When do you let your guard down?

[antoine]

never always be prepaired there are alot of bad guys out

[son of the revolution]

Originally Posted by shadowcat187

never let your gaurd down. relaxed but alert at all times.

this is the exact reason i carry. to protect my family. Ive had to clear the house twice after coming home and the "wind" blew the door open. Both times were false alarms....nothing stolen however at first glance you never know.

When we lived in Florida, in 2004 Central Florida got rocked by multiple hurricanes , one every other week over our house , with power losses of at least 1 week each time. We started going to movies or to other friends houses that hadnt lost power to get into some AC relief for a few hours and break up the monotony. Every time we came home I had my wife stay outside in the truck with the kids while I cleared the house. I must have done at least 15 "clears" over the whole period. The tension was unbelieveable. There werent ever any obvious signs of something wrong ( open doors ,etc ) but after the first hurricane I caught a guy in our back yard at 3AM on "no power day three" trying to steal our generator. Plus the fact that our house faced a wooded area in the back and everytime we came home I couldnt be sure someone hadnt jumped the back fence and broken in unobserved through the back door, so it was better to be safe then sorry.

[granuale]

Originally Posted by ErSwnn

Yes Sir, I would. I may be an idealistic dreamer, I'd prefer to see the answer to our rising crime rate be a reduction in criminals.

First things first, we do not have a rising crime rate. Violent crime is at a 30 year low. You may hear about crime more due to many more outlets for information, but actual crime is down.

Originally Posted by ErSwnn

If looked at more as a matter of attrition a lot of BGs would be eliminated. As such I also recognize there will be losses on both sides...as in any war. And there will be collateral damage. But as it is right now in the real world we are having a one-sided battle. The good guys are being increasingly being violated and the only response is call 911.

Again - the statistics indicate the good guys are DECREASINGLY being violated.

Originally Posted by ErSwnn

BUT, I would like to see that the armed citizen who does shoot a BG, a known BG in the act of a crime, not be so vehemently prosecuted, that some latitude be given towards the fact that people are frustrated that they are being robbed and assualted with such little regard.

Me too.

Originally Posted by ErSwnn

Why shouldn't I shoot the people who had broken into my work van and stole everything I need to make a living? I know the short answer...it's against the law. But forget the law for now, what moral reason do I have to not fire? They were willing to steal my livelihood and all that means for the few dollars it got them, enough for a good night's high. And they did it the night before and the night after in this same area. Then came back a few weeks later and tried for the entire van.

Well, for me the difference between your example and the one in the OP is that there, the theft attempt was aborted, the subjects were unarmed, off his property, 80 feet away, at midnight. Depending on the circumstances I might just support your using deadly force. I think property is sometimes worth killing over. If, for instance a guy is walking down the street with his overdue rent payment and his family will be evicted if he doesn't make it - that to me is worth shooting over. Somebody stealing my dog - definitely gonna shoot there.

Originally Posted by ErSwnn

If your daughter had been the victim of repeated sexual assualt...what would your reaction be?

Let's remember the OP and how they were non-violent property criminals who abandoned the crime and were fleeing. That's a far cry from what you describe here. I would want to kill them of course. I think it's a good idea that people not directly affected by a crime, like the victim's father, determine the punishment. I would have supported the death penalty for the scumbag who stole my car some years ago, but I am vehemently anti death penalty.

Originally Posted by ErSwnn

The justice system is not solving the problems, the police can't solve the problem, the people need to be able to start solving the problem ourselves.

Yeah, when you or someone you care about is victimized this makes sense, but in every society that does operate this way, there are some scary goings on.

[granuale]

Originally Posted by shadowcat187

never let your gaurd down. relaxed but alert at all times.

How do you maintain an alert status whilst sleeping?

[ErSwnn]

Originally Posted by granuale

First things first, we do not have a rising crime rate. Violent crime is at a 30 year low. You may hear about crime more due to many more outlets for information, but actual crime is down.

Of this I can't dispute till I have research statistics, but at this time I am able to take your word for it.

Again - the statistics indicate the good guys are DECREASINGLY being violated.

See above

Me too.
Thank you



Well, for me the difference between your example and the one in the OP is that there, the theft attempt was aborted, the subjects were unarmed, off his property, 80 feet away, at midnight. Depending on the circumstances I might just support your using deadly force. I think property is sometimes worth killing over. If, for instance a guy is walking down the street with his overdue rent payment and his family will be evicted if he doesn't make it - that to me is worth shooting over. Somebody stealing my dog - definitely gonna shoot there.

Some common ground....bully for us!


Let's remember the OP and how they were non-violent property criminals who abandoned the crime and were fleeing. That's a far cry from what you describe here. I would want to kill them of course. I think it's a good idea that people not directly affected by a crime, like the victim's father, determine the punishment. I would have supported the death penalty for the scumbag who stole my car some years ago, but I am vehemently anti death penalty.

Yeah, victimization has a way of riling us up. I am against the death penalty for only one reason, we have executed innocent people, till we can get it right we shouldn't do it.

Yeah, when you or someone you care about is victimized this makes sense, but in every society that does operate this way, there are some scary goings on.

True dat.

I greatly appreiciate your honest debate and lack of insulting language. Neither of us are stupid and have differing reasons as to why we see things as we do. As it turns out we're not that far apart in general.

[nlcrsn]

Originally Posted by granuale

How do you maintain an alert status whilst sleeping?

DOGS, a security system if possible? maybe not alert, but advance notification beats be awakened with someone on top of you...

[gf45acp]

I know that this may sound strange to some, but my mind can tell "normal" sounds from something out of place when I sleep.
When I first moved to my Pa home I was up clearing the house several times a night until I learned the noises of the new place.
I also have alarms on all doors and windows.
As a side note, I can also set an "internal" alarm clock, and wake up when I wish to.

[shadowcat187]

Originally Posted by granuale

How do you maintain an alert status whilst sleeping?

i sleep with one eye open...............lol.

i have a dog. and im also a light sleeper.

[nlcrsn]

I sleep like a dead man. At times I'll wake up and my arm is so numb it hurts when I release the blood flow, except when something moves in the house that shouldnt. I remember when I was a teenager still at home with mom and dad, something exploded at a steel mill about 4-5 miles from us, everyone was talking about how they were awakened last night, not me, never heard a thing.