Gun

[Casey_03]

I'm not sure if this is the proper category for this post, but feel free to move it if it isn't.

Long story short: I am considering getting a gun to keep in my home. Locked up in a safe and unloaded.

There have been a lot of home invasions and other crimes in suburbs near my home, and to be honest, I'm always terrified of someone breaking in. And that has only been intensified now that i have a child, considering I live alone.

At the same time, though, I really hate guns. And I'm aware that keeping one in my home is also introducing a deadly weapon into a situation where it may not even be necessary and end up just escalating things/giving a weapon to a potential attacker.

I also have bad associations because I've known quite a few people who killed themselves using guns.

I know I would never do anything like that, but still, guns generally freak me out.

Though I think a potential home invasion by a deranged person/rapist/overall bad person would freak me out more if I didn't have some form of self-defense.

What are other people's thoughts on this? I'm really weighing my options right now.

I don't think pepper spray or other weapons are really sufficient, especially not ones that would require me to get in close contact with a potential attacker.

 

[anthony]

There have been a lot of home invasions and other crimes in suburbs near my home, and to be honest, I'm always terrified of someone breaking in.

Revert to your first statement, locked up in a safe, unloaded. If someone is in your home, its too late for your gun in the safe, more often than not.

Second point... do a search on statistics for this scenario, and said guns are then often used against said home occupiers.

You want to feel safe in your home, install a good security system that has a visual and auditory alert in your bedroom and lounge, the two places people typically reside the most in their home. Then an action plan, if not attend hand to hand combat courses so you can escape your home if needed.

A gun is not a safety net. It's bringing a weapon to a likely experienced criminal who knows how to handle themselves.

 

[Casey_03]

A gun is not a safety net. It's bringing a weapon to a likely experienced criminal who knows how to handle themselves.

I actually agree with you on this, which is why I feel so torn.

But I can't afford a home security system and hand-to-hand combat seems really unpractical. (I've spent a good decade training in various martial arts, and realistically I know if I came up against someone who was armed I probably wouldn't be able to disarm them. Training is one thing, real-life situations quite another)


I guess I'm torn because I grew up around guns. I'm familiar with them, even though I don't like them.

 

[anthony]

I know if I came up against someone who was armed I probably wouldn't be able to disarm them

From a combat veteran... you don't bring a knife to a gun fight. If they have a gun, you jump out the window and run, that simple. If you aren't trained well for using a gun, its just a weapon to be used against you / someone else gets hurt when bullets start travelling through walls, windows, so forth.

The movies are just that... the movies. Real life getting close enough to someone with a gun to disarm them... a different story. Hence why a person has a gun typically... its a distance weapon.

Shooting at targets is one thing, shooting at a person an entirely different set of training. Let alone the moving aspect of both parties.

 

[Panda Bear]

Last spring, I found myself standing in my bedroom, holding my husbands hand gun. After an incredibly dark phase, there I was.....holding his loaded gun in my hands. It felt safe and like a good idea, the kill my self.

This is coming from someone who whitenessed the suicide of her father.

Home safety aside...he is trained etc. I agree, a gun will not afford you the safety you're looking for. In fact, it's probably a bad idea....ptsd isn't know for being predictable :unsure:

My husbands guns are now locked up in a garage safe, that I don't have access too....

 

[Casey_03]

If you aren't trained well for using a gun, its just a weapon to be used against you / someone else gets hurt when bullets start travelling through walls, windows, so forth.

To be honest, the more I think about it, the more I think it would actually be more of a comfort thing for me. Because in reality, even if someone did break in to my house, I don't think I would go for the gun -- exactly for the reasons you've stated, because I'd be worried about it being used against me or something going wrong.

I am, however, trained to use a gun and definitely am not experiencing any Hollywood movie illusions. My thinking was that, in a worst case scenario, if there is no way to run from the house, at least there'd be a gun in the safe. Because I'd rather have a distance weapon than, say, a knife, or bat, or even pepper spray. And I certainly wouldn't place my bets on being able to defend myself against an intruder up close.

It may be because I was raised by a gun nut who actually did use a gun to defend us on multiple occasions. And in those instances, it actually was necessary and did save us.

But, as I said, I think it's more a comfort thing for me than anything else, and I definitely don't have fantasies about myself saving the day.

Alternatively, I could get an attack dog. Which would be preferable for me, but also expensive and time-consuming. In short, I will consider all my options.

 

[Freedomfighter]

I'm not sure if this is the proper category for this post, but feel free to move it if it isn't.

Lon...

Have thought about that too, not necessarily opposed to that thought, because there are a lot of sick people out there. However to be effective with such a weapon one has to train with it, has the responsibility to learn proper handling which Iam not prepared to do. We had a nut job in our apartment complex who shot a gun through walls, not experienced, can kill innocent people. I have thought that a powerful BB gun is a weapon that might be painful enough to deter someone. Those are quite powerful and pretty damn damaging at close range too.

 

[joeylittle]

But, as I said, I think it's more a comfort thing for me than anything else, and I definitely don't have fantasies about myself saving the day.

The thing to be wary of, with a break-in, is being made to unlock the gun safe - if someone were to break in with more than just home invasion/robbery in their intent.

A baseball bat is significantly easier to keep at hand, and will help you maintain distance from knives, other clubs. As has been said - if there's a gun in the room, you are safer complying.

Also, an air horn - Link Removed - can be very effective for stunning, disorienting, alerting, and generally creating an environment most people want to run away from. An airhorn and a bright halogen light (work light, of this variety), pointed at the entrances to the room (keep yourself behind them), set on one switch...dirt cheap alarm system.

A skilled intruder with malicious intent against you, will be where they want to be before you are aware. I'm not saying this to make you feel badly - just to keep things in perspective. And this kind of perpetrator is the least likely. More likely is someone looking to break and enter for goods. If they are good, you may not know they came and went - but if you do discover them, their goal is to get out, especially in something that is startling, as an alarm is. If they are reckless, they will also be likely to run - and if they don't, you don't want them getting your gun. You want to be a threat and maintain distance. Pepper spray is not altogether a bad backup, either.

I grew up with guns, and know what you are talking about, with the sense of power that comes along with them. But in practical terms, they aren't ideal. They aren't good to have around if you are at all prone to suicidal thinking - even if you think, from a clear-headed place, that you'd never truly go that far. They are not great to have around kids, no matter how diligent you are. And they aren't great to have in environments where people you co-habitate with might be looking to score quick drugs; they have solid street value. if I remember right, you've got a living situation with someone who has friends who like to smoke pot...

Just my thoughts - take them or leave them.

 

[Casey_03]

@joeylittle Those are all good points. The type of person I'd be most worried about -- a violent psychopath looking to cause harm -- would be most likely to make me open the safe, or perhaps have a gun of his own. So you're right about that, for sure.

I've been through several home invasions, and it was always someone looking to steal stuff. Though i guess I am freaked out by the idea of someone who might just be looking to steal stuff but is also dangerous due to drugs/alcohol.

I am really thinking ahead and don't have any immediate plans to buy a gun -- definitely not. I will be moving out and living in an apartment on my own in the next few months, and i don't really know yet whether the neighborhood I'll be in will be safe. Which I guess is also part of the reason I'm thinking about this. Currently, I live in a safe area and know all the neighbors. But once I move, who knows what the conditions will be like, or what kind of weirdo neighbors might be living with me in the apartment building.

I guess the best idea would be to have a well thought out plan in place in case of a home invasion -- a series of moves and a variety of weapons (excluding a gun for now).

 

[Friday]

A firearm locked in a safe is about as effective during a home invasion as a pearl necklace locked in a safe. And as much -if not more- of a target for thieves.

***

Alternatively, I could get an attack dog. Which would be preferable for me, but also expensive and time-consuming. In short, I will consider all my options

As far as expensive & time consuming?

A super cheap 9mm Glock is about $500.
A box of 50 rounds of ammo $15-$20

Bare minimum 2 boxes of ammo (100 rounds) a week to keep your skills up, if you can already shoot = $150 per month. Ideally at least twice that.

Serious training to acquire skills is more like 1,000 rounds a week. If not 2-3x that. But that means you will buy ammo by the case, 1000 rounds, for about $220, which saves a lot, but is still a significant cost. Times 5, at a minimum. So a little over $1,000 a month. Just for ammunition. Not counting range fees, lane fees, club fees, licensing, & instruction. All of that can be gotten for roughly $500-$1000 per anum. But it's paid up front.

So you're looking at a minimum outlay of about 2k, assuming you're already a decent shot, 3k-4k if you're not, and at least 1-2 days a week at the range.

***

If that's the kind of money you're looking at spending? A Service Dog just seems more useful. I know you said attack dog, but any dog is a deterrent to thieves, and this way you would get ongoing benefit day in and day out. Just thinking that the PTSD is probably more of an issue to your ongoing sense of security than burglers.

 

[Casey_03]

@Friday I'd actually be getting the gun from my dad for free, and he makes his own ammo. I guess he is part of the reason I'm even thinking about it ... I wouldn't really have to pay anything if I visit him on the weekends. He's got everything I'd need.

Though your first point

A firearm locked in a safe is about as effective during a home invasion as a pearl necklace locked in a safe.

is completely true. As are the other points made on this thread. So ..... I'm going to probably put this idea on the backburner for now anyway.

Again, I think it's more about comfort for me, so i will just have to try and find comfort in a different way.

 

[anthony]

Have you been suicidal from PTSD? If you answer yes... you should not own a gun / be in the same space as one, alone. EVER!