Increase in area crime and carrying habits

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HighVelocity

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IDPA junkie in DFW, TX
Recently, there has been a rash of home invasions, dog attacks, daytime robberies and carjackings in my area. Not right in my neighborhood but close enough to get my attention (aka Arlington).
It's also been very hot and we're behind on rainfall. Folks are getting edgy and patience is running thin.
I'm sure it's like this in most heavily populated areas right now.
Needless to say, my alert level has been pretty elevated in recent weeks. I even saw a guy make a drug/money drop behind the gas station where I get my car washed, and he did it right in front of me and he saw me watching him. :uhoh: Of course he took off running into an apartment complex before I could get my phone out.
So I've decided to change my carry habits. In recent weeks with the increase in temperature, I've been carrying either a 642 (38+p) in a pocket holster or a Sig230 (380) IWB. Small, light and stainless.
I have come to question this practice though due to the previously mentioned crime increase.
It would seem that the increased likelihood of actually having to defend myself or a loved one, in my own back yard so to speak, dictates that I should be better armed. In order to compensate for weight and sweat, I bought my first Kydex IWB holster (Comp-Tac) and am going to be carrying a full size pistol ALL the time.

Is my line of thought rational or paranoia?
 
The northwest side of Arlington has always been rough. The closer you get to Ft. Worth, the worse it gets. Carry, be alert, and stay safe...........
Carry the heaviest calibre you can safely handle. That's what I do.

Yanus
 
I'll call it rational paranoia. Yeah, we've had some home invasion robberies around here, but just because it's one guy doing it doesn't mean it's a dramatic increase in crime. It's just getting lots of attention because it's unusual.

However, it is good to be safe. I don't think you need to dramatically alter your threat level, but you'd be an idiot if you weren't paying attention to the things going on around you.
 
I wouldn't necessarily arm myself in accordance with the threat level as you can be a victim anytime, anywhere. Pick a gun and carry system that will suit you 100% of the time and get to know it inside and out. You mentioned carrying a 642. Plenty of guys have fallen to the time-tested .38 caliber bullet. The only downside I see to this particular gun is round count. The round itself and the gun are plenty capable as long as you are. That means you need to practice with it until you know it inside and out and what the limitations are. I saw Bob Munden shoot a snubby J frame at 50 or 75 yard steel targets once. You know the old saying about the man with only 1 gun.

Greg
 
I hear ya

Right after the incidents at the Atlanta courhouse and the one in Texas I started carrying my P32/Bersa .380 less and my 1911 (with 2 wilson mag reloads) MORE.

Going out at night I never carrying anything less than my Glock 19 or 1911. I might get lazy sometimes and carry a mousegun during the day for brief trips out, but never after dark - no matter how short the trip.

Here in Galveston - especially during the summer, it being kind of resort town - the cops keep stuff wired pretty tight. But heh - gangbangers have to go on holiday too! You can bet they won't be going light :eek:
 
Perhaps it would be useful to distinguish between the most likely type of threat, and the likelihood of such a threat occurring. The threat itself will probably be one or two or three young men, possibly drugged up, probably looking for money. That's true however likely it is that they will target you. Pick your firearm to repel the most likely threat. The possibility of such an event happening may be high or low, depending on where you are, but it makes no sense to carry a less effective weapon because an attack is less likely.
 
Is my line of thought rational or paranoia?
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Upgrading your self-defense capabilities is probably something you should have done awhile ago. I suspect most of us figure light calibers are okay in relatively safe areas. My hunch is that if you need a gun, you need the most gun you can handle well, quickly, and accurately.

If I lived in a relatively dangerous area, I'd carry a main gun and a back up gun.
 
" increase in area crime" ? In the early 70's we had yearly increase in crime of as much as 17% IIRC. That's when people really started to pay attention. Many people bought guns for protection.It was also the start of combat style matches and combat shooting training schools .The 'slap on the wrist' courts were greatly responsible and that problem is still with us.
 
Things are really heating up around here.

This is less than 15 miles from my home. :uhoh:

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/local/states/texas/arlington/12083971.htm

Posted on Fri, Jul. 08, 2005

Man fatally shot in apartments' parking lot

By Susan Schrock

Star-Telegram Staff Writer


ARLINGTON - Police are investigating the city's second homicide in three days after a man was gunned down early Thursday in the parking lot of a north Arlington apartment complex.

Timothy Taylor, 23, was shot multiple times during an argument about 2 a.m. outside the Silverwood Apartments near Interstate 30 and Texas 360, police said. Taylor was taken by ambulance to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, where he died.

Investigators believe that the shooting may be drug-related. Witnesses told police that Taylor was arguing with some acquaintances in the parking lot when one of the men shot him and fled.

"This wasn't a random act," said Lt. Blake Miller, a police spokesman.

Police are searching for the gunman, whom a witness described as a black male about 6 feet tall with a thin build. The man was wearing a light-colored T-shirt and blue shorts.

"Detectives were able to collect some evidence and are following several leads," police spokeswoman Christy Gilfour said.

Police are still investigating the unrelated death of Shawn Broyard, 32, who was shot Monday behind an east Arlington shopping center. Detectives arrested a 25-year-old man Tuesday but released him with charges pending.
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I don't think the size of the gun should be related to a rise in temperature.

Carry the largest gun you can control and conceal.

Sure, tempers flare when the temperatures rise but a lot of nut cases run around during cool weather, too.
 
I could be interpreting this incorrectly but it sounds to me as if the logic is:

Crime increased recently which makes me feel that the possibility of having to use my firearm has increased. Now that I feel I might actually need to USE my gun, I feel like I need a bigger caliber.

IF this is the case, I wholly disagree with that logic. Any gun that you would carry should be considered viable for use. Why carry a smaller caliber because you feel it is unlikely that you will need it? If, previously, you felt like you wouldn't need your firearm, why carry at all? If, on the other hand, you acknowledge that a need for a firearm might arise regardless of current temperature or crime statistics, then carry whatever you can shoot fast and straight. If you want ultra concealability, carry a small caliber. If you think you might have to crack and engine block, carry a huge caliber. That's my take. I'm not trying to be a jerk, I'm merely in disagreement with the logic that I perceive to be set forth.

IF, on the other hand, I have misinterpreted the logic set forth (which is entirely possible), I apologize for my mini-rant and invite clarification.

My 2 filthy pennies worth.
 
A man with only one gun is like a bull elephant with only one tusk- completely harmless and without any means of defense from predators.

.
 
Torpid, thats not the quote. (I dare you to go mess with any bull elephant.) ;)

Stopthegrays, I believe the quote is something like"Beware of a man with one gun, because he know how to use it." (Hope i didn't butcher it) :eek:
 
Stopthegrays, I believe the quote is something like"Beware of a man with one gun, because he know how to use it." (Hope i didn't butcher it)
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Sounds familar. Is it from a western movie? Maybe saying that got kicked around the west?

-Sorry for thread drift but I would like to know. :eek:
 
That "one gun" quote sort of reminds me of someone who said something like,

"I'm less worried about the dictator who is trying to acquire a hundred nuclear warheads, than I am about the dictator who is only trying to get one."
 
"I'm less worried about the dictator who is trying to acquire a hundred nuclear warheads, than I am about the dictator who is only trying to get one."
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Same idea, but I've heard it as:
I'm not worried about the organizations that have hundreds of nuclear weapons, I'm worried about the man that only has one.
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This is less than 15 miles from my home
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I don't want to minimize this event, nor do I mean to imply that you shouldn't be prepared for the worst at all times...but, particularly in an urban setting, 15 miles is a long way. The character of a neighborhood, including average income, demographic split, crime rates, crime varieties, and so forth can change significantly over the space of just a couple blocks. Fifteen miles is the difference between 14th & Keefe - a really questionable part of Milwaukee - and Mequon, the richest city in the third richest county in the nation.
 
Actually, having just seen a program on rouge elephants, it's the bulls with no tusks that are more belligerent. HV, what you carry should be what you are proficient with and are confident carrying. Whether this is a Baby Browning .25 or a .44 Mag., it is better than not carrying at all. ;)
 
Actually, having just seen a program on rouge elephants, it's the bulls with no tusks that are more belligerent.
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Rouge elephants you say?
Hmmm, I know to stay clear of rogue elephants, and even mascara elephants, but now I have to look out for ones wearing rouge too?

Dang.

:(
 
I've been carrying my Glock 23 mostly and occasionally a 4" 1911. I would say I am fairly profficient with my equipment.

In response to the comment above about 15 miles being really far, I have to disagree. A suspect being chased by police could easily end up in my neighborhood as it's seperated from a major freeway by a heavily wooded area.
Cops chase BG(s) in car, BG(s) bail and runs through woods and finds his way into my yard, etc.
If I'm out back working and a few desperate types jump the fence and are running towards me do I want a 5 shot snubby or a 1911 in my hand?

Anyway, I try not to get caught up in the SHTF thoughts but I'm always looking for the BG's in my proximity. :scrutiny:
 
I carry a 4 or 5" 1911, at least one spare mag on my person, and two in the truck. Sometimes I also have my G17 in the truck, with one 17 round mag in a door pocket, and a 33 or two in the glovebox. If the S does in fact HTF, I probably wont need all of that, or survive long enough to use all of it, but at least I wont be standing there thinking "Now what?" with both of my pistols at slide-lock...
 
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