Should you carry your pistol at home?

that was wisdom.



regarding situational awareness, wife and i were reading in the living room and we saw fire outside. someone had set the leaves in the neighbor's yard on fire, it was heading towards the house.

wow, i took off running. there wasn't a hose at the side of the house, i yelled for my wife to get a rake and i started kicking a fire break. we'd already called it in, i'd piled the burning leaves and gotten it burned out and scattered the ashes before fire crews got there.

they didn't have a doorbell and hadn't heard my wife pounding on the door, and didn't even hear the sirens.

the next day, he was wondering what happened.

situational awareness score?

me: 10
him: zippity doo dah.
 
Lohman we disagree on the value of carrying around the house, but little else. I also think there is value in the discussion, and completely agree that there is far more to being secure than just carrying a gun. There are far too many people carrying a gun who think that solves the problem, whatever it is. Good situational awareness is always being aware and looking for solutions before they are needed.
 
And worrying 24/7/365 about hordes of armed invaders is paranoia.
Click to expand...
You're the only one I've seen talk about "hordes".

I live 7 miles from a 1-stoplight town, and 25 miles from the nearest "city", but my next door neighbor once had an armed fugitive knock on his front door one Saturday afternoon.

Luckily he looked out his window before he opened the door and saw the guy was trying to conceal a sawed-off shotgun under his coat.

The cops had chased him from 25 miles away and he had bailed from the car about half a mile from here, but managed to avoid them for nearly 24 hours.

Being prepared at all times isn't so much "paranoid" as it is simply prudent.
 
Snyder: You do not mention if your neighbor was armed or not. The follow up question: would it have mattered to the outcome? Of the stories that have been shared I don't see where being armed would have mattered.
 
Fugitives are a problem, and not just escaped prisoners. A criminal of any kind fleeing police present a danger. Running, juiced on adrenaline, and willing to commit crimes to avoid capture.

My wife and I remain vigilant regarding police presence at our home. If a siren stops nearby, or we see lights down the block, lights go out and we go upstairs. We wait it out.

Not so long ago, I stepped outside and found cars parked at both ends of our street with lights off and another prowled past. Cars went through the area for hours.:confused:

You know darned well that I kept my pistol on my belt. After a while, I took a light and checked out my back yard.
 
Snyder: You do not mention if your neighbor was armed or not. The follow up question: would it have mattered to the outcome? Of the stories that have been shared I don't see where being armed would have mattered.
Click to expand...
I don't know if he was armed but since he saw the guy's gun, he just didn't go to the door, so the perp left.

There was a big "man-hunt" going on for a while, even to the point of using a helicopter with FLIR, but there are so many deer around here they gave up on that pretty quickly.

They found the guy the next day, ironically, hiding in the garage of a Deputy Sheriff a little further down the road

Had he shown up at my house instead, I would have been armed when I went to the door, or if he had approached while I was already outside.

I suspect he bypassed my house largely due to the fact that I had several dogs at the time, most in the 100-150 lb range, and electric fencing that limited access from most directions other than the main road.

I think if the robber was expecting an unarmed victim, he would have been in for a surprise.
 
I don't know if he was armed but since he saw the guy's gun, he just didn't go to the door, so the perp left.
Click to expand...

I think this is the issue I am trying to illustrate. In this case he was not opening the door to someone trying to conceal a shotgun outside. Had he not been aware enough to look closely first it would not have mattered if he had a holstered side-arm or not.

Because he looked he was calling the cops - side-arm or not.

Had he not looked he was either getting shot or held hostage - I highly doubt he would have been able to successfully deploy his gun against a long gun already in his adversary's hand if he opened the door unprepared.
 
Had he not looked he was either getting shot or held hostage - I highly doubt he would have been able to successfully deploy his gun against a long gun already in his adversary's hand if he opened the door unprepared.
Click to expand...
I'm positive he couldn't deploy a gun he's not carrying.

He might be able to deploy one he is carrying, especially if the assailant has no idea he's armed.

I'd prefer to at least have a chance rather than to have no options at all other than compliance.
 
I get you saying Snyper. I much rather he look before opening the door. Oddly while I don't carry in my house I am armed (or my wife is depending on things) when I open the door. At contact range (opening the door) facing an armed opponent there are likely better strategies than going for a holstered firearm
 
Last edited:
It takes about 3-5 seconds to kick through a LOCKED door.
Click to expand...

If a person using common burglar tools can enter my home and attack me faster than the 5 seconds it takes me to casually arm myself, there are already substantial security failures that need to be addressed.
Click to expand...

Exactly, perhaps I'm now spoiled to some degree living in south FL, where your house needs to be hardened against hurricanes, but it seems some spend too much on the firearms aspect, and too little money & time on securing the house. Even when I was living in the north east, I had secured the doors and windows quite well, where someone can't break in quickly or quietly enough before I can properly react.

I have a steel front door (required by code) as well as hurricane glass on the windows. This glass is very effective. Every once in a while there will be a news story on TV where someone is caught on the homeowner's security camera trying to break in, with the goal of identifying the criminal. These can be funny sometimes in retrospect. In a recent one, two black males are trying to break through the sliding glass doors in the back. First they hit it with yard objects and fail. The second one gets frustrated, pulls a gun and shoots at the glass, and still failed to get in. They then gave up and left. The homeowner wasn't home at the time.

I only carry in the home if I'm trying a new holster or carry method, or I've been out and just haven't bothered to disarm.
 
Last edited:
It takes about 3-5 seconds to kick through a LOCKED door.
Click to expand...

I think its fair to say that it takes 3-5 second to kick in "some" locked doors. A person is not going to kick through a decent solid door with any sort of decent security features.


There are many kinds of locksets.. commercial, builder, office, server, security, enhanced.

Even something as simple as a "door devil" plate will significantly increase the strength of a door.

The bottom lines is that if you want a good barrier, you have to put a little thought and effort into it.

watch the youtube vids on the door devil anti kick plate.
 
I carry in the home. I don't care a whit about anyone's feelings about it, it's a security choice I made decades ago. It is part of a layered security system including many different things, devices, and animals. I also live a few miles from the drug corridor the fed.gov ceded to the cartels a few years ago and have had running vehicular gun battles between LE and cartel members on the major street by my place. By the nature of my work, I and my family are also higher profile targets to the criminal element. Therefore, I carry at home, my wife carries at home, and we have other items available for home and travel defense.
 
Things would be bad if i felt that threatened i needed to walk around the house carrying a firearm.
Click to expand...

I will say that you are consistent mantra. I do not feel threatened or that I need to carry a gun around the house. Your typical condescension has no place in this discussion; it adds nothing. I choose to carry a gun for the same reason I wear a seat belt: It is easy to do, it costs nothing, and it is there if I need it. You equate carrying a gun with fear. I carry because it is a reasonable thing to do and the right of a free man.
 
I will say that you are consistent mantra. I do not feel threatened or that I need to carry a gun around the house. Your typical condescension has no place in this discussion; it adds nothing. I choose to carry a gun for the same reason I wear a seat belt: It is easy to do, it costs nothing, and it is there if I need it. You equate carrying a gun with fear. I carry because it is a reasonable thing to do and the right of a free man.
Click to expand...

People think differently, i have my guns in a safe because i doint feel that there is enough of a threat for me to feel the need to carry it around the house or have it near me, if others do thats up to them. If i was under threat then i would think differently. My house is somewhere relax not walk about tooled up.

I will say that you are consistent mantra.Your typical condescension has no place in this discussion; it adds nothing.
Click to expand...


Its not condescension its my view i just doint get it.
 
My house is somewhere relax not walk about tooled up.
Click to expand...

Having a handgun in my waist band or pocket doesn't interfere with my relaxing anymore than wearing pants. My neighbors do not approve of me wandering around the yard naked, so if I'm wearing clothes anyway, I probably have a gun on me.

Its not condescension its my view i just doint get it.
Click to expand...

I understand you don't get it, and I am fine with that. Just do not conclude that all of us who regularly carry a gun do so out of fear. That simply isn't true.
 
Just do not conclude that all of us who regularly carry a gun do so out of fear. That simply isn't true.
Click to expand...
Maybe fear is the wrong word, concern of crime etc there has to be some reason. As i said if i had reason to be concerned i would rethink my security.
 
Maybe fear is the wrong word, concern of crime etc there has to be some reason. As i said if i had reason to be concerned i would rethink my security.
Click to expand...

Let's go back to seat belts. If I were concerned about having an accident every time I started my vehicle, I would have to reduce or eliminate my driving. That is not to say that every time I drive my truck there's not a chance of an accident, it just isn't a concern most of the time. You could make the case that unless road or traffic conditions are bad, with the small number of miles I drive, a seat belt probably isn't really needed. While the chances of needing a seat belt is very low, I wear one every time I get in a vehicle. Not wearing one isn't worth the consequences, slight as the risk may be.

Like antilock brakes or airbags, to continue with the metaphor, a concealed handgun is a reasonable choice whether they are ever needed or not.
 
The problem is, no matter how safe you are, there is a criminal out there somewhere who would look at your house and say "yep, that's the right one" and skip over all the others. Does it make sense to not remain fully prepared? I don't know what the actual stats are regarding home break ins, but I'm sure that it seems impossible that lightning would strike, metaphorically speaking.

The funny thing is that my house while we've never had a break in, I'm pretty certain that I interrupted a break in. In the time that I have gone without break ins, this house was struck by lightning. Then two of the trees on my small yard were struck as well. A fourth time, I cleaned up after a huge storm, and found a branch from a huge sycamore that I own charred and burned, about a quarter block away. So the house has been hit once, trees hit twice, and another time there is no solid evidence, but it probably happened.

So, again metaphorically, I'd prefer to have a lightning rod handy for when the bozos decide that my house is the one. It may be one in a million, but seriously, really, what in the world are the odds of a home being struck not once, but three times by lightning in about ten years?
 
Like antilock brakes or airbags, to continue with the metaphor, a concealed handgun is a reasonable choice whether they are ever needed or not.
Click to expand...
Yes a lot of things in life comes down to odds, for example lots of people die getting out of bed but they do it anyway because the odds are low of it happening you. The odds of being injured or killed in a car crash are quite high, plus its a legal requirement here to wear a seat belt, compared with someone braking into your house and needing a firearm. So its up to the individual at the end of the day to assess the risk and make their decision on what precautions to take.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top