Community Newsletter "Safety Tip"

[sport-fashion-square]

I was perusing the local community newsletter and came across this gem of a Safety Tip:

"Place your keys beside your bed at night. If someone is trying to break into your home, just press the panic button for your car. The alarm will be set off, and the horn will continue to sound until you re-set it, or the car battery runs down.

It's a security alarm system that you probably already have and requires no installation. Test it. It will go off from most everywhere inside your home. It works if you park in your driveway, check to see if it operates from the garage. If your alarm goes off when someone is trying to break into your home, odds are the bad guy won't stick around (emphasis mine). Neighbors will be looking out their windows to see who is out there, and calling 911. And remember to carry your keys in your hand while walking to your car in a parking lot. The alarm can work the same way there also."

Wow, I feel safer already.

 

[armslist]

Hahah.....carrying them in your hand works great...unless the thief comes from behind, grabs the keys, and jacks your car.

I like to keep a loaded firearm on the nightstand. No need to set off the car alarm...

 

[Duke of Doubt]

Sometimes you can set off other peoples' alarms with your own panic button.

I used to live in a building thisclose to another building. With a universal remote and a universal door opener aimed at the other building, I could sometimes turn television sets on and off, adjust channels and volume, and make their garage door go up and down in the middle of the night. They probably thought they were haunted.

 

[NavyLCDR]

Yes, odds are much better that the bad guy won't stick around with .45's coming at him. I think car alarms are way too common these days and, if like me, most people just find them annoying rather than concerned.

 

[feedthehogs]

I'd rather the sound of the 12 gauge going off has the neighbors calling the po po and save me a dime.

 

[Bill2e]

sounds like the busy body who writes the news letter or my community.

 

[SIRVEYR666]

A firearm is a tool of last resort. I'm not as trigger happy as the rest of you, so I vote for the car alarm.

 

[Jeff White]

Think about it for a minute. How much attention do you pay to a car alarm? Car alarms have faded into the normal background noise of modern society. People just don't pay attention to them. It might scare off the attacker, but I wouldn't count on it to summon help.

 

[Hugo]

Would at least help startle/scare away the intruder and buy you time to get your firearms and call police. A handy tip and as Spock would say "Highly Logical".

 

[ilbob]

I guess it is less useless than most such tips.

 

[rainbowbob]

Neighbors will be looking out their windows to see who is out there, and calling 911.

I agree with what Jeff White said. Car alarms are a frequent annoyance - and I'm willing to bet that 99% of the time they do NOT signify any kind of emergency or crime in progress. So I roll over and try to go back to sleep, hoping the neighbor wakes up and turns off the friggin alarm!

Perhaps a better use of the car keys (at least with the way my home is configured) would be to silently take keys in hand, sneak out to the car - and drive away.

In fact, that is exactly what my wife and I did one night when we saw police lights in the street, heard helicopters overhead - and saw a fugitive hiding behind the bushes in our front yard 15 feet from our sliding glass door!

P.S. This was before I owned any firearms, and before cell phones. When we tried to call 911 - our phone line was dead!

Oddly enough, I discovered later from the phone company that the dead phone line was a coincidental glitch that apparently had nothing to do with the fugitive. We never did find out who he was or whether he was caught.

 

[Stirling XD]

I understand that this is better than nothing. But we park our vehicles in the garage and we currently only have one neighbor. I don't think they would hear our car alarms unless they were standing on our driveway.

I will admit that it could be a distraction to a BG in the house and such a distraction might allow you to get the jump on him. kind of like throwing a vase across the room, but without the mess.

 

[SIRVEYR666]

It might scare off the attacker, but I wouldn't count on it to summon help.

That's all I want it to do. I don't expect it to bring the cavalry. If the attacker runs off, the odds of me needing to "engage" him drop substantially. I like those odds...

 

[WardenWolf]

Keep in mind that an intruder is typically on edge to begin with. A car alarm going off is going to seem much louder and much more serious to them than it actually is, and a full 80 to 90% of intruders would probably bolt.

However, for the remaining 20%, this is a very BAD thing. The loud car alarm disrupts your hearing just as much as it disrupts theirs. You know the house better, though, and you can glean a lot more information from hearing than they can. Effectively, this takes away one of the strongest resources you have at your disposal, and levels the playing field. That's a VERY bad thing to do.

 

[WTBguns10kOK]

After seeing drug deals go down outside the window, seeing a police car chase start outside a window, and innumerable car alarms go off, I can't say I'd look outside. Car alarms signify ineptness and idiocy of the car owner to me, not a situation. It's too bad. Now if you could rig your smoke alarms to go off on command and the old batman theme song to start playing, that'd be pimp.

 

[TAB]

I know one thing, it would help the LEOs find your house.( assuming you on the phone with 911) It can be very, very hard to find address in Day light, let alone at night. Some are marked on the crub, some are on the mail box, others are on the house some where. etc.

There are lots of sub divisions in my general area that have diffrent number systems. One that is really odd ball that comes to mind is a semi custom track about 10 miles from me. They go buy 7s. for the 1st "phase of lots" Then by 3 for the 2nd phase. I must have pulled 5 uturns before I finally found the house. My grandparents house number is repeated 75 yds from thier front door.( diffrent street, but still)

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Car alarm might well startle a break-in and cause him to run away; I would not count on the neighbors calling 911 over a car alarm, but if they have a car with an alarm too, it might put eyes on the street.

It helps to have different options open because no two situations are the same.

 

[FN5.7shooter]

If you have inside key locked dead bolts on your doors and gates it is a good idea to have them keyed alike and keep the key close at night for a hasty exit in case of any fire/earthquake/intruder or such problem. Most people would use their vehicle key ring with the house/gate keys already on them so go ahead and make noise. Remember your intruder could be deaf.
We use a wood paddle with a large key ring and the house/gate key as the only key on it with a spare vehicle remote on it as well just the two things so no confusion over keys. The one in the bedroom has her spare remote the one near the main exit has my spare remote door opener horn honker pocket fob dealy.
About the alarm noise getting attention, recently during some remodeling we though we heard my neighbors vehicle alarm go off. He was out of town so we put down our work and headed for his driveway. The alarm quit just before we rounded the house toward his drive and we were unsure if it was his alarm or not so we walked around a little and didn't see anything so we went back to work. Next day we heard the same alarm so I went out to check it out and it quit just before I could tell if it was his but no problems so back to work. Next day same thing and one of the worker bees noticed it was at the same time as before I didn't check it out anymore and it went off everyday he was gone for a few minutes at 11:00am. Even active neighbors can be jaded to alarms making them useless.
Keeping keys and alarms is a option you don't have to use it if not needed or dangerous to do so.

 

[Grey_Mana]

I'm pretty sure you can buy a tactical attachment for your HD shotgun, to activate your car alarm. It mounts directly to the combination cup-holder/extra battery holder.

 

[ArmedBear]

Personally, I favor laws that allow neighbors to use any and all means necessary to stop any car alarm that goes off more than once per month, or goes off once continues to sound for more than 30 seconds.

As in, alarm goes off, car is completely destroyed by neighbors while they attempt to disable the alarm, and the car's owner shall have no recourse whatsoever to recoup any damages.

But setting off the alarm isn't a terrible idea, tactically. Neither are barking dogs. Both should be backed up by a firearm, ready to use. Some intruders might not be deterred, and those are the ones who pose the greatest threat.

 

[gossamer]

Think about it for a minute. How much attention do you pay to a car alarm? Car alarms have faded into the normal background noise of modern society.

Given that I haven't heard a car alarm in my neighborhood in the four years we've lived here, I'd pay attention to it. The point is, it's contextual.

In my old old neighborhood car alarms were as common as police helicopters over head. But in the last two neighborhoods I've lived it, car alarms, in a home or garage, would be worth calling police over.

 

[mbt2001]

I fixed it up.

Place your [.45] by your bed at night. If someone is trying to break into your home, just press the [trigger]. The [blast] will be set off, and the [gun] will continue to sound until you [reload], or the [assailant is] down.

I think that the idea here is that the noise would "alert" people and scare the intruder away. Also (and I believe this is the part for us to consider) the cops can more easily find your house, as it is the one with the blinking lights and siren. I had heard about strobe / security lights that blink for this purpose.

 

[mgkdrgn]

I =ALWAYS= park my car right outside my bedroom window on the lawn, rather than on the other side of the house in the driveway (well beyond the range of my remote), for just this reason. And every time I hear a car alarm, the first thing I do is dial 911.

What a utterly stupid "tip". :banghead:

 

[Caliper_Mi]

Hmmm, I have never paid much attention to car alarms. Nor do I own a car with a car alarm, a "panic" button or any kind of remote key fob for that matter. My car keys are all just a thin piece of metal, nothing more.

Will a .50 BMG set off the neighbors car alarm though?

 

[Dulvarian]

I personally opted for the dog that barks, the home alarm on instant, and my Glock21 and SIG556 within reaching distance of where I sleep. For the not at night scenario, I keep the doors locked my Cougar 8045 in the family room and a Mossberg 500 by my desk upstairs. I also usually carry the Beretta when it isn't in its' resting place. Currently, it is on my belt.

The hall bathroom light is always on very low, so I have opted against a gun light for present. Also, based on bed position, the only clear shot I have past the kids room is where an intruder would come into view at that corner.