The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with… oh, the heck with it. We now take you to the Lone Star State.

The victim of an armed home invasion in Houston has turned the tables on the brazen intruders after they stuffed him into a closet that turned out to be the place where he stores his gun.

Police say it all started at around 2pm Tuesday when three men broke into a home in the 8200 block of Braeburn Valley Drive and assaulted the resident.

After a brief scuffle, the hapless perpetrators shoved the man into a closet, not knowing that there was a gun in there.

For the benefit of the usual list of detractors, yes… there’s a definite advantage when the criminals turn out to be complete idiots. Or at least really poor planners. But in defense of the system here, it was still three against one and they were armed also. We now return you to our story, already in progress.

When the homeowner thought the burglars had left, he went downstairs, carrying his gun in case the suspects were still around, the Houston Chronicle reported.

On the first floor, the man confronted one of his assailant and the two exchanged gunfire, according to police.

The resident, who shares the house with his parents, escaped unharmed, but the armed suspect was much the worse for wear after being struck in the shoulder and leg.

He fled on foot down the street, but did not get far before he collapsed. His two suspected accomplices took off from the scene in a Chevrolet Tahoe.

The article finishes by going into a brief discussion of the “castle doctrine” in Texas, related to various “stand your ground” laws. I’m not entirely sure why that even needed to come into the coverage, beyond their pointing out that the homeowner will face no charges for shooting the suspect. Even if you wanted to fire up a debate about when and where it’s justified for a law abiding gun owner to open fire on a bad guy, surely the moment you find yourself locked in a closet in your own home by armed intruders is one where any conceivable line has been crossed.

But still, if you have a gun in your home, you’re far more likely to wind up shooting yourself or somebody that… oh, forget it. I give up.