I technically have 2. One I won from a hunting banquet, and a double barrel shotgun I inherited from my grandfather (I have no idea why he would leave me a shotgun. I have no interest. I haven't even seen this gun, it's at my dad's house).
H has quite a few guns. He belongs to a gun club, and has his CCW. Even though he has is CCW, he's never carried a gun outside of the house except for at the shooting range or hunting.
I'm not completely pro gun or anti gun. I don't love them, but I know H enjoys hunting. I've never shot a gun, and I refuse to even hold one if it's not locked up in its case, unloaded.
Having a half dozen guns strategically placed throughout your house seems reeeaaalllyy paranoid. Either that or you're criminals who expect bad things to be happening. I just can't imagine living that way.
Having a half dozen guns strategically placed throughout your house seems reeeaaalllyy paranoid. Either that or you're criminals who expect bad things to be happening. I just can't imagine living that way.
Right? Why do you need a so many spread around your house? Maybe an alarm system would make you feel more secure?
I have a stupid question though. For the people that keep guns for personal protection but keep them unloaded or in a safe, how is that going to protect you? If someone breaks in are you going to tell them "Hold on. Give me a few minutes to unlock my safe and load my gun."
Post by penguingrrl on Jan 9, 2013 10:06:26 GMT -5
Nope, and I won't willingly enter a home that has them. Neither will DH. Luckily they're really uncommon where we live. Most people we know are as strongly opposed to them as we are.
Having a half dozen guns strategically placed throughout your house seems reeeaaalllyy paranoid. Either that or you're criminals who expect bad things to be happening. I just can't imagine living that way.
Right? Why do you need a so many spread around your house? Maybe an alarm system would make you feel more secure?
True story: My mom lives alone and some shady guy was parked in her driveway one day when she came home, claiming her H called for a painting estimate. Uh, no
The police didn't take her seriously, and the alarm system guy's price quote was highway robbery, so she bought an alarm system sign on ebay
The thing was effective because my H went there 2 weeks later to do some work for her and he said he didn't want to go inside because he didn't know the code to her new alarm system
Having a half dozen guns strategically placed throughout your house seems reeeaaalllyy paranoid. Either that or you're criminals who expect bad things to be happening. I just can't imagine living that way.
We aren't criminals. One stays in the drawer of the "mudroom" with our boots and jackets and such so if we go hiking we can take it with us. (on our property. we have had to mercifully put down an opossum that our dog mauled while hiking. We are also in a high coyote/ poisonous snake area and you just never know.) This is also the handgun we grab quickly if we have to investigate strange noises outside.
We each have one in our nightstand. We have a CA king bed and I wouldn't be able to get from one side to the other quickly in a home-invasion situation. This way, either of us could respond quickly.
The final one inside is in the other end of the house since the entry-way and bedrooms are on the same end. Therefore, i should never be trapped in either end of my house without access to a weapon.
We don't ever expect to use any of them. But where we live, the police are 20 to 40 minutes away, there is a huge meth problem, and most criminals have access to guns (sad truth). So I don't think i'm overly paranoid. I'm sorry, but in a seconds-count life-or-death situation, having to unlock your gun in one room and then travel to another room to unlock ammunition is not going to do you any good.
Just a little miffed that I'm either crazy paranoid or a criminal and not a prepared woman who is home alone often in a secluded rural area and keeps tools within practical reach. It's not like I get home everyday and rush to check on each one thinking "Tonight's the night!"
I feel like it equates to saying "If you have more than 2 planned routes out of your home in case of fire, you are just PARANOID or you have METH LAB!"
I have a stupid question though. For the people that keep guns for personal protection but keep them unloaded or in a safe, how is that going to protect you? If someone breaks in are you going to tell them "Hold on. Give me a few minutes to unlock my safe and load my gun."
Post by onomatopoeia on Jan 9, 2013 10:21:53 GMT -5
We have 2 shotguns, a muzzleloader, and a handgun. DH got the handgun after he walked in on a guy robbing our house and used a shotgun to get him to leave. The handgun is up in a fingerprint safe in our bedroom, the others are in a gun safe downstairs. I can't get into either safe...only DH knows the combo.
He uses them for target, hunting, and home defense. He's applying for permission to be able to carry the handgun while he hunts (protection from bears).
When I get my citizenship, I'll be applying for my FID card.
Post by margotmacomber on Jan 9, 2013 10:40:14 GMT -5
So last night we watched a youtube video of a guy going apeshit crazy on Piers Morgan demanded he be deported for trying to ban guns. Funny shit. DH and I were all :-| ;D :-(
I can respect where you're coming from sebd. It almost makes me feel naive, really.
But, living in a relatively low crime area with police nearby and never having been directly threatened before, I haven't felt the need for guns in the house.
Broken down like that, though, I understand taking those precautions
I would like to see a second poll differentiating between gun owners who live in bear-infested areas (hello, Michigan and Colorado probies) and people whose H's (or who themselves) entertain wild John Wayne fantasies. I may be pretty anti-gun, but if I thought firing off a gun was going to scare off a bear and keep my kid from getting mauled, I'd pack heat.
My H has a gun. I'm not really a fan, but it is pretty much a nonissue in our relationship. It is never loaded. It is locked in a safe. The ammo is locked somewhere else. His dad gave him the gun. His dad is pretty rough, but guns are one of the only things that FIL will talk to H about.
The only time H carried a gun on him was when he was a pizza delivery guy. There were a LOT of armed robberies in that time period of local pizza guys. H drove a BMW (his bff owned the shop, so it was just a side job) and was worried that might make him more of a target. The police recommended that if the delivery drivers had a gun and a permit, they might want to consider carrying.
I would ride along with him sometimes. One time kids threw rocks at his car. Another time the kids at the house that called him shot his car with a bb gun. He delivered in mostly suburban neighborhoods. People are weird.
I can respect where you're coming from sebd. It almost makes me feel naive, really.
But, living in a relatively low crime area with police nearby and never having been directly threatened before, I haven't felt the need for guns in the house.
Broken down like that, though, I understand taking those precautions
Thanks, luckyval. I just get offended when people assume the only explanation is I'm either paranoid or a criminal, when, in fact, my situation is just different from theirs.
I try hard not to judge people who are afraid of them, but they were never a novelty for our family. They were tools, and they make me about as nervous as a hammer in a drawer would. I understand not everyone feels/ was raised that way. I don't attack those people's right to own baseball bats or alarm systems. (or both!)
Having a half dozen guns strategically placed throughout your house seems reeeaaalllyy paranoid. Either that or you're criminals who expect bad things to be happening. I just can't imagine living that way.
This is also the handgun we grab quickly if we have to investigate strange noises outside.
Question: If you think there is a strange noise outside, why would you place yourself in a potentially dangerous situation by going out and investigating the noise?
I understand you live in a high crime area but jumping from the frying pan into the fire doesn't seem like the smartest choice.
You're armed. If someone makes a noise outside, so what? If they actually try to get in your house, then you can make a decision about what you're prepared to do to proctect yourself.
Having a half dozen guns strategically placed throughout your house seems reeeaaalllyy paranoid. Either that or you're criminals who expect bad things to be happening. I just can't imagine living that way.
Just a little miffed that I'm either crazy paranoid or a criminal and not a prepared woman who is home alone often in a secluded rural area and keeps tools within practical reach. It's not like I get home everyday and rush to check on each one thinking "Tonight's the night!"
I feel like it equates to saying "If you have more than 2 planned routes out of your home in case of fire, you are just PARANOID or you have METH LAB!"
As I mentioned above, DG walked in on a guy robbing our house in the middle of the day. We live in a very safe area in plain sight of a busy road and I never would have expected it. After it happened, it made me sick to think of how unprepared (physically and mentally) I was to deal with something like that. DH showed great presence of mind, but I really wonder what I would have done...froze? Ran? Fought? What if the kids were with me? I've spent a lot of time since then thinking about different threatening scenarios and what my plan would be in each one, and how to set our house up to accommodate that. I don't feel paranoid, I feel prepared.
I have a stupid question though. For the people that keep guns for personal protection but keep them unloaded or in a safe, how is that going to protect you? If someone breaks in are you going to tell them "Hold on. Give me a few minutes to unlock my safe and load my gun."
This is always my question as well. What the hell good is it going to do you if it's locked away and not loaded?
I want a taser!
We do not harbor the illusion that a gun will protect us from robbers or zombies. The guns we have are for recreational purposes, used mostly for target practice at the range. They're kept in the safe.
This is also the handgun we grab quickly if we have to investigate strange noises outside.
Question: If you think there is a strange noise outside, why would you place yourself in a potentially dangerous situation by going out and investigating the noise?
I understand you live in a high crime area but jumping from the frying pan into the fire doesn't seem like the smartest choice.
You're armed. If someone makes a noise outside, so what? If they actually try to get in your house, then you can make a decision about what you're prepared to do to proctect yourself.
Because I'm also not one to sit in my bed listening to some meth head break into my car, or steal something expensive out of our shop and then burn it down, or do something cruel to our horses, all of which have happened in the area.
In my state, we have Castle Law, which allows me to protect my home and property. I wouldn't necessarily immediately shoot someone trying to steal my car, but I would point a gun at them and let them know that if they threaten me in any way, I will use deadly force.
Ideally, at that point, they leave and I can call the cops with some descriptions and that particular person will NEVER come back to my house.
Like I said, I don't sit around and wait for this situation. I really hope it never happens. But we don't entertain the "it can't happen here" notion.
We don't own guns and never will. If H changes his mind, he'll have to find a different wife.
Exactly this.
I really really wish I hadn't come in here and actually seen how many people own guns. It is absolutely terrifying, and guns are a deal breaker in my home as well.
Also I think it is really sad how judgmental some people are about this issue. No doubt you don't want any guns or won't step into a knowingly armed home, good for you. But don't judge others for living within the law.
I judge the hell out of you for owning a gun. I don't care if it is a law or not.
I judge people all the time for many things they do or own that are lawful. I'm sure people judge me for some of the things I own or do, too. It doesn't bother me.
Personally, I don't get gun ownership for personal protection. I have lived in a rural area in Maine, and I have lived in a not-so-great part of town in Chicago. In both instances, I never felt the compulsion to own a gun. I just have zero interest, and prefer to focus on positive interactions with my fellow citizens rather than protecting myself from them. You may judge me as a Pollyanna; you may be right. That's fine. I am much more happy without a gun in the house than I would be with one in the house.
When I lived in Berkeley, CA, ironically enough I had a roommate with a gun. I didn't fight her on it, but it always made me a little squicky when I remembered she had it.
I was berated for being "judgmental" the other day....
I judge those who see life only through their own eyes and not those of others.
Also I didn't ask to own any gun- it was a gift. I wasn't happy at first but I have learned enough to feel comfortable.
If someone gave me a gun, I'd give it right back, with a "thanks, but no thanks."
There will always be people with an reason to own a gun, but there are no circumstances that I can see owning a gun. There is no meeting in the middle, grey area for me.