Unless she carries a pistol all the time, and has practiced both drawing and getting her three year old to hit the floor on command, not to mention being able to put the younger baby down very fast and safely, she wouldn’t have had a chance at getting her weapon out.
A dog, particularly a big dog or two, would have been a deterrent and bought her time.
My doors aren’t locked; my children go in and out all day. But we do have a dog.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9bIMsGKxy0&list=PLDDE16A8783CFF982&index=179
I think Ignatius Piazza of FrontSight also advocates carrying a gun in your home.
On the other hand, if your door will resist forced entry for 15-30 seconds, you have plenty of time to get a gun from a security box.
Bingo.
Most (not all - witness my very poor abnormal German Shepherd of all things) dogs will AT LEAST sound the alarm. (In fact, many crooks don’t like that - will leave rather than draw attention.) Get in the way of the scum, and buy a little time, if nothing else.
You’ll get alot of bravado on here and “I carry all the time; so should you” big-talk nonsense, but even so it’s just not practical. You have to have a good reason for carrying 100%.
OTOH, surely there was SOME weapon this woman could’ve found, especially when the bastard went back up 3x! Surely she had a knife or some large long thing to whack him with.
It isn’t just firearms, people. In my home are many possibilities not far away.