Lot's of good ideas in this thread. Those who know me on another site probably heard this story but:
Several years ago we (SEPA) had the remnants of a hurricane turn in across Nj and into our area. It spawned some tornadoes which took out our power. As this happened in the evening and my area is prone to power outages (it was a mild temp outside) we just went to bed and waited till morning to see what the situation was. Well I get up early (light outside) and decide to go check on the outage. Get in the truck and drive out of the development. At the entrance there was a police car with an officer stand by. As I started to roll down the window to ask about the outage I noticed he had on a "flack vest" and was carrying a shotgun. Brain is starting to figure out something more is amiss. Well the cops says a gunman is on the loose and ran that way, pointing towards my house.
So I go back home, wake the dog, lock the doors, pull the first floor shades, and get out the short barrelled AR. Tell the wife not to get around windows, etc. All the time the power is off. I have two gennies in the garage but the garage is on a blind side of the house so I'd be at risk going out that end of the house. No way to see if the guy would be hiding in the bushes on that end of the house. I also figure out that the opposite end of the house is also relatively blind. So I sit tight working out plans for the coming night. Do I go out armed and set up the gennies? Would the noise attract the guy? About 3:00 I decide to go out and ask the cop for advice. When I get out there the cops starts taking his vest off. I knew that meant the situation was over. I asked him what was up and he said they found the guy dead in the woods near my house. He offed himself at some point. Likely during the storm as we didn't hear it. About 150 yards from the house. Once the situation was under control the crews came in and restored power in a couple hours.
Anyway this prompted me to reassess my security situation and I made a lot of changes around the house. It also made me appreciate a good dog as the dog would always let me know when someone entered the property. Even on the blind sides.
Here is a link to the story. https://patch.com/pennsylvania/doyle...-and-dangerous
I have always reassessed after each emergency (had a number of big outages from hurricanes and snow). This incident convinced me even more of the value of doing that.
juskom95 (01-12-2018),Walter Tyler (01-12-2018)
I virtually never go to the door for "strangers" unarmed.
Sometimes it is only the little 9mm, . . . but it is "something", . . . and I am very careful about who knows what about our house and our plans.
Been here since Nov of '94, . . . trick or treat folks just bypass my 600 ft driveway to a semi-dark house. Very little light escapes our house, . . . just enough to suggest someone is most likely home.
Would love to have a dog, . . . but the wife is terrified of them, . . . and one in the house with her, . . . ain't gonna happen.
So we use motion detectors and motion lights.
May God bless,
Dwight
If you can breathe, . . . thank God.
If you can read, . . . thank a teacher.
If you can read in English, . . . thank a veteran.
www.dwightsgunleather.com
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