Gunmen kidnap 3 year old boy

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – Investigators were searching Monday for a 3-year-old boy kidnapped by two gunmen who broke into his family's home, tied up his mother and four siblings, and stole property, authorities said.

The California Highway Patrol issued an Amber Alert late Sunday for 3-year-old Briant Rodriguez, about nine hours after the family called San Bernardino County authorities.

The men, each carrying a handgun, burst through the front door around 2:30 p.m. and tied up the boy, four of his siblings and their mother, Maria Rosalina Millan. They then ransacked the house and stole money and other property, the county sheriff's department said

Story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090505/ap_on_re_us/us_abducted_boy

Do guns embolden criminals?

Not much profit from home-invasion, unless the perp knows there is a stash of drugs or drug money in the house.

There is more to this story than published, either sincere nut-jobs or serious loot available. I don't believe there's anything to indicate that possession of firearms by the perps alone prompted this crime, or any reason to believe that they wouldn't have committed this offense had they merely been armed with box-cutters.


Generalizations built on anecdotal evidence are useless.

I hope for the best for them...

That's why criminals aren't allowed to have them.

With the "home invasion" aspect as a cover. There's no rational reason for simple theft to escalate to kidnapping unless the family is wealthy, which doesn't seem to be the case.

Guns embolden, and empower, all who have them, criminal and law-abiding alike.

The problem is not the gun it is the person who possesses the gun.