You Never Know How You Will React -

[Jim567]

I have been wanting to tell this story for some time, its bizarre.

It was a Friday night. My wife was out of town, my daughter was at her grandparents and my son was picking up some friends to take to a HS football game.

Hadn't had a day off in a long time. I sat in my easy chair and was about to sip a Jameson. Before I did, I remembered I had two pistols, a 1911 and an BHP in the safe I hadn't looked at in a long time. I got them out, inspected them and wiped them off and they were sitting in my lap.

Just then my son comes rushing in through the garage door yelling " dad get your guns!"

I hear fighting and scuffling in the garage. I assume - when I was his age it would be me and my friends rough housing and joking around.

I didn't want his friends to see me sitting there with the pistols in my lap and I jumped up and put them in the end table drawer.

My son is looking at me like I am out of my mind.

He was driving on the county road in his convertible with his friends. A car load of meth heads all with multiple prior records were throwing beer bottles at oncoming traffic. They hit his car with one. He held his hand up like he was dialing 911, they turned around and chased him. He got into our garage, hit the remote to put down the door - just as it was about to close they got their hands under it.

OK - I go running out into the garage as the meth heads flee.

I call 911 report assault and home invasion. Calm down his friends, no one hurt badly.

20 minutes later I am out in the driveway waiting- no police.

Who does show back up? -- The meth heads! They tell me they are gonna kill me and my entire family. I cant believe it!!! They know I am armed and have to know I called the cops! The did not get out of their car. I had stashed the pistols expecting the police --- they did not know that,

My first call to 911 was very calm -- now I am mad!!!

911 says we are almost there.

The meth heads take off -

They come around a bend and try to hit my neighbor walking his Great DANE LOL

He always walks the dog with a long neck glass Bud Light. He threw it through their windshield.

Now there is a Mexican standoff -- the three of them and him and his angry Great Dane.

That's when the cops arrive ---

The two with a public defender plead to " burglary of an UNOCCUPIED dwelling ".

The one with a private attorney got clean off. The prosecutor never contacted me!!!

I was plenty upset. No one ever told me they were going to kill my family before.

All I could do was visit the various law enforcement who lived in the neighborhood and ask them to be aware.

Never again would I not have a firearm readily available. One stays out of the safe in a custom hide hole. - Actually I had two available but you know what I mean.

It was an eye opener. Note, I live in a North Florida area now that has super low crime and was complacent . When I lived in South Florida I was much more on guard.

Let some one threaten to kill you family and see how deep it gets you attention.

Anyway --- I will never react like that again.

[40-82]

There seemed to be a strong element of you didn't believe that it could happen to you in your story. Now you're over that. That's the first step in learning how to defend yourself. Glad both you and your family are OK.

[Jim567]

Yep. That won't happen again.

[motorhead0922]

I think if somebody I know comes running and yells "get your guns", I'm gonna get a gun. I'll figure out why he said that soon enough.

I'm glad you all are okay.

[Jim567]

I know lol
But the mindset - odds were a thousand to one the boys were rough,housing playing.
20 years in the neighborhood, the worst crime was someone had a lawn mower stolen out of an open garage.
That changed ---

[jbrown50]

The good thing is that you and your family are ok.

I always have a gun on me or nearby even when I'm at home. There are a lot of people out there who have absolutely no respect for you or your property. They'll walk right into your previously peaceful, crime free neighborhood and home without a second thought. All it takes is for them to be raised with the community property attitude.

You don't have to be mixed up into any criminal activity or live in a "bad neighborhood" in order to experience a home invasion. The odds are that it will never happen to you unless you live in an urban area but all it takes is for it to happen to you once and it'll definitely be a life changer one way or another.

[Hiker 1]

Man, that's a crazy story, but that's how it goes down in the real world. Unexpected, unrehearsed, etc. I think you did great. Nice to have some weapons handy when meth-heads show up.

It is also a great example of how stuff can go down no matter where you live. When we moved into our current home in a semi-rural area, one of the neighbors came by to introduce himself just as the ADT installation tech showed up. He saw the truck and was like: "oh, you won't need that. Nothing ever happens here." I just smiled and nodded.

[Hiker 1]

Jim, since you were cleaning the 1911's and the HP, did you have ammo nearby?

[Jim567]

Yes, they both had full magazines, not chambered.
It's how I leave them in the pistol safe.
I know some will frown on that.
I was in the easy chair because I was just inspecting them and wiping them down.

[Brit]

Jim, I am an Old Guy! At 78 my boxing with aggressive young guys is long over. But I am real good with the Glock 19 that is sitting in the pocket of my dressing gown. (English, what can I say) IPhone in the other one.

If I am awake, I am armed, home, or not. Yes I have a FCCL.

Just like a spare tire, you have one, right?

[45Gunner]

I can't believe you would leave a Jameson unguarded!

[A400 Fan]

I can't believe you would leave a Jameson unguarded!

EXACTLY! A Bushmill's I could understand........

Glad all is well. Those issues have not hit my little corner of the world....yet. Maybe its because most are older retired folks with no young kids around? Amazing how different a few blocks can make as well.....

[Sevens]

The "that just never happens around here line of thinking is, to me, a full-bore face-palm.

Heck, if I was some manner of a criminal bent on evil doings...
Wouldn't places like that be my specific target?!

[Glenn E. Meyer]

The Petit family in CT is the case that washes away the good area, won't happen here argument.

[rock185]

Jim, glad to hear you won't react that way again, should anything similar occur in future. Due to my profession, I have had a number of people threaten to kill me, and my family. One individual came very near to success in the killing me part. When somebody tells me something like that, I take them at face value, and respond appropriately. If a family member or friend came running in and reported something like your son indicated, even if I did not hear some kind of altercation, putting my gun/s away is not something that would even cross my mind. We often hear things like ," I couldn't believe it was happening," " Things like that don't happen in this neighborhood, etc, etc. These responses almost nightly on the news.

Ps, any gun I might have loaded does not have an empty chamber. Should one ever need a firearm in a potentially lethal situation, attempting to chamber a round under stress is fraught with the danger of fumbling, and frantically working the slide as you figure out what went wrong. Yes, I have seen videos of the Israeli guys chambering a round at lightning speed. I can say from personal experience both hands may not be available for attempting to chamber a round,i.e., one hand may be involved in doing something else important during the incident. I have seen even some well trained and experienced folks fumble and flounder trying to load the chamber under stress......ymmv

[Brit]

Since going to Glock's, the Israeli's carry one in the pipe.

The reason they started the empty chamber in the first place, was because they had many different types of pistols, so jacking the slide worked for all.

[hartcreek]

Jim....One of them got off free and the other two jail time.....once the two get out what will you do? You need to get your family some FOF training as these guys are bound to be back and you and your family need to be able to dispose of the situation when the trio returns.

Your son did a bad thing by driving to your house instead of some place crowded or the sheriff station. Why did your son not make the 911 call and drive toward the officers?

[Jim567]

45Gunner
Senior Member
I can't believe you would leave a Jameson unguarded!
__________________

Yep I got lucky again! Lol

The nearest police station is,wow, 35 minutes away.
The event started 3 minutes from our house.
My son could have called me and given a heads up.
He was driving a stick shift and trying to evade first though.

Remember HC it took LE more than 20 minutes to get to my house after I called 911.

That was a shock!!

The other two only got probation. The judge stipulated any contact and it would be revoked. That scared em???

My FCWP just came in, took 5-6 weeks.

Note, also a factor with me putting the guns up is, I don't like my sons friends knowing I have any.

But specifically I did it because I assumed it was horseplay. They were all HS athletes as I was in the day --
My friends and I were always wrestling and fighting about. When my son came in - my mind went to that experience --

[Jim243]

I know some will frown on that.

Not at all, it only takes a second to jack a round in one of them.

Your son did a bad thing by driving to your house instead of some place crowded or the sheriff station.

No he didn't, Hart, I guess you do not have any kids. First it is the most natural thing for a child to look to a farther for protection, and second I have yet to see a police officer that is responding to a 911 call that did not think the VICTIM in some way or another did not cause the assault to happen. Officers as much as they try, do not treat teenagers very well, and certainly do not earn their respect. I don't blame the officers for that, they are only trying to protect themselves. But do cause most of their own problems with teenagers. It's like the kids are guilty of something until proven innocent (and maybe they are).

I live across from the local police station, I mean directly across from them and even when I take my dogs out to do their business, I am carrying a gun on my hip and an extra mag. And I live in a neighborhood that has NO crime.

Use the Boy Scouts of America's motto and "be prepared".

Stay safe.
Jim

[Jim567]

One of the things that really hacked me off about the incident-
One of the kids dads did want his son to even give the police a statement! To get involved in any way in doing the right thing.
I had to look him dead in the eye and tell him" they were invading my bloody house and whacking your kid!"
Talk about a mindset!
I am also shocked the three men- from 22 to 27
Got off like that with several priors each.
LE was going to arrest my neighbor for throwing the bottle threw their windshield !
It can be a mixed up, shook up jumbled up world.

[Tamara]

Originally Posted by Jim567

One stays out of the safe in a custom hide hole.

Safest place for the gun that's out of the safe is on your belt. Just sayin'.

[Jim567]

[dakota.potts]

Jim, you don't happen to live around Ponte Vedra do you? Sadly enough, I get a lot of the "it'll never happen in a nice neighborhood like this one" when talking guns with my Ponte Vedra friends.

Glad everything worked out alright. Meth Heads are not known to be the first predictable group so I am glad things turned out the way they did for you. Did the event and your reaction give you a reason to think about why you own guns and what to use them for?

[Jim567]

I live West of you in what used to be Switzerland.
Both our areas have seen some increase in violent crime lately - although relative.
And yea - let someone tell you they are gonna kill yourfamily --
Firearms are not just for fun anymore -
Truth is I got complacent up here.
I was never on alert in my home.
I was traveling however -

[dakota.potts]

My girlfriend lives in that area in the big neighborhood that might as well be a small township -- you know the one that I'm talking about.

She was woken up one morning at about 4:30 to loud pops. SWAT members had arrived at somebody's house with a warrant and he boarded up most of the windows so they were popping tear gas grenades in. Other things that have happened within a half mile radius of her including a "suicide" of 7 bullets to the chest (you figure that one out), a double murder, a friend of hers who fought off a rapist on the way to visit her at work etc. It's a very nice area but crime is deceptively high. Apparently heroin is common too, largely with the kids who have access to lots of money and are in a rebellious phase.

Familiar ranting aside, that's the reason I hate the "nice neighborhood" mentality. Crime happens for many reasons, and poverty is only some of them.

Looking at it again, do you think pursuing them was the right idea, even if you had had your guns? Theory tells me that, in that situation, I would get my son to a safe area (at least in a bedroom behind a locked door) and wait with guns ready for the police to get there. Even with a gun, I think it makes the most sense not to confront.

Not that I'm above getting caught in the moment and doing something similar, I'm just curious what you think now.