break in

[Pumpkin56]

I agree with you, Tee, on the gun thing. They're just not for me. I don't know how to use one and they simply just make nervous. When the 'fight or flight' response kicks in, it's always 'flight' for me. In the case of a break-in, I value my safety/life over my possessions. I find theft to be absolutely infuriating, but at the end of the day, even though I (or any victim of theft) shouldn't have to, the things taken can usually be replaced.

[Spookymufu]

Great news, the sleezeball got out on $10,000.00 bond yesterday because he couldnt afford to consult with a lawyer before hand, so now he has a month out on the streets to get a lawyer.

As far as the possesions vs life thing, not everything can be replaced, and i certainly dont make enough money to go back out and repurchase all the items he could have got away with. Besides that, its MY stuff, not his, i worked hard for it and i'll be damned if i'm going to let some punk come into MY house and just take it.

But thats just me.

[jadewik]

Well, I'm glad you caught your robber. I was not so lucky....

Though, the damages were minimal... with the exception of him stealing one of our two guns-- a .22 single action colt revolver (collector's item/family heirloom worth about $1200)-- we lost our gaming systems and digital cameras. Luckily, that's about it (but we didn't have a lot of good stuff to steal to begin with). You could tell the robber was familiar with the layout of the house-- he went through one medicine cabinet, but not the one we added to the house with the "good stuff" from my husband's motorbike accident. He didn't go through the rest of the house. Took what he could carry.

I'm more pissed that my alarm system wasn't working at the time. A big monsoon storm reset the address on the keypad, so we couldn't arm or disarm the thing... and, of course, they couldn't send anyone out to fix it 'till the DAY AFTER we were robbed...

I guess it's the season to break into houses.

[Pumpkin_Man]

Folks, I am a 52 year old guy. My health is mediocre at best, I am not nearly as strong physicaly as I was in years past, and I'm a lot slower mover then I was back in "the day." I am NOT going to try to fight some 26 year old hoodlum who most likely will be packing a gun. I am going to pull my gun, a .357 Magnum, out from under my pillow and spatter his brains all over the wall. I don't mean to offend, but I refuse to be any body's victim.

Mike

[Pumpkin56]

Whew! Things are getting heated on this thread. I wasn't questioning your decision to chase the guy, Spooky. Nor was I suggesting that possessions are easily replaced. I have some expensive one of kind pieces of jewelry that my grandmother had made back in her day that I inherited upon her death. I also have a hockey jersey of my favorite team that's not only signed by my favorite player, but by most of the team as well (and most of them have since retired and gone back to their home countries). These are probably my most prized possessions and I could never replace them nor would I ever want to be in the position of having to do so. I was just trying to say, from my own personal stand-point, as much as I love these things, they aren't things that I can't live without and if given the choice, I don't think I have it in me to confront or fight a possible aggressor if they are intent on taking my things. I would flee out of self-preservation.

[Andybev01]

Well, I'm glad you caught your robber. I was not so lucky....

Though, the damages were minimal... with the exception of him stealing one of our two guns-- a .22 single action colt revolver (collector's item/family heirloom worth about $1200)-- we lost our gaming systems and digital cameras. Luckily, that's about it (but we didn't have a lot of good stuff to steal to begin with). You could tell the robber was familiar with the layout of the house-- he went through one medicine cabinet, but not the one we added to the house with the "good stuff" from my husband's motorbike accident. He didn't go through the rest of the house. Took what he could
carry.

I'm more pissed that my alarm system wasn't working at the time. A big monsoon storm reset the address on the keypad, so we couldn't arm or disarm the thing... and, of course, they couldn't send anyone out to fix it 'till the DAY AFTER we were robbed...

I guess it's the season to break into houses.

Not season, economy.

[Spookymufu]

Pumpkin, i wasn't heated or upset in any way about your posts, i respect your position and wouldn't try to change your mind at all. We are how we are, some people just aren't cut out for confrontation or agressiveness and you seem to be one of them, and that's okay, i tend to be protective over my stuff and can be confrontational and aggressive if pushed, so we're just different types of people and that's okay

[Spookymufu]

Not season, economy.

I don't know that i can go along with that in most cases, i think there are just people that are complete wastes on society and complete wastes of skin who just take from others with no reguard for other people at all. Those people need to just be permantly removed from the human race.

[Tee]

i think there are just people that are complete wastes on society and complete wastes of skin who just take from others with no reguard for other people at all. Those people need to just be permantly removed from the human race.

And some are just plain stupid. The guys that robbed us didn't seem to have any brains at all. They took a bunch of gum machine stuff my kids had given me over the years while leaving behind a drawer full of silver and amber jewelry. I wish it'd been the other way around. Maybe natural selection will kick in sometime soon?

[Murfreesboro]

Spooky, get a gun safe. You can get them for cars, too. If you buy one big enough, it's very unlikely that a home intruder would be able to carry off the safe. And he would need a blow-torch and maybe thirty minutes to get into it. (Gun safes are also good for other valuables you might own, important papers, etc., as they are proof against fire for a time, too.) The safes you buy for your car attach by a cable to something underneath the driver's seat (my husband knows this stuff better than I do). A thief could cut the cable, but again, he couldn't get the gun without having some serious equipment to break into the safe. There would be nothing quick about it.

The only way to use guns for protection is to have them on your person. Just having them lie around, on a nightstand or a closet shelf, is not really helpful in case of a burglary.

You ought to have zero difficulty getting a gun permit in TX. The laws between CA & TX are vastly different.

[ramaries69]

Glad, everything's okay, Spooky. Murf's advice is very good. If not you can keep the bullets at a separate location, for the time being. I agree with some people being a waste of space. Again, thank God, everything's okay and he got caught.

[MacPhantom]

Very glad you're okay, Spooky. Since Texas isn't a swing state.

No, I'm totally kidding. It'll be a swing state by 2016.


KIDDING!!


All things considered, though, you're probably better off not having killed him. You'll save a fortune in cleaning products. Although, you could maybe have passed it off as Halloween decor.....

[VanHelsingStandIn]

Having been a cop for 15 years and a soldier since 1982, I've been shot, stabbed, had an IED in Afghanistan put me in a coma for almost a month. And yes, I've taken human life more than once.

You are by far safer owning a firearm than not. Don't let anyone tell you different. Armed citizens are safe citizens. I have both undergraduate and graduate degrees to hang on my wall and blabber on how I'm an expert in this or that aspect of criminal justice. The plain and simple truth is, that criminals are cowards. Period. They know you are able and willing to defend yourself, they will go looking for easier targets. The strong don't get picked on. Only the weak.

Police can't be there for you 24 hours a day and all the amount of wishful thinking won't change that. The issuance of handgun permits are state issues and more and more states are coming to realize that allowing its citizenry to carry is a good thing. Some states like California and some northeastern states care more about the bad guy than they care about you. If you can't get a permit for a handgun then get a shotgun. I promise a scumbag will go tinkle in his underwear if he finds himself staring down the barrel of a 20 gauge shotgun. The barrel gets much larger when its pointing at you.

Theres a lot of flat out lies floating around that guns in the hands of private citizens are more trouble than solutions. Thats not true. The simple fact is we don't know how often an armed citizen saves someone everyday, because the good guy kept the criminal from doing the crime. We don't keep statistics on stopped crimes or crimes that could have occured.

Get your weapon and learn to use it. Practice with it and be ready. When the time comes, don't back down and do what needs to be done.

You and your family and friends are not here to serve as slaves to criminals. If you let them take from you, they will. Someday they will try and take everything that is dear and precious to you. Don't let that happen.

One more thing. Keeping the ammo seperate from the weapon is a total waste of owning the weapon. If the bad things start to happen, you won't have time to load the weapon and you're emotional state will only get worse as you fumble and stumble with the rounds and the bag guy is getting closer. Load it. Keep it loaded. Put it somewhere secure and close by.

[Boogeyman]

Thank you for your service in and out of the military. Thanks also for telling the truth about guns in the United States. I sincerely salute you.

[Murfreesboro]

Thank you for your service in and out of the military. Thanks also for telling the truth about guns in the United States. I sincerely salute you.

What he said, VanHelsing!