Do y'all carry in your house?

[Glenn E. Meyer]

This is another low risk, high consequence debate. It is not hard to have a small gun on you.

Now what's the chance of ending up like the Petit family in a nice neighborhood? Very, very low.

I wouldn't want to be that Dad - and he probably has worse psychological difficulties than paranoia now.

The low risk argument is silly in a sense. Most of us will never use the gun. Also one can have a modicum of firearms utility without taking a shower with the AR slung.

But I don't find it hard to sit around with a small gun, small Spyderco and small Surefire. I've used the last two quite a bit in household chores without having to go get it. The lights do go out. Things need to be cut or opened.

Hopefully, the little gun won't be used. As a psychologist, a precaution that does not affect your everyday actions in a major fashion isn't paranoia.

[Brian Pfleuger]

Originally Posted by Glenn E Meyer

As a psychologist, a precaution that does not affect your everyday actions in a major fashion isn't paranoia.

That's an interesting definition. Serious question, based on that quote.... If someone wears a layer of tinfoil inside their baseball cap to prevent mind alterations by alien spacecraft signals, would that be paranoia? I mean, it doesn't really effect their life but still....



On the OP, I wear a gun in the house when I have it on for some other reason. Basically, when I get dressed I wear a gun. I don't carry one around with me in the pocket of my bath robe and if I'm sitting there in the morning drinking a cup of coffee then the gun is still in the safe. When I get dressed, it gets holstered and it stays holstered until I undress. 90% of the time, anyway.

[27Veer]

I agree that is it one way to make certain that no one gets a loaded firearm in your house. No child can kill if it is not available for them to grab.

[Tamara]

Originally Posted by BlueTrain

All the same, I'm surprised that people who say they live in the country leave their doors unlocked, yet carry a gun in the house.

I didn't say I "carr{ied} a gun in the house", I said I carried a gun.

I don't carry a gun in anyplace. I don't carry a gun to anyplace. I don't carry a gun for any specific reason, or because I'm afraid something might happen.

I just carry a gun. It's just a gun. It's no big deal. It's not like it's some ticking nuclear detonator or a rabid velociraptor. It's not going to suddenly go off and maim everybody in the room or wipe out the neighborhood. It's just a gun. Why do I need some special reason or fear to tote it around with me, other than "I feel like it" or "It matches my shoes"?

I understand some people do some kind of complicated risk factor analysis every day about whether this place is dangerous or that place isn't or which gun they should tote today or whatever. You know, if that makes them happy, then more power to them. I'm a gun person. I like guns. Personally, I'd carry my gun in heaven. Just because.

People do all kinds of stuff I don't get, like getting their noses pierced or going to churches where they roll around and talk funny or buying SUVs they'll never take off road, and I don't worry my pretty little head about why they're doing it. It's a free country. "Because I want to" works perfectly fine for me. Apparently other people just gotta know why.

[pax]

Every place has risks. If you live in town, your risk of being attacked is proportionately higher, but the police will probably respond pretty fast if you need them. If you live in the country, your risk of being attacked is proportionately lower, but the police will probably respond very slowly no matter how badly you need them. Having a firearm immediately available to you reduces both types of risk: the risk of being attacked, or the risk of having to deal with a bad situation on your own for an extended amount of time.

And Tamara's right about almost* everything she said above: you don't need a "special" reason to carry a firearm. It's just a gun. No mystic powers. Just another tool to be dropped in a pocket or slung on the belt. Living out here where cell tower coverage is spotty, I frankly have a harder time deciding whether or not my cell phone is worth the hassle on any given day!

pax

* What? Oh, the velociraptors. I'm pretty sure they can't get rabies, not being mammals.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Affecting your everyday life has two aspects. Does it bother you or does it bother others in a significant manner?

When you interact with others wearing your tinfoil hat, that might affect you.

When does a worry about something cross into mental illness - interesting question - but if it doesn't disturb your life in a significan way or disturb reasonable other folks - put on the hat - and worry about what rounds for aliens.

When I get dressed, it gets holstered and it stays holstered until I undress. 90% of the time, anyway.

So when you undress, 10% of the time, you draw? I'm confused here. And when do you put on the foil hat?

[BlueTrain]

I didn't ask a question really but while we're at it, I wasn't asking why someone carries a gun but why they leave the door unlocked.

[Brian Pfleuger]

Originally Posted by Glenn E Meyer

So when you undress, 10% of the time, you draw? I'm confused here. And when do you put on the foil hat?

See, there's where it gets complicated.... sometimes I "draw" before I get undressed just because the gun gets heavy. Sometimes JUST before, like so my pants don't fall down. Sometimes.... well, never mind.


And the tinfoil hat... it's not mine.

[Tamara]

Glenn,

Would you like to talk about your leikosidhiroskapelophobia?



Blue Train,

Didn't ever really get around to putting a lock on the door.

[pax]

Blue Train,

Bunch of kids running in & out of the house all day long.

pax

[therealdeal]

I will say that I disagree w/having the doors opened and/or unlocked but thats just my opinion and my way of doing things. many people might have been doing the opposite for yrs, and it might be working for them. It is a habit for me to usually lock my car door when I am driving too.

It is known that many criminal acts happen due to the fact that a window is open, a door is open, or said doors/windows are unlocked. Many, many criminals have confirmed this during interviews of their specific crimes, so its not just statistics. Also, many people don't CCW because of the statistics on their side(if the statistics demanded more CCW, more citizens would utilize the right--as in they don't feel its necessary to have a weapon everyday for defense).

Many people have perished due to home invasion or have been raped and/or abducted due to the fact that their window or door was open and the neighbors' windows/doors were locked(from multiple convicted murderers confessions they just go until they find that is accessible). I believe the night stalker in the 80's used to cut thru screens. The light that I pay 7bucks for extra in my electricity bill(its the company's light and was already up when we bought the home), the alarm, the firearm, and keeping the doors+windows locked are all preventative measures but most cops will tell you it helps. One can be surprised so much more easily if the entranceway is unlocked, and someone can also lie in wait for you. I could probably leave my doors unlocked where we live, and possibly for us its just a habit or some kind of 'paranoia' as to why we leave them locked, but I wouldn't feel comfortable doing it+I believe its a needed deterrant. If my Grandpa(may he rest in peace) was here, I could probably have a losing debate w/him about the issue.
On January 1st, 2006 a richmond couple and their two children were killed and robbed after being tied up. The criminals after being caught explained that the only reason they went to that house is because the door was open(the couple had been expecting to have a new yrs day party). The mother actually answered the door while the intruders were in the house and didn't alert the other mom who was dropping her daughter off from a sleepover that something was wrong. She was coerced by one of the intruders and mistakenly thought that as long as she did what the intruders wanted to that noone would be hurt. The 2 men slashed and killed all four and burned the home down for some small amount of money. I mentioned the paranoia thing and do one more time because it has come up in this thread; growing up I didn't worry about it, but now I do since I have my own home and family. I have seen too many horror stories on tv or in the news. Maybe it is paranoia, but I do not think so.

[Tamara]

therealdeal,

Yes, generally having one's doors and windows locked just makes sense.

Where I used to live was sort of an anomaly. There was only one way in and out of the place and it was nearly impossible to find, all the neighbors were related and nosy, someone was home in one of the nearby houses all the time, you could lay down in the middle of the street for six or eight hours at a stretch because nobody showed up there unless they lived there. I wouldn't generally recommend anybody else leaving their doors unlocked, but it was nice, especially in this day and age, to spend at least a few years living someplace where the neighbors left the keys in their cars, just in case someone needed to borrow them.

[therealdeal]

I'll give you that since you need to trust your gut too+Ican understand where you are coming from. Grandpa probably would've said the same thing. lol

[sdj]

My dog knows it's breakfast time, when my pistol comes off the nightstand and into my holster.

Perfect. :-D

[curt.45]

Do ya'll carry in your house?


Yes.

[orionengnr]

Yep.
The nature of home invasions being what it is, if the front door is kicked down, I don't see much point in asking for a "time out" so I can retreive my sidearm.

Or as a member on TXCHL once said, "Carry 24/7 or guess right".

[billinmiss]

Pax,

Would you really call the police if something scarey was going on at your house? From so many stories I've been reading lately around the nation, when the police get there you're as liable to be shot by them as by the bg.

I've been doing some talking to myself about this lately and have come to the conclusion that the only way I would call SO is if I had a squad of men shooting at me. Otherwise, they can just clean up the mess when they get here.

Have no desire to be shot at in my own home by someone 'supposedly' on my side.

Just curious.

PS- I do have a gun on me continuously.

[Nnobby45]

Would you really call the police if something scarey was going on at your house? From so many stories I've been reading lately around the nation, when the police get there you're as liable to be shot by them as by the bg.

I've been doing some talking to myself about this lately and have come to the conclusion that the only way I would call SO is if I had a squad of men shooting at me. Otherwise, they can just clean up the mess when they get here.

Have no desire to be shot at in my own home by someone 'supposedly' on my side.

Yes, I'd call the police.

Since a lot can happen before the police arrive, if I get a chance to call them--I'm either armed or my weapon is but a couple steps away while I'm in my living room.

Going back 30 or more years in my own community, the only tragic incident where a citizen was shot by responding officers (that I recall) occured when he refused, after numerous commands, to drop a fire poker and used it to attacked the sheriff deputies--for reasons never uncovered. That was a decade or more ago.

When it does happen, I wonder how many times it's the home owners fault--e.g., gun in hand when officers arrive and refuses to put it down because he's too busy explaining to the officers that "he's the good guy" and "they just don't understand".

Keep talking to yourself and see if you don't convince you that the media tends to concentrate on the most unusual events so they seem more common than they are.

[pax]

Yes, of course I would call the cops when danger threatens -- if I safely can. When a cop gets into a bad situation, he calls for backup as soon as he reasonably can. I'm not a cop, but my momma didn't raise no fool: I'll handle what I need to handle, but I intend to get backup on its way to me as quickly as reasonably possible.

"As quickly as reasonably possible" means I intend to direct another family member to pick up the phone once we're all together and safe, while I cover the entry point. It doesn't mean that I will grab the phone and call the cops instead of protecting my family from an immediate threat. But I want help on its way to me as quickly as reasonably possible.

If you're afraid of what the cops will do when they arrive, you need to do a little research followed by a little role play to help you figure out the safest ways to react to their arrival.

pax

[nefprotector]

Have'nt you heard of "Home Invasions"? Yes I carry in my home as well. Call me Paranoid if you want. But I call it being ready.

[billinmiss]

I suppose we'll just have to disagree on this, as I said, I don't want to be shot by a good guy. I still believe the best way to handle this is to let the incident get over with and then call SO.

But then again, I don't have kids running around either.

Also, if there's only me to worry about then I don't have to worry about shooting the wrong man!

[therealdeal]

billinmiss, its good to take care of business but call 911 too. I tell my wife(if I am working or whatever), grab the nightstand defender&call 911 BUT dont stay on the line talking- tell them your home has been broken into and dont hang the phone up but put it down(or hang it up to scare them off w/callback but dont stay on the phone talking//leaving phone on I think is better). knowing the cavalry is coming(eventually depending on where you live) is always a better option

[(Un)Broken0351]

I carry all the time. i carry my glock 21 in an IWB holster. i have my wife who is an ex LEO and she carry's as well. no matter where we are.we have an infant child who is right across the hall and no one lives any closer then 3/4ths of a mile away.

we tend to always be ready due to our past jobs. if both my wife or i are not carrying our pistols are on the nightstands.

[Hitthespot]

I don't necessarily carry at home. I'm like the guy who stated he uses his house to try different methods of carry and different equipment. I do the same since recently receiving my CCW.

However, I agree with those who state you never know what's going to happen. I live in a fairly quiet suburb where you never hear of property or home burgleries. One Friday night while watching the late horror movie, I heard a very load bang outside my house. I was just dosing off because it was round 2.00-2:30. I jumped up off the chair thinking one of the kids had fell out of the top bunk bed. As I started to run upstairs I heard the same load bang. It sounded like someone was hiting the side of my house with a baseball bat. I ran to the back of the house and looked out the double glass sliding doors. I could see a head just sticking up above our above ground pool. Three sides of our backyard was fenced in with a 6 foot fence. So I thought I would run out the front door and corner him in the yard. (As a side note my sons were very young and I had sold all of my pistols. I figured better safe than sorry.) Anyway by the time I ran to the front of the house and opened the front door, he had already figured what was going on and had come around the house and was heading through the empty lot next to me. I yelled and told him he better never come around here again. As I turned to the left there was a police car with it's lights on. I assumed they were already looking for him so I yelled to the officer that he just went through the empy lot next to me. They followed but never caught him. I went around to the back of my yard and it sounded liked Niagra falls. He had a locking hunting knife and had poked through every panel of my pool. The loud sounds was him trying to cut my TV cable and it slamming against the Aluminum siding. The next morning everyone who had their cars parked on the street or in their driveway had two to four flat tires. He had slashed over 70 tires that night. The officers visited me the next day to take a report. They said they believed he was extemely high. All I know is that trying to corner him with nothing but what god gave me was extremely stupid. Had I cornered him it's hard to tell what would have happened. My wife heard me yelling at him as I opened the front door that night and she was shattered in tears the rest of the night. That was as close to criminal activity as either of us had ever come. Thank goodness he didn't come into our unlocked house, since he was already running from the police. The next day I bought a full sized S&W 45. No objections from the wife. I have had firearms in the house ever since and my kids are all but raised now. I felt as though I had been caught with my pants down, and didn't ever want it to happen again.

[seig2006]

its part of my cloths... id feel naked with out it. Holster wear is prominant. Its a security.