I don’t have any designated “weapons”, as such… I assume I could grab a knife from the kitchen or something, but needing a defensive weapon isn’t something I’ve ever considered. I don’t worry about a break-in at all.
Just an observation…… I’ve been on this board 5 years.
It seems that there a lot of people on this board that own swords. I know a lot of people that own guns. I’m one of them. Hunters, target shooting, home defense, whatever. But I don’t think I have ever known anyone in real life that was a sword collector. Or even owned one.
Just seems kind of interesting.
Cool.
What brought this up was a friend who complained of a hunting crossbow. (Yet another deer season 
)
Speaking of a deer, not a thief: “It went right through his guts and out the other side. A regular arrow hangs off of him and slows him down getting caught up in the brush when he runs.”
Did you report it and the cops check out emergency rooms for a guy with a cb bolt?
Man, I bet that guy reformed and began working in an orphanage or something.
I keep my FAL next to the bed. It is unloaded. On the dresser is a 30-round magazine loaded with FMJ 7.62 X 51.
Wow. Pretty scary stuff. It certainly is a good thing all home invaders in the greater Atlanta area are willing to abide by the Queensbury Rules and leave thier weapons at home.
My home defense is mainly preventative.
I know my neighbors well, and have made it clear over the past five years that while I am awake, I try to be aware for their sakes of what goes on in the viewable areas of their property, in the hope that they will be equally vigilant toward mine. My neighbor across the street seems to keep a 24-hour watch on the whole block.
I have been active in our neighborhood organization, which has taken care to form good relationships with the local police and politicians. We all watch out for each other. When some idiot kid ran his mother’s brand new car into my neighbor’s house during an ill-considered drag race, fifty people gathered and made it clear that his attempts to flee the scene were not in his bodily interest. Turned out to be a neighborhood kid whose father was a cop for the town next door. :rolleyes:
I keep my property well-lit at night, front and back, and all doors are secured when I am asleep or away (deadbolts for the front and back, a cut-to-length section of high-density-wood two-by-four to keep the back porch slider in place).
I keep a dog, who, despite being a golden retriever, has turned out to be a remarkably stalwart guard of the property, and has a really deep scary bark, making her sound about three times her actual size.
I haven’t felt the need for any more arsenal than that. My wife owns a gun, but it is curretnly in possession of her mother, in a dismantled state at that.
Having taken down an old cinder block wall using nothing but, I sometimes consider keeping my small three-pound sledgehammer handy behind the bed if the need for hand-to-hand combat, but at the moment it remains in the garage. Much easier to wield in the small spaces of my house than a bat.
I suppose there is also whatever I remember of the judo and ju-jitsu I took as a kid.
A gun to me is only a useful preventative if people know you have it, and if they know you have it, one of them may just break in a steal it when you are not home.
Considering the still-low crime rate in my neighborhood, even being bordered on two sides by questionable areas, I just haven’t had reason to be that scared.
Attack Cats
No joke – our cats have actively worked to protect us. Maggie sucvcessfulyy drove off a dog that must have outweighed her by a factor of 10 that was getting too close to MilliCal. The fact that the dog was friendly doesn’t change the action. Clarence, normally, the friendliest and most accepting of cats, has twice puffed himself up to drive off those who were, in his opinion, threatening Pepper Mill. In one case it was someone who came over to study with her, and in the other case it was an Emergency Medical Technician who was trying to give her medical help. But he successfully staved them both off. (And, for the record, Pepper Mill is fine).
Maybe if we really need it, the cats will come through for us in a genuine emergency.
I have a Glock 21 and a Taurus (sp?) .357, although a bokken is the closest to my bed and my hurley is in my living room. I would like to get a gladius, 'cos I have a Roman-military thing (I guess), and the weapon would be ideally suited for a close, poorly-lit scrap. Of course, being generally poor and not having anything worth stealing sure seems to be advantageous when it comes to preventing home invasion.
As for sneaking in on me, my place is so cluttered that any burgler would probably knock over a bunch of empties in the kitchen and wake me up.
Ayup, I do. Tell you more about it? It’s blue, laminated, and has my photo on it.
I’m sketchy about what it lets me carry; the training class said guns only, but the cops tell me I can carry a switchblade if I want. I’m a township zoning administrator, and a township about forty-minutes away was the site of a potentially disasterous standoff when some nut got called out on his illegal buildings. Militias from out of state were threatening to go to town and shoot the place up. Coupled with that in the news, we’ve got a resident with issues, whom I don’t trust to moderate himself. So, I got the permit, just in case. Michigan is a shall-issue state.
Carrying a gun is anything but cool, to be honest. The responsibility is too much, frankly. You know it’s there and you’re morally (and legally) obliged to moderate your behavior – even behavior you’d never actually do, but dream about, such as giving the finger in traffic or sucker punching the guy with eleven items in the express check-out line. At the hearing to get the permit, some guy had to explain his criminal past: catching a fish that was an inch too short!
I only carried when I first got the permit, just to get used to it, so that I wouldn’t be surprised should I ever have to carry a gun.
My home protection is just a big meat cleaver. I keep it sharp. Also, I can use it as a shield, ala Captan America!
"All of those who oppose my mighty shield must yield " 
I keep a Ruger GP100 loaded with .357 Black Talon rounds, but my real home defense is my willingness to use it and the good sense to know when not to. A gun does no good whatsoever without those two factors.
I had to pull it defensively earlier this year for the first time in my life. It’s a long story, but it turned out that the intruder wasn’t going to do me harm, so after my initial analysis, I wouldn’t have used it. She didn’t know that though, as I had my flashlight trained on her the whole time. Which didn’t leave me with a hand with which to dial the phone, but I did scream at the top of my lungs for my neighbor to, and he did. The sheriff’s department was there in what felt like an eternity, but was probably only ten minutes. That would have been a deadly ten minutes if it *had * been someone out to harm me, and having the gun would have made damn sure that it wasn’t me who was stopped. Unarmed, it could easily have gone the other way.
It was an enlightening evening, in which I learned quite a few things about myself. I *do * have the balls to defend myself, I *will * if I have to, and I don’t get the shakes until it’s all over and done. But I do get them.
I used to hold a concealed carry license too, but I let it expire when my first son was born. I was no longer in odd situations in which I felt the need to carry, plus I didn’t want a toddler getting into my purse. Now that the kids are older and I’m again working by myself at night at times, I may see about getting it reinstated.
Yes, but to be honest a “friend”, fifth of whiskey, and a pair of pliers could have taken care of the problem. It was a target point, not a hunting barb.
That said, we were quite happy that he went away without need to escalate the violence any further.
No.
Some months later one of the local deputies mentioned that the prime suspect meeting my husband’s description was found dead in an alley in Gary, Indiana. Well, most of him was in the one alley. They didn’t expect to find the murderer - too damn many people with a motive. Actually, several people may have been in on the deed, rather hard to say, from what I gather. It’s not like I really wanted to know details.
Those are the loud ones - the ones who have to let you know they have guns.
Then there are the other “gun enthusiasts” who feel no need to compare barrel length or magazine capacity. You’ll never know they have one unless Something Bad occurs.
Well, I’m in the “what on earth do you people need so many guns for” camp.
Defend my home - against what? The mongols haven’t come by in the last couple of centuries, screaming hordes of Russians didn’t make it this far, my country isn’t a warzone (although my place is untidy enough :)), so why should I need guns myself? I mean, this is a civilised country - we have police, and they are there to protect the citizens.
As for burglars - why should burglars be so stupid to break into homes when the owners are there??? That’s why the ring the bell, to make sure the house is empty, so they aren’t seen. Too much of a risk to get caught, or escalate a simple crime. (Or break into huge houses in the first place - I live in a one-room apt. By the time I notice a stranger, I won’t have much time to go into my kitchen and dig out some frying pan. Probably I’m sleeping too deep, anyway, to notice.)
Phantom Dennis
Good point Dennis. Basically there is a huge difference between firing a rifle, shotgun or handgun on the firing range as opposed to firing one in your own home. On the firing range, you have hearing protection, you are well-prepared, you can take your time loading, aiming and firing and there is no 6’3" gorilla threatening you with bodily harm.
Since the home is not a firing range, everybody’s firearm abilities will be vastly altered. Does anybody think they could “action” a shotgun a second time? Would the noise and recoil be so disorienting you’d only be able to get off one shot? If you don’t keep the gun loaded, in the event of a home invasion, could you load it quickly and properly? Would you hesitate in pulling the trigger or maybe not shoot at all?
I’ve asked myself those questions and for home defense I settled on a Ruger 10-.22 rifle which I always keep loaded. Yes, I know a .22 is a low-powered cartridge, etc. Still, if you ask yourself the above questions, you might see why I settled on that. If nothing else, I’m a BIG fan of semi-automatic weapons for home defense.
Incidentally, very few people know that I am well-armed and I like it that way. Forewarned is forearmed as they say or as Theodore Roosevelt said “speak softly and carry a big stick”.
As most folks here at the SDMB know, I am one of the most liberal “Dopers”. However, I am also a 5’3" liberal who realizes the 2nd Amendment does make citizens “created equal”.
Some of us would just as soon not rely on others for things we can do ourselves, thank you very much. Besides, once you get locked into a serious collection, it just kinda grows. 
Yeah, it’s really weird to this American too. I can’t imagine ever owning a gun, and don’t imagine many people I know do. The first time I found out that one of my girlfriends had a gun I was shocked (and am still a bit freaked out by it).
My self defense is also a big mag light. Otherwise, I just try to lock to the doors and windows and have an agreement with my roommate to call 911 first if he ever hears me screaming, then come rescue me.
In the context of this discussion, a weapon is the tool you would use to defend yourself. As I said, that would be a phone call to the police.
As **Small Clanger ** and **FlyingRamenMonster ** have said: I’m staggered that so many posters collectively have so many weapons.
There have been a few lurid stories of home invasions in recent years in the Houston area, so although these are actually quite rare and I don’t feel particularly at risk, I won’t dump on people who may think they need some kind of gun around the house to feel better.
Speakig strictly for myself, however, I currently live alone in an apartment in a 150-unit complex, and I know of no criminal issues in the area other than a few daylight break-ins about two years ago. With that in mind, and having only suffered one break-in in any residence of mine in all my 52 years, I’ve nothing to hand that would be primarily intended as a weapon. Well, there’s a 3-iron in my golf bag out in the closet off the patio, but as I can’t ever seem to hit even the intended golf ball with the thing, I have my doubts I’d accurately connect it with a burglar’s head.
In about a month I expect to move into a suburban house. It’s got a security system, but that was not a major consideration when I was house-shopping, and I doubt I’ll change my indiffferent attitude.
Well not to start a Great Debate here, but you’re probably just not used to it because gun ownership in Australia is heavily regulated, right?
As far as calling the police, what if you don’t live in a city? The police may be an hour away.
Yeah or if they post it mostly-anonymously on a message board. 
The gun is in my home for the worst-case scenario, some sort of deranged and/or drugged out lunatic looking to do me or my family bodily harm. Very unlikely of course, but far from unheard of.