Denver crime scene investigators fatal shooting
Denver crime scene investigators check over vehicles at the scene of a fatal shooting on the 3200 block of South Glencoe Street in Denver on Monday, July 8, 2013. (Kieran Nicholson, The Denver Post)

The deadly shooting of a would-be intruder in southeast Denver last week was the first documented case in more than a year in which a city dweller defended himself with a gun during a home invasion.

Most people who buy guns say they do so to protect themselves and their families at home. But experts say, and Denver police data show, that such situations are extremely rare.

An intruder used a gun in 44 home-invasion robberies reported last year to Denver police. Police reported no cases in which the resident used a gun in self-defense.

There have been at least 10 home invasions involving guns so far this year, including the July 7 case in the 3200 block of South Glencoe Street, where a homeowner fatally shot Charles McLaughlin, 29, who police said tried to force his way into the house. He was unsuccessful, but a struggle continued onto the porch, where the gunman, whom police have not identified, shot him to death.

Denver police said he told them he feared for his safety when he fired, and the district attorney's office must now decide whether to pursue criminal charges.

Firm data on guns are difficult to obtain, but records show it's much more likely that a gun will be used in a suicide or homicide than for self-protection. Last year, guns were used in at least 36 suicides and in 22 homicides in Denver, according to the medical examiner's office.

Gun politics can color experts' interpretations of Denver's home-invasion data, and without additional numbers about patterns and trends in each of the cases, it's hard to draw any solid conclusions. Denver police said there were 36 home invasions involving guns in 2011. But the department does not automatically tabulate which of those, if any, were self-defense cases involving guns.

That's common among local law enforcement agencies, which are sometimes reticent about sharing certain gun statistics, and, in some cases just don't collect them as a matter of course, said Art Kellermann, a physician and a senior policy researcher at the Rand Corp. who has studied home invasions.

"Because it's not indexed or tracked, it just becomes a hand-sorting exercise," he said. "Their efforts are focused elsewhere. ... It's not a priority, it's a politically difficult thing to do, and people have gotten their hands slapped enough times in the past."

Kellermann's 1994 study of 198 cases in Atlanta showed, among other findings, that victims used a firearm in self-protection 1.5 percent of the time — or in just three cases. Just one victim opened fire on the assailant but missed. All three escaped injury.

"It's an infrequent event bordering on rare," Kellermann said.

Offenders carried a firearm in 17 percent — or 32 — of the cases Kellermann studied. And in 42 percent of the crimes, the offender fled without confronting the victim.

Denver's home invasions run the gamut, major crimes Cmdr. Ronald Saunier said. Intruders use anything from guns and baseball bats to physical force to get inside, usually to take something valuable that they already know they'll find, such as a television, money or, in some cases, a homeowner's gun. Often the assailant will make specific demands.

"If they have a weapon, sometimes the weapon is what they're going to get," Saunier said. Most home robberies are planned, not random.

"What we see is that the suspects may not know the victims directly, but in most cases there is some nexus between them," he said. Denver detectives have investigated cases in which a resident has a weapon but can't get to it quickly enough. But residents rarely fire guns out of self-protection during a Denver home invasion.

Yet gun store owners say they have seen an increase in purchases by people who want them for protection. That holds true for the Firing Line in Aurora, where store manager Richard Taylor said he has seen "a tremendous amount" of customers buying guns for home defense. Not much can be gleaned from Denver's statistics because the number is too small, he said. National examples show successful self-defense cases are more common.

"A lot of people aren't going to be carrying a gun on them all the time in their home," Taylor said. "The problem with a home invasion is you're not expecting it. If someone kicks in your door, and the gun is in the safe, you may not be able to access it. ... That's the reason why in a lot of instances a firearm is not used."

Home-defense situations involving guns are likely underreported, said Dave Kopel, a law professor and research director at the Independence Institute, a libertarian think tank in Denver.

Even law-abiding residents might be hesitant to report wielding a gun against an intruder for fear of police or public scrutiny, Kopel said.

"What exactly is there to be gained by calling the cops?" Kopel said. "People who are not experienced in the legal system might say: What do I gain by doing this? Why take the chance?"

Saunier said there's a chance police don't know about certain home invasions. Sometimes a suspect will confess to more than has been reported.

But Jeremy Strong held an intruder at gunpoint until police arrived the night in May when a man broke a window and tried to barge into his Colorado Springs home. Strong was watching a movie in the basement with his 16-year-old son when he heard the glass shatter and his wife scream.

"He kept saying, 'Let me in, let me in, let me in!' " Strong said. Strong, 38, grabbed the handgun from a place where it is "easy to get to and always loaded" and told the stranger, "'I have a gun, you need to get on the ground for me immediately.' I told him to keep his hands where I could see them."

Even when he bought the gun a month earlier after a friend was mugged in her driveway, he hardly expected to use it.

"I don't ever want to have to shoot somebody. I'm not some crazy gun fanatic who thinks the world is going to end, but I'm definitely glad we had it for our protection," Strong said. "It was a little crazy. Adrenaline kicked in and instinct kind of took over."

More and more of his friends are following suit in buying guns after hearing of his ordeal, he said.

Poise and training, such as Strong's, are rare in such a setting, said Tom Mauser, who sits on the board of Colorado Ceasefire, and whose son, Daniel, died in the 1999 Columbine High School rampage. Adding a gun into a fast-moving situation can complicate it and make it more dangerous, he said.

"If you introduce a gun, and they have one, they're going to protect themselves, they're going to be in control. Just as it is self-defense for you, it's just as much for them." Mauser said. "It's not as easy as a gun-seller would like you to believe. They're more into selling peace of mind than they are selling something you can use in a practical situation."

Sadie Gurman: 303-954-1661, or