How far is too far?

[HI express]

I noticed several threads where the people posting responses that when the situation went south at their home they went to go get their firearm of choice to confront the person or persons who tried to enter their house uninvited.

I wonder that some of us feel that we need to carry a weapon even in our own home. Can you relate why you feel that you needed a gun at hand rather than in a "safe location?" somewhere in your house?

I carry at home because when I was at my mom's house on Halloween to watch over her. She was in her 70's and she loved giving candy to the young Trick or Treaters but she mentioned seeing some strange boys (about 16 years old or older and bigger than me) were seen in her little neighborhood I decided that I needed to be there.

At about 9:00 p.m. when the young folks had quit knocking on the door for about 40 minutes that night, my mom decided to lock up and call it quits for the night. We were sitting in the living room talking about some of the kids when I heard loud banging on the door. My mom got up and I yelled at her not to open the door. Too late! She opened the door but she later said that she thought the security gate was locked.

This big boy was standing in the doorway with the gate open, so when my mom opened the front door, she was pushed aside by this big guy. I rounded the corner into the hallway to the front door and I went into the motion of drawing my Govt. Model from its holster. He immediately backed up and fell backwards off the front steps into two boys who were following him into the house.

That experience taught me to have a gun on me even at home because you never know when someone might open that door to a perfect stranger and that stranger has thoughts of invading your home. I don't think that gun in another room would be that accessible fast enough in those situations unless I were in that room at the time things went south.

Do you folks have story that helped you decide to carry a gun in your home?

 

[pax]

No story, and hopefully never will.

But my husband is often gone until late at night, and I realized I needed something for home protection while he was gone. I got a handgun and decided to carry it around even at home because it was the only way I could think of to have a loaded gun always within reach, and still be absolutely sure that my little darlings weren't getting their paws on it as soon as I left the room.

pax

 

[gt3944]

Other than the fact that home invasion is becoming very popular with the hoodlums here in Georgia,maybe because im from New Orleans..now come on thats traumatic enough..

 

[Nitrogen]

From 1994-2000 I lived in Phoenix, AZ and always had a gun around. Took it for granted.
In 2000, I had to move to Fremont, California. I was short on money, and had to sell lots of things, including my Beretta at the time.

During that time, i've had punks fire bottle rockets at our place, had our cars both broken into, and had people try to break our door down.
After each episode, the police could have cared less.
Moved to Texas in September. I can't be happier to be out of there.

 

[P95Carry]

There is one very simple rationale I use.

I carry 16/7, not because I am in a particularly bad area at all - but because my gun will be of little use if not on my person. Add to that while on me it is under my exclusive control.

I wear a wrist watch - if I choose to check time it is there - no need to wonder, or go get it or find a clock.

Same with the gun - were I to sporadically put it on - who knows when that 1:1,000,000 situation might go down and as I reach for it - it ain't there - ''oh heck - forgot to put it on''!!!

I call this dedicated carry and is IMO the only way to go. It has nothing to do with paranoia (even if accused of this I shrug it off!) - it is purely and simply a discipline/habit - that helps ensure the gun is always in one place during waking hours.

The time needed to find or reach for a gun not on the person may only be seconds, but that will not cut it IMO.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

During the Viet Nam War, we had Armed Forces Viet Nam radio (AFVN). They had some clever commercials -- for things like taking your anti-malarial tablets, keeping your rifle clean and so on. They had one series on the In-Country R&R Center at Vung Tau. These commercials included instructions on how to apply for in-country R&R and how to get there. They always closed with the same three words, "Bring your weapon."

Good advice. I've followed it ever since.

 

[grimlock]

Because any location in my current house would only be safe from a 6-year-old.

A handgun and holster is cheaper than a vault.

 

[Pilgrim]

That experience taught me to have a gun on me even at home because you never know when someone might open that door to a perfect stranger and that stranger has thoughts of invading your home. I don't think that gun in another room would be that accessible fast enough in those situations unless I were in that room at the time things went south.

I'm curious. What lesson did your mother learn?

Pilgrim

 

[CAS700850]

Actually, last night. We had a loud knock on the door at 10:00 p.m. My wife was up and headed towards the fornt door. Being my wife, she looked through the peephole, then told me in a quiet voice there was a strange woman outside. I grabbed my briefcase and got the Glock from inside. I went to the widows the allow me to see outside, and yet have an unobstructed "view" of the front door. Wife opens the door. I expect bad guys to rush out of the darkness, but it turns out to be some environmental do-gooder collecting signatures and cash for some "Save the Animals" cause. Wife closed the door in the woman's face, locked it, and I holstered up.

No, it wasn't on me. It was very close at hand, though. As always. Why don't I just wear it? I like my 3 and 5 year old to feel safe and secure in their home. Guns make them think bad guys are around. Out of sight, out of mind.

 

[TallPine]

Sometimes I get tired of carrying around the house and property all the time...

But - a few weeks ago somebody showed up at our place. I was here on the PC and by the time I got into the other room, my adult daughter who lives with us had opened the door (we had a talk about that, later ). My first thought was it must be someone she knows since I didn't recognize the guy.

But no, he starts off saying he is a friend of TL (our ex-neighbor who is now in prison) and I interrupt him and tell him that if he is a friend of TL then he can just get the hell off my property. But instead he keeps going on about how he needs to retrieve a pickup left on the neighbor's property, and he wants me to come help him and so on I damn near drew on him right that instant, but I just kept telling him to leave and finally they did. All that time, my revolver was out of sight under a wool shirt - but at least I knew it was there. What I should have done was called the sheriff as soon as he didn't leave after the first instruction, but then they are 45 minutes away.

If he and/or friends shows up again, I will be additionally arming myself with a rifle as well as calling the sheriff instantly. Among this group of scumbags are known sexual offenders. They did apparently come back another day and take away an old pickup. Since then I have been in contact with the family of the new out of state owner and with their permission we are putting up a gate across the driveway which crosses our land.

It just seems that there ain't no place you can go and live in peace

 

[ccw007]

I carry at home because my Max Con V is just so comfortable . It makes me feel like I have lost something if I am not carrying.
Seriously though... I carry at home ever since I found a botch attempted home break in. The scumbag cut himself and bled in my carport. Since then I carry at home 100% of the time

 

[Moondoggie]

I don't carry at home, but there's a gun handy in every room. We have an empty nest. My state has zero CCW, hopefully that will change during our current legislative session. Once I have a permit, I will probably carry most of the time including at home.

Several yrs ago my wife & I were cleaning/repainting a rental property where the tennants had simply skyed out after the local LEO paid them a visit...literally within an hour of the officer's departure.

I just happened to be painting the trim around the linen closet door in the hallway, my 6" 25-2 was lying on the shelf in the closet about shoulder high. Wife was in one of the bedrooms painting trim, boombox in the kitchen was jammin', our 3 yr old was staying next door with friends. The front door was open, the storm door was closed but not locked. It was the middle of a Saturday afternoon.

Suddenly, there's a narley looking dude standing at the end of the hallway looking at me. He demands "Who the f+%& are you?"

I place my small plastic bucket of paint & brush on the shelf below my pistol, pick up my pistol, turn to face him and say "This is my house, I don't remember hearing the doorbell ring, and from here on out I'll be the one asking the questions......Who the f+%* are YOU?"

Guy says "Uh, Uh, Uh, my name is Joe Blow and I'm looking for Mike Somethingorther...he owes me money and has a bunch of my body shop tools. He lives here."

My response..."Well, Joe, I'm thinking you're SOL cuz Mike skyed out of town with a U-Haul truck about a week ago after the cops came for a visit. I'm also thinking you might want to follow his lead and hit the bricks because I'm really not in the mood to put up with any BS from you...now get out of my house."

Joe mumbled some apologies and made a prompt exit, never to be heard from again.

A happy ending from my point of view.

 

[ctdonath]

Living alone in the country, sitting in the living room, the garage door opened for no apparent reason.

I was immediately keenly aware that despite having numerous guns, none of them were handy RIGHT NOW.

Fortunately it was the remote opener on the fritz.

 

[phantomak47]

When I was in College, I lived with this crazy girlfriend and after she and I broke up(thank God) she decided to move into the house that was on the same property and attached.


Anyways she had pretty much moved all of her stuff and the last day she was in the house she starts to get into a fight. Well she had already had a new boyfriend who was with some friends moving her stuff into her new house. As she is leaving she starts staying some stuff that was pissing me off . She exits the back door and I start telling her where she can go and how glad I am that she leaves. Her new boyfriend heres this and gets really mad. He is a big fat guy wearing a red shirt( we later named him the kool aide guy) so he charges the back door and luckaly I shut in time. But the problem is the front door is still open from hucking her stuff outside. So he comes running along the house and I had been cleaning a rem 12 gauge. He takes one step in my house and sees me with my 12 gauge and freezes. I have never seen a luck on anyones face like that before or after and runs outside.


I call the cops, they show up and are like this is a bad situation all around with her moving behind me. Anyways they tell me that I was with in my right to protect myself and that is the end of the story.

 

[robert garner]

Police (in)action

Our last residence was in a two storey town house in a historic district. houses 'bout 20 feet apart.
When the dowager next door expired her house was subdivided and rented as two apts. Both rented by one dope dealing family,doing a 24 hr trade,their 200 friends who visited at all hours,for 3-5 minits at the time,glares, vieled threats,and "mind yur own da---d bisness!" ANY time any of us were out of doors.
Calls to the police as far as we could tell were "noted and ignored" for more than a year.Sheriffs ,DEA,local drug task force and GBI all resulted in exactly
NADA! However when two young thugs attempted to relieve these poor folks of their goods and hard won cash, the response time was amazingly,blindingly fast
and accurate both were arrested and the pistol they ditched recovered,WOW!
My family had the pleasure of being "interviewed" during the course of which we
made known the previous and ASKED that an officer use our residence to surviele (sp?) and DO SOMETHING. Guess what nada (again)
These kind folk were eventually replaced by others who apparently had a falling out with a client,whom they tried to beat to death with a cinderblock;
again we were interviewed and even with our nurses testimony totally refuting their depiction of events nothing was done(again) tho their victim was left in a Vegetative state. Many were the run ins with these clowns and
I took to carrying to cut my grass. It wasn't till these clowns advances on a pair of young girls were rejected that led to the dragging death of one, that I could see our locals get interested,We moved, I still carry.

 

[carebear]

moondoggie,

you can't carry (even openly) in your own home?

 

[Matthew N. Dodd]

Out of sight...

No, it wasn't on me. It was very close at hand, though. As always. Why don't I just wear it? I like my 3 and 5 year old to feel safe and secure in their home. Guns make them think bad guys are around. Out of sight, out of mind.

My wife and I both carry openly when we're in the house or yard. After we talked to our two (5 and 7) they don't bat an eye when they see a holstered pistol. Its no different than any other tool we carry.

Do you hide the fire extinguishers in the kitchen to keep your children "feeling" safe or do you keep them bolted to the wall in plain view where they can be found if required?

Does wearing seatbelts in the car cause them to fear crippling injury?

I don't think you give your children enough credit.

 

[flatdog]

How far is too far?

Just out of reach.

 

[KriegHund]

Your home is prolly one of the best places to carry, since it presents maximum benefits and minumum difficulties.

 

[grimjaw]

I wear a wrist watch - if I choose to check time it is there - no need to wonder, or go get it or find a clock.

P95Carry, +1. We all know the #1 rule of a gun fight. Unloaded, upstairs in a closet won't help me while I'm downstairs and somebody breaks down the door. It's better practice for me to carry concealed all the time.

jmm

 

[pax]

Why don't I just wear it? I like my 3 and 5 year old to feel safe and secure in their home. Guns make them think bad guys are around. Out of sight, out of mind.

I carry concealed at home. The kids never see it.

pax

 

[TallPine]

A few years ago one of my daughters made a comment something to the effect of: "doesn't everybody's daddy carry a gun to protect them?"

 

[carebear]

My nieces assured me they weren't scared of the boogeyman any more because I'd shoot him. My nephew is still leery cause his dad and I insist he has to do his own killing.

 

[Sam]

Carry all the time. When I sleep, the M37 moves from the closet to the bedroom and whatever handgun I feel like goes on the nightstand.

Not terrible worried about people breaking into the house but more my shop which may or may not have a bundle of weapons in the safe, and the stray dogs that are always trying to eat the sheep.

Sam

 

[NMshooter]

Never more than a few steps from loaded firearms, not counting any on my person or in hand. Particularly when answering the door. The look on some folks faces can indeed be priceless.

carebear, bodies are heavy, and digging holes is rough work. Sometimes folks need a little help...

Sam, I thought your new neighbor, that mountain lion, was taking care of the stray problems...