Defending the castle by example

Many of us gun owners are already aware of numerous new reports similar to this one, but I'd like to point it out and discuss:

Quote:

"The intruder entered the front door of the farm house and physically assaulted Cindy while demanding money at gunpoint," read the statement from Boswell's office.

After hearing his daughter's screams, the congressman "entered the walkway of their house and immediately went for the guy's gun and was wrestling with him. They were both on the ground," Boswell's chief of staff Grant Woodard told local news station KCCI.

  Image cannot be displayedCharlie Neibergall / AP file Rep. Leonard Boswell, D-Iowa, helped fight off an invader at his farm house on Saturday night.

While the two scuffled, Boswell's grandson Mitchell grabbed a loaded .12-gauge shotgun from a nearby room and confronted the intruder, who then fled into the surrounding field and reportedly was still on the run.

https://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43794799/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

So here is a few points that I got out of it:

1. Yes breakins happen regardless of if you live in the country or not. Us that understand what is going on economically have little doubt that the social unrest will be subdued during the times ahead.
2. This lady (Cynthia Brown) was obviously unprepared for what was about to unfold and she clearly did not have a weapon to defend herself.
3. It takes teamwork to defend the castle. In this case, it took bravery (or ignorance of fear?) to jump into the fight and attempt to disarm a much younger intruder with a weapon. It also took a 22 year old with a shotgun to bring this to a conclusion.
4. What if the shotgun was not loaded? In the panic of the moment, it'd add seconds to the event to open you the ammo box, start loading a few shells, and then scurrying into the room with the intruder. Point being made is that process during a time when seconds count is too long. Keep the weapons at ready always.
5. Make sure everyone in your household knows how to handle the weapon. Such situations can become more dangerous with nervous twitching finger on the trigger waving a shotgun all over the place. This guy (22) probably knew what he was doing as we're not reading a story on how multiple people were shot by a single shotgun blast.
6. I sincerely doubt that shotgun was locked up in a safe in the basement (says "room nearby"). If you are at home, make sure your weapons are handy.

Lets learn what we can from this incident and keep preparing.