On Tuesday, February 22nd, a firearm collector in Ogden, AB opened his door to the wrong people.  The two men, identities hidden behind masks and sunglasses, pulled a gun on the man and demanded access to his gun safe.

Clearly they knew who he was and what types of firearms he owned.  That they were willing to do an armed home invasion in the middle of the day shows their brazen-ness.  About the only thing positive to come out of this armed home invasion was that the two hid their faces, showing they likely weren’t willing to kill anyone for the guns they wanted.

I suppose that’s a positive sign, but if I lived anywhere near Ogden,

I would be very concerned about my personal safety if I was a firearm owner.

Unfortunately, owning firearms in today’s world comes with a lot of stigmatization.  Society in general views us as, at best, unwanted neighbours, and at worst, as murderers-in-waiting.

Is it right?  Absolutely not.  Apply that prejudice to any other identifiable minority group of people and you’d likely find yourself before one of our many Human Rights Tribunals.

Now, in addition to the social stigmatization that comes with lawful firearms ownership, comes the threat of home invasions by armed criminals wanting to steal our firearms.

“He has a number of (guns) from older handguns up to newer ones. They were all registered, properly stored in safes, etc. The homeowners did nothing wrong. Unfortunately they were targeted by people that were looking to acquire weapons,” said Acting Staff Sgt. Brad Moore.

On the bright side, for once the victim of the crime was not charged with unsafe storage of firearms.  That’s usually what happens when firearms are stolen from law-abiding citizens.