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Why carry in your house?

tarzan1888

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Joined
Apr 9, 2007
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, , USA
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xmirage2kx wrote:
I wear my gun at home because everyone I care about is there. Sure when i am out at a mall alone or something it is important to protect myself, but at home with my family there are a lot more people I care to protect. I could never live with myself if something happened to my family and I couldn't do anything about it because I wanted to keep my gun in a safe

A BIG + 1 From me.



Tarzan
 

protector84

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Oct 6, 2007
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Arizona, U.S.
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I don't carry in my home just like I don't carry my cell phone in my home. I also don't wear shoes in my home. It is all about comfort. It is not comfortable sitting on the couch or cooking with a gun on your hip. I have enough weapons in strategic places that if someone was breaking in, I would likely have enough time to get to them. I keep a loaded semi-automatic in my bedroom and a loaded shotgun in the closet. Not to mention I have a large knife next to my bed just in case I sleep that sound if someone were breaking in. The only real vulnerable place would be the bathroom or shower because you couldn't hear someone coming in with the water running. So I bring my knife in there while I am showering. If I have to fight in extremely close quarters, I prefer a big knife.
 

Bravo_Sierra

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Jul 5, 2007
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Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
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quaker333 wrote:
I have a question for the readership of this forum, but I'm afraid it will come across as condescending or judgemental, and I don't mean it to. Honestly, I'm asking to be educated.

I know two men who routinely wear weapons in their house and in their yards. Both have valid licenses and are mature, sensible people; and I have absolutely no problem with their right to carry. I've asked both of them about why they arm themselves, and each says some variation of, "Because I have a right to." At least that's what I heard, but I might be misunderstanding.

I respect both of these men, and I think that I must be missing something. Could one or more of you talk to me about this?

My question is, do you routinely carry when you're at home, and if so, why? I can easily understand having a weapon available in case you are attacked in your home, but I don't understand routinely clipping a holster to your belt when you come back from the office.

Sincerely respectful,
Quaker333

Two words: Home invasion

Remove head from ass. Home invasions happen a LOT in Nevad, like more than 3 a week.
 

compmanio365

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Apr 21, 2007
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Pierce County, Washington, USA
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Bravo_Sierra wrote:
quaker333 wrote:
I have a question for the readership of this forum, but I'm afraid it will come across as condescending or judgemental, and I don't mean it to. Honestly, I'm asking to be educated.

I know two men who routinely wear weapons in their house and in their yards. Both have valid licenses and are mature, sensible people; and I have absolutely no problem with their right to carry. I've asked both of them about why they arm themselves, and each says some variation of, "Because I have a right to." At least that's what I heard, but I might be misunderstanding.

I respect both of these men, and I think that I must be missing something. Could one or more of you talk to me about this?

My question is, do you routinely carry when you're at home, and if so, why? I can easily understand having a weapon available in case you are attacked in your home, but I don't understand routinely clipping a holster to your belt when you come back from the office.

Sincerely respectful,
Quaker333

Two words: Home invasion

Remove head from ass. Home invasions happen a LOT in Nevad, like more than 3 a week.

Whoa, easy there cowboy......the guy is asking a perfectly legitimate question. Remember that not everyone understands the reasons why we feel we need to be armed, and this person seems to have legitimate questions about that. Do you want to educate this person or alienate him?

In response to your question, quaker, I don't always have my sidearm on my hip when I am home, simply because I am relaxed when at home and the doors are locked, and it is more comfortable to take that holster off my belt. But my weapon is never far away, within arms reach at all times. I do this in my home for the same reason I'm always armed when I'm away from home. Criminals don't make appointments as to when they are going to make you their victim. You could be at home, in the office, on the street, or even on a bus, plane, or train. There's only one way to make sure you are "safe" at all times, and that is to be armed....all the time.

When I am out and about, I have my sidearm on my hip and holstered so I can keep it with me even while being mobile; when at home I place it next to me most of the time for reasons of comfort and convenience, so I am both relaxed and armed at the same time. It is important I think to most of us that we are ready to defend ourselves 24/7 because crime doesn't work 8-5, nor do they respect the sanctity of your home or other private space.

Does that answer the questions you were asking?
 

dng

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May 25, 2007
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, , USA
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Bravo_Sierra wrote:

Two words: Home invasion

Remove head from ass. Home invasions happen a LOT in Nevad, like more than 3 a week.



Calm down buddy. Quaker is just asking a question. No need to bite his head off.
 

CA_Libertarian

State Researcher
Joined
Jul 18, 2007
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2,585
Location
Stanislaus County, California, USA
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xmirage2kx wrote:
I wear my gun at home because everyone I care about is there. Sure when i am out at a mall alone or something it is important to protect myself, but at home with my family there are a lot more people I care to protect. I could never live with myself if something happened to my family and I couldn't do anything about it because I wanted to keep my gun in a safe
This made me think of a birthday party shooting article I read about a month ago. I can't find that article now... so here's the nutshell version:

Two women and their two young children are setting up birthday party decorations the home of one of the women. A few minutes before the rest of the guests arrived, two men broke in and demanded money. Then they started shooting. IIRC, the resident and her guest's young son were killed. One little boy is left without his mother, and one mother is left without her son.

Too bad neither of these women were armed and able to defend themselves and their children.

Bad stuff happens in homes all the time. If my family is ever targetted, I will be able to fight, rather than watch my family get murdered.
 

Cue-Ball

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Joined
Sep 19, 2006
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425
Location
Kirkland, Washington, USA
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I also wear my holstered firearm at home, most of the time. If it's on my hip, it's there if I need it and I don't have to concern myself with where it's at or who has access to it. I don't always have it on me in the house, but I usually do. For those other times it's usually sitting on the end table next to me, or on the desk next to the computer I'm working on. My wife does the same. Her pistol is either on her hip or within arms reach.

People have a tendency to feel safe and secure in their homes - it's this very thought which is dangrous. Look at all of the "nice neighborhoods" that have home invasions. It happens all the time. People get robbed, beaten, and shot. I don't want to end up being one of those people.
 

openryan

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Joined
Apr 18, 2007
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Location
, Indiana, USA
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openryan wrote:
Right now I sit in my computer room, already in my pajamas, so the gun is on the desk in front of me. However, in my apartment, every room is probably within 25-30 feet of the door/entrance.

If someone picked my lock right now and broke in, and they are armed, I would never have enough time to get to the firearm in my bedroom if their intention was to shoot me, or if it ended up being a botched robbery and I was shot in the process.

Dangers, and potentially fatal ones can happen anywhere, in your home, in your yard, at the office, and the list goes on.

I have a hard of time understanding the question you asked in the op as you have trying to understand why we carry all the time.
I would just like to add to this...

I live alone, but my girlfriend does have a key to my place... she always tells me when she is going to be stopping by, and furthermore, has school most week nights...

About 2-3 weeks ago, I heard the door being fooled with, but it was very, very faint, as if someone was trying carefully to not make any noise. I looked at the clock, my girlfriend should have been in school, it was about 9pm. She had also told me earlier that day that she wasn't coming over that evening... so I was expecting nobody to be stopping by, let alone trying to open my door.

As I heard this I got up from my desk and had my gun ready waiting at the other end of the hallway to see who was coming in my door... it was her, she had gotten out of school early and decided she was going to try to scare me/suprise me since she got out early...

But I did realize then that had my gun been in another room, it would have been hard to get to, especially if someone was trying to break in...I usually have music on, and I certainly would not have heard this if it was on at the time, and even harder if the person had already entered and I didn't have close access to my firearm.
 

quaker333

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Dec 10, 2007
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Folks -

Many thanks for the thoughtful discussion. I asked for knowledge and you've certainly given me a thorough education.


As I look over the responses, I think I could summarize them as,

"I've decided to defend myself and my family with deadly force if I need to;
and since danger might occur with no warning, it only makes sense to keep
my weapon close to hand."

I didn't understand when I started this thread, but it sounds like a perfectly
reasonable attitude.

Many thanks, and I'm going to step out of the discussion now.

Quaker333
 

Anubis

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Sep 16, 2006
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Arapahoe County CO, ,
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quaker333 wrote:
I know two men who routinely wear weapons in their house and in their yards. Both have valid licenses and are mature, sensible people; and I have absolutely no problem with their right to carry. I've asked both of them about why they arm themselves, and each says some variation of, "Because I have a right to." At least that's what I heard, but I might be misunderstanding.

I respect both of these men, and I think that I must be missing something. Could one or more of you talk to me about this?

My question is, do you routinely carry when you're at home, and if so, why?
A reasonable question... I carry all the time, except when I am in the shower or asleep, in which cases I have a weapon within reach.

I have experienced car wrecks, always with my seatbelt on. I can easily imagine being involved in another wreck, so I always wear the seatbelt.

I don't expect to have my door kicked in; it's never happened yet. But past experience is no guarantee it won't happen 5 minutes from now. If it does occur, I won't have time to get a pistol upstairs in the bedroom or locked in a case. Every second counts.

Of course I could get killed anyway---say if 3 thugs arrive together with guns blazing. There are ranges of self-defense scenarios to consider:

(1) I am never attacked. It doesn't matter whether I am armed.

(2) I am attacked and instant access to a pistolsaves my life.

(3) I am killed by something completely beyond my control---say, shot by a sniper 200m behind me. Again, it doesn't matter whether I am armed.

We all live in case 1; we all die in case 3. I survive in case 2. How about you?
 

kimbercarrier

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Jul 24, 2006
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hampton, Virginia, USA
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I carry in and around my house because I don't know when I'll need it. And because I've read of people being robbed and beaten while doing yard work, could also be attacked by my neighbors pitbull.
 

vtme_grad98

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Joined
Sep 21, 2006
Messages
385
Location
Virginia Beach, VA, ,
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quaker333 wrote:
My question is, do you routinely carry when you're at home, and if so, why? I can easily understand having a weapon available in case you are attacked in your home, but I don't understand routinely clipping a holster to your belt when you come back from the office.

Sincerely respectful,
Quaker333
Because it takes 2-3 seconds tops for someone to break down your door if they really want in.

I actually rarely OC at home unless we have friends over. If it's just me and my wife, the gun just sits on the table next to our sofa, or some other convenient place if we aren't watching TV. I've already suffered an attempted home invasion once, and I was fortunate at the time because they wasted a lot of time trying to talk me into opening the door before they started trying to force it open. I don't expect to have that luxury of time if it ever happens again.
 

Right Wing Wacko

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Aug 11, 2007
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Marysville, Washington, USA
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There are three places my gun can be:

1. In the Gun Safe

2. In the holster on my person

3. Somewhere else

If it's in the safe it's worthless. By the time I get to it I probably don't need it any longer. Besides, if I have to go to the safe to get a weapon for HD... I'm grabbing the Shotgun!

If it's somewhere else, it's not in my control. This is bad. Someone else could be using it against me or my family. This is not going to happen if I have anything to say about it!

I chose the other option.
 

Ford Truck

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Joined
Dec 12, 2007
Messages
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Location
Franklin Township, DeKalb County, Indiana, USA
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quaker333 wrote:
I have a question for the readership of this forum, but I'm afraid it will come across as condescending or judgemental, and I don't mean it to. Honestly, I'm asking to be educated.

I know two men who routinely wear weapons in their house and in their yards. Both have valid licenses and are mature, sensible people; and I have absolutely no problem with their right to carry. I've asked both of them about why they arm themselves, and each says some variation of, "Because I have a right to." At least that's what I heard, but I might be misunderstanding.

I respect both of these men, and I think that I must be missing something. Could one or more of you talk to me about this?

My question is, do you routinely carry when you're at home, and if so, why? I can easily understand having a weapon available in case you are attacked in your home, but I don't understand routinely clipping a holster to your belt when you come back from the office.

Sincerely respectful,
Quaker333
Unlike Rosie O'Donnell, I don't have the $ to hire my own private, armed guards to protect me & mine, so I usually have a .357 revolver on or within easy reach.
 

UTOC-45-44

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Feb 22, 2007
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Morgan, Utah, USA
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WhiteRabbit22 wrote:
It's thesecondthing I do when I come home. Walk in the door, let the dogs out, holster goes on. Why shouldn't I? if i'm walkign about the house, doing chores, or mowing the lawn, I'm not going to be right next to my firearm unless it's on my hip.

i remember hearing a story told on this forum about someone's wife who couldn't understand why they caried in their own house. One night, they heard gunshots right outside their house, in the street. they both hit the floor. Later on the man said to his wife, "Now you see why?"

It's like the boyscouts, "Be prepared!"

Yep...that was me.

I have my kimber on the night stand, when it's not on the hip . A 44mag under the mattress ( cuz a 9 won;t go thru the mattress:p) and a Bennelli behind the Headboard.

We have a piece stashed away in the T.V room as well.

I'm looking to get one form our Guest room downstairs. My wife and I have a Goal to have 1 gun per room in the house ( including the Bathrooms, probably revolvers for the Bathrooms )
 
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