Here at our house we have me and the Attack Zoo (4 cats, one PomPoo, and one Lab/Pit mix).
Back home in sticks, my mom still keeps the same firearms that my family has had since before I was born. A double-barrel shotgun loaded with rocksalt hanging in a scabbard near the front door, a 9mm under the mattress, and a couple of .22 rifles.
I’m comfortable with or without guns in the house, but I’m decidedly uncomfortable when repeatedly asked by the Atlanta PD why I don’t have a gun, as they dust for prints around my house after it has been broken into 4 times in the same week.
Just something to keep in mind when boggling at the gun habbits of US citizens. “Why do I have a snub-nosed Magnum in my sock drawer? Because the nice police man told me to go buy one.”
I’ll refrain from disparaging the .22, since I believe that familiarity and ability to freakin’ aim trumps bullet size. I’d rather have a .380 that I’m used to shooting than a .45 that I’m not.
The 10/22 is lighter and more compact than the AR, IIRC (I don’t remember for sure, since my 10/22 has been heavily modified for 7-10 year olds use), and as you mentioned - it has to be more pleasant to shoot indoors.
Crafter_Man, you may have an excellent point: my opinions have probably been tainted by over-training.
I occasionally try to mention (like every other sentence) that practice is key to everything.
Re: your point on maneuverability and target acquisition is dead on. There are things you just can’t get away with using a long gun, or even a traditional pistol stance. Probably would do more harm than good to describe them but if you get a chance to take a class, do it!
Damn, I wish local community centers or someone would give that kind of training - maybe NRA could finance it, since they’re supposed to be on our side.
The more people know about the things, the less likely mistakes are (imo).
Dammit people, I got to preaching AGAIN! Sorry.
Could you really do it? I have a friend from Kentucky who hunted all his life. He had his house broken into when he was gone. He thought he knew it would happen again. He parked a block away and slipped into his house. He waited up with a rifle across his lap. The guy came and started to slip through his bedroom window… He smashed the guys hand with the rifle butt as hard as he could. He said when faced with it, he couldn,t pull the trigger.
From what I understand, .223 is actually less likely to overpenetrate than many pistol rounds. This is supposedly even more true from a short barrel, such as the M4, due to ballistic instability of the projectile. I would imagine that the decreased projectile mass (55 gr for .223 vs at least 115 gr for 9mm) would also contribute to decreased penetration. At least that is the explanation that I have heard for SWAT teams moving away from pistol-caliber SMGs like the MP-5 to rifle-caliber carbines like the M4.
Of course, I live in an apartment building, and I don’t think taking an AR up and down the elevator would be looked on well by the neighbors. So I use a Glock 17 with a quality HP and a weapon-mounted light for HD.
A legitimate question, one often overlooked. If you can’t pull the trigger when you need to, the gun in your hand(s) is just as much a threat to you as you intended it to be to the home intruder.
Good for him! I don’t think I’d be able to shoot someone just to protect my stuff, nor do I want to. If someone threatens my family I don’t believe I’d hesitate for even a fraction of a second. But my laptop? Eh, take it.
Take the wife’s while you’re at it. My homeowners insurance might go up a little bit, but probably no more than the cost of cleaning the intruders insides off of the walls and carpet. And can you imagine 7 and 10 year olds waking up to Papa blasting someones grey matter all over the Xbox? “See boy, that’s what happens when someone messes with Halo2”
Hirundo82 - I don’t doubt that I’m wrong about the .223. I’ve seen some conflicting data on penetration, probably due to the difference between hollowpoints, but I haven’t the experience to form a positive opinion.
Some people say the higher velocity (>3000fps vs <1000fps) makes up for the lighter bullet weight (55 grain vs. 185 grain). A fascinating debate, and one that I’d love to be able to contribute something. I need some gel and drywall - could be a fun time!
My home defense weapon? I’ve been told I can bore anyone to death if talk to them long enough, so I got that going for me. With two young daughters in the house, no way in hell I’m keeping a gun in the place. Show me a kid who found daddy’s gun and accidentally killed themself or another child and I’ll show you a parent who insists! the gun is hidden! so well the kids! will never! find it! Honestly, officer!
I suspect at some point I’ll invest in ADT but it just hasn’t been in the budget yet.
I have 3 daggers in my nightstand drawer and 2 swords under my bed. Used to have a bat that had about the first foot drilled out and filled with lead, but lost that at some point in my last couple moves.
Well, you know, you don’t have to rely on something as spotty as “hiding” a gun; there are “easy-access” (as in quick) safes available, should you feel the need to have a firearm in the house, and need quick access, yet also have the need to keep it secure from tiny hands.
Maybe you’re right. But when it comes to the question of keeping my kids safe from themselves, I operate on the “if I can get at it, they can too” philosophy. YMMV.
A very vocal 10# Shih Tzu Tzu that sounds the alarm when anyone sets foot on the property and a large poster of the business end of a revolver with the legend,
Beyond the alarm system, I’ve got a baseball bat somewhere in the house. Looks like I should probably find it and stash it in the bedroom closet.
As someone who’s never had any interest in owning a gun, Crafter Man’s argument for a shotgun actually made quite a bit of sense. However, like gonzomax’s friend, I doubt I could ever pull the trigger, which would mean a loaded gun in the house that someone else is more likely to use than me. No thanks.
I have absolutely no personal experience with rifle or handgun penetration through walls either, so I am just recounting what I have heard.
I don’t know if you are familiar with The Box O’ Truth, but he has done a lot of informal testing with various rounds into different media. The first, second, and fourth tests all address the issue of wall penetration; 223 does penetrate more than the pistol rounds, but really no significant round is stopped by a dozen sheets of drywall. I think the only definite conclusion that can be drawn is to not use a .45-70 as a home defense weapon if you are worried about overpenetration.
Speaking of him, what is that giant freakin’ pistol he expects me to be able to lift should an evil scary bad guy break in while I’m alone? That is the Official Pansy Home Defense Weapon. I
The real, unofficial Pansy Home Defense weapons are a handy little 9 mm, the worlds nosiest neighbors, and a giant freakin’ Marine with several hammers and more guns.
And now a few questions:
For all those people with guns in the closet and dresser, how do you secure your firearms when you’re not at home? For those who have gun safes, is the safe itself secure against being carried away?
For those with carry permits: how often do you actually carry away from home or work? Concealed or unconcealed? Other than off-duty police and security guards, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone on the street with a holster. No telling of course if anyone had one under a coat or jacket.
Knowing your giant freakin’ Marine it’s probably a .44 Magnum. I don’t like shooting those, it’s like getting smacked on the thumb with one of those hammers of his. But don’t worry, you’ll be fine.
Maybe you can ask him to buy some .44 Special for you (should work fine in a .44mag).
It would be easier to just cart away the whole garage than it would be to rip the safe off the foundations. That sucker is bolted down good! As for the weapons scattered around the house…the only one that is plainly visible when you enter the room is the Makarov in the bathroom. The rest are stashed various places. Well, the guns are stashed. The axes and swords are out in the open. But anything worth any money at all is in the safe.
My safe is bolted to the floor and the wall. If anyone wants it, they’re gonna have to work at it some. Probably be easier fr the thief to simply bring in a torch of some kind and cut the locking mechanism away that pry the safe loose from its mountings. Unlike some others, I don’t advertise my state of armaments preparedness to the world, so there’s no reason for the thief looking specifically for guns to single out my abode.
Don’t have a carry permit anymore, but when I did, I only carried when I was going to and from work (nights, just off of downtown Dallas, in a rough neighborhood). Officially, concealed carry was prohibited on company property, but after a few parking lot incidents (assaults, muggings, attempted rapes), my supervisor turned a blind eye to my carry status, as long as I kept my pistol unloaded and locked up in his desk drawer during work hours.
