Practically speaking, (if you need a weapon) I reckon the big ass torch beside the bed is the way to go. It doesn't advertise itself as a weapon to the person you're confronting with it, but you can atleast use it in self defence as a last resort. The person's not going to want to get too close to you as there is no risk to them unless they come within swinging distance, and 9.9 times out of ten they are not going to want to increase the risk to themselves. You're basically guaranteeing your own protection there, and outside of the swinging zone you are no threat to the other guy, therefore he's unlikey to do anything stupid out of fear. You increase the risk by becoming more of a threat- that's usually the way these situations play out, so if you're really interested in reducing risk to yourself and those around you, you need to think your way around that intelligently.
If it looks like he's actually going to pull out a gun, throw the thing at his head, or if he's going to advance on you, shine it in his eyes and then clock him with it
But ultimately I agree with Moose, the best line of action is probably telling him to get the f out.
sure ive enough firepower to revolt my native "****-ree" but whats the use ??
pre-meditated voilence is an awful bad habbit which can only lead to bad things.
seriously, you keep a weapon on purpose to hurt someone you have issues. I have all of mine for fun/sport/killing pidgeons+rats etc.
thankful the house im in never got broken into but if it happened: Yes i hold the guy a gunpoint or open fire if he went to leave - no questioning that.
You would be amazed of how bad you will operate a gun under stressful condition. And i really doubt the "normal guy" has any proper training in this area; and no, going shooting at the gun range every day it's not a proper training.
A random baseball bat/flashlight as suggested before can be useful in the last resort situation, other more threathening devices could be more dangerous than helpful.
But this is only my opinion, none of the mentioned approaches (gun-nogun) has ever eliminated the problem.
Thank god i live in relatively quiet place; but the intrusions here vary.
Most cases are the ordinary "poor" guy that come to your house tryng to steal your tv, but there are lot of cases in wich people awaken with bad guys pointing gun at them, beat them almost to death and rob them. In the later case having a gun or tryng to disarm/return fire/rambo mode/other will bring you to "it's me or him" situation. I prefer to not go to that situation, i like to bet on my favourite sport team results not on my life.
Yes owning a gun could put you in the nice situation where the intruder find you pointing your gun at him; big win, you still have your tv, he will go to jail. Or you can find the bad guy that also has a weapon with him, big firefight; not so much win, you still have your tv, but you cant watch it as you are dead.
I prefer the no gun, but if someone want to have one, well it's his respectable choice.
Insurance tip for the italians (yes i work in insurance, dont know if it apply to other countries), locking your door result in total refund, not locking will get you refunded anyway but with -20% of "refund penalty" usually as long as you are in the house. Owning a gun does not give you any benefit, owning a good lock will give you some.
Having one or multiple guns at home, especially if they are NOT secured, but rather scattered around, will most likely getting someone hurt or killed who has found one and toys around with it. The worst case, but also most propable scenario is of a child doing that. Much more likely than using it to defend against an intruder.
Just look at the US of A. The high density of gun owners has obviously NOT improved overall security there. Quite on the contrary. Conflicts and crimes are more likely to lethaly escalate.
We don't keep weapons " for the purpose of hurting people" We have them for other uses, target shooting, hunting, etc. We just keep the at hand in case of an emergency.
That's where you are wrong. A gun in itself is not a weapon, it only becomes a weapon when it is loaded. How could a child "accidentally" get hurt or killed by it if it isn't loaded? The only rifle we have that has rounds in it, is our shotgun. And we don't have rounds in the chamber, only the magazine, and it's completely locked away.
In regards to your second statement. In the USA, you need to get a background check to buy a firearm. Now all of this crime using firearms you are talking about. It is usually done with illegally bought weapons, or black market weapons. People think that firearms are in our home to "shoot every ****er that breaks in our house" but the majority of a time, it is a deterrent. If you come into a house, and are looking down a 12-gauge barrel, I'd think twice about robbing people again.
Even if we do make firearms illegal, people will still get them. It's funny that all of these "pro marijuana legalization people" usually want guns illegal too. And one of their main arguments is that if we legalize marijuana, then crime will go down due to no need to obtain it illegally anymore. Well doesn't the same apply to keeping firearms legal? I think so.
Or they then know which house has firearms that they can steal. It's happened many times; even on the street adjacent to my folks' place (which is actually a fairly decent neighborhood... or used to be, anyways).
Interesting point; though even though firearms are legal in the US, there's still an over-abundance of illegally procured ones as you yourself point out.
For the record, I don't have an opinion on the legality of firearms. While I've never had the opportunity to go to a shooting range, I imagine I'd enjoy it quite a bit. That being said, their saturation in the US is almost comical to me.
Your not wrong for wanting to protect your loved ones but you have to remember that you live in old fashioned England. In the UK the law does not allow you to protect your own property by force if you find someone trespassing or attempting a burglary. If you attacked a burglar with a weapon & injured him he could sue you for assault. (& would probably win)
Its totally arse backwards but thats the way it is. I wish we were more like USA in trespassing laws but stupidly the law protects the thief's whilst on your property. So to sum up, your girlfriend & friends are right to find it a bit odd. Personally i would keep a baseball bat handy, use it to scare, but never go as far as fighting back physically as it will land you in hot water.
My point being is australian bikies are basically just your typical bogan except with a love for bikes, they're good guys until you start putting your nose where it doesnt belong
And they will get a blast of 00 buckshot. They got warned the first time.
You can never get rid of crime. Even if theres the most minute regulations on something, people will try to get it the easy way, illegally. If guns were illegal for the general public, then the only people that would have them would be people that obtain it illegally. The general public wouldn't have them anymore.