School me on home-defense (gun related).

[bugnout]

Opportunity: when shot, the suspect was close enough to their intended victim to inflict great bodily harm, death or injury.

IRRC Dennis Tueller, A utah Policeman demonstrated that someone with a knife or club standing as far as 21 ft away could close that distance in 1.5 seconds. Faster than most of us could draw and fire. Feeling that you or your family is in jeopardy trumps any serious factoring of distance or obstacles. IMHO I'm not going to let them get close enough.

 

[DarinM]

Definitely!! I live in a loft apartment that's a quad. I don't know the people behind me, but I just had a new couple move in next door. Day one I am introducing myself - for really two reasons. One - I play guitar. Please let me know immediately if it ever becomes an issue and I will make sure it never happens again. Two - I am out of town alot of weekends. I will tell you when I'm going to be gone so you'll know if you hear anything that sounds bigger than my two defective cats, it's not me. So please call the police.

So far I have had no complaints about my jam sessions, and my neighbors have all agreed to let me know when they're going to be gone as well. We don't have a lot of crime where I live, although my Jeep has been messed with on several occasions in the parking lot.

It just makes me feel better knowing that my neighbors know who I am and have agreed to keep an eye on the place when I'm not around.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is getting to know your neighbors. My neighbors all look out for each other. My wife is constantly writing down license numbers of strange cars in the street.

 

[ExpoMike]

I go by what my dad tought me years ago, better to judged by 12, then carried by 6.

I grew up around guns my whole life. At 7 years old, I had passed the CA Hunter Safety program, the youngest at the time to ever do so. I was educated about gun safety from a very young age and pass on my knowledge to gun owning friends who I see do something that could potentally cause harm.

My ex-wife was VERY anti-gun/hunting and would not allow any firearms or for me to even go target shooting. Lisa, who has not really been exposed to firearms, has had the willingness to learn and let me tell you, our first day at the range (had her shooting a Ruger .22 pistol) based on her shot grouping, I don't think I would want to cross her. It was very surprising to see how well she did on her first time out. We worked a lot on safety do's and don'ts and I see a future of us enjoying this sport.

I agree with all that education is the key, regardless of your feelings on home defense, loaded/unloaded, type of weapon, etc., etc.

 

[BigAl]

I'm sure the intruder won't wait until you have a chance to open up your safe, unlock the trigger lock, load your ammo and take aim. So what do you do?

I'm such a deep sleeper that an intruder would have shake me awake and give me a cup of coffee, so I don't think it matters much what I would prepare for,... but what about an ankle holster and just sleep with it on all the time? I wouldn't do it, but I slept with soft cast on before, it can't be much different.

 

[kjp1969]

One time I awoke suddenly to what I thought was a burgler coming through my window. I was up and out of bed, across the room, and had my hands around my wife's neck before I recognized her and shut off the adreneline. She had gotten up in the middle of the night to close the window.

At least that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

 

[cnynrat]

Another quick access storage option that allows you to keep a loaded weapon secure is the Titan Gun Vault. Couple things I like about this product are that you can buy additional mounting brackets and easily move the safe from one location to another (primary residence to secondary residence as an example), and they also have an option for storing a second magazine.

 

[Dave Bennett]

Another quick access storage option that allows you to keep a loaded weapon secure is the Titan Gun Vault. Couple things I like about this product are that you can buy additional mounting brackets and easily move the safe from one location to another (primary residence to secondary residence as an example), and they also have an option for storing a second magazine.

Very cool. I wonder what the legality is of that mounted in a vehicle (the whole "it has to be locked in a different compartment thing")

 

[02TahoeMD]

Figured I would weigh in here with a few observations / anecdotes on assorted points in this thread....

I have carried Sig Sauer, Glock, Smith & Wesson, and Kimber semi autos in one capacity or another for going on 17 years now. Never bothered to cycle the magazine springs and the guns have always functioned fine. Of course, they do get unloaded the fun way on a fairly regular basis, and I recognize that bad mags can really ruin someone's day when Mr Murphy pays a visit. If you do question the condition and quality of your mags, then invest the money to replace them...... as a related aside, I did have a Sig P228 spring fail in my gun during one qualification course. Round 7 went down range and the gun died, becoming a paperweight. Then last year I shot over 2K rounds through my Glock 22 during a week's course and afterwards the armorer did a complete tear down discovering several connector pins broken completely in half. The gun never gave any indication of a problem and ran flawlessly. I do love that piece.
.......

I used to keep a "cold" gun next to my bed, nothing in the tube but a full magazine in it. I figured that was a pretty safe way to keep the gun. Then one morning I woke to find I had field stripped the gun and it was sitting in 5 pieces on my bedstand, all done in my sleep. That scared me silly. Now I keep a shotgun nearby in a place I have to be awake to get to. SO, while I think it is essential to have some kind of defensive weapon ready to repel any miscreants, make sure you will be awake when getting it.

.........

Dogs are fabulous deterrents, but criminals can be dumb as a box of hammers. About 8 years ago I was awakened about 0200 by my GSD Ranger barking. Really, thinking nothing of it, I told him to be quiet and went back to sleep. I got up a few hours later for work only to find the screen missing from my kitchen window, which thankfully was locked. No entry was gained, but that kitchen window was next to Ranger's outdoor kennel with a 12" x 18" sign that reads Warning Police K9! Thankfully the CSI tech was able to match a print from the screen (found next door) to a known criminal. He actually tried 7 houses on my street that night, successfully entering 3 with open, unlocked windows, and stealing purses and wallets. The fingerprint from my house helped convict him and send him to jail. My lament - if only I had woken up and listened to my dog! Chasing a burglar with a Police K9 is great fun.

...........

I live in a nice neighborhood and have a marked police vehicle in my driveway, and still someone tried to get in. So, for those of you who still keep your doors and windows unlocked....think again. Seriously. Your safety and security depends upon it. Also, keep your cars locked unless you dont mind contributing your loose change/GPS/stereo to your local crack heads. It always amazes me the incredibly high number of people who still dont secure their cars.....not smart.

................

For those that think they would feel guilty over killing someone in self defense and wont prepare to defend themselves with lethal force, well, that would have to be a "to each their own" view. I certainly dont feel that way, but oh well.

If you do choose to arm yourself, then make certain you have a plan on how to deal with such a situation in your home, and practice, practice, practice. Chance favors the prepared mind - truer words have never been spoken.

 

[cnynrat]

Very cool. I wonder what the legality is of that mounted in a vehicle (the whole "it has to be locked in a different compartment thing")

Not a lawyer, so take this for what it's worth.

Assuming you do not possess a CA CCW permit, in CA the gun would need to be unloaded. If you carried the gun unloaded you could use the accessory magazine compartment to carry a magazine that was readily available as soon as the main vault was opened. IMO you would be OK with that in terms of meeting the requirement to carry the weapon unloaded.

Some are of the opinion that if you mounted one of these in your vehicle it may be considered a "utility compartment", which is one of the places mentioned in the CA law that you are NOT allowed to carry a concealable firearm in a vehicle (the other being the glove compartment).

Bottom line IMO is it's a gray area.

 

[Dave Bennett]

Bottom line IMO is it's a gray area.

No doubt.

 

[preacherman]

I have a German Sheppard and a gun. The gun is locked up unloaded and the German Sheppard sleeps next to the bed. I figure there is little chance of the German Sheppard accidentally going off....but then again there is most likely a smaller chance that the gun would crap in my living room....so I dono what's better...:sombrero:

 

[preacherman]

how was that for my 500th post???

:wings::wings:

 

[Fergie]

I have a GP100 with a 6" barrel on order. It's not for carrying. Just for multiple other uses - plinking, range, maybe hunting?, and home/camp security. I might eventually get a smaller .38sp later on.

Good gun indeed.

Shoot the gun with your self-defense rounds after you become proficient with it. You want to know how to handle it with a hotter load.

You should be able to shoot the .38spl out of the .357 without issue, but check your manual to be sure. I can shoot both rounds in my .357, but not the other way around.

If the .357 is too much, the .38 will be a good round for you.

 

[CoastalDefender]

Never store pistol/rifle magazines loaded for long periods of time. It degrades the springs and they will FAIL you when you need them.

Revolvers are best for long term loaded storage.

.02

Calling CRAP!

Nothing but respect for you man, but I have to correct a common misconception.

Springs degrade with multiple compressions/de-compressions.

You can store a loaded magazine with no more ill-effects than an unloaded magazine.

It's basic physics.


In fact, the most dangerous thing that can happen to a loaded magazine over time is the spreading/failing of the feed/magazine lips over long periods of time.

Load them and store them friends, won't hurt a thing. I don't care what the starches in TRADOC hand down...

 

[ExpoMike]

I have a German Sheppard and a gun. The gun is locked up unloaded and the German Sheppard sleeps next to the bed. I figure there is little chance of the German Sheppard accidentally going off....but then again there is most likely a smaller chance that the gun would crap in my living room....so I dono what's better...:sombrero:

Oh now that is funny!!!! :elkgrin: