Family self defense: is it a good idea?

Not to me. Florida's the state where a homeowner accidentlly killed someone on Halloween night a few years back isn't it? And that was before the new law. I thought their new law applied anywhere, not just a home, but I could be mistaken.

I'm the wrong person to comment because I hate guns. I think a person's chances of shooting an innocent or one of their family are greater than shooting an intruder. We have a lot of shooting around here and a murder rate far too high for the size of the city. Some of it was "accidental" and some "wrong place, wrong time". Some were deliberate. If a homeowner keeps a gun accessible enough to be of help, anyone can pick it up. If it's locked away, it won't be much help. "Excuse me while I go get my gun"?

If I'm not prepared to kill someone with the gun under my pillow, I shouldn't have it. He'd probably take it away and shoot me. In my one experience, I managed to take a gun away but I threw it as far as I could and ran. Maybe I could fire to protect the kids but I just don't know and it's more dangerous not to be sure. It would get us killed.

I would live in fear that no matter how many trigger guards. how many locks on the gun safe, and how far the gun was stashed from the ammunition, a child would find it somehow.

The Jonesboro AR school killing was accomplished using family guns. Probably so were some of the others. I remember Jonesboro better because I used to live there.

The worst thing about keeping a gun would never apply to you or me. I'm just talking generally. People get drunk and/or lose their tempers. Guns are handy, quick, and impersonal. That's what happened to me. I was stronger, sober, and very lucky. I know people kill each other in many ways all the time but guns are different, at least to me. It's too easy to do something in seconds and regret it for the rest of our lives.

I'll save the 2nd amendment bunch and the NRA some typing. I'm not talking about hunting as long as no one invites me along. I'll never pick up a gun for any reason. I'd be a hypocrite to eat meat and then criticize hunters who follow the law. I know that deer would starve if the herds weren't thinned.

We had this same conversation a little while ago about young children and hunting so I will now leave space for the next 20 letters telling me how wrong I am. I'm used to it.

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Murderous thugs. That seems somewhat spectral. I guess I would want to compare the statistics. Deaths caused by murderous thugs waging assaults on regular families (not involved in the drug trade or other illegal activities) compared with accidental gun deaths and gun related murders by family members.
I am probably the most frightened person going. Really and truly. I have woken up in the middle of the night with my heart pounding more times than I can count. So glad that I don't have a gun, I can see myself easily shooting a pet or a child wandering through a dark house. Not because I want to do that, but because I would be hyped up on adrenaline and fear.

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I believe having a gun is a good way to protect your family. Much better than calling cops. I totaly support this law. I don't want to run from my house. Where would I take my family? If my kids are not safe at home, then where would they be safe?
But purchasing a gun is only a part of it. Knowing how to use it is essential for safety of the family. I think every responsible gun owner must follow safety procedures all the time, maintain his or her shooting skills, and plan for a situation that may call for gun use.
I am not sure that locking out a gun makes it perfectly child proof. I think educating kids will satisfy their interest and prevent accidents. What is an appropriate age to start teaching kids gun safety? As soon as kid has enough strength to pull a slide back to load a round.
My favorite expression about guns: guns don't kill - people do.
This is not about politics. This is common sense.

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The Katrina disaster made me think carefully about gun ownership.

I am tempted to buy a shotgun and lock it in the basement (with plenty of ammo). I can't imagine a Katrina-sized disaster happening here in the Midwest but I want firepower just in case.

Handguns scare me. I'd feel much safer teaching my kid to shoot a shotgun over a handgun.

Let us know what you decide.

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Unless you can remember the awful helplessness that comes from waking to the sound of glass shattering from the back door, followed by muffled sounds and after an eternity of fear because you have nothing to protect yourself or your family with, the bedroom door bursts open as two intruders laugh as you and wife (and mother of your children) plead, beg, and pray to live. After that your perspective changes, atleast mine changed.

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I'm already scared enough about my child hurting herself without bringing a gun into the house. To be sure, there are a large number of responsible gun owners out there, but for me it's just a recipe for disaster. We don't hunt and we live in a doorman building. I would never judge someone for having a gun for self-defense, but I would never sleep in my house if there was a gun present.

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Responsible firearm ownership is an excellent way to keep your family safe.

What is your plan to protect your family in the event of an emergency? Even in the best areas of the country police response time is measured by long minutes, not seconds. When there is a violent person in your home, praying for your life for the long minutes it takes for the police to arrive is no way to spend your last breath.

A final note: The police are under no obligation to even answer your call. The supreme court ruled years ago that the police have an obligation to maintain civil order not to protect individual people. Translated to every day langauge it means the police have to stop a riot, but not an assault on your family.

No one is responsible for the safety of your family but you. If your family comes to harm it is -your- fault. Should they come to harm through your own silly misconceptions about what being "civilized" means, and your inability to fight to save the lives of your own children... you are a disgrace to your ancestors who certainly had more spirit to fight than you.

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Why not get an alarm system? Not one with a silent alarm that only the monitors can hear; one with a really loud alarm that the intruder can hear.

Or, just get the signs and the window stickers. There's a study out there that said burglars avoid those homes and go on to ones that don't have alarm protections.

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I would be terrified too, but the fact is I don't know any trigger happy lunatics. You hear about them in news, but they don't represent our nation. We always get distored view on the situation. News organizations do not report about cases where use of guns prevented a crime (no blood - no story).
Guns do make it easier, so why give criminals advantage?
Some of my friends and neighbors own guns, others don't. I am more afraid of dogs than of guns that people keep in their houses.
And I am very happy to live here.

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I grew up in a house full of guns. We were forbidden to touch them in any way without express permission. We respected Dad far more than we had any curiosity about the guns. (Ouch, and a lifetime without privileges) Besides, any time we asked, he would take us out and teach us target shooting, trap shooting, hunting (which I never liked and still hate but I can do it) and you name it. In our house, we saved cans and bottles not for recycling, but for lining up on a fence and seeing who was best that day at bringing them down. The guns were kept in a cabinet that was never locked, but even the tiny kids knew better than to put a fingerprint on the glass.

My husband has two large cabinets of guns, now. My dad's, and his dad's, and several generations of grandparents', and his own. And mine. When our kids lived here the cabinets were locked; now they are not. Then, and now, and any time, I would have no qualms whatsoever about blowing away any intruder who broke into my home. Such creatures are not people; they are monsters. Yes, I would do it, and I would be glad one more such monster could never terrorize anyone again.

Our kids, when small, also knew better than to roam around quietly at night. They were taught to turn on lights and sing whenever they got up before we did. And we told them why. Did it scare them? No. They knew that anyone who dared come into our home and lay a violent hand on them would be turned into fertilizer. Yes, we are evil, violent people.

No, actually we are very peaceful. And we expect others to be so, too. If they are not, they'd best keep out of our home uninvited, for we shall not tolerate it.

I say, good for this law. I also say, should anyone show stupidity in judgment, in handling a weapon, let them be led away and locked up forever.

I don't handle stupid people very well in any circumstances. Now everybody can lay into me; bring it on.

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First let me say that I am a gun-owner -- there is a rifle and a shotgun locked up somewhere under the house -- I strongly suspect they're in an area that was boarded over when the bathroom was redone. In any case, they are both unloaded and have trigger locks for which I lost the keys years ago. If I had a lot of time and money, there are a number of handguns I would own, as well as a couple of other long-guns.

That said, the whole "home protection" thing is idiotic. Seasoned cops make mistakes all the time -- are you, as an untrained (or, at best, mildly trained) amateur going to do better when a noise wakes you at three am? In that split second, will you be able to clearly tell the difference between an intruder and your child sneaking in late? Will you be able to retrieve the weapon and prepare to fire accurately (without it going off accidentally while pointed at your spouse) in a useful amount of time? The answer is, most likely not.

I used to read the gun magazines in the stores on occasion. I have a pretty active fantasy life and spent a lot of my younger years imagining myself as a super spy, a detective, or even just your ordinary superhero. One day, I was reading an article about the best way to carry a concealed handgun and I had a revelation -- while I understood that I really had no reason (and no business) carrying, the regular readers of the magazine simply didn't get that. They thought that they -- accountants, construction workers, what-have-you -- had some need to walk around armed to the teeth.

If you have a weapon ready to go for self defense, you have a weapon ready for a kid to find it. It's a bad idea.

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Honestly, the posts here have been great so far. It shows how most of us, law-abiding citizens think and act. The sad truth is that there are so many armed non-law-abiding criminals out there who threaten our safety everyday.

It is up to you to protect your family the best way you know how. In our house, my husband has chosen firearms. I don't care for them but I know how to use them if the situation arose. I think, first and foremost, if you own firearms, you absolutely MUST TRAIN YOURSELF how to use them properly and with confidence. Otherwise, it's just another tool to which you can become a victim.

The good news is that most people who are threatened in their home with force who choose to fight back with firearms do not have to discharge them. Just brandishing the weapon seems to scare a lot of the bad people away. However, we do have a growing drug problem in just about every area of the country...who knows what a hopped up addict is going to do in your home? If you know how to use a gun and own one, more power to you. Just please, be very cautious and safe in your use.

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First let me say that I am a gun-owner -- there is a rifle and a shotgun locked up somewhere under the house -- I strongly suspect they're in an area that was boarded over when the bathroom was redone. In any case, they are both unloaded and have trigger locks for which I lost the keys years ago. If I had a lot of time and money, there are a number of handguns I would own, as well as a couple of other long-guns.

That said, the whole "home protection" thing is idiotic. Seasoned cops make mistakes all the time -- are you, as an untrained (or, at best, mildly trained) amateur going to do better when a noise wakes you at three am? In that split second, will you be able to clearly tell the difference between an intruder and your child sneaking in late? Will you be able to retrieve the weapon and prepare to fire accurately (without it going off accidentally while pointed at your spouse) in a useful amount of time? The answer is, most likely not.

I used to read the gun magazines in the stores on occasion. I have a pretty active fantasy life and spent a lot of my younger years imagining myself as a super spy, a detective, or even just your ordinary superhero. One day, I was reading an article about the best way to carry a concealed handgun and I had a revelation -- while I understood that I really had no reason (and no business) carrying, the regular readers of the magazine simply didn't get that. They thought that they -- accountants, construction workers, what-have-you -- had some need to walk around armed to the teeth.

If you have a weapon ready to go for self defense, you have a weapon ready for a kid to find it. It's a bad idea.

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John - You said "you have nothing to protect yourself or your family with" -- if you're in an average home (i.e., not in the process of moving or something) and can't come up with a weapon, then a gun is not going to help you. A quick glance around my desk reveals a dozen or so potential weapons, not including things like computers which are large and heavy. I am sorry for what happened to you, but I worry that such an experience combined with self-defense gun ownership is a disaster waiting to happen. Please don't be too trigger happy and make sure -- if you ever have kids of any age around -- that the weapons are locked securely.

J. Fitzpatrick -- "silly misconceptions about what being "civilized" means" -- being civilized means (to me, anyway) that you don't take a life over "stuff". If someone breaks into my home and wants my stuff, I'll happily show them where the good stuff is and simply ask that they don't take the backups. Taking a life is not something one should do lightly on the spur of the moment in our "civilized" world... if you really want to be able to have your shootouts, I suggest you try another, less "civilized" country.

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A weapon doesn't have to be ready for self-defence while you aren't at home.

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For all this concern about children, can any of you be unaware that more children die from suffocation, from poisoning, from car accidents than die from firearms? Do you understand that more children under five drown in MOP BUCKETS than from accidental shootings?

Guns are dangerous things, in uneducated hands, but so is a power drill, or a circular saw.

Burglars invading homes, bent on rape, kidnapping, or murder are, fortunately, rather rare... but hardly a week goes by in the US that such a dreadful event happens to some household. A power drill, or a mop bucket is almost useless in such a situation.

An adult, or a trained responsible child with a firearm at hand has a very good chance at defending his or her family and household.

If you are unwilling to educate yourself about firearm safety, and unwilling to discipline your own children on dangerous implements, then you should ABSOLUTELY NOT have firearms in your home... and who is asking you to?

If you are unable to defend your family, your spouse, your children against the types of people whose existence convinces you to lock your doors, and train your children to treat with legitimate suspicion, then you have CHOSEN to be UNWILLING to protect your children against KNOWN threats.

Fine with me. I'll laugh at you when you come running to my door begging me to come over with my big bad gun.

--Travis--

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