A touchy subject, maybe?

Okay, I don't know about everybody else, but here in the DFW area, there have been a lot of home invasions. And a lot of people are fighting back. Some with guns, others with knives or some blunt object. I was wondering what you guys thought about keeping a gun in the house. If it is high and out of reach(and hidden), the clip is separated from the actual gun itself, and the safety is on, is it okay to have one in the house in case something like that DID happen and someone threatened the lives of you and your children? I told DF that I would really like him to get a gun license(and the gun to go with it) b/c I am so afraid something might happen. With the economy being so bad now, there seems to be more home invasions and robberies and whatnot. So i ask you, providing the above precautions have been taken, is it okay to have a gun in the house? Just wondering what yall thought about it.

My DH's grandfather passed away last fall and one of the things that was left to my DH was a rifle.I know nothing about the type or anything.We had his uncle show us that there are no bullets in it.We do not keep any ammo in our house, and DH does not have a hunting license or anything like that.We do have a lock on it and it's in a case that is locked as well(it's a combo type lock not a key lock).When DH's mom brought it out to give to DH we made sure the kids didn't even see it get brought it in and it's in our room in a locked chest. DH and I do plan on getting pistol permits at some point.As far as security goes tho, we have 3 dogs in my house and being that one is a Great Dane, no one will bother to break in, or if they do, they won't stay long.I live in the city and am bordering a bad area, just so you get an idea of where I'm coming from.In this area guns are used to settle things like a bad bet or a marital dispute...I wouldn't personally use a gun for protection around here but that's because I have my dogs.Texas is a whole different ball game...Where my BFF lives, I'd definetly keep a gun for protection...

Well we have a shot gun. We have it in our closet with a lock on it. Now dont go robbing us but we dont have any ammo for it. It does make a cool noise when you cock it. That is actually really scary sounding. It is also solid metal so you could beat the tar out of someone with it. You guys could easily get a CHL here. You have to take a class and they will help you pick out the right gun for you. We dont have hand guns but my mom always did. She had a colt 45 and kept the bullets someplace seperate from the gun. Now its not the best if you have a home invader but with kids keeping the bullets seperate is probably best. Espeicailly once they get to snooping age.

well my father has a gun. I didn't know this until I was about 13 or so. although I did not actually live with him, I only came over on weekends. He kept it in his sock drawer in the spare bedroom (my step mom had reign over their bedroom closet). Mind u though, this was where I slept! But, never actually had a problem with it. And by 13 I knew better. I had heard my fair share of stories of kids messing with guns and not knowing whether there were any bullets inside or whether the safety was on or off.

Amy- yeah, you really only need the shotgun for scare tactics huh? you cock it and somebody goes.. oh crap! They wouldn't dare mess with you if they heard that noise and you put it in their face. plus, like they would know the difference! Good thinkin. Did you ever use it b4 or do you have it just for the fear factor?

No we have never used it. It has never been fired. DH bought it at the annual Dallas Gun Show a few years back and we figured the sound of the cocking and the fact that it is so heavy and solid would be good enough. That and we have baseball bats stragegically placed around the house just in case.

We have a steel baton thats hidden in our room.It's one tahta police use...We aren't actually allowed to have it....But it's behind DH's alarm clock so all I have to do is reach over.It's one of those that you kind of throw your hand out(like you would throw a ball)and it extends out to about 2 feet.It's solid steel and heavy...Would do some serious damage...

Well I work in law enforcment so I might be jaded but being my husband is an ex army airborn ranger and I am a corrections officer i pity the person who breaks into our house. They would wish we shot them...lol we do not have a gun as of yet in the house because my ADHD 8 yr old scares me about getting into it. But we have knives hidden in our mattress and the expandable batons police and I use at work readily available. Not to ever wish anything bad but if it happened I am pretty confident it would turn out in our favor. We are looking into getting a gun case that goes off of finger print to open then my daughter couldn't get into it. However those are expensive but when we have the money saved up enough we will then have a gun. I would say it is a personal choice and if you do choose to have one you need to take classes at your local gun range and become familiar and comfortable with it. Also your local DPS will give classes on safety and stuff you should look into. It is in my opinion if you are going to do it then do it right and completely and be aware of the gun and how it works and be comfortable with it.

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Eileen- I personally WOULD have to take a class. But DF is in the navy reserves and just recently took a course on it, then went out to the range on base and had to pass another test on that. He also knows how to shoot a m16 and some other m-something... It would really be more for him, but I would still take a class since he may not ALWAYS be around if someone breaks into the house. He works during the day and there are PLENTY of daytime home invasions! It actually happened to my house about 10 years ago! Came home and my back door was open and the cops were in my house! My neighbor in back of us noticed the door open (she knew us pretty well) and knew that me and my brother were at school and my mom was at work. there was no car in the driveway so she called the cops! Luckily they weren't there when I got there. I'm sure the percentage of people who are at risk of a second home invasion is a lot less than that of a person who's never had their house broken into. Although that's probably because they up security, which my mother hasn't. The garage door is EASILY opened as is the door leading into the house FROM the garage, which is precisely where it all happened in the first place! We don't have an alarm or anything! DF and I just want it for the comfort more than anything. But yes, I, personally would take a class. DF does not have to since he already knows how to use a 9mm and that would be the kind of gun we'd get.

We have a gun case in our closet with 8 or 9 (could be more I lost count) guns in it. Most of them are shot guns. I even have my own that my father-in-law got me. We get most of our guns from my father-in-law. My DH grew up on a farm so he has been around them all his life. They are teaching me safty and how to shot my shot gun whenever we go back to IA. All of our guns are locked up and actually have a trigger lock on them too. Breanna has never seen them either has DH as always shut the door when he shows them to friends. We have a hand gun that we are trying to come up with a way for it to be assible if something where to happened but is also locked up.

You konw one thing you might consider is most people wanting to break into homes fit into two catagories, the ones jsut wanting your stuff and hte ones looking for confrontation. The ones wanting your stuff will case your house and know your habits and make sure no one is home, the second will braek in when they konw you are home. The second are the dangerouse ones. Thos commercials with the alarm and the guy breaking down teh doro then scurrying off after the alarm sounds...not likely. After working with criminals for 8 years I ahve learned that they pretty much have their miond made up you aren't goign to sway them they are either looking for confrontation or to do something bad to you or not. It isn't hard to tell if someone is home so i would say if youa re home all day by yourself you shoudl consider it with the proper safety precautions ofcourse as I mentioned earlier. But there are some bad people out there and proitecting yourself is important how you see fit.
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