And I will add that had he owned a pistol, that would not have saved him and could have made his outcome worse. With a ten or twenty second warning there is little chance to arm yourself. The right to own a gun is foundational but having some degree of usable self defense doesn't end with simple ownership.

I agree. They aren't kidding that the stats show the gun is more likely to be used on someone in the house. In this case also, someone cased the place. They knew about the cash, the Walmart bag, and the flimsy lock. In the Philippines people have six to eight foot high concrete block walls with broken glass and barbed wire on top. Then inside there are bars over the windows, and heavy bolted doors. So they're compounds.

We lived in a compound with no bars on the windows. Someone snuck in during the night and stole the karaoke and a few other things. My wife flipped. I gently pointed out to her she had a masseuse out two days before against my advice. Then I explained to her how all that worked, and that you have to think ahead when someone comes over and put all valuable things out of sight.

As an expat I couldn't own a gun in the Philippines. I preferred not to have a gun and to act accordingly.