When a stranger enters your property at night... WWYD?

[cssutton]

[QUOTE=wendy;7785482]
well, he’s a process server. I believe they often have to deliver things to people who don’t want to receive them so they probably behave in ways that aren’t quite normal. Check for the exits before knocking and so forth.

as to the guns, look at the statistics- people who own guns are much more likely to die from their own gun than they are to benefit in any way from owning it. Having a gun in the house is a very bad idea. Concealed carry is one of the worst ideas I have ever heard- fruit loops walking around looking for someone to shoot. Normal people have no desire to carry concealed weapons around. And before you go on about all the training those people get, a teacher with a concealed weapons permit recently managed to shoot herself in a school full of kids. Luckily she didn’t hit a kid, but obviously it’s only a matter of time before that happens.[/QUOTE]

You might profit from this link:

http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/rsd/chl/reports/convrates.htm

Basically it shows that permit holders commit almost 0% of the crimes we associate with the illegal use of a firearm.

If you knew what you are talking about, you would realize that most permit holders are exceedingly careful to be polite and restrained in public because they know that any violence will turn out badly.

Also it is constantly drummed into their heads that if they instigate a confrontation while armed that they lose the self defense protection afforded by law.

So your statement that permit carriers are gun nuts just looking for a chance to shoot someone is nonsense.

[Tab]

[QUOTE=onthebit;7785667]
Mr. Onthebit is Canadian and when we married and he moved here (to the U.S.) he had about 30 rifles. Maybe he and his friends are just oddball Canadians but they ALL have guns in their homes.[/QUOTE]

Is he a hunter? The only people I know with guns hunt…all of three people

[Casey09]

[QUOTE=wendy;7785482]
well, he’s a process server. I believe they often have to deliver things to people who don’t want to receive them so they probably behave in ways that aren’t quite normal. Check for the exits before knocking and so forth.

as to the guns, look at the statistics- people who own guns are much more likely to die from their own gun than they are to benefit in any way from owning it. Having a gun in the house is a very bad idea. Concealed carry is one of the worst ideas I have ever heard- fruit loops walking around looking for someone to shoot. Normal people have no desire to carry concealed weapons around. And before you go on about all the training those people get, a teacher with a concealed weapons permit recently managed to shoot herself in a school full of kids. Luckily she didn’t hit a kid, but obviously it’s only a matter of time before that happens.[/QUOTE]

Statements such as “Normal people have no desire to carry concealed weapons around” are utterly ridiculous. Many people have their CCW, and all for different reasons. There are a range of opinions on these matters. I absolutely disagree that people with CCWs are running around looking for someone to shoot. Most people hope to never have to use a gun, but there are certainly people who have successfully defended themselves against an attack because they had a gun. While there are far too many accidents from guns, civilian disarmament is, according to some people I know that have done quite a bit of research, actually fairly rare.

[onthebit]

[QUOTE=Tab;7785716]
Is he a hunter? The only people I know with guns hunt…all of three people :)[/QUOTE]

Definitely not a hunter. He lived on a large farm east of Toronto. Some of the rifles he bought, some he inherited from his dad or granddad. Me being the “gun toting American” questioned him about why he needed so many rifles. He just shrugged and didn’t seem to understand why I thought it was odd. Now we have a running joke when we visit Canada to see how quickly I notice the rifle (or gun safe) at his friends’ houses (or family). A few of them are hunters, many are not, they all have guns.

[cssutton]

[QUOTE=onthebit;7785790]
Definitely not a hunter. He lived on a large farm east of Toronto. Some of the rifles he bought, some he inherited from his dad or granddad. Me being the “gun toting American” questioned him about why he needed so many rifles. He just shrugged and didn’t seem to understand why I thought it was odd. Now we have a running joke when we visit Canada to see how quickly I notice the rifle (or gun safe) at his friends’ houses (or family). A few of them are hunters, many are not, they all have guns.[/QUOTE]

Target shooting is a sport, just as riding a horse is.

Or golf.

For some, the lure is competition. For others it is the shooter’s version of solitaire.

Some shoot very little but collect many, sort of like the guy who collects '57 Chevrolet Impalas.

You almost never see him driving one.

Come to think of it, there are lots of horse people like that…4 or 5 horses in the pasture but they have not ridden one in a couple of years…or maybe they ride a couple of times in the summer.

[nolly]

I keep wasp spray handy. It shoots pretty far and will do some damage to the eyes. Definitely get the neighbors #'s.

[Calamber]

[QUOTE=carolprudm;7785471]
OP said there were lights on in the barn. She went into the house and probably turned on more lights. Why would he think the property was deserted?[/QUOTE]

I was responding to her saying that he did not know that the house he was looking for was deserted. She was at her trainer’s barn which was close enough for her to see what was going on with the flashlight at her house and commented that he was knocking on the door, etc.

[Calamber]

[QUOTE=Alex and Bodie’s Mom;7785536]
Wow. I really don’t get this AT ALL.

He came on her property. He was shining a flashlight all over the yard, and then came to the house and pounded on the door. He never identified himself as a process server. He never identified himself in any way, shape, or form. (And frankly, I don’t buy that story either.) A person who needs help walks to the front door, rings the bell, then backs off and waits to see what happens.

When you’re a single woman alone in the country, even with neighbors relatively close by, you don’t trust ANYONE after dark. Case in point: the other night my dog was barking up a storm; I went outside and saw someone shining a flashlight around the garage. Freaked much? Yup. I shouted at him – turned out it was the idiot brother looking for his more idiot dog. But it could just as easily have been someone looking to steal stuff.

I recently went through training at my college to deal with shooting situations on campus. The first thing they tell you is this: if you can escape, do so. If you can lock down safely (and lockdowns just don’t work), do so. If you can’t, you fight back, because most people are looking for an easy target. Throw whatever you’ve got at them, keep them off balance, and attack if necessary. Believe me, that almost happened to my brother, and he knows I aced the training by disarming the guy in ten seconds flat, alone.

Sorry, but your post just sounds naive to me. In Kansas, you have a right to protect yourself and your property if you feel threatened. I take that very seriously. No one has a right to be on my property after dark. My first responsibility is not for that person. It is for myself and my animals.

OP – I think you should get an alarm system and a lock for your gate after dark. I also think you should press charges against the guy, and if he really is who he says he is, go after his employer as well.

Off my soapbox now, sorry.[/QUOTE]

She wasn’t at her house when he was there, read the OP, she was at her trainer’s barn next door. Guy was probably sure he was at the right house, thought it was vacant, used the flashlight to look around, knocked on the door to be sure. As far as a broken or malfunctioning phone, I don’t think that is out of the range of possibilities, process servers are not paid real well as far as I am aware. Probably a second gig type of thing. In any case, motion detector lights and alarm systems if I were worried about living alone with a senior who makes it difficult to have a firearm. My gun is for shooting critters (like the rabid groundhog), not people so I really don’t have much to add to that side of it.

[cyriz_s_mom]

Ummm, Calamber, you are the one who needs to read the OP. She was returning from a lesson at her trainers. Unloading horse at HER house when she first saw the guy.

OP, there are also sensors you can put on your driveway that will alert you if the beam is crossed.

I agree with motion detector lights and if you don’t want to install a whole alarm system, pretty sure there are external alarms that you can set off to make a racket.

[tucktaway]

[QUOTE=nolly;7785819]
I keep wasp spray handy. It shoots pretty far and will do some damage to the eyes. Definitely get the neighbors #'s.[/QUOTE]

This. Anyone with this sprayed in their eyes will likely end up in an ER, a win-win!

[tucktaway]

[QUOTE=nolly;7785819]
I keep wasp spray handy. It shoots pretty far and will do some damage to the eyes. Definitely get the neighbors #'s.[/QUOTE]

This. Anyone with this sprayed in their eyes will likely end up in an ER. A win-win if it gets them caught!

[BasqueMom]

There’s a little warning label on cans of wasp spray stating is a violation of Federal law to use it for anything other than its intended use. If it’s all I had, yep, I’d use it, but getting mace, pepper spray or the evil firearm would be first choices.

[wendybird]

OP could get alarms which are triggered by movement but they can be triggered by other animals.
I think motion activated lights would be more effective - you can have them at ground level and at access points around the property - set to turn off after a set period of time.
Noisy dogs are great. No-one knows if they are friendly or not, or whether they are just an alert, and it’s a brave intruder who risks attack by even the smallest ankle-biter.

[myrna]

i have the Mr Beam lites from amazon all over our property.they are battery powered(3 d’s) they last about a year before they need new batteries.easy to put up and they provide a lot of light.

[kdow]

[QUOTE=cssutton;7783981]

Most important:

Get an alarm. Get one that is monitored by the alarm company.

They will have all of the vital information on record so that when they call the cops, the cops have no confusion about the address, the layout of the house, etc. The alarm company can tell which door or which widow has been breached.

The alarm company will call you to verify there is a problem or not. Even so, if the guy gets inside while you are talking, throw the phone on the floor and concentrate on saving your life.

The alarm company will know what to do when you put the phone down.[/QUOTE]

I had a reasonable experience with an alarm company - current house had an alarm system installed by the previous owners. They didn’t take it with them but we didn’t want to take over the contract without investigating the company and the terms, so it was supposed to be cancelled. Hardware still in place in the house when they moved out for whatever reason, sat there doing nothing for ages, didn’t even think of it. Then one night out of the blue it armed itself and then went off because we didn’t know the security code since we didn’t want the thing. Alarm company spoke to us, we explained, they seemed happy enough but sent the police over anyway. So yes, I would expect that if you couldn’t answer the phone properly, they’d send the police.

(Handily we had a copy of the new deed for the house, so when the police turned up we had proof to back up the relatively recent sale, and they went away happy. Not sure what they would have done if we hadn’t had that right there to show them - it happened to be out for house insurance paperwork reasons.)

Also, train your dog to sound ferocious on command. Even a small dog can make impressive noises and that will put a lot of people off or at least make them think twice, which gives time for police to arrive. Our first family dog would go from quietly napping to seriously sounding like he was about to come through the door if you said ‘sic em’ - and then go right back to his nap. He was not dangerous at all to invited guests or once you told him it was okay.

Finally, consider installing motion sensitive lighting and possibly some cameras. That stuff isn’t that expensive any more and can be a deterrent.

[kdow]

[QUOTE=SLW;7785026]
Our neighbors cat was hit but not killed by a car late one night. The poor dear was paralyzed with a broken back. They were thankful we had a .22 pistol that eased the kitty along. Guns have humane uses along with defense uses. We have several other larger pistols that would ease a horse along which I would do with a broken leg, catastrophic event where it was crystal clear survival was not possible.

100-150 years ago women knew how and used guns for protection and hunting. IMO it’s only been since about the 1940’s that American women have become quite removed from using firearms.[/QUOTE]

I have absolutely no desire to have a gun for shooting pool with but I’ve always kind of felt that if I lived in the middle of nowhere with animals I’d get a gun of some sort for this sort of thing - and the training to go with it. I don’t want to be in a situation where an animal is stuck suffering for hours because the closest vet is some distance away.

[trubandloki]

[QUOTE=Casey09;7785781]
Statements such as “Normal people have no desire to carry concealed weapons around” are utterly ridiculous. Many people have their CCW, and all for different reasons. [/QUOTE]

Here is the thing that people like Wendy do not realize, there are probably quite a few more of those very normal people they know in their every day life that have a concealed carry permit and actually carry than they realize. You do not have a huge sign that says “I am carrying a gun today” so there is no way of knowing who is carrying and who is not.

[vandenbrink]

wow…amazed at some of these comments. I’m Canadian. In many ways Canadians and Americans are very similar. On the topic of guns however we have very different opinions about things.

-Don’t have a gun, and don’t want one.
-Don’t know anyone in Canada with a handgun.
-Only people I know with guns are hunters and a few farmers that use them to euthanize and animal if need be, and possible shoot a coyote of wolf if they fear for the safety of their livestock.
edited to add, that for most of the gun owners in Canada I think the idea of using it to protect them self has maybe not even entered their thoughts. Many of these farmer guns would be locked up in the barn somewhere…not in the house…not near them to protect them from an intruder.

[js]

If you have a car with an alarm, even from inside your house you can press your fob alarm and set the car alarm off, it might help in scaring someone away that is outside.

[onthebit]

[QUOTE=onthebit;7785790]
Definitely not a hunter. He lived on a large farm east of Toronto. Some of the rifles he bought, some he inherited from his dad or granddad. Me being the “gun toting American” questioned him about why he needed so many rifles. He just shrugged and didn’t seem to understand why I thought it was odd. Now we have a running joke when we visit Canada to see how quickly I notice the rifle (or gun safe) at his friends’ houses (or family). A few of them are hunters, many are not, they all have guns.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=vandenbrink;7786064]wow…amazed at some of these comments. I’m Canadian. In many ways Canadians and Americans are very similar. On the topic of guns however we have very different opinions about things.

-Don’t have a gun, and don’t want one.
-Don’t know anyone in Canada with a handgun.
-Only people I know with guns are hunters and a few farmers that use them to euthanize and animal if need be, and possible shoot a coyote of wolf if they fear for the safety of their livestock.
edited to add, that for most of the gun owners in Canada I think the idea of using it to protect them self has maybe not even entered their thoughts. Many of these farmer guns would be locked up in the barn somewhere…not in the house…not near them to protect them from an intruder.[/QUOTE]

I am married to a Canadian. He does not share your views, nor do any of his friends or family members whose homes I have visited. Many do live on farms but not all of them. All have rifles. When he lived on his farm in Canada Mr. Onthebit slept with a loaded rifle by his bed every single night. He saw nothing odd about it nor did his friends and family who had the same practice. He DID think it odd when I refused to let him do that after we were living together. I finally consented to let him have an unloaded rifle by the bed with some rounds stored in his bedside table. Now that we have a three year old son obviously even that isn’t an option and the unloaded rifles live in the locked gun safe along with the ammunition.