@ClydeFrog : I agree that most daytime break-ins are resource predators looking for stuff. The problem is, you don't know their motive and it isn't our job to ask them what their motive is. If we did ask, they would just claim to be a locksmith here to repair the lock someone else just broke.
Second, a resource predator can become a process predator after breaking in and meeting your 13 year old daughter home sick from school or meeting your wife that just got out of the shower. Before taking your blender, the resource predator might decide that the opportunity to have some "fun" has just presented itself and now their motive has shifted from needing "stuff" to needing your wife. Just because its between the hours of 10AM and 3PM doesn't seem to warrant giving a home invader the benefit of the doubt when it comes to what their motive is.
How long have we been hearing... "
A home invasion between 10 & 3 is someone expecting no one to be home and they just want your stuff"?? Really??
I'll bet the first time I heard that line was 20 years ago standing around in some gun shop when I lived in Texas. I propose that this line of thinking is
NO LONGER VALID. Why? We are in the computer age and MANY folks work from home now days, myself included. My wife sometimes. The NEW NORMAL for 2013 is: A home can always be occupied because many folks no longer drive into work. Maybe the perp that has been casing your home for 3 days knows your wife works from home and wants to visit her. If your wife assumes that the person that just kicked in the door wants the blender because its only 10:30 in the morning - she may end up dead, having this mindset.
When working from home I have my .45 on the desk next to me. When the doorbell rings, I look out the window for a UPS / FEDEX truck (regular mail goes to a PO BOX). If none to be found, I sit back down. A 2nd ring or knock, I trot downstairs with the .45 and take up a position of cover where I have line of fire to both front and back doors... and I wait.... No warning shots. No B.S. verbal commands to the FBI:80-percenter that is too high to even know what I am saying or too high to follow directions or too high to stop their forward motion after 4 COM hits with a .45ACP. It's just game-over when the doorjamb splinters.
Now, I am not talking about an execution. The perp made a choice to invade an occupied home. If the perp hits the floor before I pull the trigger or he has turned to run before I have pulled the trigger, thank god because I really don't want to have to shoot anyone, especially given the fact that I have maple wood floors and blood would likely warp the boards. I digress. If the perp isn't fast enough, its most likely going to be a
dirt-nap.
The reason this would be so sad is because after the shooting we will all find out that the perp was just starting to turn their life around. As a matter of fact, we will discover that just 9 days prior to the event, the
perp did an
anti-crime public service announcement for
MADDADS.
I'll never forget when I was 12 or 13 and living in Tulsa, OK... home sick from school, dad at work and mom out grocery shopping; I was watching TV in the living room, probably Price Is Right, and the doorbell rings. I didn't move because my brother and I were always taught to never answer the door. The doorbell rings again. I pop-up and peek through the curtain and see some guy standing on the porch... then he opens the screen door and tries the front door. I bolt to to my parents bedroom, grab dads Ruger Speed-Six .357 (which I had fired many times at the local dump) and stood in the living room with gun pointed at the front door. Long story short, my beagle jumped on the couch, ears back and let out a single bark. The punk robbed the home next door. If I had to guess I would say the guy was probably 18 to 23 years old. Too bad he'll never know his life was saved by the single bark of some homeowners dog... only 1.5 inches of wood between his body and a 158 grain jacketed hollow point. Maybe
his intuition told him there was a predator already in the home.
Who can say.
Reminds me of another story, in Tulsa and same neighborhood. My folks were on the community board and somehow I always got stuck delivering the monthly news bulletins - two to three sheets of paper, printed front and back and rolled up with rubber-band. I would ride my bike and deliver to about ~50 to ~75 homes.... The job was to ring the bell, announce "[name redacted] Newsletter". If no one answered, attach the document to the doorknob or do whatever worked. Never had any problems. Most folks knew me and knew what I was doing. There was one neighbor, Homer H., who folks talked about as being a "little off" (according to my parents). I always addressed Homer as Mr. H****** as 12 or 13 year old should address someone in their 60's, at least back then. Well, one night Homer got "upset" at/with his newspaper boy, stepped out on the porch and shot him. Paperboy dies. Homer went to prison. Seems he tried to claim self-defense (defense of dwelling?) because someone was breaking into his home. Not sure if Homer just hated the paperboy or just flipped his lid one night. I always wondered if, on any other day, that bullet could have been mine.
Who can say.