attacked at home while i was sleeping

[Dchenoweth1969]

My husband works all over the United States and is away a great deal. I am a stay at home mother of 5 teenage girls. If you all have kids, you know they run in and out of the house fifty times a day. well as for mine, living in a small quiet iowa town, the thought never occurred to any of us that the door needed to be locked in broad daylight. Especially when someone is home. WRONG! On may 10th 2011 I was at home alone. the children were all in school and I had layed down for a much needed nap on the couch. I awoke in a panic when I felt something extremely heavy on my chest and I couldn't breath. I opened my eyes and there was a man on top of me ripping at my clothes. I tried to scream but couldnt get alot of air. All I could think was, Please don't kill me. I held onto my clothes as the tore at them. then not getting anywhere, he dragged me off the couch. I was looking around to see if I could find anything to fight him off. Nothing. My cell phone in my purse in another room. Could not see or hear my 3 dogs anywhere. All I could do was kick, scream and try to protect my dignity. At one point i was able to run and get near the door that had been left open by the burglar, but I didn't quite get there before he had me pinned against the wall. I plead with him to stop, I even tried to make a deal of not telling anyone if he would just leave. I think the fighting and struggling of all that took an extremly long 5 minutes. He had his bottoms off and working on mine when i heard children yelling to each other out in the neighborhood. I prayed to god that he be gone before my babies came home from school. He must have heard those voices too because he pulled up his shorts and vanished out the door. Thankfully he did not acomplish what he had set out to do, but this traumatized me for months, not to mention the what if's. I went and got my phone from my purse to call the police, and I found a voice message from my neighbor on there from an hour before everything happened. He had been in and all throughout my home from 2:15- 3:30pm and my neighbor saw him enter and instead of calling the police, she thought i was gone and wanted to tell me that someone was in my home. I found my dogs locked in an upstairs bedroom. I did call the police, and they caught the man who worked at the only grocery store in town and had followed me home one day. The store did fire him immediately after his arrest thank god. I am thankful for so many things that didn't happen but I assure you, they will never happen again. I have applied for my ccw and I encourage you for your own and your families safety and the safety of your community to carry a firearm or we are no better than the criminal if all we can do is stand by and watch them destroy lives.

[chiefpropellerhead]

I am glad that you survived that experience and that you are taking steps to protect yourself and your family. I do not ever leave my doors unlocked for any reason. That is my first line of defense here at home. If the door is unlocked all they have to do is walk right in. It is sad that you cant feel safe in your own home.

[kingbooker]

Thankfully ur OK great job on defending yourself. Don't blame yourself for leaving the door unlocked no one thinks about it usually until something happens. I know u have children but hiding a small gun or stun gun that only you know about and can access quickly. Good luck and God bless you.

[upnorth]

Wow...I'm glad you're OK. Just goes to show, it can happen anywhere, big town, small town,good neighborhood,bad.

[XD.357Sig]

Thank God he wasn't also a murderer. I am glad you weren't harmed physically. I grew up on a farm and don't think we even had a key to our doors. Didn't even lock them when away from home. No problem. Now I live on a farm
and keep my doors locked when home or away. I also keep loaded guns where I can reach one in any room. I have
no children in the house or visiting. You are doing the right thing by getting your ccw.

[MYGLOCK]

I have spent a lot of time and money getting myself trained and well equipped to protect my family but like your husband I'm only at home or out with them a small portion of time. I came to this understanding several months ago and have made provisions to get my wife trained. She was nervous and a little unsure of handling a handgun but she does understand that there are people out there who have no problem committing rape, assault and murder. Unfortunately by default women are almost always seen as easy targets. If you have a wife or a daughter you must understand that you, like the police, will most likely not be there if they are ever attacked. We need to make them hard targets and help them develop defensive skills and the confidence to execute those skills.
God bless you and your family.

[johnney]

Good lord! i am from iowa, but have since moved to the gulag of illinois. i have always been into firearms and have recently gotten serious abou them a few years back. now i have some form of firearms stashed (safely) in every room.
the sad part of this is my wife HATES guns. i cant even get her to take a gun safety course. but she is rarley home by herself. ive even tried to get her to take pepper spray but no!

[mokes0801]

Im glad to hear you are OK. I am also an Iowa resident and it saddens me that these sorts of stories are becoming much more frequent in the local news. Glad to see you are taking action, hopefully one day you can rest a little easier.

[screaminhemi]

If you are going to have a loaded gun in the house and you are it should never be unloaded. Also everybody in that house should know about and it's dangers. If those kids should find it and not know about it and gun safety then just think what could happen. I was raised around guns since I was 6. I knew even then to never touch or show friends the gun education is best never leave them in the dark.

[BC1]

Your home should never be unlocked. Even when watching the Yankees my doors are locked and alarm is on. You might consider taking a course in personal protection in the home. Learn how to secure that house properly. Kids can wreak havoc on a home security plan so they must be taught that everytime they run in or out they must secure the premises. There are no safe neighborhoods anymore.