In an interview with Time, which can be seen here, (sorry, embedding exceeds my skills), the poet states that she keeps guns for self defense and fired (twice) at (or toward) an intruder.
overthesquiggleandthroughthewoods...
TIME: Your mother — she was your protector. She often carried a gun, she seemed to be very fond of guns. Did you inherit your mother’s fondness for guns?
MAYA ANGELOU: Well, I do like to have guns around, I don’t like to carry them. But I like -- if somebody is going to come into my house and I have not put out the welcome mat, I want to stop them.
TIME: Have you ever fired a weapon?
ANGELOU: Of course!
TIME: At a person?
ANGELOU: I’ve fired it period, not at a person I hope!
I was in my house in North Carolina. It was fall. I heard someone walking on the leaves. And somebody actually turned the knob. So I said, "Stand four feet back because I'm going to shoot now!" Boom! Boom!
Nothing profound to add, just that the sound you hear outside is probably heads exploding...
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