Defending your home

Recent home defense stories
by Robert A. Waters

Back in 1998, when I published my first book, The Best Defense: True Stories of Intended Victims Who Defended Themselves with a Firearm, the Internet was beginning to help change a lot of people's minds about the gun issue. Up until the World Wide Web came into existence, anti-gunners were able to claim that self-defense with a firearm was rare. As soon as newspapers went online, that argument could no longer prevail. (Self-defense stories rarely make national news and are carried in local newspapers only.) In 1997, while preparing to write my book, I researched thousands of cases in which criminals were beaten at their own game. Murderers, rapists, robbers, thieves, burglars, even serial killers have been stopped by armed citizens. The Best Defense is out of print now, but can still be obtained at some online bookstores. The following true stories describe recent home invasions that ended badly for the thugs.

On April 18, 2010, Christopher Hampton was supposed be under house arrest in Indianapolis. A career criminal, he’d been convicted of numerous charges, including burglary and illegal possession of drugs and firearms. But on that day, the battery went dead in the GPS monitoring device that he wore. Hampton used the snafu to attempt a home invasion. He selected an apartment on Pennsylvania Avenue. There he pulled out a gun and tried to rob three people in the home. As he marched the victims into a back room, Brian Blevins, who has a permit to carry a concealed weapon, pulled out his own pistol and shot Hampton in the chest. The invader was killed instantly. Cops stated that Blevins acted in lawful self-defense and he was not charged with any crime.

“Mr. Lambert is not facing any charges,” West Virginia Senior Trooper L. T. Goldie, Jr. said after Jeffrey Lambert shot a man who was trying to break into his home. According to police reports, Thomas Perry had attempted to illegally enter several houses in the small town of Atenville--in each case, he was chased away by residents. He'd also tried to start a fight with three employees of a local cable company. Once he arrived at the Lambert residence, Perry attempted to kick in the front door. “In that residence,” Goldie said, “[there were] four small children of Mr. Lambert. He said he felt threatened for his safety and his children’s safety, so he fired the shot.” Lambert told police that he’d been involved in a motorcycle accident which crippled him. Because of his physical handicap, he bought a pistol to protect himself and his family. Perry was taken to a local hospital for treatment of a stomach wound. After recovering, troopers said they planned to charge the intruder with assault and trespassing.

Beatrice Turner used a .22-caliber pistol to rout a home invader

On April 20, in Des Moines, Iowa, eighty-nine-year-old Beatrice Turner stopped an intruder in his tracks. A stranger, later identified as Nelson McAlpine, began pounding on her front door. Turner ordered him to leave. Since he wouldn’t stop, and seemed determined to knock the door down, she grabbed her .22-caliber pistol. Finally, the door was kicked open. Turner, now eyeball-to-eyeball with the stranger, warned him again. "As long as you stay on the outside," she said, "I'm not gonna [shoot]. But if you come on the inside, it's going to be me or you." The intruder took a step toward her and the homeowner fired. Startled, McAlpine ran outside where he was quickly arrested. He seemed more upset that his intended victim shot at him than he was at getting busted. Police, who praised Turner, explained to McAlpine that he was lucky the bullet didn’t find its mark.