What am I--stupid?

[cardboardkiller]

I could really care less if you believe me or not, a town of barely 8,000, that was closer to 5,000 when I graduated high school 10 years ago, doesn't incur the drama or danger that larger cities do. The town if you can call it that just north of where I live had a graduating class of 12, that is not a typo. We have no public transportation, what little there is downtown closes by 6 and most people are at home well before 10. We have one bar that is a members only club, this is a dry county, and no gangs or such nonsense alleviate a lot of crime. Our city newspaper comes out once a week and always has a section of who visited who from out of state. That is why I don't carry a gun or live a tactical lifestyle. Come on down for the Peach Festival this summer and I'll show you a small redneck town.

Check out http://www.cswnet.com/~graphic/ and see what you think or search for info on Clarksville, AR. I'll be waiting on your apology after you gather some info on my town.

 

[treeprof]

Easy to lapse a bit at home, as it's territory/turf we "own" figuratively, if not literally. Also common at the range, as it's sort of implicitly understood that we're all there for honorable reasons and concentrating on doing our own thing safely. Its pretty tough to concentrate on shooting well and watching your back at the same time. In the past I let a couple of muzzle sweeps go unmentioned, and felt like a moron in hindsight.

 

[HS/LD]

The Wolf knows he is a Wolf.

The Sheep is unaware that he is a Sheep. and therefore becomes dinner.


When I figure out what I meant here I will post again.

Regards,
HS/LD

 

[pax]

CardboardKiller,

I'm glad you think you live in a place where bad stuff can never happen, but you are wrong to be so smug. Bad stuff can happen where you live. That you choose to deny it does not make you any safer -- nor would choosing to acknowledge it make you more likely to have a heart attack. It is what it is, regardless of what you think about it.

All it takes for violence to happen to you, in your town, is for there to be one Bad Person and one Clueless Victim.

Me? I carry, because I don't intend to provide the Clueless Victim portion of the above equation.

Btw, my town is [edited to change "probably" to "definitely"] smaller than yours. So what? All it means is that the police are further away and less well trained. All the more reason to be armed.

pax

In life, as in chess, forethought wins. -- Charles Buxton

 

[spacemanspiff]

must be something in the water, eh cardboard?
i'm a little envious of the trainquillity you described.

i think all pax was trying to say is that you can never be too careful. for example, what kind of arms do your local law enforcement carry?

 

[cardboardkiller]

They switched to Glocks a couple of years ago, I believe about half have a shotgun in their cars and some carry AR's also. I am on the fire department and work with a lot of these guys closely at times. I get to see some of the ugly stuff that goes down in my area, but it still doesn't spur me to carry a weapon every time I leave the house, although I was #653 in the state to get a permit.

I never said bad stuff doesn't happen, all I said was the occurence is very low.

 

[45Badger]

I'm with Cardboardkiller and schmo on this one.

At home, fix the trees. Be aware, but it is paranoid to assume every stranger approaching your house is a threat. Yikes.

At the range, for your safety and all others, politely ("hey dumbass" might even work) tell the bozo to watch his friggin' muzzle.

Just because I'm paranoid, it doesn't mean their not all out to get me

 

[AZTOY]

cardboardkiller

You have a New Paper and you call that a small town. Try live in Arivaca AZ. Arivava have one small store that is also sell gas. I have to drive 30 mile to get to a grocery store or 50 mile to get to a gun store . A freind of mine runs his house off a generator. Because the power company will not run power lines back the 15 mile to his house.

Arivaca has about 2000 people in it .Out of 2000 at least 75% of them are armed all time or have a gun in there trucks.

I know sounds great right, but we still have crimes and murders.
:banghead:

 

[spacemanspiff]

good points cardboard....but what are your thoughts on the adage: "better to have, and not need, than to need, and not have"?

 

[pax]

CardboardKiller said:

...I hope you are not telling me what kind of town I live in, there has never been a mugging, we have a murder every 3 or 4 years...

That sure sounds to me as if you were saying "never."

From the link you posted above, I checked out the police report and the sheriff's report. Selected incidents from your town and the surroundings areas, in one week, include:

Dec. 18
Cynthia Vannoy reported personal checks were stolen.

Dec. 19
Kirk Jarrod Bean of Lamar reported the theft of a shotgun, four rifles, a revolver and a belt and holster from his residence.

Dec. 20
Virginia Totten of Lamar reported an incident of criminal mischief and sexual harassment.


Billy Gray reported a third degree battery incident at a Highway 292 residence.

Dec. 21
Donna Gattis reported the theft and forgery of three personal checks.
Bruce D. Kimpton of Coal Hill reported the theft of cash.
John Pellham reported the theft of three reindeer outdoor decorations from his property.

Dec. 22
Wendy Woodward of Hartman reported an incident of terroristic threatening. A subject involved in the incident was later arrested on five violation of the Arkansas Hot Check Law warrants by Hill.

Dec. 24
Inman arrested a subject at a Patton Circle residence for criminal impersonation.

From the police report, of the same week:

Dec. 20
Ross served a subject with eight violation of the Arkansas Hot Check Law warrants.
Patrolman Larry Sanders investigated a rape of a Clarksville juvenile female.

Dec. 22
Melissa Terry of Harmony Road reported the theft of a 1991 Pontiac from her residence. The vehicle was later recovered at a Harmony Road residence.

Dec. 24
Donaldson arrested a subject after a high speed chase through Clarksville for DWI No. 1, fleeing (auto related), reckless driving, implied consent and running a stop light.

Dec. 25
Stephen Spoor reported his vehicle license plate, Kansas QLX 442, was stolen.

I hope you do not feel like I am picking on you. That's not my intent, and I'm not only talking to you. I'm talking to every person who thinks he lives in some magical, crime-free zone, wherein he is perfectly safe because "it's never happened here." As I said above, all it takes is one Bad Person in your general area to ruin your whole day.

The above quote illustrates that neither your town, nor any other, is crime-free. If you choose to go unarmed in public (or even at home), it is your own choice. But do not fool yourself into thinking that you may do so because you live in a crime-free zone. You do not. If you think the risk is low, that's fine. But the risk is there whether you acknowledge it or not.

Check this out, too. It's a site which lets you check out crime stats for your city. I put in the zip code of the Clarksville newspaper, and received back -- well, the results are at http://cops.heritage.org/detail.cfm?ori=AR03601 (Get there through www.crime-stats.org if that doesn't work). The stats aren't too recent; I think there's a better one at www.apbnews.com but the site is down.

Anyway. Fact is, you don't live in a crime-free zone, and you do need to pay attention to what's going on around you.

pax

Be alert. The world needs more lerts.

edited to fix a link

 

[Average Guy]

cbk: I checked your newspaper's Web site. As evidenced by the police blotter, there seems to be a lot of theft in your area. What if someone were to surprise an armed thief in flagrante pickem lockem? Just a thought.

Re: the trees -- we rent. The landlady is a cheapskate. I've planted more cypress, but they grow so damnably slow... and if I take down the dead ones, there'll be a big, gaping hole. Ah, such travails.

it is paranoid to assume every stranger approaching your house is a threat

Agreed. I only get paranoid about the ones with a hand behind their backs.

 

[SAWBONES]

Average Guy, you sound like an aware fellow who is struggling to find a balance between your natural tendency to be courteous and friendly, and the need to stay safe and perhaps be confrontational, at need, in some circumstances.

I think most of us have this problem from time to time. It has NOTHING to do with being in "Condition White". You obviously were in Condition Yellow, or maybe Orange in your descriptions, but it didn't turn out to be necessary to either fight or flee. It sounds like you did nothing wrong for the distances involved.

Only jerks are confrontational and rude to everybody under the excuse of being "tactically ready and prepared". This is unnatural.

The sheeple are incapable of responding to intuitive danger signals with confrontation or other action, for fear of offending somebody, and are polite and ingratiating when they should be ready for trouble. This is obviously unsafe.

The genuinely alert and prepared man usually knows who to confront, and when, and when to leave a situation, but not always.
We needn't live in fear, but there's often an element of uncertainty in unanticipated or unexpected interpersonal contacts with people not previously known to us.
There are lots of times when it's not clear what a stranger's intentions are.
Nothing wrong with courtesy in these circumstances, though just not to the extent that your safety is notably compromised.

You kept your distance and sought a form of cover, and put yourself in a more advantageous position with the workingman who approached you. I think you did well.

As for range turds who've never learned the basics of muzzle consciousness and etiquette, they deserve ONE warning from management, followed by banishment. Period.
Probably best to have alerted the owner or range officer, and left if he did nothing.

Best.

 

[cardboardkiller]

The "never" was used to describe the lack of muggings. Read my other statements thoroughly before you start hacking at me.

 

[MonacanMan]

Sometimes people just aren't aware of what is happening in what they consider to be their safe little neighborhood/town. I know plenty of my neighbors who think that we still have the nice safe little town it was 10 years ago since they have been here their whole life they just don't notice it. Just because you don't see it or hear about it doesn't mean its not there festering into what could be a situation. Many of my neighbors thought they lived in safe comfortable place. We had some new "neighbors" move in and some strange activity started to occur. A lot of people coming and going at all hours of the day and night. The new neighbor running out to cars on the street and back into the house. I started asking other neighbors if they saw it. They told me I was being paranoid and suspicious, They are just young people with alot of friends. Then cars were getting broken into in the area. Alot of highschool aged kids to late 30s people not from the area hanging around at night early morning hours. Younger kids getting knocked off their bikes and their bikes and money being stolen. Well then one day the police cars block off our street and a squad of officers descend into the new neighbor's home through the front and back simultaneously. We watched the police load two vans with bikes, car stereos, tvs, vcrs and a number of unmarked boxes. Only one arrest was made...16 year old son. The situation just proceeded to get worse from there. The mother and her remaining spawn continued as if nothing had occurred. I live in one of a set of 10 row homes. The older neighbors on the block started to get harassed. I had people come into my backyard and try to climb a wall to get get access to the roof, get loud and aggressive toward my elderly grandfather for sitting in front of his own home, fights in the street over money/drugs, attempted break-ins and so on. They soon learned to avoid me and mine at all costs but that didn't help my other neighbors. The situation went on for 5 years before these "people" were finally evicted. The woman's children all reached adult status and she lost her free ride and couldn't pay her rent so the landlord finally evicted them, which he must have been glad to do since most of the other home owners called him on a weekly basis to complain about his tenants. The story could go on and on about the things that occurred so I wouldn't be so smug about how safe your neighborhood is because that can change overnight. Sorry for the long story but I've seen it happen and its happening everywhere.