The armed and the unarmed: sometimes, it's like we're different species

Gun Owner .............................. Not Gun Owners

A couple of recent stories illustrate a basic difference between those who keep a gun in the house, and those who don't:

Man Finds Wrong House, Wrong Bed, Nice Family

Bob and Joanne Breiner of Gaithersburg returned home with their son after eating at a Chinese buffet.

Bob Breiner walked upstairs to the master bedroom and flipped on a lamp. Less than two feet away: a man he'd never seen, wrapped in blankets, sound asleep. On the floor were shoes, socks and pants. Earlier, the man had apparently helped himself to a crab cake from the refrigerator.

The Breiners fled their house and called police. Officers made their way to the bedroom.

"The man had been drinking," said Montgomery police spokeswoman Lucille Baur, "and returned to what he thought was his home and climbed into bed and went to sleep."

He had missed by eight miles, apparently getting off at the wrong bus stop on his way home to Damascus. After the Breiners found out that their intruder had no police record and that he had lost his job three weeks earlier, they told officers they didn't want to press charges.

Joanne Breiner, who teaches English as a second language at Roberto Clemente Middle School, headed into her kitchen. Into a plastic grocery bag she packed a container of homemade chicken soup, homemade cookies and some spare ribs, giving the food to officers and telling them to pass it on to the man.

"I think her mom would have been disappointed if we didn't feed the intruder," said Bob Breiner, noting the manners of his Sicilian-born wife and mother-in-law.

Man Accidentally Walks Into Wrong House During Blackout, Shot Twice

A man who mistakenly walked into the wrong house during a power outage at his duplex was shot and critically injured by his neighbor. Orange County sheriff's deputies said Jeff Conway, 24, mistakenly walked into the home of Berky Deguzman, 62, near Huntsman and Gray Fox lanes near the University of Central Florida campus late Wednesday.

Deguzman apparently thought Conway was a burglar and opened fire, officers said.

Deputies said Deguzman will not be charged because he was in his legal right to shoot Conway.

"You have a right to protect your property," an officer on the scene said. "Florida passed that law so basically he is protecting his domain."

(cross posted at appletree)