My friend has a nice home, a very nice home. It's good sized and sits on a pretty big piece of land. He takes good care of it, though it does have its share of problems as any house does, but he says the problems give the home "character." He says he'll fix those things when he gets around to it - and I believe him. But none of those problems detracts from how great his home is.
Lately he's become increasing concerned about the safety of his loved ones who abide in the home with him. The neighborhood has gotten rougher over the years. Don't get me wrong, it's not nearly as bad as the high-crime areas many of us know (and others of us read about), but it's not the same place that he knew 15 to 20 years ago. Recently an acquaintance of his down the street was mugged as she walked from her car in the driveway to her porch. Another neighbor just a few blocks over was attacked in the middle of the night when he walked in on a burglar ransacking the rec room in his basement.
But what really got my friend's attention was something that happened when he came home from work late one night. He walked up the stairs and down the hall to check on his young daughter who had gone to bed hours earlier. When he reached the door to his daughter's room, he found a man rummaging through the little girl's dresser. Scary, I know. Too make a long story short, after a brief melee, the intruder escaped. The cops never caught him, and my friend's daughter sleeps will the light on now.
And his home isn't the same anymore.
He wired security cameras all over the interior of the home, and placed several on the roof to watch the exterior. In fact, he set up six or eight monitors in his den that display feeds from every spot imaginable. His wife and his housekeeper have been instructed to keep an eye on the displays as much as possible and to call him about anything that seems the least bit suspicious.
He now has an 80-pound, well-trained Rottweiler named Brutus that roams around the home. Brutus knows who is supposed to be in the home and who isn't - and bad guys will regret the next time they decide to mess with my friend's family.
My friend also went out bought a few shotguns which he keeps in strategic areas of the home. He even bought a .44 magnum to keep at his bedside. He's well armed and ready for the next person who dares to even think about coming in his home and messing with the people he cares about more than anything.
But my security-conscious friend has this stupid habit. He never locks the front door when he goes to bed at night. I've told him repeatedly how moronic he's being. I've pleaded with him to make it a point to lock his door for the sake of his loved ones.
He's been told many, many times that the easiest, most common sense thing he can do to provide for the security of those living in the home is to lock the door.
I cannot tell you how often I have reminded him what a simple first line of defense locking his door would provide.
Locking the door isn't permanent. It's not like he can't unlock the door when he wants to let people he trusts into his home. But by having it locked, he at least has taken the first steps in protecting his "homeland" from those who would do harm to him or his wife or his little girl.
Sure he has the cameras to help keep an eye on those who might sneak in.
Brutus is there to help ward off would-be attackers once they've made their way inside.
His guns will help him kill "evil-doers" - but maybe only after it's too late.
But what about those who would just waltz right through the open door?
Seems to me like using the first line of defense - a process that is his right, his duty, and his easiest form of home security - would be a no-brainer. Just lock the door, and let in only those whom you trust.
"Surely," you say, "you don't have a friend who's actually this stupid."
No, but I - and you - do have a federal government that won't tend to its front doors.
Doesn't this all seem obvious?
Why is it that when our lawmakers and our President implement homeland security measures, they refuse to lock the front door?
They could always unlock and open the door to let in whomever they want when they want. But, instead, they leave our borders wide open, risking our lives - the lives they are duty-bound to protect - simply because they refuse to take the most logical first step in home security.
Well, at least I'm armed...and I have a dog.
