Posted on 10/04/2013 9:21:23 AM PDT by riri
Yesterday as I was doing some work and surfing Free Republic, I got a knock on the door. I never answer the door when home alone and didn't yesterday.
I didn't think much of it initially as we get a lot of solicitors, Jehovah Witnesses, etc.
The individual kept knocking rather aggressively and ringing the bell. I looked out a side window and saw a car. Because there can sometimes be lawsuits at my husband's company, my immediate thought was that perhaps he was receiving a summons for a court case that needed his testimony. While this has never happened before I know it is a possibility.
So, while unnerved, I just thought it was an overly aggressive summons server. I was getting a little rattled but no much. I live in a very nice, quite area which is predominately Mormon. I generally feel pretty safe here. Especially at 10:30 am.
I was home with my teenage daughter at the time. Normally, my husband works from home, right near the front door with a firearm.
My daughter and I went to look at the car again when we heard an enormous bang--sounded like the whole front of the house caved in.
We locked ourselves in the front room, locked the door and jumped out the front window. We ran down the street and called 9.11. About ten minutes later we could see four young, hispanic(ish) youths making out the door with our computers, etc.
9.11 actually put me on hold for three minutes or so. They were able to catch them though before they made it out of our subdivision because they got lost.
The officer that came by today said it was purely random. They tried a house around the corner and the door didn't give as easily so they moved on.
We were extremely lucky in that we made it out of the house. I was extremely stupid for not assuming the worst and getting to a firearm, at least, and not calling 9/11 the minute any radar went off.
The officers said this is a common tactic and sometimes if you answer they will make up a story and go away. Sometimes they will force their way in.
Just thought I would share this with Freepers, especially you women who might find yourselves at home alone. Be armed, be prepared and be vigilant. Our society is falling apart.
I have taken a class and have gone to the range. I have my own Glock but I just never have gotten to the point where I felt comfortable carrying it around. Or taking it apart, cleaning it, loading it by myself, etc.
And then, honestly with the ammo shortages and just basic being busy my husband stopped riding my butt about it.
It is a priority for me now, as well as getting my kids trained. This is going to get much worse before it ever gets better. I read Ferfal's blog, I read Travis McGee's stuff--logically I know what's coming and what is already partially here. But, as all Americans past a certain age, I have a bit of that more emotional, "Nah, this IS America, it can't happen here" in me.
Might I suggest you watching these, “First Person Defender,” videos made by Gun Talk’s Tom Gresham. They’re pretty good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exU8viinYzA&feature=share&list=PLscB-49EdZcuKOrDogPOGkeTde5OqGTT3
“Wasp spray works better. It won’t blow back in your face and disable you. Also it sticks to whatever it touches and isn’t easy to wipe out of their eyes.”
I have heard very mixed reviews of wasp spray.
You can get pepper spray that is in a sticky form.
http://www.safetygirl.com/pepper-foam.html?gclid=CKLU4Ki5_rkCFZRj7AodwVQAag
The first layer for storm doors and storm windows is Larsons Keep safe glass......
Second inner layer doors, front back and garage to home doors are Master Security Doors.
A handgun, that’s easy to carry while at home. I use either a SW 37 Airweight snub nose in a uncle mikes pocket holster or carry a Glock 35 with a surefire X400 rail light with me from room to room.
Last but not least is a good video surveillance system to record what happens at your property, looking at and away from your home. If ya do not want to spend the couple hundred dollars for such, at least buy the fake video camera covers and place em near each entrance to bluff such a system to even those who can’t read a warning sign.
Stay safe ....
Dear Riri,
Flashmobs beating up folks, never really happened in our past, either.
Old geezers like me getting beat up, ‘just for general purpose’, never really happened, as much as it has today.
When the economy goes south, it always has carried the reality of more crime towards the homes.
It’s good to be aware, owning a firearm (it’s Hi Powers for me), and to get some training and to get acquainted with some of those “Feinstein-labeled-illegal-online-journalists”.
Remember, it is not you, or your family, that are at fault, if and when that day arrives.
It is the thug, that determines the place, the hour, and the means of their madness. In their madness, they have already decided that what you own, is their’s. They have already decided that to acquire ‘what is their’s’, they have to step over you, so violence, to them is a non sequitor.
Since the days of The Cuban Missile Crisis, as a GI brat, in the base elementary school, having a base commander tell you to ‘look at the flash - it won’t be bright but for a moment, I have always watched and seen that, ‘Yes, it can happen here!’
CC
Motion-activated lights and obvious cameras out of reach will make a house much less of a target. Nobody wants to be filmed doing this. Even fake cameras with a simple red LED light will work. You can get solar-powered motion-activated lights that are a snap to install, no wires, no batteries to change. When the bad guys see all of the lights and cameras, suddenly your house lacks appeal.
You can also “accidentally” or “randomly” sprinkle a few empty shotgun shell cases or empty brass pistol or rifle shells on your driveway or by your walk. The bad guys are always “looking for clues at the scene of the crime,” and the idea of a home owner on the other side of the door with a 12 gauge shotgun is something that will turn them around.
At any pet store, you can get a warning sign with a profile of a Doberman or German shepherd to put on your fence or wall. That is another item that will make your house look like it’s one to skip.
And one of my favorites, at any indoor shooting range they will be happy to give you a “shot up” silhouette target from their trash bins. Tape it in a rear window of a room you don’t use much. Light shining through the bullet holes makes a very clear point.
While you are at the shooting range collecting an old shot-up target, explain your purpose and ask for some empty brass. They will be happy to oblige. An empty red 12-guage shell by the side of your walkway will be seen by the bad guys, who will think, “This guy shoots so much, that he dropped an empty here.” They won’t even consider the chance that it’s a bluff. No way. An empty red shotgun shell by your garage door or walkway is like Holy Water to Lucifer. Immediate about-face.
You can also pick up a set of 4 or 6 razor-sharp serrated steak knives for $15 or so. Place them in various rooms in places where you will know where they are, but they are unseen. Practice finding them by feel. On top of books on a shelf, etc. The idea is that you don't need to see them to find them. In the event of a home invasion, the gang's biggest loser/moron will most likely be tasked with guarding the residents. When he turns his back on the "unarmed" victims, grab the knife, and either hide it on your person, or stab him in the back, depending on the situation. It's not the best situation, but it's better than being tied up, raped, murdered etc.
For sure. But even fake cameras, empty shells on the ground, and a dog warning sign (even with no dog) will also work pretty well, and you don’t have to scoop poop. These guys are looking for the easiest target in a neighborhood, and the mere sight of a shotgun shell on the ground will be enough to cause them to try elsewhere.
One person I know turned his doorbell into a warning with a digital recording of a big dog barking plus a shotgun being racked.
It cots me about a dollar a day to feed my alarm system.
Good suggestions all! We don’t have cameras (yet) but have just about everything else you mentioned.
There is something my husband bought at the feed store as a joke but it fooled a couple of people. He bought a huge spiked dog collar and a length of heavy chain. When left laying on our front porch it appears that “Killer” has slipped his collar off and just might be hiding in the bushes behind you. WE have 4 dogs but none like the imaginary “Killer”. LOL!
A pair or two of muddy work boots on the porch might make a home invader go next door too.
I love dogs and wish I could fit a couple of them into my lifestyle, but I can’t at this time. My only point is that a scary Doberman On Guard sign alone will keep bad guys moving down the street. They are not going to shake your fence to see if a Doberman is really there. Along with empty brass on the ground, motion lights, and cameras (even fake ones.)
I love that chain and spiked collar idea! Also the big muddy work boots. Maybe a giant red plaid shirt hanging on a hook on your porch above the boots.
Never thought of the red plaid work shirt, good one!
Layers of protection is what is needed, make the SOB’s go somewhere else.
On the hook with the dirty red plaid work shirt, hang a dirty yellow construction workers hard hat.
You get better and better! :)
2 weeks ago, a very good friend of mine was assaulted in her front yard when she jumped a guy getting ready to break in. This dear friend is the nicest, kindest lady I have ever met. She says she votes Republican but her heart is squishy liberal because she believes that if she is nice to everyone they will be nice to her.
She has a burglar alarm but never uses it because she might set it off by accident. ?????
She has no fence, no gate, no garage doors,no dog, no gun, no pepper spray and until now she thought there was no need to have any of those things.
A black guy jumped up out of her flower bed and socked her in the face and ran. She had gone out for a walk, it was almost dark and she had left her house unlocked.
(I forgot to mention her house is just big windows all the way around, front and back.)
A few minutes later and he would have been in her house when she returned and God only knows what would have happened to her. She sees it as a wake up call, thankfully.
I’d show her this thread for starters. You could even make her a present of some empty shotgun shells, dog chain, boots, Doberman sign etc.
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