Tells police thieves fled at sight of his gun
By Michael Turton
A Cold Spring resident told police that he foiled an attempted home invasion and robbery attempt last month by displaying his handgun.
The homeowner, who asked not to be identified because of concerns for his safety, said he answered his front door on March 16 to find two men who claimed to be looking for a nearby address. The resident said the men pushed him inside, knocking him against the front door and causing a minor cut to his arm.
The homeowner said that after he produced his .38-caliber pistol, one man fled, jumping over the porch railing. The resident said he subdued the other man momentarily but the suspect escaped while the homeowner was dialing 911.
“I don’t usually carry my gun but for some reason I did that day,” the homeowner said, adding that he has a permit for the weapon. He described the men as Hispanic males in their 20s.
Cold Spring police and Putnam County sheriff’s deputies responded to the 911 call. The sheriff’s office said it is investigating the report.
Thanks for doing this story!
This event occurred less than a year after the Philipstown Town Board passed a law mandating “safe storage” of firearms. The original draft would have required gun owners to keep their firearms secured in a safe or with a trigger lock at all times in the home. The proposal violated the Second Amendment, in addition to common sense, and in its final form, the law states only that gun owners must secure their weapons in a safe or with a trigger lock if they are not home and children are or may be present.
The language of the law did no more than state what gun owners have done in Philipstown throughout history; there has never been an accident involving a gun here. But this dangerous and potentially deadly incident that occurred in the sleepy little community of Cold Spring serves as an example of why the right to protect oneself in the home is inalienable. Had the gun-storage law as originally proposed been enacted, the incident described above may have had a very different ending.
The lack of real detail in this story is regrettable and not up to the journalistic standards we have come to expect from The Current. What is the location of the incident? Time of day? “I don’t usually carry my gun but for some reason I did that day” to answer the front door?
Forgive me for being suspicious but something does not smell quite right about this story. I look forward to The Current providing further updates including the results of the police and sheriff’s department investigations because either we have team of violent home invaders in the area or we have someone who overreacted to unfamiliar individuals at a mistaken address. In both of these scenarios the results might have been deadly. We need a more fuller reporting.
The homeowner spoke on condition of remaining anonymous, including no mention of the street address. That is not an unusual request in a case such as this. The incident occurred in mid- to late-afternoon. Cold Spring Police and the Putnam County Sheriff say they are continuing to investigate.