Think hard before buying a gun for your home

If you’re a homeowner, should you get a handgun to protect yourself?

You may be asking this question in the wake of the Supreme Court’s recent decision overturning the D.C. law restricting handguns has led to an upsurge of interest in guns for protection. The instance of a Baltimore resident defending his house against a burglar also captured a lot of attention.

First, a lesson on Maryland law: If you legally own a handgun, you may keep it for protection inside your home. However, if you want to carry the handgun outside, you must obtain a handgun permit from the State Police. The permits are difficult and time-consuming to get.

To buy the handgun from a licensed dealer requires waiting for a background check. Then the dealer will explain how you can legally carry it home.

Any gun is dangerous. So, before you use one to defend yourself, there are factors to consider beyond the idea of the hero defending his or her home.

First, there’s criminal liability: If you shoot a person, you run the risk of being prosecuted criminally—even though you thought you were defending yourself.

Two cases in Baltimore immediately come to mind. In the first, an elderly man, Albert Sims, living in a deserted block, was the target for months of harassment by neighborhood youths. One day, the kids so unnerved him that he went outside with his handgun to “protect” himself and his car from damage. He killed a 15-year-old. He was arrested, prosecuted, found not criminally responsible and sent to a mental hospital.

In an earlier case, Nathaniel Hurt had also been repeatedly harassed by teenagers. In 1994 he fired toward a group of kids, intending to “warn” them. The shot killed a 13-year-old. The man was sentenced to five years in prison. Gov. Parris Glendening commuted Hurt’s sentence after 14 months.

There’s also potential civil liability for injuring someone in the belief you’re acting in self-defense: You run the risk of shooting someone who wasn’t a direct threat or even involved in the incident. Or, a child may find the gun and deliberately or accidentally shoot someone. Either way, you could be sued.

Finally, there are practical questions to ask yourself before deciding to arm:
 • Do you know how to use the gun?
 • Do you know when it’s legal to use it?
 • Could you get to the gun in time?
 • Would it be taken away from you?
 • Are you ready to get into a shootout?
 • Are you sure you could live with knowing that you shot someone?

Let’s take the case of Officer Troy Chesley, who was murdered last year on his doorstep. Here’s a 13-year veteran of the Baltimore’s police force, not only trained in the use of his gun and streetwise, but required to qualify at the range every year.

None of that made a difference when Brandon Grimes got the jump on him during a robbery. Chesley managed to return fire, hitting his attacker in the leg, but two shots that had hit Chesley proved fatal. Had he not been an officer and had he been unarmed he probably would have given up his valuables and still be alive.

And having a gun in the house didn’t protect Nicholas Browning’s family. The Cockeysville teenager is accused of using it to kill his parents and younger brothers Feb. 2.

The contradiction in having a gun in the house with kids is that they’re more likely to get shot with it than you are to use it to defend the home. And if you store it “securely,” you won’t have time to use it to defend anyone. {EXA}

Jerry “Buz” Busnuk is an independent security management consultant and a former Baltimore police lieutenant. He can be reached at Jerry@buzoncrime.com.