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And He’ll Do it Again If He Has To

Charles Sweeny was awakened in his Tulsa, Okla., home by “commotion” in his second-storey bathroom: a burglar crawling in through the window. Sweeny grabbed a gun, went to investigate, and shot the intruder. Donald Stovall, he says, apologized, stepped back into the bathroom, and collapsed, dead. This is the second time Sweeny has shot a burglar inside his house: the first time was five years ago. “This is my boyhood home. I will defend the place,” says Sweeny, 59. “I’m not belligerent or anything, but this is my house. It’s not much, but it’s mine.” Sweeny says he doesn’t understand burglars’ mentality. “There’s over 300 million guns in this country,” he says. “You don’t know — you don’t know what’s behind that door. It’s a terrible risk, and for what?” (RC/Tulsa World) ...Very often: for an unsecured gun.