Being in Australia, the chances of an intruder being armed with a handgun is almost nil so it’s up out of bed (naked or not), grab a golf club (my choice is a 1 1/2 wood because i can’t use it for anything else) and into em!
Over the last two years I’ve had four lots of intruders that i know of.
The first was two young girls in my living room. I go to work at 4am and was going camping this particular day when i finished work. I loaded up my car, left the front door open then i went to get the second lot of stuff. When i returned to the living room about 3 minutes later there was two girls in there looking through my CDs. I let out a WTF which got the dog out of the laundry and the two girls couldn’t get out the door fast enough! Even though he was an old dog that had prostate cancer, he still put on a good display of teeth and hackles.
Second lot was little kids stealing mangoes and going through the beer fridge on my verandah. They didn’t know i was home so when the light went on they left quickly.
Third was a drunk bloke trying to steal my motorbike off the back verandah. I broke a golf club on this blokes knee (2 wood but it was an old one) but he still got over the front fence and down the street.
About two weeks ago my girlfrinds ratdog (maltese terrier) started barking and the nextdoor neighbours new rotweiller (sp?) let out a bark. Instant action man! Out of bed, grab golf club, run down hall, out front door and there is a kid, about sixteen, getting over the fence. He saw me and then stacked it over the gate landing fair on his face, spike the ratdog then grabbed his shirt, and i just put my foot on his back with the golf club poised for a quick whack to the face if he tried to get up. Bill, my neighbour, was over the fence just as quick because he thought the little bastard was in his yard. A few quiet words to a slightly terrified kid about dropping him down a mineshaft or taking him fishing and a rather meaty kick to the tailbone courtesy of bill sent him on his way. Little shit then threw a rock at us and then bill took off after him. Bill didn’t catch him, luckily, because this bill bloke doesn’t mess around. The mineshaft may have not been a threat. I know who this little brat is so if there is anymore trouble it can be sorted out in a umm…civilised manner involving a few miner friends and some sturdy poly pipe??
The bad guy woke me up, too. I heard noise in the back and went to see what it was. A guy was crawling through my bathroom window! He was all the way in except for 1 leg still hanging out the window. The other leg was standing on the toilet. I yelled “I’m gonna scream” and went screaming out the front door. It was an apartment complex, and soon there were some people around, at least one of whom had called the police.
When the police came, of course, the guy was long gone. I moved to an upstairs apartment the next day.
Before this incident, I was living in another place also on the ground floor. I heard noise around my window. Because it was darker inside my room than outside the house, I could actually see the guy peeping in my window! When he moved off to another window, I called the police and they actually made it in time to arrest the guy.
Tripler: Excellent comments, but you may want to think about using a shotgun instead of an AR-15 for the following reasons:
While a .223 is not known for its penetration through walls, it will travel very far if the bullet happens to go out a window. In other words, I would be somewhat concerned about hitting one of my neighbors if I were using an AR-15.
IMO opinion a shotgun is much more intimidating than a rifle for close-quarters self defense. And an AR-15 cannot duplicate the hair-raising “chu-chink!” racking sound of a pump shotgun.
You will have a much harder time getting sympathy from a jury if you used an “evil black combat rifle” vs. a shotgun commonly used for hunting.[sup]a[/sup]
[sup]a[/sup][sub]I like AR-15s. But you should assume a jury will not.[/sub]
My father rest his soul could think on his feet. Even when half asleep.
One night when my father was living alone he heard a strange noise from my old bedroom. He got up to investigate. When he opened the door to my room he found a bad guy half inside the window.
He flipped on the light and said
He walked out of the room only to hear the bad guy beat feet.
FTR my father did not own a gun.
I loved that man, I miss him.
I had an almost break-in once.
I had a garden-level apartment in downtown St Paul with my bed next to very large window sill (about 3’ x 4’). It was springtime and I had the window open, screens in, and the shades pulled down. About 20 minutes from my usual morning wake up time I look up to see a set of very long blue metallic fingernails that were lifting up the screen and shades in tandem. I was still groggy and a bit shocked so I watched as this woman attempted to enter head and torso first into my apartment. At this time I blurted out “aboogalogoogah”. Complete jibberish but it got me an apology and she fled the scene. I sprung out of bed onto the window sill and got a description of her. I slapped some shorts and t-shirt grabbed my cell phone and tried to find her outside as I call 911. No such luck.
The police came in about 15 minutes and I stood in the lobby of my building giving the descriptions to one officer as the other officer found the mirrors in the lobby much to his liking. It was a bit distracting to relay the events to one while another cop is flexing for himself and enjoying it. Narcissus’ partner then explains that it is most likely going to just be a report filed but that there’s not much they can do about it. I shrug my shoulders and nod that it’s just a part of life at this point Mr Flexy stops the self-pride to let me know that he woulda shot that person and asked questions later. Ooookay.
So anyways, I have to go work. I close the windows. Put the staffs in them and click the locks. Off to work I go. It’s about a 3 and a half block commute and as I’m heading down there what do I see? A full set of ten fingernails with blue metallic nail polish walking out of Walgreen’s eatin’ a bag of Doritos. “EEP!” I exclaim as I dial 911 from my cell phone and get the same operator I had spoke with before. I tell her that I’m walking a safe distance behind the woman and give her the description. I then realize that I originally recounted her pants as grey sweatpants as blue jeans, which makes me realize how poor an eyewitness I’d make. However, the fingernails are spot-on. That’s the detail I’d always remember. Off we go walking, me about a block behind this woman with 911 on the phone as I give directions to where we’re heading. Minutes seem to last hours waiting for a police car to come. We go about 4 blocks all the way down to the homeless shelter where she chats with her friends hanging outside then on to the bus station. She’s now waiting for a bus, I’m waiting for the cops and the 911 operator is waiting for me to hang up. Three busses pull up to the stop and she starts to walk down to the last on and gets in line as the paddy wagon shows up and I point the officer to her. He nabs her and then I’m off to work. Whew.
Denouement.
I call the apartment building manager and switch to a 2nd floor apartment immediately. So I don’t have to worry about that anymore. The woman that was about to break in to my apartment is set free after spending the night in jail. The reason? She didn’t step a foot in my apartment. Only her head, arms, and torso. If she would have set a foot in the apartment she would have broken the law. That seemed rather incredulous to me but I guess that’s what the law is (was).
Be quiet & listen is what I’d do. Mr. Burgler has made a big noise, now he stands quietly to hear if he has disturbed Mr. Occupant. Mr. Occupant needs to outwait Mr. Burgler. Kinda like deer hunting–they can spot you because they’re better at not moving.
Your lease prohibits a right guaranteed by the second amendment? -------->Ha ha ha ha !!! that’s a funny one. Does your lease also prevent women from voting and Negroes from drinking from the same sinks as Whites? Get a good lawyer if they ever give you any cr4p about that.
I have a couple handguns, one (a revolver in 17 hmr–small, but the biggest I got and way better than nothing) is always loaded and under the bed. I have no kids and rarely have young visitors, so I just lock it up when they visit. I have never had any attempts but others nearby have.
This is very common. Usually when “average” people are attacked they fixate on one detail. It is often that all they remember any details about is the weapon involved–no clothes, no faces, not much else. Police will ask you for general descriptions of everything of course, but if you don’t remember just say so–if you try to “guess”, you find that you are completely wrong later–so don’t think that you must give a complete description right off–and don’t try to “fill in the blanks”.
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My grandmother was alone with her seven children after their bedtime, and heard footsteps on the stairs. She came out and shouted, “YOU GET OUT OF HERE!” and the guy fled.
I had taken a vacation day in mid-December to go Christmas shopping, and had come back and was relaxing in my bedroom, in our 2nd-floor San Francisco flat. I heard some noise and thought maybe I hadn’t latched the door, and when I came out to see there was a man in the hallway. I said, “Who are you?”, and he said “Pardon me, I must have the wrong place”, set down my roommate’s tape recorder, and turned and went out the back door. That’s when I realized it was no mistake, and called the police. They came in a few minutes, but he was long gone.
Comment: it’s always better to deal with professionals.
You know, not three seconds after I clicked the “submit” button, I thought to myself, “Um, waitaminnit, I might hit Ed and Michelle in the apartment across the hall . . . Oh crap”.
But then I got to thinking of a “show of force”. Like I indicated before, I would most rather send the guy running with a broken rib, collarbone, or arm than have to shoot him in my apartment.
But I concede to ya. I’ll have the shotgun strung behind me on my shoulder. But this is all hypothetical-- knowing me, after sleeping through the January 18th, 2002 train wreck a 1/4 mile from my house in Minot, I’ll sleep through anything.
Tripler
So long as he leggo my Eggo’s, all will be relatively fine.
Guess what? In my particular housing circumstance, it’s perfectly legal for him to prohibit firearms in the lease.
I AM a good lawyer, and why anyone would willingly sign a lease and agree to a “no firearms” clause, then turn around and hire a lawyer to sue the landlord is beyond my comprehension.
If you sling it over your shoulder the correct way (muzzle down, strap to the front) you have two options to bring it into action: grasp the forearm with you left hand and pull it up while twisting your left hand under the forearm and moving your right hand to a normal position on the stock - from there you can fire from the hip or continue to move the stock to your right shoulder; or simply grasp the forearm with your left hand and move the entire shotgun (still upside down) forward with the muzzle leveled at your target while you press the trigger with you right forefinger. The first technique is easily learned, but the second method should be considered an emergency option only.
Being from the part of Britain I’m from there is basically no chance of the intruder having a firearm.
What I would do is stand at the top of the stairs with my softball bat while my SO phoned the police. I’d be a visible last line of defence and hope they didn’t try to breach it.
The only incident I’ve experienced is when I lived at home.
My parents had three bullmastiffs at the time, a youngish bitch about 5stone in weight, an older bitch weighing about 9 stone and a hulking brute of a dog weighing about 12 stone.
We awoke to the dogs barking, went downstairs and opened the back door, the dogs tore out into the garden and all we could see was a very scared man hightailing over the fence.
I think having some big dogs is a great deterrent, my mother says that’s what makes her feel safe when my father is away on business now that my brother and I have moved out.
Actually, you could have anything slung under your shoulder at the ready in less than a second. USAF Security Forces do it all the time.
It may take some practice, but you can rotate the rifle/shotgun a full 270 degrees under your arm and up to the ready position. With your right hand, grab the butt of your gun and pull it up. With your left, just grab the forestock. Then, with your right, grab the trigger. It’s pretty quick, but it works darn well.
Tripler
I’m at lunch now, but I’ll do a web page to show you pictures later. . .
A shotgun, in my opinion, is the perfect home defence weapon. I have, also my opinion, the perfect shotgun for home defence. A 12 gauge, just a shade over 27" long, with an 18" barrel, and a pistol grip. Easy to carry, easy to deploy, and handy to to have around what with the drug dealers across the street, the thieves a few doors down and the worst bar in town half a block away.
In my youth I was able to fire it one-handed a la Dirty Harry. Wouldn’t try it now. Come to think of it, that might explain the arthritis in my shoulder joints.
And a shotgun is much easier to use if you aren’t an expert. People who aren’t good shots shouldn’t bother with a handgun, because even in a pitched battle in a hallway, you might not hit the person you’re shooting at.
A shotgun, on the otherhand, is a lovely close-in weapon and it’s damn near impossible to miss within 10 feet or so. Also a good weapon for women.
