This is why I have a problem with all this HD talk.

[Southern Rebel]

I confronted two black fellas who had gotten in my front door, they saw me in the nudeLOL pointinga 12 gauge double barrel shot gun at them; they left they ran lOL they were maintainence and had the wrong place.

Uh, I ain't the one pointing a 12 gauge double barrel shotgun at two innocent maintenence guys - just sayin'.............................


MY NAME IS SOUTHERN REBEL AND I AM AN HD ADDICT..............SOMEBODY HELP ME PLEASE!

[mnero]

they came in w/o knocking, what would you do. It ain't a nice neighborhood I live in. so I got a dog and stopped sleeping in the buff on hot nights

[glockcompact]

I didn't read all the posts so I apoligize for that. I just don't have the time but....

Maybe he was a nut, probably. You see I have a job, where occasionally, I knock on a wrong door, forget the drive way and more then once I have had a pistol put in my face or pointed in my direction. No one fired or even looked like they were really expecting to or wanted to, but it worries me, lol. I don't carry on my job. I am certain 99% of our poster are responsible and restrained in their defense of their dwellings; it is the 1% that worries me

I have posted, sevral times, how I don't trust the police; I don't, but I want to be clear: I RESPECT them for what they do and don't do(restraint is a tough and potentially dangerous thing) and I like cops just fine. The ones I know are regular guys who do a very irregular and very demanding job.

Please don't regulate 100% of us because of the 1% of us that are nuts.

[Southern Rebel]

they came in w/o knocking, what would you do. It ain't a nice neighborhood I live in. so I got a dog and stopped sleeping in the buff on hot nights

mnero, I probably would have done exactly what you did. There are, however, many in our society that would label us "overreacting gun nuts" attempting to use guns to make up for our inferior physical endowments.

I recognize that gun owners sometimes on gun forums approach the pulpit with a little more of a bravado attitude than is necessary. Perhaps that is nothing more than a delayed reaction to the frustration of prior years of preaching by liberal groups. Their advice regarding robbery, burglary, home invasions, etc. was "just give them what they want and you won't be harmed". Not only did that advice turn out to be deadly wrong on many occasions, but would turn us all into cooperative victims that is not even a normal reaction in the animal world when species attack their own kind.

Your reaction to my first post was what I expected and is a very mild form of what we see on gun forums - a need to voice our decision to not be a victim. Maybe some express the same decision with a little more aggressive attitudes, but testosterone can be a master if one so allows.

[mnero]

Southern that was very well put. I agree with your post completely, and you are right most people here are very responsible from what I can see. People do tend to talk a big game and do what is right even when the talk and the actions are very different. I doubt the lad who claims to clutch his gun everytime he is near a stranger really does that; I hope not

[threegun]

they came in w/o knocking, what would you do.

Same thing you did. Get the situation under control and prepare to eliminate the threats if need be. Point is a home defense thread isn't going to change anything.

I had a similar situation here at the pawnshop I manage. A man walked through our back door (coworker forgot to lock it) which leads to a door right behind us which was wide open. My coworker and I were doing some paperwork on our computer terminals when this guy comes up behind us asking to pawn his laptop. Before he could say "pawn my laptop" I instinctively drew on him from sheer surprise. He complied by stopping his advance and once we figured out what happened we pawned his laptop.

Good people do the right thing. Bad folks do bad things. Neither is responsible for the other.

[2damnold4this]

One of our posters says he clutches his gun everytime he is near a stranger, another is planning on mowing the lawn with a mini 14 at his side and you wonder why

Actually, I was thinking if carrying my Hyperbolic Illudium PU-36 Space Modulator so I could defend myself if attacked from orbit.

The fellow that suggested I mow the lawn with the Mini strapped on my back probably didn't know I was in a subdivision where I'd want to only carry concealed. It would be appropriate to have a rifle strapped to my back if I was out in the country on a tractor. I might have a chance at a feral pig or coyote while bush hogging.

I understand that you don't like having guns pointed at you but it's appropriate to discuss the topic of self defense.

[mnero]

i always carried a lever action .22 when i mowed the area of my sister camp ground where all the copper heads where. She would just run them over with the mower, but I just could not do that, a head shot is much more humane.

[Edward429451]

Sometimes it seems as if there's some obsessing going on on this board, but then I remind myself that this is the forum for such talk. Seeing as how it wasnt obsessive when I came searching for answers...I figure it is overload of the subject(s) for me. That's when I turn it off for a few days.

[440SAW]

I wonder if many who react to the posts, reading an article or seeing a TV report would actually do what they "feel" they would in the situation.
Our country place is "out there". No one should come up our road uninvited. Everytime they do, I get that sense of why are they here and I am not off alert until I know it is safe. But, I am also not going to shoot someone for coming up and getting out.
Breaking in, threatening, etc: that has to be dealt with according the the threat.
But, the line is clear; threaten me or my family, cross the line and make that threat one that could result in our loss of life and we will try to leave; if we can't there will be decisive action after a very brief warning.
But, shooting randomly is for idiots.

[BlueTrain]

Both one's attitudes and one's responses are conditioned by one's previous experiences and by what else happens to be going on in the neighborhood. Essentially, that is what forms your alert status. There is no reason to be on high alert, so to speak, if nothing has ever happened to you or any of your neighbors in the twenty years you've lived in the same house. If suddenly you start carrying around your gun when nothing has ever happened to your or anyone near, I don't know what to say, other than you have been sold a bill of goods. Something outside of your own experience has made you that afraid.

What can happen is sometimes is that "the neighborhood goes downhill," or words to that effect. Fortunately nothing like that has happened to me where I live. So realistically, I cannot justify doing very many of the things I read about here. I don't have a big dog (don't like dogs), don't hide guns in every room (that increases the chance one will be found and, besides, I don't have that many), I don't even have a shotgun.

Furthermore, home invasions are an invention of the news media, although it has a great sound. The legal term is burglarly. I do read the crime reports in the paper every week and sometimes it is interesting reading, though nothing very exciting happens very often. They seem to go out of their way to report the slightest thing, too. Someone pushes someone and runs away and even that gets reported. And this is in a county with 1,300,000 people, too, many of whom are from somewhere else (which, technically, includes me).

I do worry, though, about what the TV reporter would say if they knew what was in my basement.

[youngunz4life]

One of our posters says he clutches his gun everytime he is near a stranger, another is planning on mowing the lawn with a mini 14 at his side and you wonder why I have suggested that some(I think I said 1% but boy it is looking like a bigger lot then that) of us may be abit over zealous. This was not an attack on HD although I admit the title was poorly chosen, but it is a question "why do some of us obsess on this subject" and what consequences such an obsession might have. It is ashame that what could have been a useful topic about restraint and responsibility has turned into an attack on the poster and the few who have agreed with what is somehow a controversial issue Frankly after reading some of the responses here I am more concerned then ever. I had to chase away what I thought was an intruder once in my first apartment, I confronted two black fellas who had gotten in my front door, they saw me in the nudeLOL pointinga 12 gauge double barrel shot gun at them; they left they ran lOL they were maintainence and had the wrong place. I did not hear them knock and they let themselves in. I got a dog the next week! Thank G*d I showed some restraint. I wonder how much restraint some of yawll would have shown LITTLE from what I see here too damn little!

Frankly after reading some of the responses here I am more concerned then ever

frankly after reading that post I'm a little more concerned than ever as well.

not trying to pick on you, but you're stereotyping for at least the 2nd time since starting this thread. you're probably just paranoid yourself because your a bill collector. ps- I thought door to door collections ended decades ago?

all the best

[justjim75]

i like fast cars. i made mine fast (1995 volvo stationwagon, i'ts turbo-charged). now that i have spent all the time and effort and money to make that car fast i want to drive it fast. thats not always legal, but i do it anyway. what does that have to do with this thread? some people that do spend so much time and money and training on firearms find it hard to face the fact that they will probably never need them, and look for situations that arent there.

[mnero]

Younggun I kinda wish they had, but a lot of people just won't respond to any else. Going to the house and talking face to face with respect and understanding(being poor myself I do understand lol) is very effective, people often want to pay, but just need to be shown a payment plan they can afford. It is not such a bad job most of the time and I have never carried it is strictly forbidden on that job.

[BGutzman]

Not all of us are so jumpy as to blow people away for turning around in the drive way or knocking on the door..

Thats not saying we dont listen and pay attention but we understand people are people.

Now when its odd circumstances like two unannounced people at a unusual time of day or whatever or your gut tells you different we may go to a higher level of readiness but we still have to meet the requirements of the law in order to shoot....

Home defense is different than plain old murder.

[mnero]

Definitely different then murder, but in Maryland I bet it is manslaughter, but here they figure you can either run or surrender and wait for the police to save youThis state is pathetic when it comes to how it handles self defense cases, especially in Baltimore.

[Deja vu]

If I shot every one who knocks on my door I would be on death row by now.

I live in Idaho in an area that is very scenic but has no cell phone service. Frequently people break down and are forced to walk to my home (the only lights around) to make a phone call. I all ways answer the door armed with a gun in my pocket but I have yet to shoot any one and this happens probably 1-2 times a month. The roads have lots of hills so in the summer cars tend to over heat and in the winters it can be very slick.

It is a very long walk to Cell service and much more to town. I feel that it is my duty to help out if I can especially in the winter because people could easily freeze to death in the winters here and I don't want that on my concise. That is why I answer the door and I want to make sure my family is safe so that is why I answer the door armed.

[jhenry]

That is exactly what you should do as a decent person. Our humanity is a precious thing which should never be whittled away. It does not regenerate. There are for sure, people around who would figure those folks are not their kin or even anyone they know, and would refuse to get involved, even to place a phone call when someone is in trouble of some sort. At their core these types are pathetic on more than one level.

My place and property is also off the beaten path, but is not situated in such a way as to attract folks who break down. There is a gas station closer to the big road. In the 20 years since I bought this place I think I have seen 2 folks drive down my driveway (dirt and about 300 yards or so with no house visible till the end) by mistake. Other folks come upon the rare occasion looking for their dog/horse/calf/kid whatever. I always answer the door with a pistol in my back pocket. I view this simply as a prudent action, not an antisocial action.

[mnero]

I keep a double barrel shot gun by the door and .38 near my bed; that seems prudent. A peep hole in the door is required in this area as well.

If I still lived in Logan county West Virginia I would not hesitate to call the sheriff if I thought it was required, for anyone in trouble. Even here on the east coast in this G*D awful city, I would lend to anyone who needed it, my phone, help them change a tire, or give them a ride, at anytime of day or night, but to involve yourselve in the criminal activities of others by calling the police is dangerous. These criminals retaliate against witnesses all the time; especially the gangbangers. Baltimore is a dangerous place and if you feel a need to get involved in every crime you see, you are gonna be a very busy and very unpopular person. I am not a cop and the state of Maryland does not require it's citizens to intervene or even call the police when they see what may be a crime comitted as some states and juristictions do.

[chadstrickland]

Lol I just wanted to say that I completely agree with the dude who wanted to carry a minni 14 on his back while driving a tractor so he could get a shot off at a cridder...I use a 22 rifle when I worked on a farm and killed hundreds of those cowbirds..( dnt know the real name of them but there big white birds that ride on top of cows and eat bugs out of hay while u are bailing it...

[jhenry]

All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.

A wise man once said that, and truer words were never spoken.

It becomes easy to do nothing when doing something is not easy. It becomes easier when others do nothing as well. It becomes very easy at some point. You can even fool yourself into thinking it is the right thing to do. It is not the right thing to do. Refusing to make even ANONYMOUS 911 call when some other person is in some trouble, or when some worthless thug thinks he can do whatever whenever is simply pathetic.

A person who acts in that manner IS part of the problem, and is dancing to another's fiddle.

[440SAW]

It is interesting to see how folks in different areas of the country react to things. Or, fear things.
I can easily admit to fearing things, not running but fearing. And, taking action appropriate to the situation.
That doesn't include deadly force every time, or even drawing out: action equal to the situation. It makes you think though, that the action appropriate differs in places around our USA.
What a shame that urban areas are breeding such despots.
OH WELL, Happy Easter and Holiday to everyone.

[mnero]

In Baltimore kids chasing other kids witha taser is just 'kids having fun' sadly. You don't report that and you don't report on the gangs. If someone is breaking into your neighbors car or harrassing his kids, of course you would call the police. Even if you want to get involved in Baltimore, you are up against three things, Maryland's oppressive gun laws, the local DA's oppressive application of the law and the fact that Baltimore jurys will convict anyone even a home owner or business owner if they use a weapon to defend themselves or their property.

[markj]

Not all of us are so jumpy as to blow people away for turning around in the drive way or knocking on the door..

How about this, fell asleep on the recliner, got up 1:00am headed towards bed, my wife works nights and left at 5:30 so I thought I was alone. Got to the bed and threw back the quilt as it is a hot one and was not needed, a voice says dont uncover me it is cold. Bout crapped my pants, 1/2 asleep and a voice where no voice should be went and changed the shorts and got into bed but couldnt sleep after that.

So I am thjinking this happens a lot, most foks dont fret it tho, but if I was a nut job and had a gun abd pulled it and shot at that voice, why I would be a single man today.... and that would be a bad thing.

[WhiskeyTango]

The fact that this is being attributed to home defense talk worries me the most. Some crazy dip**** shooting someone for just being at the wrong house is so completely different than a normal gun owner defending against a criminal I'm having trouble figuring out how this thread even got off the ground. If I get a knock on the door after 8-9 o-clock at night, I bring my gun with me. That doesn't make me a wacko, it makes me smarter than the average joe. The guy who wants to wear his M1 Carbine to mow the lawn? More power to him, he has had a rash of very brazzen robberies in his area, and refuses to be a victim. Don't confuse an educated American trying to ensure that he lives another day with some crazy guy just because they both have a gun.