Another incident involving defensive gun use has occurred in my hometown, Austin, Texas. This incident not only magnifies Austin’s increased crime rates but also shows how important it is to own firearms.

The altercation took place in northwest Austin on October 21 when a home intruder attempted to gain entry into an armed civilians’ home.

Police say Ricardo Cortez, 55, broke into a home in the 10500 block of Foundation Road, just off FM 620, south of Anderson Mill Road. It happened around 11:43 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 21.

The preliminary investigation revealed Cortez broke into the bedroom, where the resident shot and killed him in self defense, according to police. The resident then immediately called 911.

Cortez died “a short time later,” according to police.

After police arrived on the scene, they found Cortez suffering from a gunshot wound. Despite their efforts, he succumbed to his injuries a short time after the encounter occurred. The Austin Police Department classified the incident as the city’s 56^th homicide of the year, which matches last 2022’s count but is a decrease from the 72 that occurred in 2021.

Further details surrounding the incident have not yet been revealed as APD continues to investigate the circumstances surrounding the break-in attempt.

While Austin is not as dangerous as other cities like Chicago, Baltimore, and the District of Columbia, the city’s crime rates have been disturbingly higher than normal in recent years.

With a crime rate of 41 per one thousand residents, Austin has one of the highest crime rates in America compared to all communities of all sizes - from the smallest towns to the very largest cities. One's chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime here is one in 24. Within Texas, more than 96% of the communities have a lower crime rate than Austin.

How does the crime rate in Austin compare to similar sized communities across America? When NeighborhoodScout compared Austin with other communities its size, we found that the crime rate was near the average for all other communities of similar size. So, whether Austin's crime rate is high or low compared to all places in the US, when we control for population size and compare it to places that are similar in size, it is near the middle of the pack in crime rate; not much more or less dangerous, and about what we would expect from the statistics.

It is also worth noting that the murder rate in Austin is four per 100,000 residents, about 39.4 percent lower than the rest of the state and 38.9 percent lower than the rest of the United States.

Still, I’ve written plenty of other stories of people living in safe areas being placed in positions in which they have to use their firearms to defend themselves. The bottom line is that one never knows when danger is lurking around the corner, which is why it is important to own and carry firearms. Fortunately, in states like Texas, the government does not make it nearly as hard to exercise one’s Second Amendment rights as it is in states like California and New York.