A quiet night for one household in Florida was disturbed by one of the most unlikely home invaders: a black bear. Unfortunately for the bear, the Florida homeowner is either a gun nut or a staunch believer in the Second Amendment for the right to bear arms. Hence, the homeowner whipped out his assault rifle equipped with a tactical flashlight and started blasting at the intruder, likely not knowing that it was a bear (graphic video warning):
The incident was captured by the interior security camera near the stairwell and starts off with the man going down the stairs carrying what appears to be an AR-15 to check the noise made by what he assumed to be a burglar. After heading to the kitchen, however, something charged at the armed homeowner, though it wasn’t human but a black bear. In response, the man shot the bear with his assault rifle at least seven times on semi-auto, here’s the result (be warned that the following image may be distressing for some):
Seven AR shots were enough to kill the bear, and you can even hear the disbelief in a woman’s voice within the house after the bear was killed. People online have since praised the man for his quick thinking and good aim, with many pointing out just how scary it is to come face-to-face with an actual wild predator in your own home.
“Even with a rifle, bear charging at you in the dark gotta be pretty scary lol” accoring to a Reddit user
“This isn’t that dudes first rodeo”
“Fully kitted AR but clearing the house while just wearing shorts is peak.”
Some questioned the man’s decision to leave the lights off while confronting the home invader. Others have explained that having a gun with a flashlight ensures maximum advantage in a dark area; others have argued that the man was merely announcing himself by waving around the flashlight.
“Like why didn’t he turn on the lights first lol,” asked a Reddit user
“He gets the advantage of light. If there’s a human inside with a weapon, the flashlight could blind or limit their response. Overhead lights benefit the defender and invader.”
“going room to room with your rifle, room clearing is WAY more dangerous than posting up at a natural choke point and waiting,” argued another user
Right to Bear Arms Debate Gets Reignited
Of course, the obvious poetry in the incident was that the bear was shot by a man exercising his right to bear arms. Things likely would’ve ended differently if the homeowner were carrying a baseball bat instead of an assault rifle, or perhaps he wouldn’t have had the confidence to face the intruder in his home. And while some were joking about the right to bear arms, others seemed serious about their gun ownership justifications:
“he has the right to bear arms”
“Another reason why everyone ‘needs’ an AR-15. Justified” according to an X/Twitter user
“F*** yeah. But who needs a weapon of war for self defense right?”
And while it appears that the household and the black bear shooter were fine, another argument against gun ownership was how people felt bad for the bear, though they were still torn on the matter, as it was either the bear or the homeowner in this situation.
“unless i was actually being attacked by it, there’s no way i could just blast a baby bear like that. black bears are like the deer of bears – skittish af,” argues an X/Twitter user
“Unfortunate, but there was no time. He did what he had to do or else risk his well-being and those behind him”
