Redskins safety Sean Taylor died early this morning, a victim of an armed burglar.

"According to a preliminary investigation, it appears that the victim was shot inside the home by an intruder," Miami-Dade County police said in a statement.

But police were still investigating the attack, which came just eight days after an intruder was reported at Taylor's home. Officers were dispatched about 1:45 a.m. Monday after Taylor's girlfriend called 911.

Sharpstein said Taylor's girlfriend told him the couple was awakened by loud noises, and Taylor grabbed a machete he keeps in the bedroom for protection. Someone then broke through the bedroom door and fired two shots, one missing and one hitting Taylor, Sharpstein said. Taylor's 1-year-old daughter, Jackie, was also in the house, but neither she nor Taylor's girlfriend were injured.

He kept a machete for protection? Its possible he was enjoined for possessing a gun as a result of a previous court case:

Meanwhile, Taylor endured a yearlong legal battle after he was accused in 2005 of brandishing a gun at a man during a fight over allegedly stolen all-terrain vehicles near Taylor's home. He eventually pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors and was sentenced to 18 months' probation.

Taylor's legal troubles were a matter of record, as was his plea bargain. Did a bunch of malefactors pick Taylor as an easy mark because the courts had disarmed him?

Home invasions, or burglaries that occur when occupants are present, are a minor percentage of all burglaries in the U.S.--a quarter of what they are in Canada where gun ownership is comparatively rare. In Toronto, Ontario, Canada, nearly half of all burglaries are home invasions.

Taylor's plea bargain was effectively an invitation for an armed home invasion--a tempting target known to be unarmed. I am not suggesting that the courts are at fault here--Taylor could have easily made arrangements with a security company to patrol his home or possible hired an armed guard.

I had an acquaintance, who I have not seen in decades at this point, who had a career as a rather accomplished burglar. Since his career coincided with his late adolescence, when he was finally caught, he managed to avoid the most serious consequences for his actions.

In our conversations, it became clear to me that burglars, or any criminal for that matter, become sensitized to opportunities in the same way that a deer hunter is sensitized to qualities of terrain or deer sign. The burglar doesn't see your lovely petunias, he sees obscured entry points, newspapers piled up on the drive way while you are on vacation and other indications of an easy mark.

Its clear that Taylor had some expectation of a problem, otherwise he wouldn't have had the machete, but just as clearly, he underestimated how much of an attractive target his home was. That is undoubtedly true for most of us, and underlies the nature of our vulnerabilities on September 10, 2001