Armed thugs invade home and take loaded gun/s

I was hesitant about posting this because I could not find any references in the online version of the local fish wrapper to link to it. How ever after listening to it ad infinitem every hour all day Sunday on AM 1400 KLIN I decided to write about it.

The gist of the story;

Some time in the dark wee hours of the morning a man and his girlfriend are rousted from sleep by a loud knocking at their door. Upon answering the door the residents are assaulted by at least two people, one of which is armed with a handgun. The late night intruders demand the firearms owned by the man and depart with a loaded (as reported by the radio station) "assault weapon" and a shotgun.

I am having a hard time understanding the dynamics of this particular crime and fail to understand how a suitably armed person could allow this to happen.

Why would anyone open their door to loud knocking at that hour of the morning without knowing who it was first? How could anyone with an apparently loaded firearm not have it ready for IMMEDIATE use when someone is knocking on their door at that unGodly hour of the morning? Why wasn't at least one of the residents secluded in another room ready to or in the process of calling 911? Where was this loaded firearm when the residents were opening their door to persons unknown in the dark of night? Why wasn't someone ready and prepared to use it when armed thugs with illicet intentions forced themselves across the threshold in the dark hours of the day?

There are lots more questions I have concerning this, but the bottom line is that I fail to understand how someone can just open their door to anyone in the wee hours of the morning and allow themselves to be robbed of a loaded firearm. If you are not prepared to use it don't own it and most certainly don't leave it laying around the house loaded.

With "Home Invasions" becoming an ever increasing reality, even in rural America, when someone knocks on your door at that time of day certain precautions must be taken until you can verify that the interloper is a friend or foe. When in doubt call 911 and for God's sake DO NOT open the door. If you do open the door to person or persons unknown in the middle of the night be prepared; To respond to their actions accordingly or suffer the consequence of your folly.

There are now two more guns on the street because somebody either, failed to take the neccesary precautions to ensure their own safety or they were not fully prepared to use the tools at their disposal to protect themselves from harm.