Prudent or Paranoid?

[B yond]

If you already have the guns, why not keep them ready?

You may feel it's unnecessary, and hopefully it is, but what if it ever becomes immediately necessary and you weren't prepared as well as you could have been.

Better safe than sorry (says the guy with 3 fire extinguishers in the house, one in each car, smoke detectors in each room, and a plan for almost everything).

 

[doc2rn]

If its not on my person its not secured, my daughter is 9 yo (it flies by), she respects and wont touch a gun without my permission. We go shooting together, much to her grandma's dismay, and she has even claimed one of my rifles as her own. To which, I think it is "great"! When my daughter leaves my house she will do so with her own Rifle, Shotgun, and Pistol.
The one time I needed a gun and didnt have it, she was 2 and a half. CCW was illegal in KS then, and 2 guys started a shootout at the gas pump. All I could do was throw myself between the seats to use my body as a shield. Now CCW is legal, I will never be caught without my gun again.
I know its not home related, but you never know when your gonna need it. Keep it on you at all times to ensure the protection of you and those you hold dearest to your heart.

 

[GRIZ22]

Am I fooling myself? Should I stash and have more firearms ready? Are the multi-gun folks being prudent, or are they paranoid?
__________________


Whatever floats your boat.

 

[Kleanbore]

Posted by lizziedog1: My favorite part of the NRA publications is the part with stories of plain folks properly and legally defending themselves with guns. I don't recall all the details of all the ones that I have read, but I don't remember a home owner having to use more than one gun.

Most of the stories go something like this. A guy or two breaks into someones home. The owner grabs a gun, usually a handgun, fire a shot or two, and the intuders take off. Sometimes they are hit, sometimes they are not. But the homeowner saved his bacon with a gun.

Reflect for just a moment on one simple fact: every story you see is about a successful encounter in which the homeowner was able to get to his gun.

Things do not always turn out that way by any means, and when they do not, you have to look somewhere other than The Armed Citizen to read the accounts, which may or may not be available to the public.

One more time, think about your home layout, about where you and yours are at different times, and how and where one or more violent criminal actors might gain access to your home.

Will you always be able to get to your gun? Will you have to leave someone unprotected when you try?

I have had to arm myself three times in serious encounters over the years; by chance I was in the bedroom with the gun when the red flag went up on two occasions, and one time I had to run for the gun. In my current house, I do not think that having one gun stashed is a good way to manage the risk.

By the way, in one of the incidents the perp, who came in and threatened murder, knew that the house was occupied. The other two should have known. All of these happened in low crime areas. One was in a remote mountain cabin.

I feel safer in my safe suburban neighborhood than I do in the country or in a lonely campground. The number of criminals out there is lower, but so is the number of targets available to them, and the kitchen light or porch light serves as a beacon for anyone in dire need of money or a different car.

 

[The White Tiger]

Sometimes I read of threads here about folks that have several guns at the ready for the unthinkable. They might have an rifle, shotgun, and handgun ready for whatever might come through their doors in the middle of the night. I think some would even have an RPG ready if they could get away with it, Not only do they have all these guns ready, they have enough ammo nearby to arm a small army.

I, on the other hand, have one gun stashed for emergenies. It is not the only gun I own, but the only one I have ready for a HD scenario. I hope I never have to use it.

Am I fooling myself? Should I stash and have more firearms ready? Are the multi-gun folks being prudent, or are they paranoid?

I'm new to this whole game myself, for 21 years I have only ever had a .22 rifle under the bed (and I only have that because my dad bought it for me when I was a kid).

Then Wall Street crashed, our politicians spent more money in a 2 year stretch than all the previous politicians in the history of the U.S. - combined, creating debt that my son's children will have to pay-off, unemployment has hit double digits (and pay no attention to the crap they're telling you about the improving numbers - if they calculated unemployment the same way as they did in 1930's, we'd be well over 10%). Historically, when unemplyment goes above 7% crime begins to climb.

The annual budget is almost entirely consumed by war/defense spending and social/welfare spending.

More people now work in government jobs (whose salary is derived from, and depends on, the taxes of non-government workers) than the combined industries of manufacturing, farming, fishing, forestry, mining and utilities...!

Why is any of this significant to your question? Well, you see, this "debt tsunami" we're piling up - will have to eventually be paid (or at least the things our politicians are putting us in debt for will cost something - they will have to eventually pay for some of the services they are forcing you to use). The people, or governments, we borrow the money from will want at least to be paid for the interest on their "loans" to us...

They have created a financial "shock" - whether you think that it was to "save" our economy, or "rescue" un-insured American's (or even illegal aliens)...the money they've spent in just two years - is shocking. Most of us can't comprehend it. That shock is like a financial earthquake - which has triggered a soon approaching, wave of debt, that will hit us when we least expect it, and subsequently when we can least afford it.

There is a term for sudden, unexpected tragedies that have long-term, unforseen impact; we call them "Black Swans". You see, Black Swans are very rare in nature...

Add the debt tsunami to the Indonesian earthquake/tsunami (which lifted the floor of the Indian Ocean by some 20 feet, for a few hundred miles, and killed an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 people) a few years ago, to the Japanese earthquake/tsunami (that ripped a 50 mile wide gap under the ocean, over about a 100 miles, causing 10's of thousands of deaths, and a nuclear meltdown on the scale fo 3 Chernobyl's)...factor-in whatever degree of responsibility you think belongs to the government for Katrina response, Haitian earthquake response, Chilean earthquake response, and the response to the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico and...

add in the fact that our armed forces are fighting wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and now Libya (on top of large, ongoing deployments to Germany, North Korea, and Japan)...

...it begins to feel like a flock of "Black Swans" - my meaning is, they aren't so rare anymore. Now, "weired" is the new normal.

So, now my house has a shotgun, two 9mm pistols, and one Sig .45. To paraphrase one of the bloggers I follow; I'm also taking the advice of financial advisors; I'm investing in food manufacturers, clothing makers, ammunition makers, and gun manufacturers. The difference between what they recommend and what I'm doing is this: I'm accumulating the hard assets...I'm stocking food (first for each member of my immediate family, then for those I think may be caught unaware), I'm buying UV clothing (I live in the south), jeans, underwear, socks, and jackets. I'm also bringing in ammunition in bulk - in home defense rounds.

...I'm half-way to my goals, and once I get those initial areas covered, I'm going to invest in acquiring hard assets in alternative energy, precious metals, and maybe some farmland in the mid-west.

Your gut us right lizziedog1, you need to educate yourself and then follow your intuition. There is a reason you're asking the question...

 

[DAP90]

To each his own, but "Brazen" is just what home invaders are.

Home invasion is a brazen crime but my own thoughts on this were that typically, home invaders are going to hit the low hanging fruit. They’re going to hit a detached house, at night, reasonable isolated from its neighbors, where they can get in unseen and making a little noise won’t set off alarms.

I compared that to my own home; attached neighbors on two sides, good lighting in multiple locations, the nearest parking lot 50 yards away, across the street from the country club with its million dollar homes and police presence.

I’m playing the odds a bit but my risk is reasonably low. I do keep a gun ready to go in a handgun safe regardless. Would I benefit from buying another safe and putting that in another location in the house? Arguable, yes, I would. I will consider it.

As to carrying around the house; the benefits of a constant state of readiness did not outweigh my concerns given my level of risk.

If I get hit by a fringe example of psychopathic home invaders in body armor who don’t mind daylight hours I will likely lose. That said I don’t bother playing the lottery either.

 

[B yond]

I added a second quick access safe to the first floor of my home and stocked it with my old hi-point 9mm (laugh if you want, they're dirt cheap and mine has been 100% reliable with thousands of rounds through it). total investment there is under $250.

 

[lizziedog1]

Shortly after I moved here, I got a low level helicopter ride. We flew into the back country. Every once in awhile I would spot a home in the middle of nowhere. I coudn't even see any access to those homes. The people living there would have to be pretty much, one hundred precent, self-sufficient. Even electricity would have to be self-generated.

These homes would be almost impossible to locate from gound level. I have wondered what kind of person lives in these places. I wonder if they are like Reba and Michael Gross in Tremors.

Some of the responses here do sound paranoind. I am sorry, but that is my opnion. I am doubly sorry if I am wrong.

If someone is really so paranoid that they need to arm themselves to the hilt, wouldn't it make more sense to relocate to the middle of the Nevada desert? Or if heat and dryness is not their thing, the Alaskan outback? No amount of guns or ammo would make you safer then these folks living in virtual isolation.

I used to live in a large California metropolitan area. Even armed, I did not feel safe. I now live in a small desert community, I feel safe even unarmed. In fact, the only reason I even carry a weapon around here is for protection against feral dogs.

For me, life is too short to worry about things that may or may not happen.

 

[btg3]

...simply not taking the CCW off when at home may be the better answer.

I do not have a dog (aka: early warning system) and often read about how fast an assault occurs which makes it seem logical to be prepared NOW. Not prepared to go get a gun somewhere in the house, but to have a gun... right now.

 

[Kleanbore]

Posted by lizziedog1: No amount of guns or ammo would make you safer then these folks living in virtual isolation.

I think you continue to misunderstand the point of why some people have more than one gun. After all, you only need one. But the question is, can you get to it if you need to in an emergency?

Have you analyzed your situation and made that determination?

I had presumed for decades that I would be able to, but upon just a little reflection, that turned out to be a most unrealistic assumption.

I feel safe even unarmed.

Wonderful. So do most of my neighbors. However, that's a subjective feeling. In your case, if a desperate fugitive should happen to end up in view of your lights or mailbox, you will constitute his only available target. At that point, you will not be very safe at all, regardless of how you may feel.

 

[lizziedog1]

In your case, if a desperate fugitive should happen to end up in view of your lights or mailbox, you will constitute his only available target.

I do keep a gun on me most of the time. There is nothing wrong with that in my opinion. I recently got my CCW so that I can carry a gun away from my home. Before I got my CCW, I open-carried.

If on the other hand I felt the need to tuck a loaded gun into every corner of my house, then I would move into the Nevada outback. I would not want to live that worried.

 

[buck460XVR]

In your case, if a desperate fugitive should happen to end up in view of your lights or mailbox, you will constitute his only available target. At that point, you will not be very safe at all, regardless of how you may feel.

If and should are the two key words there, and the probability of it happening and the risk it COULD involve, needs to be compared to the probability of it not happening within each individual's situation/lifestyle. One's comfort level of preparedness also varies. As in ANY situation, some will be under-prepared and some will die of old age and their widow's new boyfriend will get all his toys.

I have a good friend that is a captain in the local PD. He is also the armorer of the department. We talk quite a bit about SD/HD and firearms. I brought this very topic up Thursday night during a conversation. He replied that in our town of 11,000 there has never been a home invasion(by a complete stranger) that led to the death of a homeowner in the 30 years he has been a LEO. That does not mean I'll unload my HD guns and put them in the safe, but it does tell me my chance of it happening, to me personally, is low. He also told me that studies show, you are more likely to be killed in your home by your own gun, either by accident or someone you know, than by a home invasion by a complete stranger. This also does not mean that my HD guns will be unloaded and put in the safe to protect me from a more imminent danger. It just tells me I need to be prudent and use good judgement. Just because one has lots of guns, does not make them more prepared than the man with one. There's a lot more to it than that.

 

[DAP90]

Some of the responses here do sound paranoind. I am sorry, but that is my opnion.

There's nothing wrong the responses. I certainly wouldn't call them paranoid. At worst, some of the things people do may be unnecessary; but they’re not hurting anybody or putting anyone at risk (I hope) and they are more prepared for certain types of events than I am.

 

[Losov]

I, on the other hand, have one gun stashed for emergenies. . . . . . the only one I have ready for a HD scenario.

If the weapon is stashed, it is not ready for HD.

 

[DAP90]

Things aren't that black and white. He may not be as ready as someone who carries 24/7, but that does not mean he is not ready for the level of threat he perceives as likely.

He is more ready than someone with no loaded weapons or no weapons at all.

 

[IMTHDUKE]

Whatever cranks your tractor. I only prepare for my preceived threats and not for other peoples that will be different depending on where they live, bad neighborhood, access to house as far as alarms, etc.

I could deal with most threats that are the average home invasion type, but if an army of storm troopers with full auto weapons lay seige to the place. It would be over run with a good fight put up by me. That would be the very low percentage possibility.

You could prepare for a predator drone attack....and if that makes you feel more secure....that's fine with me.

There is somewhere on that line you reach the level of diminishing returns...that level is determined by you. If you feel safe and sufficient with a 45 by the bedside....go for it.

 

[Claude Clay]

sometimes i forget to take em off when i get home, but that is not my methodology for home SD. i am in a split level and a number of BHP's are 1 step from being operational and located where i can retreat to should someone(s) move against me. thus i am moving away from danger and towards a position of strength--and a phone (unless the wires are cut; than its a crap shoot whether or not i have my cell on me).
the layout of your home constrains your SD plan; so to if you have juveniles in ( or that may be in) your dwelling.

 

[The White Tiger]

I do keep a gun on me most of the time. There is nothing wrong with that in my opinion. I recently got my CCW so that I can carry a gun away from my home. Before I got my CCW, I open-carried.

If on the other hand I felt the need to tuck a loaded gun into every corner of my house, then I would move into the Nevada outback. I would not want to live that worried.

You can judge my preparedness as paranoia if you want, that gives me license to judge your refusal to deal with reality as Pollyana...

If you look at it in terms of gambling, I'll see your "Pollyana" and raise...a hedge.

If the worst never happens, and the "new normal" is 8.5 mega-quakes that spawn once-in-every-1500-years...every 4 years...and you're ok with folks you don't know, enslaving your grandchildren to pay-off what they think you need...and you actually believe the way you pay off your Visa card is to apply for a Mastercard with a bigger credit line...that the largest freeze dried food company in the world, can't keep up with the orders for "food storage"...does NOT mean people around the world feel that oil and food will be hard to come by...that having more people work in government jobs than those of 6 combined private sector industries...that high unemployment WON'T have any effect on crime...then you probably won't care if a silly, goofy, sad, pathetic "prepper" clings to his God and his guns (and his years supply of food & ammunition)....?

but if the worst DOES happen...why is it folks like you always come looking for folks like me...in order to TAKE what I've earned and set aside...and GIVE it to folks like you who live in LALA land (mostly on the left coast)?

I'm ok with you laughing at me if it doesn't happen...ONLY if you'll be ok with me laughing at you if it does...

OK?

See, I can always eat (and shoot) my hedges.

Can you?

 

[Stevie-Ray]

I have had to arm myself three times in serious encounters over the years; by chance I was in the bedroom with the gun when the red flag went up on two occasions, and one time I had to run for the gun. In my current house, I do not think that having one gun stashed is a good way to manage the risk.

I carry pretty much all the time no matter which house I'm in. In the present house, it's because the threat is greater. The house is quite small, and I'd probably be able to get to a weapon in time, but the crime rate is high enough that I don't want to take that chance. At the new house, the crime rate is virtually nil, but the house is so sprawling that I would literally have to run for a weapon if the unheard of happened, so instead of taking that chance, I still carry all the time.

 

[Onward Allusion]

The White Tiger

Quote: Originally Posted by lizziedog1
Sometimes I read of threads here about folks that have several guns at the ready for the unthinkable. They might have an rifle, shotgun, and handgun ready for whatever might come through their doors in the middle of the night. I think some would even have an RPG ready if they could get away with it, Not only do they have all these guns ready, they have enough ammo nearby to arm a small army.

I, on the other hand, have one gun stashed for emergenies. It is not the only gun I own, but the only one I have ready for a HD scenario. I hope I never have to use it.

Am I fooling myself? Should I stash and have more firearms ready? Are the multi-gun folks being prudent, or are they paranoid?

I'm new to this whole game myself, for 21 years I have only ever had a .22 rifle under the bed (and I only have that because my dad bought it for me when I was a kid).

Then Wall Street crashed, our politicians spent more money in a 2 year stretch than all the previous politicians in the history of the U.S. - combined, creating debt that my son's children will have to pay-off, unemployment has hit double digits (and pay no attention to the crap they're telling you about the improving numbers - if they calculated unemployment the same way as they did in 1930's, we'd be well over 10%). Historically, when unemplyment goes above 7% crime begins to climb. <SNIP>

I think you get it. Although this is definitely not a SHTF type forum, there is much truth in what you wrote.

 

[Onward Allusion]

lizziedog1


Quote:
In your case, if a desperate fugitive should happen to end up in view of your lights or mailbox, you will constitute his only available target.
I do keep a gun on me most of the time. There is nothing wrong with that in my opinion. I recently got my CCW so that I can carry a gun away from my home. Before I got my CCW, I open-carried.

If on the other hand I felt the need to tuck a loaded gun into every corner of my house, then I would move into the Nevada outback. I would not want to live that worried.

Wait a minute... You have a gun on you most of the time yet you think others who stash guns around the house for quick/easy access are paranoid???

Seriously, to each their own...

I carry at home AND have guns stashed throughout the house. I guess I should be locked up in the looney bin!

 

[danprkr]

Plan for the worst, hope for the best. That's my motto.

 

[lizziedog1]

How do some guys mow their lawns? They are vulnerable to attack, espically because of the noise of the machine and the concentration required not slice a toe off. It is a distraction. Does a spouse keep them covered?

How about showers, espically when washing their hair? For those few moments someone could enter their home and blind side them. The shampoo can even blind them, giving the intruder an added upper hand. Do they have a dog standing by the bathroom door to give them advanced warning?

What if they and thier significant other are in a romantic mood? As a guy, during certain activities, I would be unaware of a meteor crashing into my neighbors house. Do they reposition thier guns so as the to interfere with the fun?

If someone lives in a situation that requires multiple guns to stashed everywhere, how does that person do everyday things? I know I am coming across as a smart alec. But I can't imagine living in such state of fear that my very existence depends on guns.

 

[Ole Coot]

I don't live in a "state of fear" but I do keep a 12ga with around 7 OObuck downstairs, easily reached. A 30-30 upstairs by the door and don't remove my carry weapon as I don't have children, close neighbors and have alarms, motion detectors, dog plus. I have a few hundred acres at my back on a dead end road and a little beagle that would make a snack for the coyotes and now ferrell dogs. The meth problem plus home invasions and my age may make you think I am paranoid but in the '60s I kinda got into the habit of sleeping with my rifle, and we were encouraged to do so. I am very confident of my ability with several weapons or none yet I chose to cover all bases if possible.

 

[The White Tiger]

How do some guys mow their lawns? They are vulnerable to attack, espically because of the noise of the machine and the concentration required not slice a toe off. It is a distraction. Does a spouse keep them covered?

How about showers, espically when washing their hair? For those few moments someone could enter their home and blind side them. The shampoo can even blind them, giving the intruder an added upper hand. Do they have a dog standing by the bathroom door to give them advanced warning?

What if they and thier significant other are in a romantic mood? As a guy, during certain activities, I would be unaware of a meteor crashing into my neighbors house. Do they reposition thier guns so as the to interfere with the fun?

If someone lives in a situation that requires multiple guns to stashed everywhere, how does that person do everyday things? I know I am coming across as a smart alec. But I can't imagine living in such state of fear that my very existence depends on guns.

I think you are not so different from those you're trying to mock...no one who trusts their world and their environment...carries a gun secreted on their person, most of the day...

Perhaps you are where many of us were just a few short months ago, it's one of the stages of grief for what we instinctively know was the dying of the light...in the last candle on earth.

Your stage is denial.

Your actions denote that you know this to be true - you just can't bring yourself to believe it...yet.

I am sorry for seemingly highjacking the thread - but the question asked by the OP, was why are so many buying multiple guns...and whether these folks were prudent, or paranoid....

I found that an interesting question and answered from my own recent motivations. I would say I came to my current position similar to the way Hank Reardon came to understand the concept of a "producer's strike" in Atlas Shrugged.

I don't expect everyone to agree, I actually resisted for a very long time myself, but so much has happened that I'm forced to conclude that either some very smart men suddenly became incompetent, or this was done purposely (with or without their compliance) - my own answers to either of those questions, did not comfort me.

I just think it coallesced as I developed my response...