Hand Guns

[Queenie]

Someone tried to break into our condo a few weeks ago while we were in bed sleeping! Fortunately I woke up to the sound of our bedroom window being opened (the only window in the condo unlocked), and we yelled, screamed, they ran off, Rob grabbed the 12 gauge and to make a very long story short, the two 17 year olds were caught (Rob caught a glimpse of someone in a red hoodie and jeans....when the K9 unit was on its way to our place they saw someone matching that description....BINGO!). These two punks ended up breaking into 3 condos and 17 boats. They confessed to it all and court dates are set up for January.

We have a 12 gauge shotgun that's always loaded. Something we learned after it all was if someone really knew what they were doing and wanted to get it, there's no way we'd have enough time to react and get the shotgun out of the closet. I've never wanted guns in the house.....I don't feel that way any longer after this incident.

We're looking at different types of guns. I want something I can put in my nightstand drawer so if we need to get to it, it's right there.

I do know this. I don't want a 9mm personally. After talking with a gun shop owner if you don't use a 9mm for a while they can rust and jam, however they are a great gun as long as they are used from time to time. I'm looking at a 38 revolver.

Just wanted to see what you own if you own any at all and how far it is from your bed if an intruder were to get into your home?

I will say that after two weeks, we are sleeping but this has really rocked us sa far as fear goes. Everyone little noise, when the lights go out, coming into the house....it just feels different and our safe live has been violated.:mad:

[DonziGirl]

Wow

Tony could probably tell you what your best bet is. He has a bunch of hand guns

[Cautionstayback200ft]

Smith and Wesson Model 66 revolver. It's actually a 357, but you can shoot 38's through it with great accuracy.

Plus pistols make smaller holes if you miss!

[THRILLSEEKER]

for starters theres lots of things you can do to before buying a handgun to prevent most incidents like this i.e.....motion lights outside the home and a good security system, either one of the two would send 98% of potential intruders looking for an easier target......now on to the other 2%

Ohio doest have a castle doctrine law meaning that if you shoot someone just for breaking into your house chances are very good that you may see the inside of a prison cell for a long time. Now for a little pirate advise..Dead men tell no tales :) read between the lines on that one (have actually heard those word from the mouth of a judge and several police.

Ok now that you have mentally prepared yorself for the legal, emotional and financialy expensive aftermath of taking another human life and are fully prepared to deal with all of the possible concecuences your ready to go handgun shopping.

biggest advise I can give is go to the local gun range, most of them rent several models and calibers so you can see whats right for you, try several out you cant beat a revolver for reliability and if you need more than 6 shots to do the job you probably shouldnt own a handgun for defense purposes in the first place.. DONT! buy what looks cool, buy what works, something that you feel comfortable shooting. I presonally favor the .40 S&W auto (not available in a revolver caliber, it has plenty of stopping power for even the biggest crackhead perp but yet wont go thru several walls and kill your sleeping neibhor if you miss your intended target. For a revolver I would buy a .357 magnum, and load it with .38+p rounds....the two rounds are interchangeable in a revolver chambered for .357 magnum.

As for the rusting and jamming..caliber has absolutely nothing to do with it, if in fact a gun store owner told you this..BY ALL MEANS DONT BY ANYTHING THERE because that man is a complete idiot.

After you choose what you feel is right for you practice with it often.



You have now heard my humble opinion on this subject, feel free to call if you ever need answers to anymore questions.


btw. you cant beat the sound of a shotgun slide getting jacked in the dark for intimidation factor.

[just once]

Hello! sorry too hear that happened. Glad you guys are ok though.
I go with the 12 gauge cause you wont miss or kill someone 3 rooms over if you do. I also keep my 45 close.

[THRILLSEEKER]

looks like a mossberg 590 and a Kahr P45....OK, what do I win:D


I also have the 590 Mariner (marine edition) I ditched the pistol grip as it was totally useless and served absolutely no purpose other than looking cool and breaking your wrist when trying to shoot 3" 00 ;)

[Queenie]

Thanks guys for the input.

Tony, don't disagree that there are other means to scare someone off. Our fault and we take full responsibility for the window being unlocked. And you're right you shoot or kill someone you have to live with that. We've talked about all of that a lot in the last few weeks. We were told by the police wait until both feet are in the house and then empty your gun on them.

You think differently when you awake out of a dead sleep and see a shadow in your window (blinds were down) and hear your bedroom window being opened. Screaming was enough to scare them off and fortunately Rob caught a two second glance at someone in the back yard and that's how they were caught.

We have a dog. Didn't make a frickin sound! Not even a growl. The sound of the 12 gauge being cocked at 12:30AM brought it all to reality. I still hear that sound several times a day in my head. I know that will go away as time goes on. I want a gun that won't allow me to blow my next door neighbor away with while he's sleeping next to us in his condo. The 12 gauge is very intimidating but when you're shaking and adreneline is running you've got only a few chances to hit your shot.

Rob did say he wanted me to have a gun that I could cock back so the clicking sound would be noticeable and if someone was in the house, they would know what they were up against. He's used guns all his life. He has four handguns at his dads house that he's had for years.

It's something to think about, that's for sure and not something to be taken lightly based on the simple facts of what you mentioned Tony.

Appreciate the feedback.

[THRILLSEEKER]

sounds like you have put some thought into this.

I would still reccomend a revolver, while the sound of a hammer being cocked doesnt quite have as intimidating of a sound as a slide being racked a revolver is fool proof. It is real easy to forget about some things during a major adreanaline rush...

for example forgetting to rack the slide or take the safety off...both real easy to do when in fear for your life, with a revolver there is no safety and if you forget to cock the hammer you can still pull the trigger and it will go bang, and in the extremely rare occurence of a misfire squeeze the trigger again BANG!

some negative points of an auto pistol are that if you have a misfire or forget to rack the slide or take the safety off....thats long enough to end up dead. Another point is that i've seen several women at the range who simply dont have enough muscle in their hands to cock a lot of auto pistols, not saying your that way but hell even I had trouble cocking one of my Glocks that had a super stiff spring.

I cant stess enough for you to go to the range and try as many diffenet makes models and calibers as possible.

[Queenie]

A revolver is what I really want and for the reasons you mentioned. We have adult children so not having a safety on isn't an issue.

I will try several guns before we guy anything. Rob has several to try, we have a lot of friends who own hand guns (live in rural areas, always hunted so they have guns) and will try them before buying anything. I don't want anything that's going to kick on me either when I shot. We looked at a 38 revolver (that's all I can tell you about it too, except that it fit well in my hands) but will look at and shoot several before purchasing.

I have every intention on knowing how to shoot it before using it. That's just stupid to own a gun and not know how to use it.

In the meantime, I do know how to use the shotgun if that is necessary but have never shot it and know it'll have a heck of a kick when it goes off.

Thanks again.

[THRILLSEEKER]

forget the shotgun, tell rob you want an AR-15 Donzi seems to like it:tank:

:D

[Queenie]

Holy cats woman! I'm not messing with you anymore.

Really, there's no need to relax and breath in your case Donzi. :p :Wall:

[THRILLSEEKER]

Yes, they are great for putting lots of holes in cats :devil:

[DonziGirl]

Holy cats woman! I'm not messing with you anymore.

Really, there's no need to relax and breath in your case Donzi. :p :Wall:


:D Tony was teaching me to shoot last year

[Cautionstayback200ft]

Really great advise Tony. Especially starting with alarms and lighting first.

Rast, If you ever shoot a semi auto be sure to wear a shirt with a full collar, no v necks. I was teaching a PPC course in Lorain and a piece of brass ejected, (very hot) hit a brace for the stall we were in and right down the front of the lady's shirt. She jumped and the gun went off putting a hole in the floor in front of us. Completly my fault. I knew better than to let her shoot in the clothing she was wearing. At least no one was injured.

There has been a few cases just like that. One I know of ended with a dead instructor.

Jason

btw, if you find one you like post a few pics!

[Queenie]

Thanks for the info Jason and I'll keep that in mind.

A few years ago I did get to shoot some guns at our friends place. They live waaaaaaaaaay out in the country, 20 acres of land and the guys were just shooting target practice.

I was able to shoot a few different guns that day. I had never had a gun in my hands prior to that and took a few shots and that was enough for me. Rob has every intention of making sure I know how to shoot a gun in the end.

[DonziGirl]

I never thought about shooting with V-neck shirts. I wear quite a few of those. I'll have to keep that in mind.

I've been asking Tony to put the targets back up so I can do some more practicing.

[just once]

Thrill. close, the 45 is a p145 titamium taurus though.

[THRILLSEEKER]

well, dam-it take better pictures next time.:D

[bajalion]

Sorry to hear that.

I agree with thrill on the self defense. I'm banking on my second to the last line of defense the sound of my Mossburg 500 chambering a round is enough to scare the bejesus out of anyone. FYI police use 00 Buck....I suggest the same for defense and legal defense.

[cuda]

I keep my Colt Python 357 in the stand next to the bed. I carry a five shot two inch 38 in the truck. I'm thinking of putting my 44 magnum somewhere here in my office at the house, since I spend 99% of my time in here if I'm not sleeping.

Here's my welcoming committee. :)

[cuda]

FYI police use 00 Buck....I suggest the same for defense and legal defense.


Legal, smegal. Like the old say goes: I'd rather be tried by twelve, than carried by six.

They recently passed a new law here in Florida, giving citizens more rights to protect themselves with guns.

[THRILLSEEKER]

you lucky bass turds have a Castle Doctrine.

I usually have the above Glock in the same room when Im at home, call me paranoid but my quiet little county is having more and more "occurences" every year. perhaps some of saw on CNN earlier this summer where an african male killed his father (i think) cut his arms off and headed north until his car ran out of gas....they found him hiding out in a wooded area a few miles from my house. A few years ago a columbus city cop went ballistic and shot his wife headed north and took hostages in a truck stop 2 miles from my office, later bolted and a swat sniper shot him a few miles north of my house off of 71.....this kind of **** is getting more and more common in my sleeply little farm area. I dont plan on being a statistic. ;)

[cuda]

I dont plan on being a statistic. ;)
If they find me as a statistic, I'll have more in my dead cold fingers than my pecker!

[birdog]

I dont know nothing.....

[ToddLahey]

I dont know nothing.....

Me neither!
But someone once told me something about an XD 40

[THRILLSEEKER]

How do you like it?

[FormulaOne]

Tony-
Thanks for the gun advice this weekend. I never made it to a range but may try this weekend.

I have motion lights 360 degrees around my house and I'm debating right now between Brinks and ADT for a security system.

Next will be the hand gun and then finally my house will be an inpenatratable (SP?) fortress!!!

Maybe a mote (Moat?)

[THRILLSEEKER]

anytime.....dont forget that instruction class...;)

[DonziGirl]

I like the moat idea :D

[THRILLSEEKER]

OOH, I dont have a moat yet...WINTER PROJECT!!

Dad wont be using the trackhoe anyway.:D

any of you guys know if sharks and alligators can survive winter in Ohio?

[DonziGirl]

You do NOT need a moat.

[bajalion]

You do need a moat. If you make it wide enough for security and deep enough you can patrol it on boat:tank:

[ToddLahey]

How do you like it?

Like it alot fits my hand great and is the best semi auto I have ever shot!

I like the moat idea also we could take turns patroling it.

[THRILLSEEKER]

Like it alot fits my hand great and is the best semi auto I have ever shot!

I like the moat idea also we could take turns patroling it.

Ironman's boat with a quad .50 mount would be thee perfect patrol boat.

[THRILLSEEKER]

Well barb.....any reports yet??

[Queenie]

Not yet. Still looking when we get the chance.

Court hearings begin next month for these two. We'll be able to address them directly once they get to court. I thinkt he plea hearings are Jan 22 and we go from there.

We're going to address them but who knows if it'll do any good. I'm not going to pretend like nothing happened and the police plus our local Victims Advocate (didn't know there was such a thing) said we should follow through too. Many juvi's get minimual punishment and people just don't bother with it.

We'll take a look after the holidays. Things are crazy right now.