Last Tuesday, Christopher Boise heard a noise coming from the basement of his apartment in Rochester, N.Y. When he went to investigate, he saw two men standing at the bottom of the stairs — one of them pointed a handgun at Boise.
Boise's roommate, Raymond — both men are students at the Rochester Institute of Technology — was sitting in the apartment when he heard a scream. As he describes, "It wasn't like a, 'I stepped on a piece of glass,' kind of scream. It was primal." So Raymond went to his gun bag.
The apartment door started opening about five seconds after Raymond heard the scream — just enough time for him to grab his AR-15. One of the intruders saw the rifle and decided that they both had pressing business elsewhere, and the two men fled. The police are still looking for the suspects.
"The weapon was legal and he protected his property," said Rochester Police Chief James Sheppard. "We're thankful that no one was injured."
This incident demonstrates many points that the NRA and pro-gun groups make, that the anti-gunners just wish weren't so.
First, that sometimes it is necessary to have a gun immediately available. Raymond had five seconds, and in that time he was able to grab his AR-15, but not load it. Luckily, the intruders didn't notice the rifle was unloaded. From his comments during the interview with a local news crew, it sounds as if Raymond had a trigger lock on the rifle, and by the time he got that unlocked, the intruders were coming in.
Second, sometimes the mere presence of a good guy with a gun solves the problem. Raymond's AR-15 didn't even have a magazine in it! This incident will probably not be counted in the statistics of any group — pro- or anti-gun — because nobody was shot and nobody was arrested. Still, similar incidents happen thousands of time every year across this country.
Third, perhaps AR-15s are useful for self defense, no matter what Joe Biden says. Hmm. As even the WHAM reporter stated during the on air segment, Raymond's AR-15 was "used for sport. That was, until Tuesday, when it was needed for more."
