Thread: You ARE NOT going to BELIEVE what just HAPPENED TO ME!

Oh and Bootsie,

One other tip. You need to make sure you go to a local gun range at least every few months. God forbid it ever happen, but if you ever do find yourself in a life threatening situation then you need to be very comfortable with your gun and how it fires.

Becoming an accurate shooter is important, but not as important as being very comfortable with your firearm during the entire firing process.

Once the decision is clear. Never hesitate.

W

I think more Americans would be safer if we all exercised our 2nd Amendment rights; learned how to carry and store weapons safely; and learned how to operate them with proficiency.

In my town, a person whose work van was being robbed, got his gun and shot the robber from his porch, killed him. No charges were pressed as he was intercepting a burglary on his property.

Now that makes perfect sense to me!

Sorry to here about your frightfull news years eve Bootsie, but thats why I moved to the country a few years ago. Do you have a front yard? If you do, put a fence around it and do what I did...get a doberman or 2 I have 2 and they pretty much keep the need for me to use one of my guns down to zero, I named the male "Jyd"(stands for Junk Yard Dog) the female I named huney just because Anyway, W is right about everything, getting to know the laws and how to handle your gun should you ever(god forbid)need to use it. Where I live you can't get to the front door unless you jump the fence and run your ass off to avoid the dobies, they are the BEST watchdogs...they seldom bark...but will always bite! Good Luck Boots.

elizabeth - you gotta move to Southwest portland area- they have the gangs under control and you will pay about the same rent- gresham and east county have been ghetto for ages-

Y'all are all just SO NICE. It is just AMAZING to me that all of my "FRIENDS" at ALIPAC have taken me on as their PROJECT!!! I really mean it. ALL of you have come up with some wonderful suggestions and it DOES help to "network" especially since we have people like you, COI, who have been law enforcement officers in the past.

William--I DEFINITELY agree about using the target practice and I DO. I do live in the "country" so to speak. I live 12 miles from town but I don't live on "ACREAGE". I do have close neighbors.

My husband was an NRA handgun instructor and we have a steel backdrop that we use in the back yard for target practice. I really used to do it WEEKLY but, lately, I've become SLACK about doing it. I really need to have my son set it up for me or, even better, do it on his land where it's safer. Since my husband died, our area has built up a lot so I'm not comfortable practicing here even with the steel thingie! THAT could be my New Year's resolution! The only "practice" I've had lately is shooting at unwanted critters such as SNAKES!

barth--I DO have a large front yard and it would be an expensive proposition to fence it in! AND, I don't think I could MANAGE TWO MORE DOGS!! The two I have are a HANDFUL! BUT, you know what? Those two dogs were barking their HEADS off when the man knocked on the door and I remember thinking that I was sure glad he couldn't SEE them! I remember my son telling me, years ago, that a barking dog was a better deterrent than an alarm system!! But, I have both and that makes me feel safer! The OTHER incident last Thursday was the puzzling one. WHY would that OLD LADY OPEN MY DOOR with two dogs standing at the door going BALLISTIC?? SHE HAD TO HAVE BEEN SENILE or SOMETHING. It would take an IDIOT to open a door where there were two dogs STRAINING TO GET OUT!

William-- I LIKED THIS RESPONSE:

There are several towns and cities in NC that have experienced severe crimes and serial killings this past year that have been targeted towards elderly citizens.

IS 61 ELDERLY????!!!!

I REALLY BELIEVE NOW that this incident was INNOCENT. And, I think it was a VALUABLE LEARNING EXPERIENCE for ALL OF US WOMEN WHO LIVE ALONE or without a man in the house.

AGAIN--thanks to all of you for your concern and thanks especially to you, Judy, for being my "in absentia bodyguard" when it was going on!!!!

Bootsie,

I hope you're ok and will get over it soon. But not to offend you in one way or another, I just don't see the big point out of it. You posted January the 1st so it was just after new years eve, a time when most of us drink a little too much. I don't think that the Hispanic male had any bad intentions, otherwise I think he would have tried to force the door instead of knocking. It happened to me here once too ( Holland, where I live untill end of March and then move to Oakland, Ca ) that someone knocked on my door and asked me if he could use my phone as he had a flat tyre and not an extra one. So to call some friends to help them out.
They were two black guys who spoke Dutch. So they were originally probably from Suriname, a former Dutch colony. I hestitated first but let them in and all was fine. They used my phone, were grateful and left.

So my point is: don't let yourself scare by someone strange knocking on your door. Although it's true that the crime rate in US is much higher than here.

Take Care

D

In RETROSPECT, that probably WAS all there was to it but think about it, returning. You are a 61 year old woman ALONE in your home at FOUR O'CLOCK in the morning and a MAN COMES AND KNOCKS on YOUR DOOR. Would YOU let them IN??? IF so, you are going to have some MAJOR problems reassimilating when you return to America. I don't know how long you've been away but you CERTAINLY NEED TO KNOW that you would be putting your life in danger by letting ANY STRANGER into your home AT ANY HOUR OF THE DAY OR NIGHT. And, just by ASSUMING that the person had been out PARTYING until 4 AM and DRINKING would be even MORE of a reason not to let them in. I SURE wouldn't let some DRUNK into my home in the middle of the night.

When the incident occurred, I didn't have ALL of the information that I LATER found out such as a vehicle being stranded. All I had to work with was, 1.) An Hispanic man knocks on my door at 4 AM; 2.) I am a woman ALONE in my home; 3.) It is pitch-black dark outside and I see NO SIGNS of a vehicle; 4.) The man had his HANDS in his pockets.
SO--those were the FACTS I had to work with at that point and that's about all you can operate under.

If you think that it would be SAFE for you to let some stranger into your home in the middle of the night in America today, you are in for a RUDE AWAKENING.

Ladies, my advice is never to open your door to a male stranger and I don't care what the circumstance is. Let them move on and find a home with big brave man in it. That's my advice. Never open your door to a male stranger. PERIOD.

I couldn't have said it better myself! I hope returning_resident will rethink his/her position on allowing ANY stranger to enter her/his house in the US now. Maybe things have changed DRASTICALLY since he/she has been out of the country but NEVER A DAY GOES BY that you don't hear about some woman being INVADED in her own home--rapes, murders, robberies, assaults. It just goes on and on. BLIND TRUST just doesn't exist in this country anymore. You HAVE to expect the worst and HOPE for the best rather than vice versa.

Bootise, I think one should refuse to open the door for anyone---male or female---wandering around at 4am. A man in partnership with a female criminal will often allow the female to make the approach because she will cause less suspicion. Then all hell breaks loose!

It simply is not normal for anyone to be banging on your door at 4am. Returning_resident would be well advised to heed the warnings posted here!