Many people feel more comfortable with canine support rather than guns.
Take my house, for example. When the mailman or other delivery people approach my porch, the hounds of hell cut loose. They make one hell of a racket. You can often hear me hollering and cussing at them. I sound demented and crazed. What person would want to break in my house. There is no warm fuzzy feeling.
I can’t have a gun now. I would shoot the “homeland security.” I have already threatened to buy a shock collar for one of them.
Your response to canine security?
With the proliferation of Kevlar, a dog might be a better bet. Especially a trained security dog. Better round the clock protection – unless you plan to arm and train you’re entire family and make it a requirement for babysitters.
I sure hadn’t thought of it alone those lines. Thanks Lyssa!
I like it. I had a dog once. One of those “dogs by accident” that ran up to me. He was lost and ended up in our family. Unfortunately, the wife is very allergic, so he was an “outside” dog. And while it worked this time due to his thick fur, its not fair to the dog.
I’m just imagining the Paris Hilton types, with their little purse-sized dogs being used for home defense. Not everyone wants a big dog, and not all dogs are compatible with children. And allergic people are probably better off with guns, just saying’
I once had a black greyhound who could look rather threatening in my front window. But if an invader got into my home, she in all likelihood would try to nuzzle him or her to death.
One of my dogs would attempt to detain the intruder by sitting on his feet and staring adoringly into his eyes. The other might bark or might run away, depending on how assertive he feels that day.
So you all have wimp dogs.
Mine are wimps too but they sure make a racket.
My dogs are small but I am sure they are far too grunchy for Paris Hylton.
So does anyone here supporting guns as home protection have 24/7 gun coverage at home?
I’m one of those slackers who thinks that nobody, nohow, never, ever will try to rob me at my home. Maybe because I don’t own much of monetary value, except for a chest of silverware inherited from my husband’s aunt and uncle.
Have you priced that silverware lately? Try about $15k.
@Lyssa
Please define 24/7 coverage at home.
Mine are here in my home 24/7. My alarm system is on at night. Everyone knows where they are.
How can they not be 24/7?
Is there a trained firearms person in your home 24/7.
That seems extreme. I think reasonable people realize that you can’t mitigate all possible risk while you’re trying to live life to the fullest. But you do your best to try to give yourself a fighting chance.
@Lyssa
@Lyssa
That would depend upon your values of “trained.” Everyone in my house knows how to safely shoot a pistol. Everyone knows the “4 rules.” Everyone has fired pistols.
What is your value of “trained?”
I’m quite sure I could sleep through a fairly noisy home invasion. Mr. SIG wouldn’t do me any good if that happened. I do have two large, loyal dogs, one about 110 pounds, the other 85. The latter is young, alert and vigorous. The older one (11 years old) sleeps about as soundly as I do, but, if roused, would be very intimidating. The two together are sufficiently imposing that I frequently don’t bother about locking doors, or, if I forget to lock them, I don’t worry about it.
Dogs are good alarms. Even if they do not attack an intruder, they give you time to react and to have someone call for help.
All that said, there has never been a home invasion in our neighbourhood in the thirty years I have lived around here.
@Scout That’s one of the reasons why people like gated communities.
Gated communities = Ghettos
@punchak
Well… you could look at it that way, if someone outside said community was controlling the gate.
My definition of trained is cop level. It’s more than shooting. My point was simply that a dog provides 24/7 – in our house two of three know how to use the guns. I don’t. When they’re not home the guns are useless.
@Lyssa
Well, we don’t have that. But I bet that I can pass the qualification course. And when its just home defense…ie someone breaking into your home…it is mostly about shooting.
My alarm system takes the place of a dog since my wife is allergic. And the dog that we did have was no protection from people coming onto the property as was proven by the number of country electrical workers coming to fix a downed line at midnight. He was trying to “help.
Since the guns are for the protection of life, not property, the guns are not needed if we are not home. If they are with me…then 24/7.
Here ya go, Moon.
Sen. Feinstein has finally produce her bill.
Following is a summary of the 2013 legislation:
Bans the sale, transfer, importation, or manufacturing of:
120 specifically-named firearms
Certain other semiautomatic rifles, handguns, shotguns that can accept a detachable magazine and have one military characteristic
Semiautomatic rifles and handguns with a fixed magazine that can accept more than 10 rounds
Strengthens the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban and various state bans by:
Moving from a 2-characteristic test to a 1-characteristic test
Eliminating the easy-to-remove bayonet mounts and flash suppressors from the characteristics test
Banning firearms with “thumbhole stocks” and “bullet buttons” to address attempts to “work around” prior bans
Bans large-capacity ammunition feeding devices capable of accepting more than 10 rounds.
Protects legitimate hunters and the rights of existing gun owners by:
Grandfathering weapons legally possessed on the date of enactment
Exempting over 900 specifically-named weapons used for hunting or sporting purposes and
Exempting antique, manually-operated, and permanently disabled weapons
Requires that grandfathered weapons be registered under the National Firearms Act, to include:
Background check of owner and any transferee;
Type and serial number of the firearm;
Positive identification, including photograph and fingerprint;
Certification from local law enforcement of identity and that possession would not violate State or local law; and
Dedicated funding for ATF to implement registration
I’m sure that you know my reaction.
By the way…Feinstein has a concealed weapons permit. But she’s against others having them.
Why is her life so much more important than theirs?
Also, when is David Gregory going to be arrested for violating DC gun laws?
@Cargosquid
So how is your daughter going to get the safety lock off the gun?
@Cargosquid
You think you could pass the qualifications course in PWC? Its one of the toughest in the nation, thanks to Chief Deane. I sure hope we maintain those standards.
@Moon-howler
Safety lock? Its unloaded. She knows where the ammo and the firearm are.
Safety locks also prevent emergency use if the key is not available. When I get a safe, she will also know the combination. She is very responsible around firearms. I’ve been training her since she was 3.
As for the PWC course, I don’t know. Is there somewhere that I can find out what the quals are? Some of the shooting organizations staged the LA qual course and everyone passed it.
I have heard that out of many parents about how responsible their children are. I hope you are right.
I have friends who feel that parents who don’t secure their guns with safety locks or in safes should go to jail. Did I mention they are gun owners and NRA members?
I am one of those people who simply doesn’t feel a child has wisdom, regardless of how sharply they have been trained. I have 3 separate friends who have had near misses in their house because of kids. All would have told me the same thing you just did.
A good Rottweiler would be a better investment than those ridiculous home security systems, which are expensive and prone to false alarms.
I feel a joke coming on here, Starry. Rottweilers are warmer at night also. This is a two dog day….I can’t seem to warm up.
@Starryflights
Really? And where do you get this profound knowledge, oh wise one?
What evidence do you have for such a statement?
The home security systems are lousy – in PWC and many Northern VA counties, the vendor has to be liscenced. One of the biggest costs is the required public safety response to false alarms. False alarms are more than 90% of the total number of false alarms.
Holy cow. That is a huge chunk.
One question:
How many of the writers here have actually been invaded and have used
their weapon(s) to scare away the invaders?
I have not. MH
@punchak You might as well be asking how many of us have life insurance but haven’t died yet. Or how many have homeowners insurance but have had no property loss. Or auto insurance when we have never had an accident.
For me, it’s a hobby. Paper targets are the only things at risk of any damage. After 2 1/2 seasons of “The Walking Dead,” I’ve gotten very good at head shots at my reactive zombie targets, so I’ll be totally ready when the “walkers” become a threat (hint: I’m joking).
And as a side note, we avoid the NRA range, because they are ridiculously strict about the kinds of targets we can use–no zombies, because they apparently look too “human”–among other oppressive restrictions, ridiculously long wait times, and no significant member benefits.
Its women there going to pick up men, I tell you!!! It slows things down. Then there is that parking garage…..
@Cargosquid You reminded me of the WaPo columnist several years ago who shot at some teenagers who were skinny-dipping in his pool. Carl Rowan was a typical left-wing WaPo columnist who frequently wrote in favor of strict gun laws. Yet when a naked and unarmed teenager decided to go skinny-dipping in his pool, Rowan shot him with his own illegally-owned firearm. There was a lot of criticism of Rowan, who apparently believed gun control was the right thing for everyone but himself.
@Emma
You can’t kill anybody with a life, auto or homeowners insurance, I don’t think.
Besides, I believe auto and homeowners insurances are required by law.
FYI/ I was a member of my high school’s rifle team; had to lie on my belly and shoot.
Target shooting is a lot of fun. Empty cans in the desert ping very nicely.
If Annie Oakley appears on the blog we will know it is you, Punchak.
I was on the archery team – pretty good too. Maybe we could form a militia.
Carl Rowan lived in the toney Foxhall area of Washington. My favourite story about him is that he was working in his yard when some fairly unaware white man drove by, addressed Rowan as “Boy” and went on to ask how much he charged to do yard work. Rowan replied that his price was fairly high, but he worked in this yard for nothing because the “Lady of the House” let him sleep with her (or words to that effect).
The story about the gun illustrates that not all homeowner gun ownership is benign. The shooting of the student swimmer, although a superficial wounding was unnecessary. Rowan claimed that the kid lunged at him. Who knows? Hung jury. No retrial.
Rowan’s gun ownership was not even legal, although he claimed some kind of bogus exemption because his son (who was the actual gun owner) was an FBI agent, and that somehow Rowan was more entitled to protect himself at any cost. He’s in good company with Feinstein, liberals who believe that somehow everyone else’s guns are a danger to them, so they should be able to protect themselves while disarming everyone else. Not that that’s hypocritical or anything.
I really see nothing in common between Feinstein and Carl Rowan. Rowan broke DC law.
@Lyssa Archery, fencing and gymnastics were a regular part of my high school PE program. They’re pretty rare these days, partially thanks to lawyers.
@Moon-howler It’s the hypocrisy they share in common, not the crime.
I am not sure why she is considered a hypocrite. Him, yes. Her, no.
@punchak
I don’t know if I scared anyone away, but I noticed that some people asking for help at my house, late at night, became much more…relaxed. The nice police helped them on their way. They picked my house because I had a light on. They knocked. I answered with a gun in my pocket. It was two girls saying that they had run from some guys that they were riding with in a car. They were happy that I was armed. I waited on the front steps with them while I called the police…one turned out to be a minor runaway and the other said that she wasn’t sure where she lived…she had just “moved” there. I called her a taxi, gave the guy a 20 and told him where what she told me about where she lived…. He recognized the area.
Other times, I’ve seen men change their course at night when I casually carry….not quite concealed…. once at an atm and once just as he was crossing the street and walking towards me.
@Moon-howler
Kind of like David Gregory when he waved that AR magazine on national TV. He was committing a felony.
You couldnt tell if anything was in it or not. At that point it was a piece of plastic. If waving plastic is a felony, we have a big problem.
@Cargosquid
I think that’s great, seriously. That’s what I was asking about / a real case.
BTW – where do you at night when men come towards you?
@punchak
I was walking down a sidewalk at night. He started to cross the street directly towards me. I looked directly at him and tucked a thumb into my belt. That swept the shirt and the holster was visible.
He suddenly did a complete u-turn and went back the way he came.
@Lyssa
My system works great. The only false alarms we’ve had happen was when some rodents took a liking to the wiring.
@Emma
Here ya go…..
http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2012/12/reckon_1.html
Awesome@Cargosquid