You’re in bed. It’s late at night. You hear something in another room of your home.
Is it the wind? No, it’s not the cursed wind.
The damn ferret? Uh-uh, you don’t have a ferret.
Did something fall by itself? Not bloodly likely, mate.
Suddenly, you hear the noise again. Instantly, you realize there’s someone in another room, just a few feet from you–possibly heading your way.
What would you really do?
Silently, and with the utmost stealth, I would sneak downstairs, creep up behind the villain, and…
escort him to the forum entitled “In My Humble Opinion,” while politely admonishing him to read the forum descriptions.
That’s what I’d do.
Tryin’ out to be a mod, oh Great One? 
Is this a very carefully hidden gun thread?
It’s so carefully hidden, even the OP doesn’t seem to say anything…
Let me know if I’m right and maybe I can say something.
I would trust my SimAlarm to go off, calling to my house the SimPolice, who will catch the miscreant, but not before he steals thousands of dollars of my property, which he manages to stuff into a small bag somehow, and which the SimPolice will be required to hold on to, but the insurance co. will give me an insufficient settlement and I’ll get $1,000 in reward money, and after all is said and done, and I rebuy my furniture and entertainment items, I’ll end up out a few hundred dollars, and won’t have gotten ANY sleep.
Oh, wait, you mean in the REAL world… (hitting the Exit button and deciding whether or not to SAVE)…
Oh, and Scylla, one presumes the post is an attempt to initiate a debate on use of deadly force against intruders by invoking a personal rather than intellectual response…
Scenario 1: (alone)
Grab the phone, call 911
Grab the shotgun, rack a round
door is closed already
wait
No TV is worth me going out there
Scenario 2: (kids are in LR)
Grab HK P7 and flashlight
engage
Note lack of hesitation-I have trained to do this. I’ve been on the wrong end of firing guns before so I know the tunnel vision and the rest of the physical reactions.
Don’t give me the 911 BS if my kids are in the house, I know damn well that the police have no specific duty to protect me. If I’m by myself, I will take the risk, but not for the kids.
Anyone comes into my house and gets between me and my kids, they are dead. Period. Call it an occupational hazard for the robber.
Ahhhhh, gun control. ::Thumps head with hand::
I know I should have waited for Satan or someone smart to show up and 'splain it to me.
I didn’t mean to post that. I was just cleaning my computer, and suddenly it the submit key just went off!
Country Squire certainly has a big brass pair to start this kind of thread on their 11th post!
Go for it, man (girl? other?)!
I’ll let Glitch handle the mechanics of self-defense, and the (un?) ethical apllication of violence. Since that’s all this thread is about.
Right? 
Just remember to duck, CS, and don’t take it personal.
I’ll jump in later, when it’s good and hot.
Yes, but if you hold the cursor over the SimBurglar then he will move much more slowly, allowing the SimCop to arrive and apprehend him before he can steal your beautiful shiny stove! (Why does he always seem to go for the stove? How can he fit it in that little bag? Mysteries within mysteries.)
Now, when it comes to the real world, I live in a dorm. If there were some n’erdowell lurking out in the hall late at night I could call security or simply scream my head off and rouse the entire floor. I’d be a fool to keep a gun or other deadly weapon in a dorm room.
I’m with Mike. If I was alone they could take my stuff.
Thing is, if it was at night and I was at home that would mean that my entire family would be at home. If the intruder was a room away that would mean that they were either in my SIL’s room or my daughter’s room.
After dialling 911 my erstwhile intruder would be dealing with me and four feet of steel pipe.
Pain would ensue.
I’ve had it happen and my response was fast. I didn’t grab up my gun because I didn’t think of it, though it was in the head of my bed. I bounced up, charged out into my living room and confronted this white guy stealing my stuff.
We had a little squabble which I ended by snapping out my good old trusty switch blade knife, laying open the side of his head and he ran like heck. I didn’t even chase him, just called the cops, gave them the report, fixed the damn lock on my side door and started using the dead bolt that I had no outside key for, because I rented and the landlord had no key for it either, cleaned up and had a few beers. Then I went back to bed. They caught the guy two days later when he went in to have his sliced head fixed up, having decided that it wasn’t going to heal on it’s own.
He got a year. He is a coke head and lived down the block and knew the guys who used to live in my place, knew the side door lock sucked and was searching for small stuff to trade for crack. He didn’t know I’m a light sleeper. I replaced the entire door latch, lock, latch plate and all and charged it off of my rent. Then I put bolt pins on the other two entry doors. Since I lived alone then, I started sleeping with my bedroom door open and did that until I moved a year later.
I keep the ol’ blade razor sharp now because I’m not all that young anymore and tussling with these young kids could get me hurt.
Grab my Mini-14 from under the bed (factory folding stock, 30-round clip).
Flick the safety off. Aim towards door.
Call 911. Inform the local Barney Fifes that yes, there is an armed homeowner here too, so don’t just randomly start killing everyone in the house who has a gun…
Wait behind the headboard of the bed (it is 1.5 feet from the wall).
If I hear footsteps coming towards the door, I yell out repeatedly “Who is it?! I’m armed!”
If after that the steps continue to come closer or the door starts to open, fire a round into the ceiling/attic. The Mini is very loud, and now all the neighbors will be awake as well.
If the person is still determined to come in, fire the other 29 rounds into them.
Get my morning coffee, and prepare for a Very Long and Unpleasant Day Ahead…
**
Holy cow! If I ever said anything in the past, present, or future that pisses you off give me a chance to apologize.
Marc
Anthracite:
And you will be stone deaf, with sharp stabbing pains shooting into your skull from your severely abused eardrums.
You’d be lucky to hear our hypothetical intruder scream like a little girl and run away.
Yelling “I have a shotgun!” and then racking the slide mechanism would probably be just as effective (and a lot less painfull) than actually loosing a round and scaring the bejeevus out of your neighbors, or God forbid, accidentally hitting one of them with a stray hign-velocity bullet (.223 rounds have a tendency to behave erratically after striking something, damned near anyhting).
Plus, should you have to fire, smaller shotshell pellets have much less penetration, and a wider dispersal pattern (making aim less of a factor, though at short range, there isn’t much chance for dispersal on legal barrel-length shotguns). You’ll still be stone deaf, though.
Other than that, I love my Mini-14 too! Well, love is a little strong…I rather like it. A lot! 
On planned and supervised shooting ranges, with adequate eye and ear protection.
An alternative to gunplay: a camera, with flash. Just remember to close your eyes before activating. You can then stroll over to the now-blind intruder at your liesure and bop him a good ‘un on the noggin’ with a Louisville Slugger. And the extra pictoral evidence wouldn’t hurt none at his trial, either.
Additionally, there’s no problems with storage, accidental misfires, or any “kids and guns” issues, and they’re really low maintenance.
Not that I have, as a matter of last resort, any moral qualms about shooting uninvited and unwelcome “guests” in my home; just remember that actions have consequences, and the Law of Unintended Consequences is a mother.
Well… seeing that I have 4 very large signs that read BEWARE OF DOG and signs all over the place that indicate there is a security system with cameras, and the cameras are quite visible at night as are all my warning signs, and there are several security lights that light up my property like the 4th of July, and there are warning stickers on most of my doors and windows that state that we are armed to the teeth (remember folks, I own a gun store) if someone did break into my house the first thing I would do is wonder if the person was an idiot, suicidal, or The Terminator!!:eek:
I would arm myself with my Para Ordinance .45 cal, then I would call out the code word we have to make sure it wasn’t another family member. I would stay where I was (NEVER search for a burglar folks!!) and wait for Riff Raff (my dog) to bring me the carcas of the dumb s.o.b. who dared to intrude my home…and I’d shoot what was left:p:
Obviously, you’d have to be very careful about the use of force (especially when you’ve got a firearm). Kids or no, you can’t just jump out into the hallway and open fire. In the first place you have no idea who this person is or why he’s in your house – it could just be a local drunk who really doesn’t understand why his key wouldn’t work on his front door, or where all his stuff went to. Even if we assume that it is a burglar, I can imagine no ethical justification for imposing an arbitrary death sentance for burglary and a perceived possibility of a physical threat. The common rules about self-defense (you have to be in actual fear of imminent harm to yourself or others, etc.) are entirely reasonable.
What would I do? Probably call the cops (quietly) and sit tight. A confrontation is a lot more dangerous than a stolen TV. I would think this goes double if children are in the house. Of course, if I hear someone creeping towards the kids’ room, that’s a different story.
:intuder: [backing away from PK’s home "Nice doggie, nnniiiccceee AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH! Leggo! OH, the humanity! OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW!!! urk…
Remember: in PK land, guns don’t kill people; canine torpedoes with sharp pointy teeth do.
And I’ve given it a lot of thought. Problem is, I don’t have any experience to base my fantasy on.
I’ve lived in quite a few cities, and lots of neighborhoods, and I’ve never been home-invaded. I don’t even know anyone who has. I know it happens because I’ve seen it lots of times on TV. I got burgled twice (in almost 40 years), but always when I was away. I think that maybe the baddies are afraid of my guard cat.
I kinda like Ex Tank’s method;
All I need is a bat. Probably not a genuine Louie, though.
Peace,
mangeorge
Hey, put the alarm on the OUTSIDE of the house, and the burglar will almost always get caught before he can steal any of your stuff. Be sure to get one for each door that leads outside, though.
What I would do? Kill the intruder. I’ve always wanted to kill someone and that would be the perfect excuse.