If you think car jacking is bad, wait until you hear how European celebrities are being “home-jacked.” Armed thugs break into their homes, take their kids and spouses captive, tie them up, and demand money and expensive watches and jewelry.
In the U.S., follow-home robberies grew in popularity last year. In this scenario, armed robbers follow someone who appears wealthy or at least well dressed home from a club or even a gas station and accost them in their garage as they are parking the car. Then they demand the owners disarm the alarm, take their keys, and strip them of their phones, watches and jewelry. Then they have a few minutes to ransack the house. They look for small, portable electronics, money and other items of value. They also take ATM cards and demand the PIN numbers, sometimes going so far as to kidnap the victim and make them withdraw the funds.
It takes a fair degree of daring to do a follow-home robbery. As a rule, burglars in the U.S. prefer to break into unoccupied homes because they know they are far more likely to be shot by a homeowner than to be caught you a police officer. In Europe, where they have strict laws against owning guns, getting shot by the homeowner is a non-issue. In fact, burglaries of occupied homes soared in Britain after they passed laws requiring guns to be secured in gun clubs rather than kept in your home.
Be a Self-Defender
Time and time again, American homeowners and shopkeepers armed with guns drive off armed robbers. Most of us can own a gun and many of us can carry one. As police departments suffer staffing shortages and slower response times, why not be your own first responder? Because when seconds count, police are often minutes away. Especially out here in Rural America.
Published 3/11/2024. Read full article.
