Crime Sucks

[wilkinsi]

Rsrimmer is hoping again. Only person getting any bumming here is him. Twunt.

[levantin]

That really sucks. Glad to hear that you and yours are ok.

[ABSOLUT CHARVEL]

ah man that sucks.... , but so glad to hear the family is OK

[Bengal]

Thanks for the kind thoughts.

I wasn't going to post this at all. I thought about it for a day or so before I did.

But I figured if this wasn't "post worthy", nothing that happens to me is.

[Joe_Steeler]

My house doesn NOT look "inviting". Can you imagine breaking into Satan's house?!

That would be so funny, you sitting on a throne like that pic of yours.... lights dimmed... some candles.... some Mercyful Fate music on the Background... and that fucker walks in.

Billz: "Welcome, glad you could make it". "Let the ceremony begin". Break a insanely loud, sack shaking and brain rattling riff through the Uber and watch him piss his pants.

A Mastercard pricelss moment.

[destructin_od]

That would be so funny, you sitting on a throne like that pic of yours.... lights dimmed... some candles.... some Mercyful Fate music on the Background... and that fucker walks in.

Billz: "Welcome, glad you could make it". "Let the ceremony begin". Break a insanely loud, sack shaking and brain rattling riff through the Uber and watch him piss his pants.

A Mastercard pricelss moment.

Ladder = 12 $
Flashlight = 3 $
Pissing your pants because of a face melting riff played by the very satan himself = priceless

[Vass]

Bengal-

Sounds like a Remington Model 1912. Trench gun (not to be confused with the Thompson Sub, the Trench Broom).

Don't use it unless you take it to a gunsmith. Also, the sears on those didn't have disconnects and you can basically hold down the trigger and it will go off every time you pump rather than pump-trigger-pump-trigger. Just PUMP PUMP PUMP PUMP in an awful hurry. But it can be dangerous even for someone who is used to modern pumps who don't expect the gun to keep going if the trigger is depressed while brought into battery.

Go get a nice Mossberg 500, with synthetic stock & parkerized finish. Never rust, barrel can be swapped out for skeet shooting or whatever, very easy to use, extremely reliable & reasonably priced. Very hard for little kids to "work" it and get into trouble, not that they should be able to reach it anyway. I live with just my fiancee. It's under the bed, with rounds in the tube but an empty chamber.

She wasn't into it for a while, but after hearing a few noises outside and realizing the difference between hearing them living alone without a gun and then living with me with the gun, emotionally, was huge. Once you have one & know what to do with it, you spend more time thinking "Gee I hope the dumb son of a bitch runs when he hears that CLACK-CLACK and I don't have to use it" rather than "Gee, is he going to rape the wife/kill me/hurt the kids?"

Better to have and never need. Lots of people don't like driving stick either, but they learn to do it, just in case it comes up. IF you get one, you are obligated to learn to use it safely.

ANYWAY!

Sounds like a friggin crackhead going after easy targets. Saw an open window & a ladder, thought, sure, let's check it out. Did so, got away with it.

I am petrified and fascinated by the mindset that allows someone to break into someone's house. They must know it is extremely high risk & likely to lead to violence if caught. To me that means they're prepared for violence. I appreciate you're not a gun guy, and believe me, I understand. But you are also now a crime victim. You recognize now what is possible- you got broken in on, not someone else, and you are obviously thinking about what MIGHT have happened, but THANK GOD did not.

I promised myself, especially once I moved in with her, that I would take the precautions I could to protect her and me. I might fail, but I promise you, if it gets ugly I will go out with blood in my teeth and a curse on my lips. That's not tough guy talk, that's shit scared you better be ready talk. I will never allow some shitbag to take the power of life and death over me & mine without at least trying to do something about it.

As far as that goes- I would pray the guy hightailed it. I don't want to shoot anyone, period. It's a legal hassle, but even worse, knowing that you killed someone, even a shitbag, is a feeling that I do not want to live with if I don't have to. But one thing these window-busters should make peace with is the fact that when they break into someone's home, they have effectively given the power of life and death over to the homeowner. He made his decision, he'll have to live with it (or perhaps not), and you'll have to live with yours, either way.

Anyway- Not a gun rant. I just find that alot of the time folks spend a million bucks on friggin protective gear they'll never need....You'll probably never need this gear either, but better to have it, just in case.

EDITED TO ADD- I MUST REPEAT- PLEASE DO NOT F AROUND WITH THAT SHOTGUN. You MAY blow yourself up, although I doubt you will, especially if you use LOW RECOIL shells- cops use the same kind. No reason to use a hi-brass 12 ga round on someone, total overkill/huge muzzle flash. My major concern is that the SOB is going to go off when you bring it into battery. As I said it will do it with the trigger depressed, BUT IF IT IS SUPER OLD AND WORN IT COULD DO IT ON JUST A PUMP. Believe me. It happened to me once with my Grandpa's 16 gauge. I blew a hole in the shed. I swore I would never screw with an old gun again that hadn't been check out. It could have been way worse.

Also- always remember, if you are going to shoot a shotgun in the house, at night, you WILL be deaf, and you WILL be blind. It is one of the only times when shooting that you SHOULD try to close your eyes right before you pull the trigger.

OK sounding like a loony. Don't fuck with the old gun. That is all.



Vass

[ABSOLUT CHARVEL]

a alarm system is something to think about. with teenage daughters it is a must. not only do i have to worry about someone breaking in, but i have to worry about them sneaking out!

we have a Min Pin who thinks he is a Bad Ass (despite the Tabby Cat thumps his ass) who even gets all worked up when a plane flys over the house. The suggestion of a dog is a good one.

[Joe_Steeler]

As far as that goes- I would pray the guy hightailed it. I don't want to shoot anyone, period. It's a legal hassle, but even worse, knowing that you killed someone, even a shitbag, is a feeling that I do not want to live with if I don't have to.

So true, those are wise words.
I have decided not to do it UNLESS my families lives are in imminent danger. If I am alone and someone breaks in, I may shoot a round or two in the air (ouch!! holes in the roof. So what?) and hopefully scare him or her away.
But if he comes close to my family he will leave in a body bag. I have two friends that are in law enforcement and two of my uncles were in the force. Everyone has told me that it is better to finish the job rather than hurting him and have him try to take revenge on you or your family.

The tought of loosing one of my girls is far more scary than the thought of wasting a crackhead that BROKE into the privacy my house, my sanctuary. It will be a burden to carry, no doubt, but placed into the context of what may happen it is well worth the risk.

[Rsmacker]

. No reason to use a hi-brass 12 ga round on someone, total overkill/huge muzzle flash.

If you manage to get a 12-bore round into a 20-bore shotgun, please please let us know, Mr Blane! :ROTF:

I suppose if it is a pump, best to get it looked at, same with a semi, just to make sure the mechanics move as they should. My comments about them being simple refer to a good old side-by-side.

Now, 'oo sawed the barrels off my gold-plated Purdey?

[Bengal]

Vass,
That is some great advise there. Thanks for taking the time to type that out. I appreciate it.

I'm with you on firing this old gun. It's more of a antique now and not really a functional firearm. That's how I look at it anyway. I would take it to a gunsmith before firing it, if that was my intent.

I'm still debating getting one though. I've never been a gun guy but I am a crime victim now. (Sounds wierd saying that) But I'm not a handgun guy, I think I would go the shotgun route. Fairly accurate at close range. Big enough to be scary. And kids can't operate them easy, like you said Vass. I never thought of that before but you are correct. Neither of my kids would be able to use one.

But if I did get one, I would let the kids know and I'd take a gun safety class and all that good stuff. I'm a firm believer that if the kid doesn't know there is a gun in the house, and he/she finds it, it's irresistable to him/her. If they know it's there, it loses some luster. So I'm all about full disclosure if I do get one.

Thanks for the advise and info Vass. I may have to look into that shotgun you mentioned.

[Vass]

Let me know if you have any questions re: what to look for/better models. One of the other things about shotguns is if someone breaks in and you're not home, it's tough to stick a shotgun in your pants and hit the streets.

Agreed with taking the mystery out of it with kids-great idea. Take em to shoot it, they'll get bored & it won't be an issue.

Vass

[m2pmd70]

A gun-nut friend of mine convinced me a shotgun is much better for home protection than a hand gun. He pointed out that a projectile from a handgun is likely to travel through walls and strike unintended targets, not to mention they require aiming.

With a shotgun if the 'CHK-CHK' of the homeowner operating the pump and loading the first shell into the chamber doesn't have the intruder headed out the nearest exit then he deserves the first shell (or two) of #6 birdshot. If he is so high or psychotic that he's still coming after having all those little pellets lodged in him then he gets the #1 buckshot.

If he's still coming after that you're obviously in a zombie or vampire movie and only removing the head or a stake through the heart will save you.

[Vass]

I'd go buckshot- the reason is if you have reason to pull the trigger it has to be a matter of life & death- if it's not, you shouldn't be shooting, and if it is, only putting the intruder down is enough. Nobody shoots to kill. You shoot to stop. Unfortunately, to stop a human you have to inflict serious damage that is extremely dangerous and very possibly fatal.

There is no such thing as "shoot to wound" and I go crazy when I hear someone say, "Couldn't the cop shoot him in the leg?" If you shoot someone ANYWHERE with any size round you can very much kill them. A tiny .22 to the leg could easily cut the brachial artery, and that would be that. If you are shooting to wound, the situation must not be that dire if you have the option, so you shouldn't be shooting at all.

Same goes for shooting in the air or whatever. You're going to kill someone upstairs, or next door, or yourself, if you hit something hard & get a ricochet.

There are things called Glaser Safety Slugs if you're worried about overpenetration & using a pistol. Hit flesh & bone hard but splatter after a few pieces of sheetrock. Overpenetration is always a concern. One of the first things you learn in firearm safety classes is to ask, "What's behind my target? And behind that? And behind that?" You don't have the luxury of picking a proper backstop in a break-in situation, but it helps you get your head right regarding putting steel on target rather than just spraying bullets all over hoping to scare someone off.

Birdshot at close range would turn someone into hamburger. It might not put them down (although I am guessing it would) but they probably would bleed to death. Those little pellets just need to nick one artery real good. That's no good- You are trying to stop, not kill. Birdshot is more likely to kill but not stop. A guy bleeding to death can hurt you. You want him down, out, unable to function.

Saw a cop on a silly show once talking about non lethal weapons, and he said the holy grail is basically a Star Trek phaser. Set phaser on stun, put the guy down, 100% of the time, call the cops to put his out cold ass in a box & ship him off to jail. He was right. That would be perfect, and a great thing for law enforcement & society. Sadly, our method of stoping a human today is the same as it was 10,000 years ago- Break their body so badly they can't function, no matter how hopped up or determined they are.

Hope you don't consider me a "gun nut", m2. Just a guy that knows things about firearms

Vass

[SEEGERMANY]

Several years ago, I was checking the pattern on my 12 guage prior to squirrel season. For shits and giggles, I wanted to see just what No.6 shot would do to a pine sappling that was approximately 3 inches in diameter. Using my Remmington 1100 with a 28" barrel/modifed choke, I backed away from the tree approximately 12 feet and pulled the trigger. It blew a perfect hole about the size of a handball in the tree. The tree swayed once, twice, then bit the dust. That convinced me that I didn't need a handgun for home protection.

Yes, the blast will be loud and the flash will be blinding. GOOD! I want to make the fucker think he's been attacked by a pissed off demon from Hell! If by chance I splatter his guts or brain matter on one of my guitars, we may have a new pattern for a custom shop run!