Corpus Christi Teen Kills Burglar in Home

This short but sweet article from Houston Chronicle shows why firearm familiarity and safety training for your children is a much better idea than gun locks:

CORPUS CHRISTI — A 14-year-old boy shot and killed a man who broke into his family's home today and threatened to kill him and his mother, Police Chief Bryan Smith said.

Smith said the man, whose name was not immediately known, confronted a woman as she was carrying groceries into her home shortly before 1 p.m.

The man forced her inside and tied up her and her son. Smith said the woman was able to loosen the binding and free her son, who got his father's revolver from a security box beneath a bed.

As the man tried to break into the room where the two were and threatened to kill them both, the teen fired a shot through the door and hit the intruder in the head, Smith said.

The teenager either knew the security code on the box, or his mother gave it to him. There was no fumbling around for keys or other nonsense. The teenager was at least somewhat familiar with the operation of the revolver, and he killed the goblin. One goblin dead, one boy taking a very large step towards becoming a man by his adult actions.

This teenager and his mother are alive and well because there was a firearm available for protection, and the teenager knew how to use it. A teenager, one of the folks that the Brady Bunch and others are trying so very hard to keep from ever learning the safe operation of a handgun.