Neighborhood crime

[Fat_Bulldog]

My brain is wired so much differently than those that constantly worry about the boogie man getting them. I really feel sorry for you if you are constantly worried about stuff like that. What would keep me up at nights not able to sleep is having a loaded gun in my house, especially when I was raising kids. That would have terrified me.

Exactly.

[planet planet]

My brain is wired so much differently than those that constantly worry about the boogie man getting them. I really feel sorry for you if you are constantly worried about stuff like that. What would keep me up at nights not able to sleep is having a loaded gun in my house, especially when I was raising kids. That would have terrified me.

Exactly.

Ditto. The only time I worry about my safety (and it's fleeting) is getting in and out of my car since we need to rehab our garage and we street park. Getting held up when you're getting in and out of cars does happen in the city.

Also, I have my house rigged with dense light beam security. Not even Catherine Zeta Jones can twist her way through to my safe.

[Socnorb11]

My brain is wired so much differently than those that constantly worry about the boogie man getting them. I really feel sorry for you if you are constantly worried about stuff like that. What would keep me up at nights not able to sleep is having a loaded gun in my house, especially when I was raising kids. That would have terrified me.

That's exactly where I'm at, jim. Life is too short to worry about and prepare for something that has about a .0001% chance of happening in most neighborhoods.

[JL21]

My brain is wired so much differently than those that constantly worry about the boogie man getting them. I really feel sorry for you if you are constantly worried about stuff like that. What would keep me up at nights not able to sleep is having a loaded gun in my house, especially when I was raising kids. That would have terrified me.

For me, it's snakes.

[IMADreamer]

That's just it. I've never once been afraid of my life. It's pretty easy to not put yourself in bad situations. Ok, maybe there is this 1 in a million shot some guy breaks in my home and wants to kill me. I'm not even the slightest bit worried about it. I figure there has got to be a bigger chance of blowing a tire during a high speed run and dying in some horribly fiery car crash. I'm not worried about that either.

[cardsfantx]

My brain is wired so much differently than those that constantly worry about the boogie man getting them. I really feel sorry for you if you are constantly worried about stuff like that. What would keep me up at nights not able to sleep is having a loaded gun in my house, especially when I was raising kids. That would have terrified me.

Not sure who you're referring to, but I'm not worried about a damn thing. Between an alarm system, cameras, gated lot, gated community, guards patrolling the streets, codes on all doors required for entry so we know who comes/goes and when, and the gun safe in my nightstand, I'm covered. I sleep just fine, and never think of someone breaking in.

I'm pointing out that people don't just break into houses to rob them.

And unless my kids grow the same fingerprint as my thumbs, they can't get in the gun safe.

[Socnorb11]

My brain is wired so much differently than those that constantly worry about the boogie man getting them. I really feel sorry for you if you are constantly worried about stuff like that. What would keep me up at nights not able to sleep is having a loaded gun in my house, especially when I was raising kids. That would have terrified me.

Not sure who you're referring to, but I'm not worried about a damn thing. Between an alarm system, cameras, gated lot, gated community, guards patrolling the streets, codes on all doors required for entry so we know who comes/goes and when, and the gun safe in my nightstand, I'm covered.

That sounds like someone who is worried more than a little.

[M1IRONMIKE]

My brain is wired so much differently than those that constantly worry about the boogie man getting them. I really feel sorry for you if you are constantly worried about stuff like that. What would keep me up at nights not able to sleep is having a loaded gun in my house, especially when I was raising kids. That would have terrified me.

Exactly.

I agree with you jim and that is why I didn't have a gun in the house while raising kids and still don't. There are many reasons I don't have a gun in my house but not one of them is because i am afraid i might accidently shoot a neighborhood kid strolling though my home at 2 in the morning checking out my electronics etc. That neighborhood kid is lucky i choose not to have a gun but trust me he is still gonna take an ass kicking with extreme prejudice. That being said common sense should come into play. I have raised teenagers. I have gotten up in the middle of the night to find a teenager i don't know walking in the house. Of course after the initial shock of a stranger in the house i was able to figure out who and why he was there before the commencement of a ass kicking. Some people are lucky enough to live in areas where the likelyhood of an intruder in their home is near zero. Others don't. I have no problem with those people having a gun to protect themselves and letting others know they will use it.

[sighyoung]

I think you make a reasoned judgment based on prior experience--both of crime, and of guns and other forms of protection.

I grew up in a fairly dangerous neighborhood, so I'm used to taking lots of precautions (locking stuff up, being aware of my surroundings wherever I walk), even though I haven't experienced a break-in (and hopefully never will). But I remember when I was shopping for a house, and my real-estate agent pointed out that the owner locked the door once we entered. My agent was really alarmed about possible crime in the area, but locking was something EVERYONE in my old neighborhood would have done out of habit, and the prospective neighborhood was far safer than the one I grew up in. I also wasn't as afraid as she was--and I don't mean that out of bravado. I think I was just more conditioned to expect it.

It's the same way folks who live in the heartland couldn't imagine living with hurricanes, while those who face hurricanes wonder how anybody could put up with the threat of an earthquake or tornado.

[sighyoung]

I think I've mentioned it before, too, but my parents didn't have guns around the house for safety reasons, and that's shaped my decision. I understand if people have grown up with them, have training, or live in areas where they do need to protect themselves. I'm just speaking for myself--given the crap I and my brothers got into at home, I think my parents' choice was a good one. And I've been fortunate.