"I just saw legs..."

[chris in va]

My friend and I were watching TV and she just remarks someone walked past our house at midnight. It's not unusual for the local kids to make a shortcut through our yard, but these were "adult legs" and they were literally three feet from my back door, and 6' from my chair.

So remembering what I've been told, we stayed put inside the house. I turned on the outside lights, barred the doors and got each of us within arms reach of a lead delivery device. And resumed watching TV.

She now wants to keep my Sig 220 on her nightstand. Oh sure, I get to keep the 9mm...thanks a lot.

[geetarman]

Probably a good idea to secure the doors and turn on the outside light as a matter of routine.

Another P220 is doable. My nightstand gun is a P229 Elite 9mm.

Can't say I would want anything else.

Geetarman

[jrothWA]

with motion-sensing.
Use a dog, (black lab size) to adjust sensitivity.
Place lights higher than a person can reach.

What wrong with 9mm, hits & placements work.

[pgdion]

My nightstand gun is 9mm ... I'm quite certain it will do the job if it ever needs to. Hey, better than using a large dog to adjust the motion lights, just get a large dog. Mine is friendly as heck but at 140 lbs and almost all black, he's the scariest thing you'd ever meet at night with a low rumbling growl and a bark that could wake the neighborhood.

[nefprotector]

Yup! Invest in motion sensing lights. And Im another that says. "What's wrong with the 9mm?" With the right loads and ofcourse shot placement you cant go wrong. I choose 15 rds of CorBon 125 grain JHP.

[Evan Thomas]

...these were "adult legs" and they were literally three feet from my back door, and 6' from my chair.

Was there a reason you didn't call the police and report a prowler? He may have gone elsewhere when you turned the lights on -- to a neighbor's house, perhaps?

[booker_t]

This is more of a legal comment, so don't let me hijack the thread.. but if you own the property and you're allowing people to use it as a shortcut, after time (depending on your local statutes) you may be giving up the right to stop people from using your land as a shortcut. Easements are tricky things, and can come about from common, open use. Just something to think about and possibly look into.

[chris in va]

Was there a reason you didn't call the police and report a prowler? He may have gone elsewhere when you turned the lights on -- to a neighbor's house, perhaps?

We moved into the neighborhood about two years ago. Right away we were somewhat taken aback at the kids walking all over our yard and cutting between the houses so they can get to the other two parallel streets. It's a very common occurrence. We've called the police a couple times, all they do is send a guy out 30 minutes later and tell us they didn't find anything.

This was unusual though, having a guy so close to the house. Usually they stay in the yard.

BTW we're renting the house. They're packed pretty close together, just your average starter home style neighborhood.

[markj]

That guy might have thought he was at the right place, discovered his mistake and went to the correct door. Happens a lot. Dont shoot him, it may be me, I am old and my eyesight isnt what it used to be, neither is my memory, I may have a bit of alzheimers too. Or I was just looking for my small dog, didnt mean to get so close to your window dont shoot me.


Not everyone you encounter will have your demise on his mind.

Get the motion sensors, a good barking dog will also help, early alarm system that works for everyone that uses them.

[357 Python]

I remember years ago folks poo-pooed the 38 Special. I had several reovlvers that were chambered for 357 Magnum but kept them loaded with 38 Special +P. I was confident with the 38 Special and my ability to use it. Now a days it seems many are doing the same with the 9MM. With the right ammo the 9MM is a decent self defense weapon. I have a Beretta 92F at home that has served me well for more than 20 years. If the loss of your 220 to a friend gets to you, you have 2 choices. You could get a 220 to replace it or get a 220 for her (Christmas gift). Be thankful you have made good choices in regard to defensive weaponry. I have known some who thought a 22 caliber RG 10 was all they needed for everything.

[Sgt.Saputo]

Yup, last night someone broke into our cars again and stole the loose change. This is the second time in 2 months and I am not pleased. The cps just say with a snide tone "better lock the car" well all that changes is now not only am I loosing my change but also I get a broken window. I'm going to get crafty (as much as I want, I can't booby-trap the car) I thinking about setting up a wireless alarm (much like modern doorbells) that will go off when someone opens the door. It will alert me and not them. yup probably the second one, no defiantly the second one.

[BGutzman]

More P220's is always a good solution!

[SigP6Carry]

Saputo... while I agree with your intentions, your rhetoric really turns me off. "Get a job like everyone else" implies that everyone can and does get a job whenever they need. It took me 2 and a half years to go from a full-time retail sales job to a parttime food delivery job. It ain't easy right now. That doesn't mean that someone should break into your car, but the words you choose imply that my 2 and a half year unemployed were for no reason but my being a criminal. The dirty harry lines, on the the other hand, would probably just confound a criminal, I doubt most of them know Clint like we do.

That being said: Virginia Chris, I've been through a lot of what you're talking about. I live in an apartment building that people have parties in quite often and live next to and across the street from buildings that often have parties going on. At least once a month I'm put on "high alert" by someone trying to enter my apartment, thinking it's where a party is, or a delivery guy mistaking my apartment for another that ordered pizza, sandwiches, chinese food or whatever. I'm willing to wager it's a similar circumstance. But I've called the police on more persistent visitors and creepier folks who are "looking for where the party is." If you're renting your home, talk to your landlord about whether or not you can install motion sensing lights. Those lights tend to turn criminals away quite quickly. A dog shouldn't be purchased as a security device, as advise, since they are living animals that should be treated with more respect than a gun, motion sensor light or security system. Locking doors is a necessity these days. I'm often roused from my bed at the thought that I MAY NOT have locked my doors and will frequently check through the night to make sure I locked them. Don't doubt the power of a bolt locked door.

[Sgt.Saputo]

"Get a job like everyone else" was intended as an insult to people who rob others. I don't mean offend to anyone trying to find work as it is extremely hard, but I don't think it's an excuse to break into peoples cars and steal things. My apologies if I offended you :/ last post edited.

[pgdion]

We were having a lot of car break-ins and theft from boats. No one leaves fishing gear in their boat of course, but even gas tanks, fire extinguishers, and 1st aid kits were even being stolen.

I bought a motion sensing light but hooked it up to a beeper in the house so if there was motion, the beeper would let me know but the bad guy wouldn't know I was alerted. Then I could check out side and be able to call the cops while their still in the area. Almost caught one guy from the group of 3 once. Took to long for the cops to get their though and the guys managed to slip through the 'drag net' by running through the woods. We're able to ID one of them though and the cops new pretty well who all of them were then. Not enough to arrest anyone but the rattled their doors and there hasn't been a problem since. Sadly, they are probably still stealing from cars but just in another area now.

btw - didn't need a gun for these guys and using one would have been a big legal mistake. All that was needed for defense here was my good 4 D-cell Maglight.

[markj]

Yup, last night someone broke into our cars again

What about an inexpensive electric fencer? Tractor Supply has them for 19.00, put up a barrier the wire is so slim they wont see it until they hit it

A dog is the best alarm system a person can get. Dogs can be had for free too.

[BfloBill]

Be carefull of setting up an electric fence. Depending on local LEO and the DA it could be classified as a booby trap (a felony depending on state). I had a friend who once had someone at work stealing from their duffle bag and they set up a simple screamer alarm with a pull pin to catch them. That would be easy to set up on a car door (for the change thief) OR on a trip wire to scare the crap out of anyone cutting through the yard.

[skidmark]

All advice previously provided contains at least a germ of goodness and helpfulness.

But I want to pose a question to you: Are you like so many others who keeps lights on inside and the blinds/shades/shutters and front/back doors open so that everybody and their second cousin can admire your possessions and housekeeping skills?

I know I'm a curmudgeon, but why anybody else would want to display their accumulated goods is beyond my ken. It also means I have to go hide behind something if I want to scratch my butt.

stay safe.

[dabigguns357]

I'm a bit paranoid about my property and loved ones.I have motion lights to start with then on both the back/front porch i have night vision camera's with audio.Inside the house i have more night vision camera's looking down my halls and living room.I have a Dachund that is great for an early warning system.Heck i've even gone so far as to set up baby monitor's in my younger boys room's near the windows so i can hear if someone tries to break the windows.

You can never be to prepared.

[TylerD45ACP]

Same thing has been happening to me guys. About 1 year ago someone broke into my car in between my brother and I having a cigarette 5 minutes apart. I wish he or I waited a little longer. Anyway, they stole my $1000 dollar system with the car locked and everything. Called the cops and the say the same things over and over. They are still breaking into cars including my brothers. Im getting some cameras to install soon, we will see if I cant get some people arrested.

[dabigguns357]

My advise about getting camera's is to make copies of your findings and send one copy to the police and one to your local news station.I got tired of the police saying that they couldn't identify some of the people in my video's so i started to send them to the local news and asked them to play the findings on the air(and they did).After doing this a couple of times our house and cars were left alone,infact 2 or 3 houses in either direction stopped getting vandeled.The way i had my camera's set up i could see 3 or 4 yards and cars up and down the street.

My neighbors loved us for it.

I now live in the country but still have the same set up and catch some really nice deer in my back yard.

[TylerD45ACP]

Good idea, dabigguns357. I was thinking about sending them to the News but wasn't sure. Im going to set them up so I can see everywhere around my house. I will also make sure my street is completley visible when I get the cash. Its a pain I have to spend money to stop these theives, wasn't that the police's job a long time ago. I also plan on moving I am so sick of living in the city and just looking at it on a daily basis. I want to be in Nevada/Arizona/Texas somewhere southwest. I love the country over there.

[dabigguns357]

This is going to sound bad but i was so worried about getting out of the city that i took out a loan and then let the bank forclose on my house.I used the loan to put down on a smaller house on a land home contract,to which i have now paid off.

We had 5 shootings within 3 blocks over a 2 month span.We had druggies doing deals in front of my house.There were at least 2 gang fights with at least 20 people involved each time.There was a nice older coulpe that was killed for resisting a home invasion at the end of our block.We had both our cars broken into at least 7 times.The neighborhood had at least 17 cars vandalized in one night.We finally put the camera's up and let the community know we were monitoring things,after that people either vandeled other places or were caught.

One of my most proud moments came by accident.I was off work for a week and decided to watch some tv late one night,when i heard some noise outside.I turned my tv over to aux and caught 5 teens vandelizingand and stealing stuff out of our neighbors pontoon boat.I called the cops and they suprizingly arrived fast and caught them all.I turned over the tape and thats the last i heard of them.

[TylerD45ACP]

Nice, good job getting them arrested. I am going to put some up, my area is not as bad as that sounds. But, my area is not great by any means and is steadily declining. The part I live in is starting to look like the inner city. My car has been broken into multiple times as well as my brothers. I see drug addicts/alcoholics everywhere. People stole ashtrays off my porch, I know their just ashtrays but that tells me their willing to be on my property. I got to get cameras but its going to be a little bit before I have the money. I sometimes have waited up to catch them and call the police as I use my handheld video camera. Ive been thinking of jerry rigging something so it turns just my 1 camera on. Maybe Ill get lucky.

[DiscoRacing]

we live in a small outter skirt of a small town... there isnt much that happens here... but..I have been hearing that someone is breaking into small outbuildings and stealing weedeaters and such.. one of our outbuildings is also my reloading shop..so..the one night that I heard that he was in this particular area... I spent that night on the floor of my reloading shop...baseball bat in one hand... loaded 44mag in the other....never did see the guy in our back yard yet.