rifle vs unholstered handgun for checking out trespass situation

[Emptymag]

I wasn't confronting "illegal dumpers" but I went out on my back deck to check my yard for potential suspects of a police chase (heard it on the scanner) and I took my AR pistol and a big fucking light out with me.
Didn't really give a fuck what some criminal may have thought about it. Don't really give a fuck what anyone here thinks about it. LOL! Every situation is different - do what you need to do.

I DID care what the cops may think (cuz I didn't wanna get shot) and when one came back my driveway on foot with a flashlight to peek into the back, I slipped the AR out of sight and gave a low key "How you doing?" so I didn't startle him.

As far as confronting illegal dumpers, that's rolling the dice - you really have no idea how they will react.

Someone here once told of a place (salvage yard?) that was being routinely broken into and when confronted by the armed owner/employee (I forget), the thieves just laughed in his face and dared him to shoot them as they made their way out.
Not everyone is scared of having a gun pointed at them, and some are willing to take that gun and shove it up your ass if they sense hesitation on your part.

[ItchyTick]

Post the property, set up trail cams, let police handle it. Then report them to epa or depa for the tire disposal, take the to court.

Weapons are bad idea.

[RockIsland]

Burmese tiger pit with pungi sticks, dipped in golden poison frog venom.

[forby]

Agreed. But I don't think that anybody said that a rifle was the wrong choice. I know that I didn't.

But a rifle/shotgun sends a different message than does a holstered pistol or a pistol held in your hand, just as it does when people OC publicly. Me walking over to my mailbox with a holstered pistol on my hip with a row of cop cars down my street is handled one way. Me walking to my mailbox with an AR at low ready is going to be viewed in a much different manner. Both are lawful. One just has more potential to get complicated. Depending on where this occurs, I could make an argument that a lone woman in the sticks would be better served to approach the situation carrying a long arm under the right circumstances. The trouble is, you never know what's in the box until you get the lid off of it.

This was my thought exactly.......

I'm even thinking about a lever action. Looks innocent enough to the informed but still looks authoritarian to the bad guy.

[forby]

I really appreciate all the employs to this thread....

I really feel that the holstered weapon along with a good light in hand is the best way to go. The problem is that not all woman wear jeans with a strong belt around the house. In the summer, she is barely dressed in a string tee and slip on cotton lounging shorts. Winter is a bit different, but she only wears jeans for going out wear. I would need to get her a quick donning holster of some type. Maybe it's time to go to the invention room and build one.

I'm thinking a velcro belt with attached holster. grab, wrap and go. Maybe even a flashlight and cell phone pouch.

[stainless]

Shoulder holster. Easy on, easy off.

[ViperGTS19801]

Man, this is where your level of preparedness really dictates your options, and helps you to predict outcomes a bit better.

For instance, do you have surveillance cameras set up? Inside and outside? With live video/audio streaming to your phone on your bedside table on command, and stone-cold proof of what happened after the fact, not only can you create deterrent with visible cameras, but insurance against fraud later on. Cameras can be beaten, of course, but it's one more thing.

Do you have a dog? Man's Best Friend has this uncanny instinct to let you know when someone who isn't you is in the house. Cat's don't give a fuck, but dogs know where you sleep, and when they hear someone who isn't you downstairs, when they KNOW you're in bed, they'll usually let you know early on.

Do you know how to clear your house properly, and how to turn a corner without making yourself a great big target? Maybe that's going too deep into tacticoolness, like having mirrors in specific places and overhead lighting positioned to blind and intruder, that's fine, you do you. It might help, though.

I will use a rifle to protect my home if it's what I deem the proper tool with which to do so. You have to make that decision on your own, but as long as you don't run afoul of the law or over-react in an unreasonable fashion...you should be fine.

[Parrisk]

...Do you have a dog? Man's Best Friend has this uncanny instinct to let you know when someone who isn't you is in the house. Cat's don't give a fuck, but dogs know where you sleep, and when they hear someone who isn't you downstairs, when they KNOW you're in bed, they'll usually let you know early on....

Yeah like at 3:30am when some animal moves through the back yard and our lab leaps up and barks the meanest deepest bark I have ever heard..
I am not sure what was more freaked out, me, my wife or the animal (most likely deer) that went bust up through the brush.

[ViperGTS19801]

Yeah but it proves my point, dunnit!

I woke up once to the sound of someone going through my kitchen cabinets - the dog was the one who alerted me to it. Damn near blasted my cat to smithereens when I discovered she was playing under the sink.

[Statkowski]

Yeah but it proves my point, dunnit!

I woke up once to the sound of someone going through my kitchen cabinets - the dog was the one who alerted me to it. Damn near blasted my cat to smithereens when I discovered she was playing under the sink.

Cats are a trip. Mine discovered the cabinet under the kitchen counter that held all the dishrags and dish towels. Removed the offending ones onto the floor, curled up on what he'd left in there. You couldn't be mad or anything, it was just a cat being a cat. And then he'd curl up with me at night (but not with my wife), and all would be forgiven.