Everyone has different perceptions and perspectives which to them make sense and likely more than not apply to their situation. In light of a future which IMO is likely more violent whether spontaneous or planned I was wondering what those are? Someone who worked in home security said that the best protection in the home is a good door and an alarm. Others have some means of defense while at home, some do not.
Being on the street is another matter as no door or alarm is useful in a situation where there's a conflict or potential one.
Naturally where one lives makes a difference. Living in a area where walking out your door is significantly more dangerous than in another one is a factor so I ask you take all modifying identifiable variables that might impact you be taken into consideration as well. In the future it may be political terrorism or other violence. Is that a potential concern?
Please note this is NOT a pro nor anti gun thread. Make your own like the many others out there. Discussions about one's means are the point. If you carry, that's fine. If you don't, then that's fine too. This is neither for support nor condemnation of one's means or opinions on defense, it's an opportunity to express YOUR PERSONAL TAKE FOR YOURSELF and that is to prevent the immediate deterioration into the usual shitshow.
Thanks for adhering to the spirit of the thread.
Over the years, I've given thought to this.
I have a limited experience with firearms going back to the time I was 14 years old with a Mossberg semi-auto .22 LR target rifle. It was good for hunting jackrabbits and squirrels. Since I was 20, I haven't felt a need for a firearm. In those days, I don't think that type of weapon required registration of any kind. I think that during my early adolescence, I needed my grandmother's presence to purchase cartridges. We regularly went to a local rifle-range in the foothills to practice.
We live in a gated community in which several townhome condominiums are in an association that includes a few roomy $700,000 homes at the top of the hill, included in the original developer's plan.
The gate down at the entrance makes it difficult for unauthorized intruders to get a truck or van into the development that would accommodate the proceeds of home invasion and burglary.
About five or ten years ago, I asked a friend -- retired San Bernardino police detective -- if he thought I should get an AR-15 for home protection. He advised against it, noting that a stray round could go across the street and penetrate a neighbor's house, perhaps putting the neighbor's life at risk. And he told me that a pump-action shot-gun would serve much better: anyone who hears you rack that sucker would already be running out the door and off the property by the time you pulled the trigger.
But it is an investment I just haven't bothered to make yet.
There was a time when this was an Air Force town, and I could remember the deafening roar of two B-47s at low altitude during the Missile Crisis. People left their windows open at night during certain times of a season, protected only by a window screen.
Then, something happened just short of the mid-1980s. Richard Ramirez, "The Night Stalker". If there has been a decline in Satanism since then -- Ramirez's greatest devotion -- there was no end to people equipping their homes with solid steel fortified screen doors as opposed to the flimsy aluminum variety commonly installed in homes. They "did" their doors and they "did" their windows.
I was living in the Washington DC area at the time, but my brother began collecting firearms -- offering me the pleasure and opportunity to fire a .458 Magnum Weatherby bolt-action "dangerous game" rifle -- otherwise called an "Elephant gun", which has drawn my attention several times when I think of a civil war with Republicans. Those cartridges were half the size of a standard hand grenade. I put clean holes through half-inch-thick sheet steel at maybe 200 yards -- the type of steel plate I saw used to cover holes in the streets during the DC Metro subway construction.
And -- if I said it was a pleasure to pop off several rounds with that Weatherby, I offer the caveat that I would never, ever, never, never again do it without a well-cushioned shoulder pad. The sharp pain left by that afternoon on the firing range didn't go a way for more than a month.
So now, people have fortified their single-family homes and armed themselves to the teeth. Or -- they move to gated town-home condominium communities.
However. Not inspired by either Anti-Fa or Charlottesville Nazis who'd arrived there from everywhere else, I keep dreaming up inflammatory bumper stickers and "rear-door posters" for my beloved 95 Trooper. One day, I was down at the Big Five sporting goods store, and followed my curiosity to see if they still sold a good solid oak Louisville Slugger. (See, with those bumper posters, I would imagine scenarios where someone attempted to damage my car or damage me, giving me the opportunity to refresh my adolescent skills for the grand-slam line-drive down centerfield.)
So I bought a Louisville Slugger and put it in my Trooper. Maybe I'll bring it indoors and put it in the foyer corner. Either way, it is a lovely thing, heavy enough with perfect balance. Before I joined Little League, I had experiences with an axe chopping down orange trees. I just have a knack for that sort of thing, even now.
And, sure -- I like to make macabre jokes with Anthony Hopkins' script-lines from the Hannibal films -- with a nice Chi-aunti -- Thpp, Thpp, Thpp, Thpp!
But I'm a peace-loving guy who just loves his pulled-pork chile verde and porterhouse steaks -- nothing more. I could go on and hold forth about my genuine Marine Corps machete -- also a lovely piece of work. I suppose I should think of a more strategic place to keep it in the house . . . or in the car . . .
Facebook
Twitter