This is why I cannot have any friends around where I live...

[strollin]

Hearing of the neighborhoods some of you have lived in or currently lived in is scarey. I've been fortunate in my life that I've never lived in such a place where there are fights out in the street, crack whores soliciting and sirens wailing. When we were first married my wife and I lived in a less than desirable neighborhood but didn't have any problems there. We didn't have the best neighbors but they didn't bother us. Once, our next door neighbor got arrested because he stole a car, yanked the engine to install in his car, then abandoned the stolen car a couple of blocks over from the apartment complex we lived in. We never had a problem with him, he and his wife were friendly toward us. The was part was that the apartments were next to a a train track and also directly under the flight path of the local international airport so it was quite noisy. We moved as soon as we could afford it.

We've been in our present home for 23 years and the only issue we have had was when we had some Latino neighbors that liked to have bonfires in the backyard and play LOUD music all day and all night. It's not so bad when they do it but turn the down the volume after 11:00pm or so but these guys would play loud music until 4:00am on a weeknight when I had to work that day. I confronted them on several occasions asking them to turn the music down and we got into some shouting matches but nothing ever escalated to a fight. Closest thing to a fight was when one intoxicated guy told me he was going to get a gun and shoot me (that's when I walked away and called the sheriff's office). Luckily, they moved out (actually, they were evicted) and the new neighbors are much better.

We're not real good at keeping our doors locked and have never had a break in or anything stolen. When my kids were younger they sometimes would not close the front door completely when they left for school and we would come home in the afternoon and find that our front door was wide open and had been that way for the whole day. Once, a delivery driver left a note that he found our door wide open so he left our package and closed the front door.

I can understand that someone could be in a position where they live somewhere undesirable but are unable to do anything about it because they cannot afford to move so they feel trapped. That could be a very frustrating position to be in.

 

[Draygoes]

Wait, do drug dealers normally roam around freely like that?

In our area, yes. The police do nothing to try and stop them, as the police around here are outnumbered in a way that you would not want to know. It takes SWAT to control the number of outraged people that show up just to watch.

I dont tell stories for attention, I give the fact. So please understand that I am not exaggerating when I give this information.

 

[Draygoes]

Hearing of the neighborhoods some of you have lived in or currently lived in is scarey. I've been fortunate in my life that I've never lived in such a place where there are fights out in the street, crack whores soliciting and sirens wailing. When we were first married my wife and I lived in a less than desirable neighborhood but didn't have any problems there. We didn't have the best neighbors but they didn't bother us. Once, our next door neighbor got arrested because he stole a car, yanked the engine to install in his car, then abandoned the stolen car a couple of blocks over from the apartment complex we lived in. We never had a problem with him, he and his wife were friendly toward us.

We've been in our present home for 23 years and the only issue we have had was when we had some Latino neighbors that liked to have bonfires in the backyard and play LOUD music all day and all night. It's not so bad when they do it but turn the down the volume after 11:00pm or so but these guys would play loud music until 4:00am on a weeknight when I had to work that day. I confronted them on several occasions asking them to turn the music down and we got into some shouting matches but nothing ever escalated to a fight. Closest thing to a fight was when one intoxicated guy told me he was going to get a gun and shoot me (that's when I walked away and called the sheriff's office). We're not real good at keeping our doors locked and have never had a break in. When my kids were younger they sometimes would not close the front door completely when they left for school and we would come home in the afternoon and find that our front door was wide open and had been that way for the whole day. Once, a delivery driver left a note that he found our door wide open so he left our package and closed the front door.

Thank you for the information, and it is wonderful to hear a success story.

I will not talk about this with anyone... including forum discussions, but the most frightening thing that happened was someone being shot and killed a few streets away. It really did change the way that I view the world.

As for the break-ins that happen, we are fully armed. 1 12gague shot gun (With buck shot loaded) and a 22 rifle along with my training. I say we because I live with Cynthias family (I am not proud of that), but it does mean that one can use the Shot Gun, while another can use the 22, and I start off dealing with the problem before it gets to somthing major.

I am not looking for semithy, as you deal with what life (and god no matter the name that you call him by.) has given you.

 

[strollin]

I cannot fathom living in a place where I felt I needed to have a loaded gun around for protection. I own only 1 gun, it's a replica of an 1860 Colt black powder revolver. I have never fired it because I never got around to buying the powder, caps and other items needed to actually load and fire it. It sits in it's box on a shelf in the closet, I pull it out every once in awhile to admire it but that's it.

 

[Draygoes]

I cannot fathom living in a place where I felt I needed to have a loaded gun around for protection. I own only 1 gun, it's a replica of an 1860 Colt black powder revolver. I have never fired it because I never got around to buying the powder, caps and other items needed to actually load and fire it. It sits in it's box on a shelf in the closet, I pull it out every once in awhile to admire it but that's it.

First of all, NICE! I would love to have a gun like that, simply to enjoy.
And be glad that you dont know what life is like with this situation. I am not the only person who lives in fear, and I will not be the last. I will get out of the possition as soon as I can. Trust me on that, I do not like living this way.

 

[strollin]

When I was a kid, I built quite a few plastic model kits of guns including a model of the 1860 Colt. It was one of my favorites. A few years ago I was in a huge sporting goods store named Scheels in Sparks, NV (they actually have a working ferris wheel in the center of the store). I saw the Colt in a case and just had to have it.

 

[Draygoes]

Nice! I learned about guns because I had no choice. I still want your gun!

 

[root]

I don't think that living in a "bad" neighbourhood" means that you're constantly afraid for your life or anything.

I can honestly say that I never really felt afraid for my life, -despite people dying outside, because they were a part of one world, (with gangs and a knife carrying culture) and I was a part of another world. why would they attack me?
That said you're more concious of carrying large amounts of cash, more concious about keeping stuff out of sight, more weary about going out after dark, there are some places and streets that you just avoid, etc...
Despite not being all that afraid, and having had some god times and happy memories whilst living there, id say that I was glad to get out of there. mostly because it seems that that's not the kind of place to raise a family etc... big and dangerous and loud neighbourhoods are something you do whilst you're young. just as when you're young it's good to live next to the pub, because you're in it all the time, as you grow up and go there less it becomes an inconvenience, because it's noisy all the time you can't sleep etc.




I'm not going to tell you that you put yourself and family in danger by keeping guns for protection, because I don't think that's strictly true.

what I would say is that a statistically significant number of people are shot with their own gun.
just as in the UK many of those who carry a knife "for protection" end up being hurt, or killed by their own knife.

I agree with the right to defend yourself, but, in the same way as ipwn was talking about drilling, muscle memory, and a lack of awareness in a panic situation, the right to defend yourself is not a useful right, unless you practice. what I mean is that it's no good saying that your living arrangements dictate that you can have two armed people roaming a house looking for intruders. -arguably you don't have the expertise or training to carry out some kind of man hunt or room clearance. (unless you're actually somehow police or military trained etc)

When you don't have a plan, you're more likely to end up shooting a loved one.

Your plan should be to get together and stick together, if you feel the need to go and find the people who are invading your space this should be done together so that neither of you mistake the other for the intruder!

If you don't have an awareness of where the people you don't want to kill are, then you run the risk of shooting in the dark and killing your own family.


Seti just threatens that anyone who touches him or his stuff will be in trouble, but that supposes that he wins or lives through the encounter.