So, have you ever had to use/display your weapon?

[John]

One thing you may of not considered, stupid (i feel silly saying that), is that many of the two story homes in the burbs have the master bedroom downstairs and the remaining bedrooms upstairs. Seems to be the "in" thing in home building and has been for many years. One of my concerns, at night, is someone heading upstairs while i'm comfy in my downstairs bedroom. While I am going to investigate, the wife stays with the phone. And I am not going to call 911 for every bump in the night either.

[Stupid]

John, I considered that. Again, not that stupid yet.

I am writing these with a good intention. If you feel being offended, please don't.

In fact, dogs are the best home defense weapon, often better than guns. The protective film is great too. A hard throwing rock cannot even break the window. It's also put inside, not outside, so knife wouldn't help. Cameras are great. Combine them with motion sensors, you are in very good shape. have better doors and locks!!!

The "go investigate" mentality is prisicely why many wives weep over their husbands' dead bodies while waiting for police to catch some scambag car thief.

The whole point of "defense" or should I say "survival" is to try our best to avoid the dangerous confrontation, not purposely walk into it. Is your life worth the same as some crack head? Is putting your life on the line worth saving the SUV you have?

In my stupid mind, my life and my love ones' lives are worth so much more. Stuff i can replace. Well, I could replace my wife, only if I can get quite a few milions which I clearly don't have.

All I hope is that some of you will think for a sec before putting yourself into a dangerous situation. Walk away if you can, and turn on your cameras rather than going into your garage with commdo gear.

Since it's your life, it is your choice too.

[John]

John, I considered that. Again, not that stupid yet.

I am writing these with a good intention. If you feel being offended, please don't.

In fact, dogs are the best home defense weapon

I have dogs, two in fact. And I am not offended. I think each person has his own circumstances and generalizing that no one should take the offensive to defend their house and home is, well, generalizing. You know none of us and you are telling many of us that we are your namesake. We're not stupid either.

[KD5NRH]

You always wait in darkness till bad guys come to you, my friend. I am not stupid enough to search for unknown enemies in hiding. No sane military commander or police officer would do this.

So how did they find Saddam? Let's see, could it be military commanders sending their troops into unknown areas in search of unknown enemies? What about that guy down in Florida they wasted 100+ rounds on? I don't recall them waiting in ambush for him.

On the other hand, if you forsee that much trouble (guns involved, 911 called), why do you go there alone with no backup???

I don't carry a gun, either my CHL carry weapon or the 12ga I use when checking out problems in the yard, because I expect to need to shoot somebody any more than I wear a seatbelt because I expect to wreck the car. Both are there for the unexpected.

My backup is in the dark bedroom with a .243, a couple of 10rd mags, cell phone, and a spotlight waiting for any indication that things aren't going right. Depending on the indicator, she will make her own decisions as to whether to come help, hunker down and shoot anything that enters, or clear the chamber, roll over and go back to sleep.

In the past six months or so, I've cleared the yard a couple of dozen times with a grand total of two shots fired, and both of those in one incident. (no clean shot available in the others that would have justified a shot) Three times were skunks, which just love chicken eggs, two were stray dogs after either the chickens or the trash cans, and the rest were either our cats getting into trouble or the landlord getting something from his barn just behind our house. How much credibility do you think you'd have with the local law enforcement if you called them at least once a week to come out and check on a noise, even if roughly a fifth of the time it was a legitimate, damaging, incident? (hint; the sheriff here expects us to shoot marauding animals for ourselves)

[kauboy]

All I hope is that some of you will think for a sec before putting yourself into a dangerous situation.

If someone is in my house, I'm already in a dangerous situation. And I'm going to end it as soon as I can. If that means that they high-tail it out, then so be it. But I will not sit in the corner and be the victim to someone who believes they can come into my home uninvited.



(sorry Stevie, couldn't help it)

[Venus Pax]

I love my dog, but he isn't exactly the picture of brute, bravery, and wisdom.
He's essentially a woos; I often find myself pulling a cat off of him while he presses himself against a wall with his eyes closed, wimpering.

He also doesn't pass enough mirrors, as he frequently talks trash with the neighbors' large redneck dogs that could eat him in one bite. (He's a miniature schnauzer.)

He's easily bribed. He has a weakness for milkbones, although any food is welcome.

He also likes all humans, and isn't necessarily the best judge of character. I could see this individual greeting the thug at the door, licking him to death.
We do investigate when he barks, but it has always been the neighbors' dogs that have had the audacity to enter Baxter's territory. Quite frankly, I trust my neighbors' dogs to alert me to intruders more than him.

[casselthief]

Well, I could replace my wife, only if I can get quite a few milions which I clearly don't have.

All I hope is that some of you will think for a sec

and, that's the point of this forum, to get us all thinking.

you know, I heard something last night. it was an unusual sound, and therefore woke me from my slumber.
I instantly thought of ya'll. chuckling to myself, I did a dive roll into the living room while sweeping the room for Tangos.
okay, really I just looked around the living room (in the dark, with my el Naturale night vision) and saw the Cat pushing her food dish.
man, it's a really good thing I went and investigated, cause, if those cats'd gone all night without food, well, they may have eaten me in my sleep!
anyway, back to everyone getting offended.....

[Crossfire]

man, it's a really good thing I went and investigated, cause, if those cats'd gone all night without food, well, they may have eaten me in my sleep!

Yep, I'm with you there. Went to a Christmas party last night and stayed out a little too late. (Past 10:00! )

When I walked in the door to 2 hungry cats, I was AFRAID FOR MY LIFE! With all the hissing and spitting and bared teeth, I thought I was a goner. Barely got the lid off the food bucket in time.

But I made it. Lived to party another night.

[txinvestigator]

The "go investigate" mentality is prisicely why many wives weep over their husbands' dead bodies while waiting for police to catch some scambag car thief.

No, its the "please don't hurt me MR. Badguy" mentality that gets people killed. There is NOTHING to back up your assertion that people arming themselves and investigating their homes leads to deaths.

The whole point of "defense" or should I say "survival" is to try our best to avoid the dangerous confrontation, not purposely walk into it. Is your life worth the same as some crack head? Is putting your life on the line worth saving the SUV you have?

If the crackhead is in my house, he WILL be confronted by me. I can tell you who will prevail in such an encounter, and it ain't crackhead. Or should I leave my daughter unprotected in her room, maybe let crack head abduct, molest and kill her?


I will add to the comments already made about searching and clearing. As a trained police officer I cleared homes and buildings many times. I even caught a burglar who was hiding in a closet because we were on scene quickly. I shudder to think what might have happened to the family cowering in the bedroom had it been a usually busy night when they reported a "strange noise, possible prowler" call.

And as far as your books, well I have actually BTDT, and I continue to actually TRAIN to this day, rather than read books and decide how to act.

You are entitled to your opinions, but as a person with experience I can tell you that many of them are misinformed.

No offense.

[TxFire]

The "go investigate" mentality is prisicely why many wives weep over their husbands' dead bodies while waiting for police to catch some scambag car thief.

The whole point of "defense" or should I say "survival" is to try our best to avoid the dangerous confrontation, not purposely walk into it. Is your life worth the same as some crack head? Is putting your life on the line worth saving the SUV you have?

I believe you are misinterpreting "Go investigate" with "go and confront". I will go and investigate a noise of other suspicious activity around my house. I may or may NOT confront the situation. If they want my truck, I'll likely let them take it and let the PD and insurance sort out the rest, and I REALLY love my truck. But given the right combination of circumstances I may confront he thieves in an attempt to prevent the theft.

Now if they are IN my house they WILL be confronted and dealt with appropriately.

Don't confuse our investigation of noises with a full commando operation of search and destroy with no possible other actions other than confrontation with shots fired. We are intelligent, thinking adults that can make clear decisions as to the course of our actions or inactions.

[bluelineman]

I believe every situtaion is unique. I also believe that if some people want to investigate & others do not, to each his own. Do whatever you want to in your house, I know what I'm doing in mine.

[Stupid]

When you hear a noise in late night, which one is safer:

A. Grab a gun, go to the noise and investigage
B. Grab a gun, but turn on your camera and monior watching it from your bedroom with door locked.

[hi-power]

When you hear a noise in late night, which one is safer:

A. Grab a gun, go to the noise and investigage
B. Grab a gun, but turn on your camera and monior watching it from your bedroom with door locked.

My answer is "A"...I think that's safer for ME and MY FAMILY.

I have one camera hooked up to show me the front doorway only. I'd take a look at that first if that's where the noise came from. If not, I'd investigate to find the source of the noise before the noise came looking for me. As has been said earlier, I know my house a heck of a lot better than some random bad guy.

Kind of related: The other night I was grilling some burgers out back and went to check on them. I saw 2 local cops searching the neighbor's back yard with flashlights and hands on their hips ready to draw.

They glanced at me and went right back to their searching. Rather than distract them and interrupt their search to ask who or what they were looking for, I went back inside and grabbed the hi-power, strapped it on and quickly told the wife what was going on and that she should stand by the back door and be ready to slam it and lock it if she saw someone other than me or a cop running towards her.

I searched around the back of my house and by then the cops had apparently finished their search and went to the front of the neighbor's house. I haven't talked to the neighbor yet, (I think the husband is out of town), so I don't know what the problem was, but it looked like they were searching for someone who shouldn't have been there.

So right there, one (probable noise) situation was handled two different ways. The neighbor called the cops to investigate, and I did my own investigation, thinking maybe the cops were looking for a bad guy that might have crept into my yard.

I'd much rather be proactive than not to a noise heard late at night. What if the cops didn't do a thorough enough search? You can bet I thoroughly searched every hiding place in my yard. I have more riding on it than them.

[G.C.Montgomery]

When you hear a noise in late night, which one is safer:

A. Grab a gun, go to the noise and investigage
B. Grab a gun, but turn on your camera and monior watching it from your bedroom with door locked.

I completely understand your logic. I really do. I believe you have a valid point and I might even agree with you depending on the circumstances. But, we are all bringing different mental pictures to this discussion. Here's a partial glimpse at my picture.

I know for a fact that cameras can be and routinely are disabled. Granted that's not likely but it's worth noting that most residential camera installations do not place cameras in bedrooms. I don't have kids but if I did and had no cameras in their rooms, it seems it might be necessary to leave the "safety" of my bedroom to verify there isn't someone standing over my kids with plans to make lamp shades out of their skulls.

I don't consider the interior of my home to be "the unknown." It MIGHT be safer to just sit in my bedroom watching a TV monitor. But in my home, I don't believe that's true. My house is just too small and I'd prefer than any fight happen away from the bedroom with my wife inside. I plan to win that fight but if I don't she is prepared to make a last stand from the bedroom.

[TX Rancher]

I’ve got to admit, this has been a very interesting thread! I kind of like the ones where folks have strong, but opposite opinions…make’s for a rather lively debate .

My situation may be a little different then most of the folks who have answered so far. I have a little ranch operation (little being the operative word) so I don’t live in a town, LEO response would not be very quick.

I would say on average, I go to investigate “noises in the night� 4-5 times a month. The vast majority of the time it’s a raccoon on the roof, a calf separated from its mother, coyotes where they don’t belong, a skunk in the horse barn, etc. In many cases action on my part is required to solve the situation, so sitting in my house is not an option. They are also situations I do not want to bother the LEO’s with.

But there have been cases where it was not a benign situation. Once, it was someone who fancied the tools in my workshop . Another time it was a poacher, equipped with a high power rifle and night vision (that was an interesting night in the woods) .

Another time, it turned out to be feral dogs, and that was a very dangerous situation and proved the value of having a ranch rifle with high capacity magazines, a good flashlight, and a pistol.

Cattle rustling is alive and well in Texas. It’s a very lucrative trade since the stolen goods sell for high dollar, and there are not a lot of safeguards to detect stolen goods at the cattle auctions. When these guys show up on your ranch, in some cases there are a few of them, and their not adverse to carrying weapons.

Most ranch equipment is rather high dollar. My tractor cost ~ $70,000 and the baler was around $20,000 for the round and $17,000 for the square. Rakes cost several thousand…even a cheap post hole digger will cost $600 - $1100 new. All of this stuff is easily sold on the open market. In many cases, the same key works in a given manufacturers tractors, making theft rather easy.

I can’t put cameras everywhere on the property, it’s just not a feasible solution for my situation. Buying insurance makes a lot more sense to me. But that’s a different story…

The bottom-line for me is if I knew there were bad folks out there with weapons, intent on doing me harm if I show up, then I wouldn’t go. But that’s not been the case the vast majority of the time, only once have I run into someone armed with a firearm. When there have been folks out there with theft on their mind, and not armed with a gun, the situation was actually deescalated by me being armed, and leaving no doubt I would use my weapon if required. It’s amazing how looking at someone over the sights of a 45 can often change their demeanor.