A Rockland, Maine man who had been the victim of two previous burglaries is safe after he shot a home invader with a violent past.

A Rockland resident shot a man whom police said had broken into his home early Tuesday morning.

The intruder, Christopher Wildhaber, 45, of Rockland, was caught by police a short time later in the woods near the Park Street residence, according to Rockland Police Sgt. Don Finnegan. Police said Wildhaber put up a brief struggle before being subdued.

Wildhaber was taken to Pen Bay Medical Center in Rockport and then Maine Medical Center in Portland and was treated for a gunshot wound to the shoulder. He has since been released from the hospital and is being held at the Cumberland County Jail in Portland, according to Rockland police.

Police said the resident of the Park Place Apartments on Park Street in Rockland had been the victim of at least two prior burglaries during the night while he slept. The resident used a pistol to shoot Wildhaber. The incident occurred at about midnight. The resident called 911 after the shooting.

Wildhaber is prone to violence, with previous convictions for both misdemeanor and felony domestic violence assault. We can reasonably assume that if the homeowner had surprised Wildhaber and didn’t have a pistol for self-defense that Wildhaber wouldn’t have thought twice about using violence against the homeowner in order to get away. This theory would seem to be born out by Wildhaber’s attempt to fight the police even after being shot by the homeowner.

Gun control groups like to pretend that defensive gun uses don’t happen, but they happen every day around the nation.

The vast majority of times the mere display of a firearm causes a criminal to reconsider their actions, and in a much smaller percentage of occasions, shots are fired.

In less than 20% of those shooting incidents are criminals actually hit, and of those hit, a very small percentage of those criminals are killed, thanks largely to advances in modern medicine.

The shooting is still formally under investigation, but it is unlikely that the homeowner will face any charges.