We had our second burglary attempt within the past three weeks, and it changed our minds about gun ownership

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

OP here. We moved from DC a few years ago (but I am still on DCUM). Yes, our large neighborhood has a private security company. I have never seen it in the DC area, but it is common in our new area.

I am certain that it was a burglary attempt. Nobody just walks on our property toward the back yard unannounced.

Many ultra-wealthy people live on our street, many with their own security guards either in a car in front of the house or stationed in their gate-house. Just because this is beyond your experience it does not mean that there aren't places like this in this country.

So the thieves decided to pick the neighbor of the people WITH security guards? I think you want to be a target to show your level of achievement/success. That casual of a burglar - walking around, isn't looking for a $100k heist. They could get valuables more suited to their skills elsewhere. You also may just be paranoid.

OP here. We live in the "poorer" section of the street, and there aren't any houses with guards within a good 300 yards of our house.

I find it really annoying that you people are trying to find "holes in my story", as if I would waste my time trolling here instead of focusing on my work.
I simply wanted to convey that these incidents and the ongoing risk of burglary has changed our attitude about owning guns.

[Anonymous]

If everyone was armed this wouldn't happen as well as castle docrtine.

[Anonymous]

Then pour some of your money into things like cameras, strong motion lights with alarms, look into security fencing, better locks, camera doorbells, indoor/outdoor lights on timers, trim back shrubs, notice signs in yard, talk to your neighbors so everyone is on alert.

You don't need a gun. You're understandably scared and freaked out right now.

[Anonymous]

A 3yo boy accidentally shot his 5 yo sister yesterday. Can’t remember where but it was in the car radio this morning.
This is what happens when people have guns that shouldn’t have them.

[Anonymous]

OP, a dog is a great suggestion. Too bad it doesn't work for you.

You may in fact need a fence. But it would likely need to follow the entire perimeter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

OP here. We moved from DC a few years ago (but I am still on DCUM). Yes, our large neighborhood has a private security company. I have never seen it in the DC area, but it is common in our new area.

I am certain that it was a burglary attempt. Nobody just walks on our property toward the back yard unannounced.

Many ultra-wealthy people live on our street, many with their own security guards either in a car in front of the house or stationed in their gate-house. Just because this is beyond your experience it does not mean that there aren't places like this in this country.

So the thieves decided to pick the neighbor of the people WITH security guards? I think you want to be a target to show your level of achievement/success. That casual of a burglar - walking around, isn't looking for a $100k heist. They could get valuables more suited to their skills elsewhere. You also may just be paranoid.

OP here. We live in the "poorer" section of the street, and there aren't any houses with guards within a good 300 yards of our house.

I find it really annoying that you people are trying to find "holes in my story", as if I would waste my time trolling here instead of focusing on my work.
I simply wanted to convey that these incidents and the ongoing risk of burglary has changed our attitude about owning guns.

Umm, that's exactly what you're doing. Troll or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm 38 and grew up around guns. Break ins and crime rates are still very low where I grew up largely in part because everyone knows that the house they break into very likely has a gun. The break ins that do occur are usually done by people that they know. I used to own guns. I've done many classes and have been certified to teach them. I know you think you'd be ready to kill someone, but I can tell just from your posts that you're too reactionary to have a gun for protection at this time.

Take some classes. Learn about gun safety and self defense. Go to shooting ranges where you can rent a gun to shoot. You need to be very, very comfortable with a gun before you own one for home defense. It isn't just about being prepared to kill someone. You also need to know how to prevent the intruder from getting the gun away from you.

In a home, you don't give warning. You make sure it isn't a family member then you shoot. If an intruder is in a position to get a gun away from you, something has gone very wrong

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A dog will be a lot better deterrent than a gun. A mouthy dog, even better.

I would never have a gun in my house. A childhood friend accidentally killed himself when we were 15 showing his girlfriend his dad's supposedly-unloaded gun.

But, as Bill Burr says, a pitbull is a gun you can pet...

OP here. My husband and I are both busy professionals and do not have the lifestyle that would allow us to spend hours with a guard dog every day. It is not sufficient to walk the dog, it also needs mental challenges.

The gun would be in a safe accessible only with my or DH's fingerprints. Our daughter would most certainly not be showing it to her friends.

Burglaries are common in our area. They are looking for jewelry, watches and designer handbags.
The only place safer compared to our neighborhood is a gated community. There aren't many of those in our particular area.

Then get a dog and a dog walker. Win win. You'll have another set of human eyes on your house every day and a dog as a deterrent.

Also, it doesn't need to be a "guard dog" - is that even a thing? Just a regular old dog from the shelter would likely be thrilled to live in your house and bark at random guys on your walkway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm 38 and grew up around guns. Break ins and crime rates are still very low where I grew up largely in part because everyone knows that the house they break into very likely has a gun. The break ins that do occur are usually done by people that they know. I used to own guns. I've done many classes and have been certified to teach them. I know you think you'd be ready to kill someone, but I can tell just from your posts that you're too reactionary to have a gun for protection at this time.

Take some classes. Learn about gun safety and self defense. Go to shooting ranges where you can rent a gun to shoot. You need to be very, very comfortable with a gun before you own one for home defense. It isn't just about being prepared to kill someone. You also need to know how to prevent the intruder from getting the gun away from you.

OP here. Thanks, PP, for this thoughtful and helpful reply.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Then pour some of your money into things like cameras, strong motion lights with alarms, look into security fencing, better locks, camera doorbells, indoor/outdoor lights on timers, trim back shrubs, notice signs in yard, talk to your neighbors so everyone is on alert.

You don't need a gun. You're understandably scared and freaked out right now.

OP here. Thank you, these are all good ideas. I had the security company over after the second incident, and we are now upgrading our security system.
The fencing will take more time, but we have made it a priority.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm 38 and grew up around guns. Break ins and crime rates are still very low where I grew up largely in part because everyone knows that the house they break into very likely has a gun. The break ins that do occur are usually done by people that they know. I used to own guns. I've done many classes and have been certified to teach them. I know you think you'd be ready to kill someone, but I can tell just from your posts that you're too reactionary to have a gun for protection at this time.

Take some classes. Learn about gun safety and self defense. Go to shooting ranges where you can rent a gun to shoot. You need to be very, very comfortable with a gun before you own one for home defense. It isn't just about being prepared to kill someone. You also need to know how to prevent the intruder from getting the gun away from you.

In a home, you don't give warning. You make sure it isn't a family member then you shoot. If an intruder is in a position to get a gun away from you, something has gone very wrong

Pp here. Agreed. But I think a lot of people who want to have guns for protection like OP aren't at that level of comfort with guns where they would shoot without warning. They'd waffle a bit or be nervous and give the intruder a chance to get the gun away. I am obviously very comfortable around guns and consider myself to have pretty good aim and I still question if I would ever be able to shoot someone who was breaking into my house. But I never owned guns for that reason.

[Anonymous]

OP here again. To all of you thinking that it might have been a family member: DH and DD were out of town. Besides, I see on the Life360 app where they are at all times.

[Anonymous]

PP here. You just seem very anxious and extremely, unsafely nervous. You say you want to defend yourself - against what, exactly? Someone walking on your front walkway? Some lights going on in the night? You don't want to "bow down" to whoever is burglarizing your home. But there was no burglary. There was no break in. There's no "perpetrator".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP here. You just seem very anxious and extremely, unsafely nervous. You say you want to defend yourself - against what, exactly? Someone walking on your front walkway? Some lights going on in the night? You don't want to "bow down" to whoever is burglarizing your home. But there was no burglary. There was no break in. There's no "perpetrator".

Agreed. OP is the person you see on the news who shoots someone delivering a package.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
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.

Do you have a burglar alarm? If not, get one installed immediately. If you have one then keep it active at all times!