Mrs. VolTexan...Part 1

[oljames3]

Thanks in no small part to Mrs. VolTexan's story, my wife is carrying her Ruger LCR .38 with her today as she is out and about in Austin. We both received our CHLs in 2013. Since then, I have been working patiently with her to mover her out of the untrained civilian mindset. Leading by example, I have carried consistently since 2013. I've been exposing her to the mindset of "when-then" as opposed to "if-then". In the self-defense discussion, if-then considers the possibility of the existence of evil. When-then acknowledges the certainty of the existence of evil. So, we train that, when the evil threat presents, we will respond with appropriate and superior violence.

English is an imprecise communication tool. Often, when we say "if-then" we really mean "when-then". I prefer to reduce the ambiguity and live in a "when-then" world as much as possible.

[Vol Texan]

The sad fact is that certain professions make you a more likely target, and life's randomness makes EVERYONE a potential target of crime. Mrs. VolTexan, by operating in yellow and having a plan(s) has proved once again the adage about "you don't have to be faster than the bear you just have to be faster than the other guy". So the goblins moved on to what they deemed to be less risky (less aware/prepared) targets. Operator level skills not needed. As Donald Hamilton put it in one of his novels, "if you show them that you're a wild woman with a gun, no one is going to ask to see your 'expert' rating".

In this, you are so right! I joke that my wife practices the Bruce Banner method of diplomacy, "Please don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry."

[johncanfield]

Great thread. My wife volunteers at our little library/resale shop and sometimes she has to work alone until 2000 or 2100 hours. The policy is for at least two volunteers to be on duty but sometimes that's not possible. The library is on US-290 and there's quite a bit through traffic from the west headed to points east. I am always worried when she's alone.

She always carries her Sig on her person (I make sure of that - we have an equipment check before she leaves the house) which is great. I really need to work with her and act out various scenarios if a "thing" has nefarious intentions in the building. To the OP - your wife did great!

[OldCurlyWolf]

Now that's way too close to going bad! I'm glad she's okay.

Chas.

Yes to both sentiments.

Her spidey sense was spot on.

I just hope mine keeps working as well as it has in the past and hers currently is working.

[Jusme]

Now that's way too close to going bad! I'm glad she's okay.

Chas.

Yes to both sentiments.

Her spidey sense was spot on.

I just hope mine keeps working as well as it has in the past and hers currently is working.

Spidey sense is a good descriptor. Women have tested much better at detecting bad intentions, than men. Hence the term "women's intuition." It took me several years of training, and on the job application to develop my 'spidey sense" but women are much more tuned into body language, and other non-verbal, or conscious clues, than men.

That's probably why I can't get away with anything at home.

[5thGenTexan]

My ex-wife worked as the office manger for a large scrap metal company back in the '70's. They were robbed twice while we were married. They maintained a large cash drop daily from the armored car service. On both occasions the robber entered the office at the scales office pulled a pistol and took the cash bag that was just dropped off. On the first trip he netted the whole drop. Second time two months later my wife had dumped the cash into a drawer of her desk and he only got the stacks of ones, fives, and tens she had on her desk to verify against the talley sheet for the banks shipment.


This second trip resulted in them hardening the office by taking the paneling off the walls, skinning the entry room with 1/4" steel plate reapplying paneling over it, and electric door locks, with lexan windows and a drop chute to the scale room for cash. I know quite a few jewelry stores do utilize electric door access to reduce the odds of undesirable "tire kickers" from wondering in. In my opinion much more effective than posting a 30.06 or 30.7 sign, as I do not enter stores posted since they don't like me or my money.

[Vol Texan]

Time to bump this thread from earlier this year.

We were awoken to a call this morning around 6:00 am from the alarm company. The motion sensor in my wife’s store had triggered, and the police were on the way.

I dressed, armed, and left for the store. I got there in time to meet HPD. We entered together, and I turned off the wailing alarm to the smell of freshly cut metal.

Three holes through the roof / one through the back wall/ and several large cut marks on the side of her safe were all we found. Nothing stolen: not the flat screens, nor the PC, nor any of the (only silver) product in the display cases. The safe holds the high dollar stuff, and it earned its hefty price tag many times over last night - they had several cuts through the side, but never penetrated the composite filler to reach the inner wall.

We have contractors in the store today erecting temporary fixes, and they will be doing the proper repairs during the week. Looks like I’m sleeping in the afternoons, and spending the nights in the store this week until we get all the repairs completed and a new safe installed.

Not the best way to celebrate the Christmas shopping season at a little jewelry shop, but things could have been a lot worse. Overall, we are blessed that it is only repair work needed, and that we didn’t lose our inventory only two weeks out from Christmas.

Any Houston forum members want to have an impromptu meetup - come on into the Heights and visit overnight! But do be sure to PM me (and receive a response) first - I’d hate to engage in any unnecessary target practice

[ELB]

Glad you were not hurt worse. I dunno how these things work, but hope it doesn't impact your business insurance premiums too badly. I imagine for a jewelry store insurance is not one of the cheaper items.

What brand/model safe was it? Was it TL-15 or TL-30 rated?

best wishes.

[Excaliber]

I'm very glad to hear that the safe did its job in delaying the thieves long enough that they couldn't stay long enough to make penetration.

I'd suggest contacting the safe manufacturer. Some of them will replace a safe that was unsuccessfully attacked for free if they can use pictures and the story in their marketing materials.

If you can arrange that, it would sharply cut your insurer's payout as well and hopefully reduce any premium increase.

[Charles L. Cotton]

I'm very glad to hear that the safe did its job in delaying the thieves long enough that they couldn't stay long enough to make penetration.

I'd suggest contacting the safe manufacturer. Some of them will replace a safe that was unsuccessfully attacked for free if they can use pictures and the story in their marketing materials.

If you can arrange that, it would sharply cut your insurer's payout as well and hopefully reduce any premium increase.

This is an excellent suggestion.

Chas.

[LDB415]

A jewelry store next door to a BBQ place I like was posted 30.06 and 30.07. I gave them one of the business cards that basically says you are driving money away. They recently pulled the 30.06 and only post .07 now. It's the only sensible thing to do for a business. It's good this story didn't have a worse ending.

[OneGun]

Time to bump this thread from earlier this year.

We were awoken to a call this morning around 6:00 am from the alarm company. The motion sensor in my wife’s store had triggered, and the police were on the way.

I dressed, armed, and left for the store. I got there in time to meet HPD. We entered together, and I turned off the wailing alarm to the smell of freshly cut metal.

Three holes through the roof / one through the back wall/ and several large cut marks on the side of her safe were all we found. Nothing stolen: not the flat screens, nor the PC, nor any of the (only silver) product in the display cases. The safe holds the high dollar stuff, and it earned its hefty price tag many times over last night - they had several cuts through the side, but never penetrated the composite filler to reach the inner wall.

We have contractors in the store today erecting temporary fixes, and they will be doing the proper repairs during the week. Looks like I’m sleeping in the afternoons, and spending the nights in the store this week until we get all the repairs completed and a new safe installed.

Not the best way to celebrate the Christmas shopping season at a little jewelry shop, but things could have been a lot worse. Overall, we are blessed that it is only repair work needed, and that we didn’t lose our inventory only two weeks out from Christmas.

Any Houston forum members want to have an impromptu meetup - come on into the Heights and visit overnight! But do be sure to PM me (and receive a response) first - I’d hate to engage in any unnecessary target practice

Your story brings back bad memories for me. Growing up, my dad was a pharmacist that owned the corner drugstore. This is before the CVS' Walgreens" and RiteAids put the little guys out of business. Every time the alarm went off in the middle of the night, my dad would wake me up and we'd go to the store. Most of the time, the thieves would break a window and try to pry open the narcotics closet. Many a night was spent waiting for the service to board up the windows.

I'm glad that you and wife are alright. That is what counts the most!!

[SewTexas]

I'm glad y'all are safe and I'm glad your product is safe. Hopefully they can catch the bad guys.

[Vol Texan]

Glad you were not hurt worse. I dunno how these things work, but hope it doesn't impact your business insurance premiums too badly. I imagine for a jewelry store insurance is not one of the cheaper items.

What brand/model safe was it? Was it TL-15 or TL-30 rated?

best wishes.

This was a TL-30 x 6 rated safe from the Original Safe Company. All six sides of this safe are hardened, as opposed to just the front like you'd find in a typical RSC (Residential Security Container) safe at Academy.

I was out shopping for a new one today, and I'm going to buy exactly the same thing. I asked the folks at Houston Safe and Lock (where we bought the first one, and where we'll buy the next one) if I could put the two safes side-by-side and bolt them together such that all the cut marks are sandwiched between the two safes.

He said that he didn't recommend that - just put them side by side and forget the bolts. Each safe is over 4000 pounds, so they don't even need to bolt them to the floor - but if he did try to bolt them together, he'd probably ruin several diamond bits just getting one bolt between the two of them. The weight alone is enough to keep them together, and to keep the scarred area of the first safe completely secure.

His recommendation to fix the original safe: Bondo. Upon inspecting the safe, he said that only the outer plate was touched, the composite material between the plates didn't give, and the inner plates never even knew it was under attack. The only thing this safe needs is cosmetic touchups.

[Vol Texan]

I'm very glad to hear that the safe did its job in delaying the thieves long enough that they couldn't stay long enough to make penetration.

I'd suggest contacting the safe manufacturer. Some of them will replace a safe that was unsuccessfully attacked for free if they can use pictures and the story in their marketing materials.

If you can arrange that, it would sharply cut your insurer's payout as well and hopefully reduce any premium increase.

Very good idea - and we started down that path today.

I'd already contacted my safe retailer to figure out some options, but I reached out to the manufacturer today based on your suggestion. They were slow to respond, but I expect I'll hear from the supervisor there tomorrow.