Planting an idea.

A 75-year-old Bozrah, Connecticut, man demonstrated the crime-deterrent effect guns have in the hands of law-abiding citizens in an incident on Sunday, February 27.

James Dunn, a retired Navy man, said that on that night a stranger came to his door and asked to use the phone, saying that his car had broken down. Dunn let the man inside, but he soon surmised that something was wrong. Instead of dialing the phone, the man merely stood holding it. As the stranger stood in front of him, Dunn noticed something in the man's right hand and demanded to know what it was.

At that moment a second man came to the door, and it was apparent that both strangers had knives drawn. When the man inside the house came at Dunn with his knife upraised, Dunn grabbed the man's hand and a brief struggle ensued.

In an interview with WTNH TV Channel 8, Dunn said that while he struggled with the stranger, he told his wife to get help. "Mary," he said, "run upstairs and tell David to come down with the gun." Upon hearing Dunn's instructions to his wife, both strangers left running.

Dunn says that next time he will do things differently: "I will not open the door to anybody at nighttime, plus they will be greeted with a good old shotgun in my hands." Police are investigating leads.