sword require two hands, so the hammer is probably the better choice. It’s easy to swing a hammer indoors. Could use a kitchen knife, too, I suppose.
I have always enjoyed reading self-defense articles like this because there is so much that can be learned from other people’s experiences. My favorite source of this kind of information has always been “The Ayoob Files” in American Handgunner magazine, which just went all digital. Although I will miss the print editions just as much as everyone else, I am grateful that it is continuing to be published online & IT’S FREE!!! Recently, I was happy to discover that americanhandgunner.com has made The Ayoob Files available on their website which you can reach with the following link:
https://americanhandgunner.com/category/our-experts/ayoob-files/
If that doesn’t work, you can go to americanhangunner.com, then click on “EXPERTS” at the top of the page, & then click on “AYOOB FILES”. In addition, you can click on “DEADLY FORCE” to read Mas’ columns there. The other great American Handgunner columns like The Guncrank Diaries are available there as well.
Mas, your many followers, including me, have been hoping for a complete collection of The Ayoob Files in book form for years. Is it possible that you & FMG publications can work out a deal to publish such a collection as they have done with The Guncrank Diaries, The Insider, & other columns? I already have “The Ayoob Files:The Book” which you published back in 1995, but I would really like a more complete collection of those columns & I’m sure it would sell very well.