This is quite a touchy subject I'd imagine so I was a little skeptical about posting it up.

Basically I've got my own place now, have done since August. At the time I was in a relationship and my girlfriend used to stay over quite a lot. In this day and age, anything can happen. There has been posts about people being broken into, luckily they weren't home. But what if you were, even more worrying, what if your wife/girlfriend was home alone and you had a couple of guys come in? Really doesn't bare thinking about. Even if I was on my own, its still a scary thought. Me waking up to find 2+ men in my house. 1 of me, 2 of them, not gonna end well. - I don't live in a rough area at all, but it still happens. To be honest, with my line of work it is very common for people to come back for more, as it were. I've had it before, not nice. With my company, there is a good chance I could take a contract from someone and they could teach me a lesson. I've had death threats before, so it does happen.

I have various "weapons" scattered about the house. Basically, no matter what room in the house I'm in, I'm covered. They aren't on show as its not something I want to show off. But when I first moved in, my girlfriend spotted one, said nothing then spotted another one and quizzed me about it. I told her it was for mine and her safety. She didn't see it like that, she thought I was being silly. Then the other day, a friend of mine spotted one and got really funny about it. Telling me it was stupid to have such things scattered about the house.

Question is, am I wrong for wanting to protect me, friends, family, loved ones with a more "old school" approach and does anyone else here have anything like that about the house.

Definitly not in the wrong.

If someone comes into your house, you have a right to protect both yourself and your family. I keep a rather heavy metal pipe in my closet "just incase"

It's all "just in case" - I wouldn't go waving it passing kids or anything (My weapon that is!! Ah, I mean my rod of iron. Shit, I... You know what I mean :razz

They've been put there, then stayed there.

As long as your friendly visitors don't find them first, it's alright

No I don't keep random weapons concealed around my house, are you mad?

If someone does break into my house (which is very unlikely to happen) and that person is willing to attack the occupant rather than scarper if they are disturbed (even less likely to happen) then the last thing I would want to do is take a weapon to them.

For one thing it'll be obvious to a judge that you kept that object around for the express purpose of killing someone with, and if you lose it it's going to be used against you. In fact if your visiting friends have found these "hidden" weapons what makes you think an invader won't also see them?

If they're planning to get violent they'll probably come tooled up for it anyway, so you'll be ****ed whether you've got a weapon or not.

In my opinion...

Fighting violence with violence will always end in blood and tears. It's nice that you want to protect yourself and your loved ones, but IMO it's the wrong approach.

What if the guy breaking in finds one of your weapons first? What if he has a weapon but didn't intend to use it, but all of a sudden you're standing in front of him with a gun in your hand, so now he decides to use his weapon to "defend" himself?

And to say it with some lyrics from one of my favourite Hip Hop groups:
"You're not any less of a man if you don't pull the trigger, you're not necessarily a man if you do."

Edit

Quote from thisnameistaken :

No I don't keep random weapons concealed around my house, are you mad?

Nope, not mad

Quote from thisnameistaken :

If someone does break into my house (which is very unlikely to happen) and that person is willing to attack the occupant rather than scarper if they are disturbed (even less likely to happen) then the last thing I would want to do is take a weapon to them.

Surely, if they see the weapon then they will think twice. We don't know unless it happens. It could happen and we could sit back and say "If only I had something to fight him off with."

Quote from thisnameistaken :

For one thing it'll be obvious to a judge that you kept that object around for the express purpose of killing someone with, and if you lose it it's going to be used against you. In fact if your visiting friends have found these "hidden" weapons what makes you think an invader won't also see them?

The weapons aren't for killing people, it just something to give me half a chance it the unspeakable happens. They are well hidden, but easy to get to. I'd like to think an invader won't be popping in during the day.

Quote from thisnameistaken :

If they're planning to get violent they'll probably come tooled up for it anyway, so you'll be ****ed whether you've got a weapon or not.

Exactly, so surely its best to give myself a fighting chance.

Jibber - Guns? No way. They are "household items" that happen to be at the right place at the right time.

Quote from jibber :

Fighting violence with violence will always end in blood and tears. It's nice that you want to protect yourself and your loved ones, but IMO it's the wrong approach.

LOL. are you ****ing joking
So if some **** breaks into your house and puts your and your family in danger, you wouldn't do anything to protect yourself and your family?

I'm willing to cop a 6 month assualt/battery jail term if it means my family isn't harmed, and that IF it doesnt just get labeled self defence (Which it would)

Well good luck with your hypothetical paranoid delusion invader scenarios.

Incidentally, have you planned for what you'll do if your house floods? Gas leak? Fire? RTC? There are all sorts of dangers out there that you haven't planned for. Is that because none of them involve being a tough guy and rescuing your girlfriend from the baddies?

Nice to see your delicate approach hasn't gone with age Kev

It's got nothing to do with being the hard man and I'm single now

I've seen a bit of violence, been in horrible situations. I don't wanna brag so I won't go into detail. Infact, most of them have been the most scariest times of my life.

I know people that carry knives and they aren't even chavs. Its to protect themselves from the dangers out there. - I don't approve of that, but I have no problem leaving a few household items around my house in case it does happen. It's all "just in case"

I used to live in a real shit neighbourhood up until the last year or so, had MANY attempted break ins but thankfully the dog always got to them before they managed to get in.

While its a little overkill doing it in my area now, its still a "just in case"

Quote from The General Lee :

Nice to see your delicate approach hasn't gone with age Kev

Yarr.

Quote from The General Lee :

It's all "just in case"

But it's irrational. Have you made any preparations for the other MORE LIKELY and potentially just as threatening to your life and/or property scenarios like the ones I mentioned above?

If not, tell me why not?

This should show you how irrational your behaviour is.

Quote from thisnameistaken :

But it's irrational.

Break ins happen all the time. How is it irrational?

i had a good 5-6 attempts every year when i was in my old neighbourhood.
And in my 19 years of life, i'm yet to have one house blow up, or one house flood.

Now, to me, it would be MUCH more irrational to freak out things like floods...

Quote from Klutch :

Break ins happen all the time. How is it irrational?

i had a good 5-6 attempts every year when i was in my old neighbourhood.

He said he doesn't live in a bad area.

And where were you living that you had six break-in attempts every year? How many was that in total?

Not that I'm saying you're full of shit or anything.

Wow, paranoia much.

Quote from thisnameistaken :

And where were you living that you had six break-in attempts every year? How many was that in total?

Not being racist, but its the truth, but lets just say my suburb was inhabited by aboriginals that hadn't quite worked out how to function in civilised society yet.
There used to be two aboriginal families that lived on either side of my street, with me in the middle. ANd every thursday (When they got there government paycheck) they'd get drunk and start brawling infront of my house.
I grew up with that shit, and i've almost been mugged quite a few times and had been jumped twice in the time i had lived there.
I don't know how many times in total, but honest to god there would be a 5-6 attempts every year, you would hear the dog bark and then not long after someone friskly jumping back over the fence in a hurry. I walked into my room one night on my brothers bday party to a "Coloured" person peering in through my window staring at my Ps2+Tv.

Also had some guy climb halfway down the manhole in the roof, luckily my brother was sitll awake and heard him as he came down, my brother ran otuside and watched him jump off the roof then chased him halfway down the street while i called the cops, turns out the sneaky **** removed the tiles ont he roof and tried to come in from the top. A+ for originality.

Also there used to be foot prints in the garden at our front window sometimes.

Also woke up one morning after hearing the dog bark+snarl to find blood wiped on the fence. I loved my dog. RIP <3

I've got a cosh (sp?) in the kitchen and a lock knife, that's it really, there is the kitchen draw of course.

I can't see how pointing a gun at a possibly armed guy's face makes you any safer. The only possible result I can see is that your chances of death rise from about 0-0.5% in a normal robbery to 50% in a straight stand-off between two scared guys who both fear for their lives.

Also consider the chance of yourself killing a 16 year old teenager who thought your place was vacated and the possibility of mis-use of the gun by someone else or yourself under emotional stress.

The only thing a gun can do is kill. If that's what you want, keep it. If you want to avoid killing or getting killed, don't keep it.

Vain

Quote from Vain :

I can't see how pointing a gun at a possibly armed guy's face makes you any safer. The only possible result I can see is that your chances of death rise from about 0-0.5% in a normal robbery to 50% in a straight stand-off between two scared guys who both fear for their lives.

Also consider the chance of yourself killing a 16 year old teenager who thought your place was vacated and the possibility of mis-use of the gun by someone else or yourself under emotional stress.

The only thing a gun can do is kill. If that's what you want, keep it. If you want to avoid killing or getting killed, don't keep it.

Vain

No one mentioned a gun.
And you dont have to kill someone to immobolize them. Shot to the leg, then casually walk off and call the cops, they're not gonna go anywhere haha

Also call me a cold ****, but that 16yo should know better. If he wants to break into my house and steal my hard earned shit, he better expect a world of pain if he gets caught, because the justice system wont do squat!

Quote from Klutch :

LOL. are you ****ing joking
So if some **** breaks into your house and puts your and your family in danger, you wouldn't do anything to protect yourself and your family?

Dude, i live in switzerland. It's pretty safe here.

My brothers appartment got broken into twice. One time he was there, as soon as they noticed him they ran away. They are looking for money usually, nothing else.

The only danger here in switzerland is that you might encounter some drunk people who are looking for a fight, and even then i usually try to talk to people. If that doesn't work, i walk away. If that doesn't work i'll try to defend myself, who wouldn't? But i don't carry a weapon around "just in case". I don't believe in violence, nor in weapons, war, etc. Say no to that shit and the world will be a better place. It's the way i think... nothing you can do about that. And if some psycho lunatic comes to my house and wants to shoot me, well... bad luck i guess.

When i was 15 years old, my neighbour got shot in a parking garage by his business partner who was in a fight with him over selling the company. Now guess what, my neighbour had a shotgun and various handguns at home, did they help him in the parking garage... not one bit. Even if he would have carried a gun with him... i doubt it would have helped him when somebody he thought was his friend pulled out a gun to his head all of a sudden and pulled the trigger.

Quote from Vain :

I can't see how pointing a gun at a possibly armed guy's face makes you any safer. The only possible result I can see is that your chances of death rise from about 0-0.5% in a normal robbery to 50% in a straight stand-off between two scared guys who both fear for their lives.

Also consider the chance of yourself killing a 16 year old teenager who thought your place was vacated and the possibility of mis-use of the gun by someone else or yourself under emotional stress.

The only thing a gun can do is kill. If that's what you want, keep it. If you want to avoid killing or getting killed, don't keep it.

Vain

Couldn't have said that better myself. The "gun" here can be replaced with any kind of weapon IMO, bat, knife, etc. doesn't matter.

Quote from jibber :

The only danger here in switzerland is that you might encounter some drunk people who are looking for a fight, and even then i usually try to talk to people. If that doesn't work, i walk away. If that doesn't work i'll try to defend myself, who wouldn't? But i don't carry a weapon around "just in case". I don't believe in violence, nor in weapons, war, etc. Say no to that shit and the world will be a better place. It's the way i think... nothing you can do about that. And if some psycho lunatic comes to my house and wants to shoot me, well... bad luck i guess.
.

I try to defuse any fighting situations also, i don't like to fight and its always a last resort for me. And i don't carry a weapon around.

However, if someone comes into my home, im going to do all i can to protect myself and anyone else home. If someone is that low that they can break into a house and steal someone elses belongings, then in my eyes they're also capable of MUCH more. A good person doesn't do these things.

Quote from Vain :

I can't see how pointing a gun at a possibly armed guy's face makes you any safer. The only possible result I can see is that your chances of death rise from about 0-0.5% in a normal robbery to 50% in a straight stand-off between two scared guys who both fear for their lives.

Also consider the chance of yourself killing a 16 year old teenager who thought your place was vacated and the possibility of mis-use of the gun by someone else or yourself under emotional stress.

The only thing a gun can do is kill. If that's what you want, keep it. If you want to avoid killing or getting killed, don't keep it.

Vain

End of thread

Big solid flashlight beside your bed, no way can that be said to be a weapon.

Quote from Klutch :

If someone is that low that they can break into a house and steal someone elses belongings, then in my eyes they're also capable of MUCH more. A good person doesn't do these things.

And that's where you're quite possibly wrong. Most do it out of desperation to get some money. People do a lot of stupid things out of desperation (that includes good people), killing is usually not one of them.