View Full Version : Country or City, Carry or Stash?
mastiffhound
02-12-13, 18:00
I lived in the city for some time after living in the country as a kid. I moved back to the country after my brother was murdered, I just couldn't see living in a place that was supposedly safer with a large police force. I'm not knocking the police mind you, the extreme manhunt they performed to catch the scum that shot my brother was exemplary. I don't know if they looked so hard because he was a soldier on leave, and I don't care if that was their reason. They did a great job. I can't thank them enough.
My questions are:
1. Do you live in the Country or City?
2. Did you move to either because you thought it was safer for you and your family?
3. In either place do you carry at home or stash firearms in strategic places(where you sit, areas of the house you are in the most)?
I'm just wondering what everybody else does when it comes to home defense. I don't have any small children so having stash spots is what works best for me ( I have a stainless .38 in my bathroom drawer, hey you are never more compromised!) Plus I have visitors(family) who might be alarmed and think I was crazy for carrying at home. I also like to keep a bolt action .22 mag by the door that I let my dogs out to go to the restroom. I learned this lesson after my american pittbull got sprayed by a skunk while killing it and my english mastiff got into it with the biggest groundhog I had ever seen(they are well fed around here?). She killed it but took some bites and scratches(glad she is up on her shots!) and 2 stiches. Maybe some better options are out there, I'm just trying to see if any exists.
jonconsiglio
02-12-13, 18:08
I'm sorry about your brother.
I carry always. I keep a rifle in the master bedroom available when I'm home. I carry a handgun on me or occasionally set it nearby out of reach. I have another handgun in a quick safe in the bedroom.
I'm married and have a 7 and 3 year old.
I live in a city of roughly 400,000 now, but was born in LA then lived on the outskirts of Pittsburgh most of my life in both city and rural areas. Two years in Boston as well.
Had I decided to keep firearms put up in different locations, chances are I wouldn't be typing this. I walked out the front door to smoke and walked right into what was an attempted home invasion. The gun on me is what stopped it.
Jon
DanjojoUSMC
02-12-13, 18:17
Live in a rather an urban area and keep weapons on me and around the house where kids can't reach. Even have a couple Bersa pistols staged around. Home invasions and robberies happen all the time here. Two officers that live on my block keep their patrol cars parked on the side of the street or in the drive-way - doesn't make a difference.
If there was a place in the country for the same amount of cash, would have bought it for sure.
I currently live in a city with a population of a little less than one million and I hate it. I usually am carrying at home or have a pistol within easy reach. I desperately want to move out into the country somewhere, not necessarily because I think it's safer, but just because I hate being right up against so many other people.
OP I'm sorry to hear about your brother.
RearwardAssist
02-12-13, 19:00
I live 15 mins outside of Phoenix so in the country somewhat. I didnt move here for safety I was able to find land at a good price and built my own home. It is close to work as well. I dont carry a gun on me at all times but always have one around the house. I probably should start to carry it more.
I moved to the country 20 years ago so I could shoot and ride on my property whenever I want. Loaded rifle and pistol in the house and shotgun in the barn, you never know.
It doesn't matter where you are. Bad things can happen.
Carry/be prepared as much as possible, keep your eyes open and your head on a swivel.
We live in a small town of about 15k an hour from a major metropolitan area. We moved here for my wife's career. I carry in the house most of the time, but also have long guns and handguns stashed as well. I also had our deadbolts on all exterior doors upgraded, had door reinforcers installed, along with stronger strikeplates with stronger screws on the door frames and longer heavier hinge screws, to reduce susceptibility to kicking. Installed storm doors on the two exterior doors lacking them. We installed motion sensor lighting around the rear and side of the house and have timer-controlled lighting along the front. We routinely keep the doors locked, and we pay attention to whether our windows are locked. We're careful about opening the door to strangers (we talk through the locked stormdoor).
I think money and time spent on deterring a would-be intruder, or on making his entry more challenging (requiring him to make more noise, create a higher visual signature, and take more time, thus increasing likelihood of being detected) is just as important a component of home security as firearms.
My condolences on your brother's death.
The town I live in is pretty small at 18000, but the metropolitan area has 2.5 million people (Miami-Dade County) and bad guys have cars. The FBI VS bank robber shootout that killed agents Grogan and Dove occured 1/4 mile from my home.
When I am awake, and clothed, I am carrying, and I have guns stashed also. We don't have kids and my wife knows her way around firearms so that is not a concern. My wife opened a little used, but accesible, drawer in the kitchen and said "hey, did you know there's a revolver in here"? I said "yes, I put it there".
There is a gun on the shelf behind me in my office and a shotgun in the bedroom in addition to the gun on my person.
My dogs are my best warning device and they are barking right now, but I can tell the neighbors just got home across the street. I know their barks well and right now they are not on full alert.
If I ever move to the country, I will still employ the practice of being armed and having stash guns. Thinking about teaching my dogs to shoot.
I've lived in a small town, in a big city, and traveled extensively through both and everything in between. I've drawn a gun in self defense in a major league baseball stadium parking lot and outside a rural gas station. evil knows no bounds...
really sorry about your brother. That's just terrible. I hope the sonofabitch got a stiff sentence (not that is any kind of justice for taking your brother).
I figure that the likely hood of me having to draw my pistol is so unlikely but if I never have to I won't get to choose when and where and so, if I'm capable, I carry. I live in a relatively big city (around 3 million in a 25 mile radius)
I live in a city, pop 60k.
I carry everywhere i go. If I dont have a firearm on me, I feel naked.
I carry at home, or its at arms length (and i damn sure dont answer the door without a pistol).
I moved to get away from people (i lived in a county with 1.8million people, my current state pop is less than half that).
Personal protection is just that, your personal responsibility. If you call 911, its going to take LE 3minutes minimum to get there.....
theblackknight
02-12-13, 21:31
I live in the highest crime area of my town due to sheer number of calls dispatch gets,mostly larceny.
We're in a small apartment till I get a LE job and we can buy a house.
My wife has my pistol w her in bed right now and I've got my AR behind me. I carry everywhere I can, even into the gym.
I live in the country...resort/vacation area of central Minnesota, closest town is about 500 people. I've had a handgun permit for 30 years. I rarely carry, don't keep a bedside gun (I keep them locked up).
OP, I am sorry to hear about your brother.
I live in a nicer suburb of a large city (the city being where I am LE), though the city has swallowed up the entire municipality where I reside.
I almost always carry inside the house. I do have other firearms stashed in small, quick access safes, but these are primarily for my wife when I am not home.
While I would consider the area we live very safe, there is no place that is immune from violent crime. I work in a very rough, inner city area, and it does not take me long to commute to and from work. While the relative safety of my area was definitely a selling point, the quality of the schools was also a big deciding factor as well.
There are some trendy, newly popular areas to live that my wife has mentioned, but I refuse, as they are a bit too close to "Indian country" for my comfort.
RagweedZulu
02-13-13, 00:26
Live in a small town (40k). Have worthless dogs. One is always asleep, the other is stone deaf. Crime has found it's way to my nice-ish neighborhood more than once. My "carry gun of the day" is always on me or on a central counter top when I'm home. A.357 lives on top of the fridge. A G19 lives in the top of my wife's closet. A Rem870 is locked to the rear floor of my truck. Everything else stays in the safe since Obama/Feinstein have now made them worth about $10,000,000.
Five_Point_Five_Six
02-13-13, 07:48
I live in the country, and choose to carry my gun on me at all times rather than leaving them stashed(2 kids ages 6 and 3 roaming freely throughout the house).
I'm very sorry to hear about your brother.
I currently live in a city because I'm at a university here in Nebraska, but I used to live out in the country in western Nebraska. I carry when I can here, but campus is off limits as is my work. When I'm home my G19 is always on me or in reaching distance and my Benelli Nova tactical is next to my bed at night, along with a streamlight polytac HP.
Live in the burbs, close to work and ammenities. Wish we lived a bit further out but it is what it is. Gun safe upstairs in our room. Quick safe on my nightstand and on my wifes. Stashed stuff on the main floor where we spend most of our time (away from curious kids reaches). Motion lights, a dog that barks at his own farts, and vigilant neighbors certainly don't hurt. Better to be safe than sorry.
Sorry to hear about your brother.
brickboy240
02-13-13, 11:26
I live in the city (Houston) but also have ranch property out in the country. Plan on retiring out there when I turn 60.
Have guns stashed in both houses....sort of hidden but in plain sight. Easy to get at in a hurry and in places in the house where I might get "caught" and not near my usual carry guns.
The guns stashed are a mix. A S&W Model 10 38, police trade G22, Winny 1200 shotgun, old ratty looking SIG P220 and a Marlin Model 60.
-brickboy240
Thinking about teaching my dogs to shoot.
DWood - awesome !
To the OP:
Sorry about your brother. City or Country don't be complacent. Drugs and crime, especially burglaries are not uncommon in rural areas. I carry in the house. I know of, an off duty LEO who got into s hooting in front of his house while taking out the garbage...
Sorry about the loss of your bother,I can't imagine what that must be like.i live in he country and used to think we were safe for the most part. Now with the advent of crack and the rest of the home brewed stuff I'm not so sure that it matters where you live. I have a shotgun in every crook and cranny including one in the truck. Not unusual to wake up with my hand on the buttstock of a lefever 12 ga double reason being i have had recent rotator cuff surgery and am still haveing trouble handling my pumps.Pretty much made up my mind that if someone comes in with intent to do harm I'm going down fighting regardless.
PathofPain
02-13-13, 12:19
My codolances about your brother. I'm sorry for your loss.
As far as I go, I'd rather live out in the country. In an SD situation, potentially less risk for innocent bystanders to get involved when properties are spaced father out.
Police response times are another thing to think of, but for me that doesn't really factor into my immediate response since in either case it likely cannot factor in.
Some awful crimes have been committed by folks out in the sticks (i.e. the quiet community was shocked by...etc, etc) but I think there are probably statistically less people roaming around looking for someone to hold up at gunpoint.
I'm a suburbanite and both carry whenever I'm have clothes on and have a few stashed around the house.
For those of you who have loaded firearms stashed around the home for quick access, are you concerned about a burglar using your own gun on you if you arrive home while a break in is in progress. Nothing could feel worse than realizing I supplied the weapon that is going to cause my death! :suicide:
mastiffhound
02-13-13, 23:14
For those of you who have loaded firearms stashed around the home for quick access, are you concerned about a burglar using your own gun on you if you arrive home while a break in is in progress. Nothing could feel worse than realizing I supplied the weapon that is going to cause my death! :suicide:
Not really. They have to get through my 186 pound english mastiff that I watched take down and pin an overweight teenager who was trying to steal stuff out of my garage. He pissed himself pretty good, I might of too if I had her mouth over my throat. The female cop that showed up just laughed and laughed. My mastiff's backup is a 91 pound pit bull named Lucy-fur that is equally vicious to tresspassers. They would also have to circumvent my ADT security before they got into my house to meet my dogs. Unless they had a gun going in their chances of ending up unharmed and in one piece are very slim.
Salamander
02-14-13, 00:05
I was born and lived til age 5 on Chicago's near north side, and courtesy of many long walks with my grandfather I'm very much at home in the inner city. It feels like situational awareness came installed from the factory.
My parents moved to the suburbs for my school years which I'm sure they thought was safer. If they knew some of the things I knew, they might not have thought so. In high school I had friends who routinely carried guns (illegally) under their car seats and fights were commonplace... this was at one of the top schools in the state.
While in college (in the city but in a pretty good neighborhood) I routinely frequented clubs in marginal neighborhoods and stayed out til near dawn, and never had the slightest problem, although friends did get mugged every now and then in the same blocks on the same nights. I'm convinced it all comes down to attitude and confidence and low-life's picking easy targets and avoiding the ones that look too much like work or risk. I credit the awareness learned from my grandfather for my lack of problems. While I often shot in my college days, it was at the range and I never carried otherwise.
After college, I went right back into the city but into a much rougher neighborhood than ever before, half a mile from the Cabrini Green projects at a time when the neighborhood was still mostly vacant lots and boarded up buildings. It was cheap, it was the only place a couple right out of school could afford to buy. For the first two years our friends were afraid to visit us. Ironically, we got along very well with the few neighbors we had and we all looked out for each other. After a couple of attempted (failed) break-ins the first year... one of them turned away at the point of a shotgun, the other by our very large dog, we never had a problem again. This was during the Chicago gun ban, so all we had was the grandfathered-in shotgun which was in a closet in the center of our second-story living space and my handguns were stored at my parents place in the suburbs.
Within 15 years the neighborhood had gentrified around us. A few years after that the projects were mostly torn down. Serious crime was probably down a little, although lesser stuff like garage break-ins was at an all-time high, lots of kids out of great plains big-10 schools moved to the city for jobs but without the skillset to stay out of trouble. Every Friday and Saturday night they'd park on our block to go to the club on the corner. The next morning we'd be sweeping up auto window glass from the curb because some fool left tollway change visible or left something valuable out on the seat. Finally one of the old time neighbors got tired of it and staked out the block. The next morning we saw blood among the broken glass, and there were no more break-ins for a few weeks until some other loser took over the turf and it all started again.
We left because of property tax rates that tripled over 15 years and because of declining quality of life (traffic, noise, etc.), not because of safety issues. I never personally felt unsafe there, and still don't when I'm back on business. We also left because technology made it possible to work from anywhere, so we moved to a semi-rural place four hours from the nearest major city. While there is petty crime in some nearby towns, it's theft mostly and I can't remember the last time we had more than 10 murders in a year in this county of 140,000 people. What little serious crime there is usually is loser-on-loser crime, one druggie burglarizing another.
Ironically, I do CCW here but mostly that's because I can, permits are not hard for a law-abiding citizen with a clean record to get here; and because I'm an environmental consultant and I sometimes work in remote sites and have a higher than average probability of stumbling on certain illegal activities this region is known for. One of my current project sites includes what we believe is a meth lab. So much for safety in rural areas.
The town I actually live in is very small and very safe, and I generally leave the gun locked away on weekends unless I'm heading over the bridge. On weekdays I usually wear it at all times, my office is in the biggest town in the county and a block from the county jail, and there are often homeless dudes not entirely in their right minds wandering around, a few months ago I watched one beat up a garbage can for no apparent reason. The gun stays on at home in the evening only because it's so comfortable to carry I often almost forget it's there.
The gun safe is at one end of the house and there is usually another gun at the other end of the house. I don't expect to ever need one at home, but there is always that .00000000x chance, and perhaps more importantly this is earthquake country and in a disaster I want to be sure that I can get to at least one of my guns.
So that's the story. In summary, low-lifes can be anywhere and often know how to drive, and situational awareness and common sense go a long way toward a lifetime of being prepared and never needing to use that preparedness.
I live in a city and carry at all times. At home I have my AR nearby as well.
A burglar broke in while I was at home and ran out the back door when I confronted him with a rifle. Since then I don't go unarmed at home.
As for stashing around the house? I don't do that and even if I had enough guns to do so, I wouldn't. If it isn't under my direct control, it is locked up.
I've lived in a small/medium sized city most of my life. However, I'm 10 minutes from the country. I carry with me most everywhere. I also keep my AR by the bed. My wife also has her handgun on her side of the bed. My kids 12 and 14 are well versed in the usage of most all our weapons. They use the alarm system when my wife and I are not home also. Thankfully we have not had anything happen at home. I have had to pull my weapon during an attempted car jacking. I was at a stop light and this guy started walking across the cross walk. He turned toward my car and started reaching for my door latch. I had a vechicle in front and behind me so I was stuck. I pulled my handgun and showed it to him. He turned around and walked away. Ever since then I always make sure I have at least a car length of space between me and the stopped vehicle in front of me. Gives me manuever room to get out of a situation if someting happens.
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