Backstory:
My neighborhood is in the midst of a transition. A quarter of it is vacant, being rehabilitated and flipped. Another quarter of it is selling for 400K+. Beautiful homes, new construction. The rest is rather dilapidated- the worst part of town if you will - exclusively low income rentals. I live in a house that was recently rehabbed. It was quite affordable and I really like it. I think I got a bargain, but only if the neighborhood continues to improve.
Crime is a problem around here. We had an armed robbery last weekend and I know of several home invasions that have happened on my block in the last 18 months. I keep a loaded AK47 in my bedroom and have been considering a handgun to stash near one of the rear entrances to the house.
Needless to say, I'm a little bit edgy.
What happened
I was on the phone with my girlfriend in the kitchen when I noticed a black male running across my deck which is a full story ABOVE grade. I made this observation through almost completely drawn blinds, only raised enough for my plants to get some sunlight.
Had I had that handgun I've been thinking about getting, I would have immediately taken it out there and something would have happened (that hopefully wouldn't have involved me shooting). However, because I had no nearby weapons and I didn't have shoes on, I hesitated momentarily. In that hesitation, I realized that my prowler was rather young (looking back, I'd have to assume that he was 14?). I got my shoes, got my keys and tore out the door as he was sprinting away. I bellowed at the top of my lungs "WHAT IN THE FVCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING???" several times. I couldn't think of anything else to say.
The kid ran into a house down the alley and in a few seconds I found myself beckoned by people who were obviosuly his parents. First, I got yelled at because Mr. Fvcking fatass (strange that he was white and the kid was black) is apparently the only one allowed to yell at his kid. When I told him what happened, he turned around and backhanded the kid, causing him to fall to his knees crying. Clearly this was some kind of NFL commercial break, because something happened and he immediately ran back inside. His wife tried to tell me that "these kids have always lived here" and implied that they might not be used to people as hair-trigger as I am. The wife was completley shocked when I told her about the recent crime in the area.
I tried talking to the kids after the parents went back inside (leaving me alone with a whole bunch of these kids why?). I tried to explain to them that I'm very hair trigger with everything that has happened around here recently and if they need to speak to me, they need to use my doorbell. They were very intimidated and very hesitant to shake my hand or even talk to me. I had to cajole their names out of them.
I just don't understand what goes through people's minds when they decide to risk it all for something stupid. What if I did have a handgun within arms reach of me when this happened? What if I let myself act out of fear? There would be a dead 14 year old. WHY?
Cliffs:
1) ace is in the kitchen
2) ace is startled by prowler on deck
3) if ace had the handgun he has thought about getting from time to time, things would have gone very differently for said prowler.
4) ace got into confrontation with parents and the parents were stunningly stupid
My neighborhood is in the midst of a transition. A quarter of it is vacant, being rehabilitated and flipped. Another quarter of it is selling for 400K+. Beautiful homes, new construction. The rest is rather dilapidated- the worst part of town if you will - exclusively low income rentals. I live in a house that was recently rehabbed. It was quite affordable and I really like it. I think I got a bargain, but only if the neighborhood continues to improve.
Crime is a problem around here. We had an armed robbery last weekend and I know of several home invasions that have happened on my block in the last 18 months. I keep a loaded AK47 in my bedroom and have been considering a handgun to stash near one of the rear entrances to the house.
Needless to say, I'm a little bit edgy.
What happened
I was on the phone with my girlfriend in the kitchen when I noticed a black male running across my deck which is a full story ABOVE grade. I made this observation through almost completely drawn blinds, only raised enough for my plants to get some sunlight.
Had I had that handgun I've been thinking about getting, I would have immediately taken it out there and something would have happened (that hopefully wouldn't have involved me shooting). However, because I had no nearby weapons and I didn't have shoes on, I hesitated momentarily. In that hesitation, I realized that my prowler was rather young (looking back, I'd have to assume that he was 14?). I got my shoes, got my keys and tore out the door as he was sprinting away. I bellowed at the top of my lungs "WHAT IN THE FVCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING???" several times. I couldn't think of anything else to say.
The kid ran into a house down the alley and in a few seconds I found myself beckoned by people who were obviosuly his parents. First, I got yelled at because Mr. Fvcking fatass (strange that he was white and the kid was black) is apparently the only one allowed to yell at his kid. When I told him what happened, he turned around and backhanded the kid, causing him to fall to his knees crying. Clearly this was some kind of NFL commercial break, because something happened and he immediately ran back inside. His wife tried to tell me that "these kids have always lived here" and implied that they might not be used to people as hair-trigger as I am. The wife was completley shocked when I told her about the recent crime in the area.
I tried talking to the kids after the parents went back inside (leaving me alone with a whole bunch of these kids why?). I tried to explain to them that I'm very hair trigger with everything that has happened around here recently and if they need to speak to me, they need to use my doorbell. They were very intimidated and very hesitant to shake my hand or even talk to me. I had to cajole their names out of them.
I just don't understand what goes through people's minds when they decide to risk it all for something stupid. What if I did have a handgun within arms reach of me when this happened? What if I let myself act out of fear? There would be a dead 14 year old. WHY?
Cliffs:
1) ace is in the kitchen
2) ace is startled by prowler on deck
3) if ace had the handgun he has thought about getting from time to time, things would have gone very differently for said prowler.
4) ace got into confrontation with parents and the parents were stunningly stupid
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