Whitedust -- I'm not criticizing you and your methods at all, nor am I saying you haven't done a good job of protecting your family. All I'm saying is, I don't think the methods that have worked well for you would work as well for me.
I live and work in the city. I see close up and personally what our cops have to deal with, as sometimes those same people are our patients. I see what drugs do to people and how much effort it takes to stop or restrain them. And if one of them is in my house, especially with a weapon, ****-bent on harming me, I'd rather have my .45 than a hickory stick because I don't want to be anywhere near them. Of course, my first choice would be to get out and have no confrontation whatsoever. If I have a way out, I'm not about to go hunting the perp down to teach him a lesson.
I'm in pretty good shape, too -- but at 5' 7" and 165 pounds, I don't like my odds against a whacked-out criminal.
Again, maybe it's cultural differences. Maybe some people think I'm paranoid, but I'm not. I don't spend all my waking moments worrying about this stuff, nor do I lose sleep over it. But in the past year, both my neighbors have had their garage broken into or stuff stolen out of their yard (which I know is NOT grounds for using deadly force, and I wouldn't consider it as an option if it were to happen to me), my own garage has been broken into in years past, as has the house back in 1983. So I guess if that makes me paranoid, so be it -- I call it being prepared. How long before the baddies graduate from garages and yards to the house? Hopefully never, or at least, not until I've moved far from here. But if they do and I'm trapped in it, I'm going to make it as unpleasant for them as I can.
I live and work in the city. I see close up and personally what our cops have to deal with, as sometimes those same people are our patients. I see what drugs do to people and how much effort it takes to stop or restrain them. And if one of them is in my house, especially with a weapon, ****-bent on harming me, I'd rather have my .45 than a hickory stick because I don't want to be anywhere near them. Of course, my first choice would be to get out and have no confrontation whatsoever. If I have a way out, I'm not about to go hunting the perp down to teach him a lesson.
I'm in pretty good shape, too -- but at 5' 7" and 165 pounds, I don't like my odds against a whacked-out criminal.
Again, maybe it's cultural differences. Maybe some people think I'm paranoid, but I'm not. I don't spend all my waking moments worrying about this stuff, nor do I lose sleep over it. But in the past year, both my neighbors have had their garage broken into or stuff stolen out of their yard (which I know is NOT grounds for using deadly force, and I wouldn't consider it as an option if it were to happen to me), my own garage has been broken into in years past, as has the house back in 1983. So I guess if that makes me paranoid, so be it -- I call it being prepared. How long before the baddies graduate from garages and yards to the house? Hopefully never, or at least, not until I've moved far from here. But if they do and I'm trapped in it, I'm going to make it as unpleasant for them as I can.
