My Home Was Burglarized

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Matthew 6:20 (KJV)
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

Not saying don't defend your property, just interesting. Moths and thieves.
 
my apartment was broken into my first year into my master's program. i got back from thanksgiving break and my place was trashed. it's a tough feeling to describe. anger and frustration all mixed together. all over a few dvds and a 4 year old playstation 2.
 
In the last place I lived, which was in a very sketchy 'hood,
every time I left, even for a couple of hours,
I'd bury my laptop under the covers of my bed,
just to retard the snatch and grab of the desperate burglar.

That laptop has my life on it.
Mostly backed up else where,
but still, losing it would suck.

My guns? Not out here yet.
Recently moved. They're not here yet.
Long story. I'll spare you the details.

Point is this: if it's of value to me,
whether laptop or guns,
I'm going to hide them as best I can.

I could offer some thoughts about trusting humans,
but I'll save that for another day.
 
I always get a little edgy when someone asks me what guns I own,few people know what makes up my complete collection.
Click to expand...



There is only one person that knows the extents of my collection, and he only knows because he stored them for me after I had a break-in, before I owned a safe.


Someone broke in and got away with 2 guns, both of which were returned a week later.


Now I have a safe, and only my friend mentioned above has ever seen it open.
 
Do you suppose it is possible that the thief just needed a gun? He may have thought you had one, or knew you had one, and wanted it - not because of its value but because of its function. The purse was probably just an afterthought - something to conceal the gun in maybe, or maybe because he thought it would have cash in it.
 
Now I have a safe, and only my friend mentioned above has ever seen it open.
Click to expand...

My wife doesnt even really know what is in our safe, even though she has the combination. No one else has seen inside mine either.
 
BCC said:
Anyway, gun are a hobby for me, not a god given right.
Click to expand...

Did this strike a chord with anyone? The Bill of Rights (2A included) enumerates certain God-given rights. The gist is, "You are born with these rights, you don't get them because we wrote them down."

Maybe it's a hobby in your mind but for me, the right is God-given.
 
So... Firstly - I'm so sorry about your loss. My home was broken into several years ago. You'll never feel entirely secure again, and maybe that's a productive thing.

Countermeasures to thwart burglars.

Safes (even a crappy safe is better than nothing).
Concealment
Active/investigative neighbors
Dogs
Cameras
Alarm systems that call police
Alarm systems that alert neighbors
Dummy safe

I count keeping mum about your collection in with "concealment."

Did that cover most of it?

All things considered, I'm in pretty good circumstances.
This summer, I'll be in even better circumstances.

KR
 
ColdDeadHand said:
Did this strike a chord with anyone? The Bill of Rights (2A included) enumerates certain God-given rights. The gist is, "You are born with these rights, you don't get them because we wrote them down."

Maybe it's a hobby in your mind but for me, the right is God-given.
Click to expand...
Look, I'm a supporter of the 2nd amendment, own and shoot lots of guns and like the fact I can carry concealed. Perhaps I didn't express myself correctly.

I'm against 'God-Given rights' used as excuse for (imo) extremely lax gun security practices. I would prefer empty homes not have guns left lying around in the open, such as in a holster hanging off a headboard. Too many legal guns end up stolen & on the street with punks, presumably just like the op's. Simple.

Owners need to 'police' themselves, so others don't successfully try to legislate common sense.

Just the opinion of a gun enthusiast.
 
If your gun was the only thing taken then YEs I would suspect everyone that knew it was there and narrow it down from there. Consider getting a burglar alarm for your home.



Don't be surprised if you find small cameras in the smoke detectors and small microphones in other places.:D:D
 
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I didn't have time to read the whole thread, but is it possible they could have seen the gun through the window, from the street or perhaps a neighbor's house? Sounds opportunistic - they saw it, went straight for it and got out as fast as possible?
 
A lot of times burglaries are done by "friends of friends" these are people that either you don't know or have met briefly.

They "hear" you are away and they take advantage of the situation.

It could be a teenage friend of one of your adult friends children.

This sounds like an amateur or "druggie" looking to make some fast cash.

They caused noticable damage when they broke in - probably after noticing packages not picked up and knocking or ringing your dorrbell. So they didn't seem to have planned to well. They could easily have gone behind the house and broken a window with less chance of discovery.

Or, we occasionally get teenages & young 20's knocking on the door trying to sell magazine subscriptions to "help" themselves or raise money for charity, schiool, etc. They may be a scam or honest but if one of these discovers no one is home maybe a quick kick in the door ( I can do it at under 6 ft and under 200 lbs) and allow 30 seconds to run aaround and take whats out.

Again, they probably were amatuers (maybe teenagers seeking thrills or drug money) due to the fact that they did not appear to search the house and take more items.

Also, it appears they were probably scared and nervouse so even after they broke in the worry of discovery and being caught caused them to grab whatever was easy at hand and leave very quickly.

This was not like the "It takes a thief" program.

One last thing. Do you have a master bathroom off your bedroom? How did the medicine cabinet look? I think its pretty common for some theives to go straight for the master bath and check the cabinets for prescription pills.

I wouldn't worry too much.

Good luck. Hopefully whoever it is - is an amateur and they'll get caught and you'll get your gun back.
 
Ask most any school teacher and they will tell you who will be the next break-in artist. A friend had two in his high school class that were already convicted violent felons. The court system tries to mainstream them instead of locking them up. One of these two was caught by the assistant principal attacking a retarded kid from behind. The LE officer got my friend to get him to the hall where he was arrested. Apparently, as he told me, the policy is not to arrest someone in front of the other students. Anyway, the very next day the bad guy was back in class. What does this tell the BG? He can get away with it.

The best garage doors are the ones without the glass. Break one pane and you can pull the emergency cord on the door and open it.

Sliding glass doors can most times easily be lifted or pried up out of the track. If your windows have cheap locks, prevent them from being easily opened by a putty knife by putting a nail or pin through the wood of both sashes in a hole drilled at a slight down angle. That way the nail can be easily be removed from the inside. Side lights (glass) beside the front door can easily be broken allowing the BG to reach the locks. Double key deadbolts are now illegal per building codes due to fire egress issues.
 
The only time I get edgy is when someone asks where I keep the guns, which is an odd question (overprotective parents normally).

I just tell them "in the garage attic" (they aren't even remotely close to the garage).
 
I've been in the security business since 1996. Sounds like one of your "friends." Roughly 50% of all breakins are by "friends." Be careful what you allow casual friends to know you have.
 
I hope everyone will forgive me for resurrecting this thread, but I feel an update will be appreciated by all.

After my no-dash 66 was stolen back in December, I tried to replace it. Had a bad experience on GunBroker and ended up just taking a hit and selling the gun at a show. I then bought a -1 and have had it since. It wasn't quite the same, but it was tolerable.

I booked a table at a local gun show this weekend and split it with my father in law. He was buying and selling guns and I was selling grips. We got there early for the dealer setup time after we finished, my FIL went on a walkabout to check the other dealers tables. He comes back to our table carrying a hard pistol case. He sits down and I make him show me what he bought. It was another 2.5" 66. I drop the cylinder and see that it's a no-dash! I tear into him for being so lucky and about how hard I looked for one after mine was stolen. He got a big kick out of it because I had walked by it earlier and didn't see it. So he went out to lock it up in his vehicle and we left it alone. But I kept thinking what are the odds that a no-dash 66 would be here. I looked all over the US and had trouble finding one. I didn't imagine that the one he bought was mine because it had black rubber grips and mine had the S&W magna grips when it was stolen. But it kept bugging me so I asked him to bring it back in so I could check the S/N. I remembered I had posted a "Stolen" ad on a local gun classified site and I included the S/N. I told my FIL to take the grips off but don't show me the S/N and I would read the one from the ad and he would check it. Low and behold, the S/N matched and he was holding my stolen gun!

I immediately went to the LEOs that were working the show and told them what happened. They checked the police report and confirmed the S/N was reported by me as stolen. They questioned the seller, another exhibitor but not a dealer. He said he runs a wanted ad on Craigslist for guns and gold and a guy he buys from regularly sold him the gun along with some other jewelry. He willing gave the police info about the guy that sold him the gun and the police are going to follow up. But I get the feeling that the seller knew he was receiving stolen property. I'm thinking of calling the ATF and letting them know about what this guy is doing. He seems like a sleazy kind of guy, but not likely the type that would break into a house. I have a feeling that be has a little arrangement with the other guy that he will buy the stuff cheap and not ask questions then turn around and sell it for what it's actually worth. Both guys make a little money and they both think they're safe.

The police returned my gun and I can't be happier. I'm still in relative shock about the whole thing.

Anyone have thoughts, comments, advice, or suggestions?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
What a deal, I can't thing of any other words . . . Perhaps you ought to buy a lottery ticket just in case you are still having a run of good luck.;) Glad to hear you got your M66 back.
Best,
Rob
 
Unfortunately he didn't. The police said that the shady seller would have to be convicted of receiving stolen property or my insurance would have to go after him for that.


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