Congressman, grandson fight off armed intruder

DES MOINES, Iowa — An eight-term congressman from Iowa helped fight off an armed man who invaded his farm house in Decatur County and attacked his daughter on Saturday night, according to a statement from his office.

The attack occurred around 10:45 p.m. on Saturday at a farm in Lamoni, where Rep. Leonard Boswell, a 77-year-old Democrat who represents Iowa's third congressional district, was spending the weekend with his wife, daughter and grandson.

"The intruder entered the front door of the farm house and physically assaulted Cindy while demanding money at gunpoint," read the statement from Boswell's office.

After hearing his daughter's screams, the congressman "entered the walkway of their house and immediately went for the guy's gun and was wrestling with him. They were both on the ground," Boswell's chief of staff Grant Woodard told local news station KCCI.


More: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43794799/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/?ocid=twitter

A shotgun is a tool like any other on a farm, possibly used for hunting, and certainly used to scare away wild animals that may be harassing livestock. Most likely, it was in a gun cabinet of some sort. The Congressman's 22 year-old grandson has probably used the shotgun on occasion, and knew where to retrieve it. What is so surprising about this?

He's braver than he admits.