We had our second burglary attempt within the past three weeks, and it changed our minds about gun ownership
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Anonymous
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So far our plan was always to hide in the attic and let the perpetrators take what they want as long as they spare us. But now, having had to hide up there for 25 agonizing minutes until the police showed up, feeling helpless and exposed, I want to buy a handgun to protect my family and my home. I am livid. Why should I have to bow down and remain at the mercy of whoever burglarizes my home? My husband and I are from a very pacifist northern European country where civilians do not own guns except for hunting. These two incidents have been watershed moments. The first attempt was in the morning of the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, at 9:30 a.m. Our house is in a very expensive neighborhood. It is one of the very few that does not have a gate or fence (now made a priority), and you can see through the front door and the living room windows. We just had our carpets shampooed, so the furniture was removed and the curtains bunched up in a knot. I understand why burglars would think that the owners had their carpets shampooed just before traveling for Thanksgiving. The perpetrators parked in a white pick-up truck in front of our house. They did not spend more than five minutes there, because I had just seen our neighbor from across the street drive away from that spot. Then they walked on the path at the garage toward the garbage bins toward the back yard. The motion sensor there went off, and that apparently scared them away. I was on the phone with the security company that gets alerted and sends out armed guards when I saw the perpetrators (through the glass panels around my front door) get into their truck, look at me and drive away. The second attempt was this past weekend at 8:30 pm. I was alone in the house, and for the first time in several weeks I turned off all lights visible from the street at 6 pm when I went upstairs. Only an hour and a half later the same motion sensor at the garage path halfway toward the back yard went off. I sprinted to the attic, called the security company and the police. The police took 25 minutes to get here, and the security company never showed up. Now I live in fear, thinking about the next burglary attempt all the time. I am done with this. |
Anonymous
| So you'd rather get into a shootout with the burglars? Sounds like you should move to a better neighborhood or something. |
Anonymous
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I call BS.
Where do you live that a security company has armed guards on standby? This also wasn’t an attempted burglary. It was a suspicious act. Someone walking around your house, while unusual and definitely concerning is not a reason to gosprinting to your attic in fear. Take it down a notch. You are the type of person who will accidentally shoot someone in fear. |
Anonymous
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Never been burgled in my not very expensive neighborhood.
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Anonymous
Like your pet or child or brother. |
Anonymous
| If someone broke into my house at 3am, I would not have time to get into my safe, load the gun and try to find my family to protect them. Am I really prepared to start shooting at someone? Isn't it better to just wait for the police to arrive since my alarm will be blaring? My husband is the deepest sleeper and it would take him a minute to even realize what is going on before he'd walk to the safe. |
Anonymous
| Are you truly prepared to kill someone? Are you prepared to be someone who shot someone dead? Do you know what that does to a person psychologically? Think about that before buying a gun. |
Anonymous
| a motion sensor went off .... I wouldn't call that a burglary attempt |
Anonymous
| Why don’t you just get a dog and/or keep your alarm system set? |
Anonymous
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Where do you live? It doesn't sound like you are local.
Our security alarm went off at night once and the police showed up very quickly. McLean. |
Anonymous
Yes this! You with a gun means some stupid middle schooler playing ding-dong-ditch ends up dead. |
Anonymous
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1. Someone walked *on a path*.
2. Something *outside your house*...*moved*. No one attempted to enter your home. You think burglars are studying your carpet shampooing schedule. You are going to shoot your husband in the face when he comea home from work. |
Anonymous
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Your house is a target. Why?
Do you have housecleaners? A lawn service? Do you collect valuable things? Is there a theft ring in your area? Can you get remote switches that will let you blaze all the first floor lights from your phone? Not just the motion sensor. Something that indicates more intense reaction? If they are there with just one pickup truck they are looking for small, highly valuable stuff like jewelry and computers and incidental prescription drugs. Very little that's movable with one truck has great resale value unless you have really fine art like Picassos. I hear people don't keep a lot of cash at home but maybe that's not true. Talk to your neighbors. I would say if they come back again, there's something specific you have that they want. |
Anonymous
| So, in neither case did anyone actually break in? Not even sure you can call these attempts. You're either paranoid or a troll. |
Anonymous
That's why it's important to keep it loaded semi-auto under your bed. |