But honey, we live in a nice neighborhood, we don't need guns.

[Moparmike]

She asked the woman if she knew how to shoot.

"We don't believe in guns - that's what the police are for!"

You should have lauged hysterically and said "Good one. So, you do know how to shoot."

We havent had a crime in my neighborhood in 15 years (unless you count twits who dont know how to drive on 1/2" of snow...), and that was my dad's stereo. I keep a 12ga cruiser-ready and 00buck and slugs on the buttcuff.

 

[ctdonath]

"don't believe in guns."

I'm increasingly of the opinion that many people in fact literally do not believe in guns (or other weapons) - such items are simply a social mythos perpetrated in video and print media. Oh sure, they have "facts" and "opinions" about them - much like UFOs and Bigfoot - but they do not fundamentally believe they exist. As such, when faced with the real thing they suffer cognitive dissonance, and respond by wishing the offending item back into the realm of mythos, either actively ("ban them!"), passively ("it's just a toy, ignore it") or freeze up completely ("don't move, maybe it won't see me").

 

[JohnKSa]

Surprising someone in my apartment is my biggest fear.

That's the main reason we have an alarm.

Push the front door open a crack and listen for the continuous beep that tells you the alarm is still working but hasn't been set off while you were gone.

If you hear the beep go in and turn off the alarm. If you don't, run for the car and call the cops.

 

[MaterDei]

Then again most of the people in my neighborhood are the salt of the earth, hard working, all around good people type with lots of common sense.

This means a lot coming from a guy named 'cracked butt'.

 

[BluesBear]

The correct title of this thread should be;

But honey, we live in a nice neighborhood, so we need guns to protect us from those who don't.

 

[Splat Shot]

I am fortunate enough to live in a great area of fairly expensive homes. In the last couple of years we have had car jackings where the owner was actually followed home and the thief shot him in the face to get the car.
One woman on a morning walk got sliced up by a guy with a knife (she died) and some idiot got shot dead by the police not 400 yards from my house when he pulled a gun on them when they asked if he needed help.

Believe me, no neighborhood is safe. Take what ever precautions you need to protect your family.

 

[P95Carry]

Believe me, no neighborhood is safe.

True enough Splat Shot .. and that is why I keep repeating this same message - so as people will keep it in mind......

''Expect the unexpected''

''Don't assume''.

I live in what might be seen as a fairly ''ordinary'' area of housing ... no one round here is particularly wealthy!! I actually choose that - although we could have afforded somewhere a bit better. However - I like being more ''unobtrusive'' I guess .. but still am aware of certain ''odd'' things that go on in the area from time - and so nothing can be taken for granted.

Hardly means constant orange!! But certainly our famed ''situational awareness'' is good to remember.

 

[Hardtarget]

This is why I've said..."bad guys have CARS...so they can go where ever they want to do their crimes!" If I had a nickle for every time I've said that I'd go buy...a box of AMMO!
Mark.

 

[Ky Larry]

I live in a nice neighborhood with hardworking, decent people. Last July, someone kicked in my next-door neighbors back door in broad daylight and took his TV's, stereo, digital camera, jewelry, etc. The police tracked the theives to a group of neighborhod teen agers from our nice neighborhood from good families. It seems the nice kids had developed a crack habit and needed the money for their dealer. Crime and violence are everywhere. There are no safe neighborhoods. Be prepared.

 

[papercut]

"We don't believe in guns - that's what the police are for!"

Someone, please help me understand.

When victimized by crime, why is the first considered action by people who "don't belive in guns" to call people with guns to come and save them?

 

[Ant Mod]

an upper-middle class neighborhood with houses valued at $200,000 and higher.

Did everyone know I am upper middle class? I sure as hell didnt.

 

[papercut]

Psst! Hey, everyone! Don't tell Ant Mod, but he's upper middle class! {snicker}

 

[artherd]

The MEDIAN price for homes in the COUNTY just went over $400,000 here (it's insane yes, but a damn neat place to live I have to say. Quiet small town of 50k people or so. Great area to raise kids.)


Some of you may remenber Poly Klass. The young girl who was kidnaped, raped, and murdered in a pre-meditated attack.

I helped search for her when she was still 'missing'.

I live less than a mile from her home.

I went to junior highschool WITH HER and knew her as an aquaintaince.




It will not happen again, not because of any geography, but because *I* will stop it. I wish like hell I could A) have knowledge, training, and use of guns when I was that age and B) had taught Poly the same and gotten her or her mom/dad a Glock or shotgun or AR-15 or three.

 

[MaterDei]

An update (not much)

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/2291723

Reward at $25,000 for tips in shooting
Fund created for Sugar Land victims
By ERIC HANSON
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle

SUGAR LAND -- The reward amount for tips in the shooting of a Sugar Land family has been increased to $25,000 with the establishment of a fund Friday.

The attack Wednesday night left two people dead and two others wounded.

Police are hoping the lure of cash will prompt someone to provide information leading to the man who opened fire on the family members as they entered their home.

The City of Sugar Land put up a $10,000 reward, and friends of the family set up a reward fund containing another $15,000, said Sugar Land police spokeswoman Pat Whitty.

Patricia Whitaker, 51, her husband, Norman Kent Whitaker, 55, and their son Kevin Whitaker, 19, walked into their house in the 1100 block of Heron Way in the Sugar Lakes subdivision and were shot by a masked man.

The couple's eldest son, Bart Whitaker, 23, was retrieving a cell phone from the car and upon hearing the shots ran to the house where he was also shot.

Kevin Whitaker was dead at the scene, and his mother died later at a Houston hospital.

Bart Whitaker was in good condition and his father was in fair condition at Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston on Friday.

Meanwhile, police continue to follow leads, but no arrests have been made, said Sugar Land Police Capt. Scott Schultz.

Sugar Land police questioned a man Thursday who had been arrested for a burglary by Houston police, but Schultz said that man is not in custody for the shootings.

Police still do not have a description of the gunman who fled on foot after the shootings.

Investigators also have not said whether anything was stolen from the two-story brick home.

Those wishing to contribute to the fund can send donations to the Tricia and Kevin Whitaker Reward Fund, Southern National Bank, 14060 Southwest Freeway, Sugar Land, TX 77478.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Fort Bend Crime Stoppers, 281-342-8477, or Sugar Land police, 281-275-2524.

Funeral services are scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday at Sugar Creek Baptist Church.

 

[sasnofear]

"these sort of stories are they reason i have guns" - but thats exactly what they are, stories, for all the millions of ppl in the US the chances of this happening to you are so slim i mean, betting odds slim, even better that betting odds, i think 'Fox' seems to be of the case of the countrys nearly collapsing we need to defend ourselfs! cough!

 

[Intune]

If there was only one chance in five million it remains my duty to protect family and self to the best of my ability from physical harm perpetuated by others upon us. Period. Our welfare is not enhanced by placing head firmly in sand while hoping predators fail to notice buttocks waving in the air. Some embrace the statistical gamble, I don’t.

 

[p35]

I grew up in a neighborhood full of little old ladies with nothing better to do than look out the windows all day. Now THAT was safety- if I left my car lights on my phone was guaranteed to ring within five minutes with Mrs. Palmer telling me to "turn them off, dear." Of course, it limited my activities somewhat in high school, as they were sure to tell my parents if they saw me get up to something I shouldn't have been doing or hanging around during school hours, but in hindsight that wasn't a bad thing. I miss those old ladies now.

 

[thumbtack]

I hope the K9 police catch this person and the dogs eat him.

 

[Phil Ca]

When we moved from the Napa Valley to the Central Valley we finally found a nice neighborhood that costs more in rent than some places. At least there are no thugs running down the streets on a regular basis like in some areas of town. So far the only crime we have observed was a stolen car one night, just a few doors down. If the owner had turned off his engine when he parked at his brothers house, the thief would not have gotton the car.

My wife would like to move to an area where we pay 300 to 400 less per month. My argument is that I do not want to live in an area where I find it necessary to carry a 12 gauge outside with me on trash night. I could and would do that if necessary however.

Even in nice areas there are people that set up meth labs and break all sorts of laws. In another nice area that adjoins ours some folks had a meth lab going until they made a fatal mistake and the house blew of the foundation. This in an area of homes valued at 250 to 300 grand.

BTW, I still believe in protecting myself. I was involved in police work for nearly 30 years and I know that they cannot be everywhere at once. In the small town where I worked reserve duty, we often reccomended that people take some responsibility to protwct themselves.

 

[hansolo]

Artherd/Polly

I attended Sonoma State University, just a few miles up the road from where you are. I loved the contrast of the beautiful Sonoma County, as I grew up in Los Angeles. I graduated about 30 years ago, but, knowing Petaluma as I do, Polly's kidnapping, etc., enraged and saddened me: I can't feel your pain, as you knew her, but I just wanted to say that I still feel the outrage that so many others did and still do. I'm sure you were a good friend.

 

[marvl]

Yesterday I saw a 'For Sale' sign on their driveway.

I hope they go back to Chicago.

I guess that first mountain snow we had must have changed their minds.

We just bought a mountain home between Livermore and Red Feather Lakes. It's the boonies, relatively speaking, and mountain lions and black bears are prevalent. Beautiful place, great house, and lovely views.

I'll be keeping a couple of .45s, a 590, and my .458 SOCOM handy for close encounters of the 2-legged and 4-legged kind. Hopefully I'll never need any of them, but only an idiot would depend on that.

 

[BluesBear]

I hope the K9 police catch this person and the dogs eat him.

What have you got against dogs?

 

[Intune]

Well done BB, lmao!
Happy Holidays to you & yours! And all who read this.

 

[artherd]

hansolo, thank you for your kind words. Truth be told, I knew her only as an aquaintance, but the very fact I will never ever see her face again, and her parents never will, enrages me to this day.

I love this area, and the incident is no reflection on it, other than the obvious that anything can happen anywhere, at any time. Once you accept that, taking steps to defend yourself and those you love is only natural. I will not live in fear, but I will not live in igornace either.