Don't let your guard down

[ivans]

We live on dead end road, very lightly traveled. Only three our four houses past us, most houses separated by a good 600 feet or more with mature woods between us.

This morning my 18 yr old daughter (home alone getting ready for work) is upstairs drying her hair in her bedroom when she looks out the window to see a man in his mid 30's walking through our backyard toward the always open service door to our attached garage right below her window. She looks out the front to see a woman in a SUV parked right next to our front door - 15 feet at most.

She has the presence of mind to run downstairs and lock the only door between her and the intruder. Upon her return to her room she dials 911 which starts a minimum 20 - 30 minute process. The intruder must have heard her stereo which she turned up really loud or our 100 lb. Boxer woke up and made his presence known.

Some confessions:
No gun safe (corrected this afternoon)
Lax lock down procedures at the house (wont happen again)
Alarm service was discontinued when I gave up the land line (fixing that tomorrow)
All guns on the first floor (never again, always will have one upstairs readily accessible).

I was proud of her reaction with the exception of not grabbing a 9 or 45 on the way back upstairs to call 911.

I am very thankful for the days outcome, but things will be different from this point forward at our house. Please keep your guard up.

BTW - she is trained and very capable with a handgun. I will insist that she always get the gun first and then call for help.

The next unwelcome visit will be rather different for this family. I found out later that yesterday the neighbor across the road had a similar experience.

Be vigilant,
Dan

[Barth]

Scary stuff.
I’m fond of saying our best weapon is our mind.
Always being aware, always being alert,
is paramount to being safe.
Bravo to your daughter for her “heads up” action.

Good luck and be safe (that means ready).

[TucsonMTB]

We are not so isolated as you, so 911 response is certainly less than 5 minutes, but there is a small safe in each bedroom with a couple of ready to use noisemakers as a compliment to the larger, less conveniently located, main safe. We always lock the little guys when away, but not when we are home.

Some of the more cautious folks would suggest that you carry in your home, and I usually do, but my wife does not. However, she can grab something from the safe pretty quickly and is a better shot than I am. Her CCW instructor insisted on practicing a drill with a double tap to COM followed by groin shots. :eek:

Your cautionary tale with a good ending is a great reminder. Thank you for sharing! :)

[JimBianchi]

Glad everyone is safe.

Has the economy tanks again, the crazies will be out in force, hungrier than ever.

Stay vigilant.

[Dietrich]

The response time where I live is about the same as yours.I hope you have a better sherrif`s dept. than we have.I`m glad you and your family escaped with just a scare instead of something worse.Sounds like you are taking some good preventive steps. Stay safe.

[johnh]

I have a cousin that lives in a fairly remote farm. They were robbed repeatedly last year. Just when insurance came through and they replaced their stuff, boom it happened again. So being in the country is no guarantee these days of safety. Whoever did it must have been watching the place from some hidden location, and hitting it as soon as they left for work. Personally I thought a different sort of stakeout was in order... ;)

[wdg]

Jim's on the money.... as the economy worsens... robberies, break-ins ...etc go UP! it is a historical FACT! So, disregard the manipulated statistics and be vigilant! AWARENESS goes a long way.

[knkali]

glad your daughter is OK

[recoilguy]

Your daughter is a smart girl and did very well. It is good that the lessins learned were not also learned at the expense of some loss. Your daughter did good!

RCG

[Denny M]

WOW, what a story. I am sure I speak for all of us. Thank God everyone is OK. Another reminder, as if we needed another one, that the world is full of bad guys and we must take the responsibility to protect ourselves and our families. Waiting/hoping the police will get there in time is not worth the risk of injury. The COPS can only do so much. Now with the politicians cutting the police forces and firefighters to score political points because of budget cuts it is even worse.

[garyb]

Your situation rings out loud and clear in my home too. A few months ago, my wife had a threatening experience while out walking for exercise on one of our desolate country roads, from a guy in a pick-up truck. It scared her to tears and she refused to walk for several weeks. After numerous lengthy and heated discussions with me to convince her of what needed to be done; months of training and preparation with gun handling programs, CCW courses, etc...; she is a new person. While she waits for her carry permit, we keep training with her S&W Bodyguard380, which is awaiting her. She has become very comfortable and proficient with it, thanks to those who helped train her and for her willingness to expand in the shooting sports.

Life is a very fragile thing to cherish and often times with a very fine line between safety and disaster. We just made that line a little wider for her and we both feel better about her new state of preparedness. She is a 3X State Muzzleloading Rifle Champion and now is ready to go with a handgun. It was an easy transition for her to make once she got over her state of fear. She merely lacks the CCW document, which hopefully will be issued soon. For the time being, I'll walk with her. However, she is ready for that to change so she can get back to her routine. It is a shame that she was forced to go through that threatening experience which scared her so much that she felt the need to change her routines. But the thin line was in her favor and now she feels more empowered, less fearful of being threatened and more aware of her surroundings. I am proud of her and thank God for watching over her.

[OldLincoln]

Yup, they're back. Our country subdivision sits a against a large orchard with a dirt roadway along the fence line. Several houses sitting against the roadway have been hit over the years, with the last one about a week ago. We do lock the doors and set the alarm at night and whenever leaving - and I carry at home. Sad that the good guys have to lock themselves up while the bad guys roam free.

[ivans]

Thanks everyone,

My wife and I had just taken the CCW class and were lackadaisically in the process of finishing the application. We took that process seriously yesterday afternoon, fingerprints are done and we just wait for the permits to arrive now.

WE have agreed that another gun is needed to be in the house readily available to a person possibly trapped on the second floor. I'm going to get that this afternoon along with a safe just for it. New locks were installed on the doors last night, I'm researching cellular based alarm systems now - anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks everyone for the well wishes and yes I am very proud of the way my daughter reacted!

Dan

[Willieboy]

I'm glad your daughter is okay. The world keeps getting uglier and uglier I'm afraid.


but there is a small safe in each bedroom


That's a great idea MTB.

I feel silly doing so, but increasingly I do carry a pistol around the house. I know I won't feel silly if it's ever needed.

[knkali]

Thanks everyone,

My wife and I had just taken the CCW class and were lackadaisically in the process of finishing the application. We took that process seriously yesterday afternoon, fingerprints are done and we just wait for the permits to arrive now.

WE have agreed that another gun is needed to be in the house readily available to a person possibly trapped on the second floor. I'm going to get that this afternoon along with a safe just for it. New locks were installed on the doors last night, I'm researching cellular based alarm systems now - anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks everyone for the well wishes and yes I am very proud of the way my daughter reacted!

Dan

Dan,
Any firearm that is used is the best for home protection but IMHO a shotgun is the best home defense solution. The sound of that slide is hard wired into our DNA like that of the rattle of a rattlesnake. Point and pull and wont go through three walls. Please do not forget about safe words with more than one person in the home and esp with more than one gun. Did not mean to hijack thread

[TucsonMTB]

That's a great idea MTB.

I feel silly doing so, but increasingly I do carry a pistol around the house. I know I won't feel silly if it's ever needed.
Thanks for the kind words! Having a safe at hand when dressing and undressing does make life easier. :)

We live on the polite side of Tucson. So, I understand your feelings about carrying while at home. But, pocket-sized pistols make it so easy that it has become pretty much natural.

[jdavis]

For a wireless alarm check out the GE Simon with broadband communicator.
It connects to your cable modem and the signal to your monitor is much faster than telephone. Adding broadband or cellular communicator units to a control console can be expensive. These components are available from on-line suppliers but you can often find a deal on these on Ebay. They work well and are simple to install yourself.




Thanks everyone,

My wife and I had just taken the CCW class and were lackadaisically in the process of finishing the application. We took that process seriously yesterday afternoon, fingerprints are done and we just wait for the permits to arrive now.

WE have agreed that another gun is needed to be in the house readily available to a person possibly trapped on the second floor. I'm going to get that this afternoon along with a safe just for it. New locks were installed on the doors last night, I'm researching cellular based alarm systems now - anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks everyone for the well wishes and yes I am very proud of the way my daughter reacted!

Dan

[ivans]

For a wireless alarm check out the GE Simon with broadband communicator.
It connects to your cable modem and the signal to your monitor is much faster than telephone. Adding broadband or cellular communicator units to a control console can be expensive. These components are available from on-line suppliers but you can often find a deal on these on Ebay. They work well and are simple to install yourself.

jdavis,
hanks very much for the input on the alarm system. I guess I should have mentioned that I don't have a land telephone line or cable. I'm so far in the boonies that we don't have cable or DSL as a choice. We have satellite TV and use our Android phones for all phone and internet connectivity.

I have been researching this today and have found a module I can add to my existing GE Networx 8 alarm that is GSM cellular capable. I can get monitoring and interactive control of the alarm from PC or Android phone for $25 month. Seems pretty reasonable given I was paying close to that when I had POTS alarm monitoring.

Also added a Ruger 1911 as a upstairs gun last night :D

[deadhead1971]

I don't have any exciting stories to tell, but I have been caught completely off-guard 4 times within the last 2 years. I am very alert and aware but I was totally caught by surprise. All 4 times I was armed with the PM9. One time I was outside our home in my yard, and three times I was inside our 2-car garage. I carry all the time when I am outside.

1st time: I had my back to the road pruning bushes with an electric hedge cutter when all of a sudden I was surprised by a salesman/peddler right up on me. The road is about 75 feet from where I was. The sales guy crossed that much linear footage undetected because I was facing the opposite direction and the cutter was loud.

2nd time: I was inside my garage, when all of a sudden, another sales guy about 50 yards away yells at me to see if I want to buy some furniture.

3rd time: Me and my 5-year old daughter were in our 2-car garage. We had 2 cars in there so we were sandwiched in between them when all of a sudden a loose pitbull dog came to the edge of the garage and barked at us. We were trapped in between the cars. The dog was at the line of the garage door. I had no idea where this dog came from and had never seen it in the neighborhood. The dog was a few inches from crossing the line to be shot. Pitbulls are dangerous animals. The dog barked and growled and ran off and chased another pitbull dog that was running loose down the road.

4th time: Now get this. As in the above cases, I was armed with the PM9. But in this case, I was in my garage all the way inside to the rear opposite the entrance cleaning my Kimber Ultra Raptor. At this point I was cleaning the inside of a magazine when all of a sudden another sales guy appears at the edge of my garage entrance--which is about 75 to 80 feet from the road. I was not happy about this since I was completely in an enclosed area which is not visible from the road because our driveway is "L" shaped. I had my .45 Kimber in my hands as I was busy. The guy saw it and did not seem phased by it. He left after I said I was not interested.

So, nothing really exciting here but it reinforces the need to carry outside on your own property.

I also ordered me a few of these for the yard: http://www.readytodefend.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=41

[Bawanna]

I like those signs alot, my only concern is it advertises you have the means to carry through which might attract miscreants such as visited O'Dell.

While I don't much care for surprises (usually, some are nice) I'd really like to surprise a miscreant in the act of his evil deeds. Not that I look forward to blowing him out of his Nike's but if he's aprehended and needs a clean pair of skivvey's that would give me the warm fuzzies for sure.

[jocko]

I am kinda bad about some of that stuff. I have a NRA life member sticker on my front door of my home and a sticker that says GUN OWNERSHIP- IS NOT A CRIME. both probably should be not on my front door, as it is defiitely advertisement to a BG or rambo cop that this home is armed. I have thought about it numerous times to peel them off, as I don't like signs --normally.

some of this fourms posts have made me more aware..

[Bawanna]

It's kind of the same with a car, not to be confused with a Kahr. NRA stickers and stuff kind of advertise stuff that while we might be proud to be a part of we don't want everyone to know about.

Get into a road rage incident and it might escalate or have a negative impact on creating a harmonious outcome if you get the flow of my leaky faucet.

[ivans]

I'm kind of on the fence on the sign thing. I don't want to advertise that there are weapons in the house. This is Tennessee and I'm in the country - any idiot is going to know that there is about a 97% chance there is gun of some type in every rural home here.

Anyone within ear shot of my house knows we have guns of multiple caliber, they can hear us shoot in the backyard nearly every weekend. Each of those guns makes a distinct sound, pretty easy to figure out we have multiples. That fact alone has prompted me to get the large gun safe.

That being said, I would like the BG to be forewarned how big of chance he's taking coming onto my property or into my home uninvited. I would hope that deters him from making us make the inevitable decision we will have to make. Let him go somewhere else, hopefully where no one is home and the only damage is material and not life threatening.

BTW, the daughter approves of the .45 cal 1911 I brought home last night for the upstairs gun. She said if they look in that big barrel and don't back away then they deserve what they get.

[Bawanna]

Good for your daughter.

[jocko]

i JUST PEELED THE FOKKERS OFF THE FRONT DOOR!!

Maybe all my harley signs and the 5X7 American flag that flys 24/7 off my garage door might be a warning to not tread on me.

[jocko]

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Someone called 911 Tuesday afternoon and reported a shooting outside Bass Pro Shops in Bricktown. Sgt. Jennifer Wardlow with the Oklahoma City Police Dept. says, "When they got there, they did find a man that had apparently had a self-inflicted gunshot wound that was there in a vehicle in a parking lot."

The man's injuries were not life threatening.

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He had shot himself in the pinkie finger and the leg.

Officers are calling the shooting an accident.

We're told the man had just bought a new holster and was testing it out when the gun went off.

Officers say this situation is a good reminder to be careful.

Sgt. Wardlow says, "Especially with firearms, we would encourage people to be safe. Practice your safety precautions. This is just a prime example of what can happen. Accidents can happen

[TucsonMTB]

Also added a Ruger 1911 as a upstairs gun last night :D
Well, hey, if you "need" to buy a pistol it might as well be the latest darling of the 1911 enthusiast's crowd, of which I might be a member. ;)

Unless everyone in the family has been shooting 1911's regularly, some practice to get accustomed to the transition from the safe "cocked and locked" mode to the "smile, wait for flash" mode is probably in order.

I remember our first few months (long ago) with 1911's at the range. We didn't bother with the thumb safety because we had more experience with double action pistols. It took a while to develop the instinct to flick the safety on and off. I think we've got it now. :D

Anyway . . . it sounds like you have taken good advantage of the need, making it into a nice opportunity. Congratulations!

[MikeyKahr]

How many salespeople you got hanging out there in NC, deadhead1971? That's more salespeople than have ventured to my abode in the last five years!! Maybe they just got the message that this house isn't buying much of anything these days - excepts ammo! :israel:


I don't have any exciting stories to tell, but I have been caught completely off-guard 4 times within the last 2 years. I am very alert and aware but I was totally caught by surprise. All 4 times I was armed with the PM9. One time I was outside our home in my yard, and three times I was inside our 2-car garage. I carry all the time when I am outside.

1st time: I had my back to the road pruning bushes with an electric hedge cutter when all of a sudden I was surprised by a salesman/peddler right up on me. The road is about 75 feet from where I was. The sales guy crossed that much linear footage undetected because I was facing the opposite direction and the cutter was loud.

2nd time: I was inside my garage, when all of a sudden, another sales guy about 50 yards away yells at me to see if I want to buy some furniture.

3rd time: Me and my 5-year old daughter were in our 2-car garage. We had 2 cars in there so we were sandwiched in between them when all of a sudden a loose pitbull dog came to the edge of the garage and barked at us. We were trapped in between the cars. The dog was at the line of the garage door. I had no idea where this dog came from and had never seen it in the neighborhood. The dog was a few inches from crossing the line to be shot. Pitbulls are dangerous animals. The dog barked and growled and ran off and chased another pitbull dog that was running loose down the road.

4th time: Now get this. As in the above cases, I was armed with the PM9. But in this case, I was in my garage all the way inside to the rear opposite the entrance cleaning my Kimber Ultra Raptor. At this point I was cleaning the inside of a magazine when all of a sudden another sales guy appears at the edge of my garage entrance--which is about 75 to 80 feet from the road. I was not happy about this since I was completely in an enclosed area which is not visible from the road because our driveway is "L" shaped. I had my .45 Kimber in my hands as I was busy. The guy saw it and did not seem phased by it. He left after I said I was not interested.

So, nothing really exciting here but it reinforces the need to carry outside on your own property.

I also ordered me a few of these for the yard: http://www.readytodefend.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=41