Gunfire near my house

[Erik the Red]

Okay, I guess I just made assumptions based on the tone of your writing. I got the impression that you were advocating a 'shoot first and ask questions later' position, but now I see what you were getting at. My apologies for the misunderstanding.

I do agree with you that nobody should have to be worried about being the target of litigation when they are the victim. That 'sue-happy" mindset irritates me to no end.

And yes, my buddy is lucky. She turned out to be a very nice lady who understood that it was a simple mistake and didn't press charges. Although were I in her position, I too, would resort to the 'racking shotgun' alarm clock technique. That's a wake-up call nobody wants.

[MAXIMAN]

Jeffe

If the police can't help you and they have recommended you move...WHAT ELSE CAN YA DO?

It would be nice if you legally crawl up on your roof with a bull barrel 22-250 and start cleaning out the rats. But that's not how our society works.

I am utterly amazed that the police will not patrol until they catch the perps.

Erik

Lord no...I would never advocate blowing people away for grins. That is SIC and immoral. Do you recall the case where a burglar broke into a home in California about 25 years ago. He cut his arm severely on the patio door when he broke it to enter. He SUED THE HOME OWNER!!!!

What is even more absurd is he won a judgement!!!


Blahhhhh! I'm outta here.

[jeffe]

Maximan, It was a hard decesion to make. But I could not take a chance with the lives of my wife and kids. I empathize with Dan. As I said before ,when the law abiding people cut and run, yes that is what I feel I did, it just leaves more room for criminals and their activity. But what can you do? I really feel sorry for the people that have no choice. In my work I am in worse neighborhoods than the one I left. The drug dealers start usually before noon, well with in the "drug free zones" around schools the law has proscribed. The prostitutes start soon after that. Because we drive wellmarked trucks for a well known company we are left alone. I've a friend that works as a contract installer for a cable company. He drives his personal truck to do work. His company does not send the contract guys into certain neighbor hoods because if the gang bangers who control the street drugs see you too often they get suspicious and have chased guys away. Untill the police are given moe power, which some might as infringement on personal rights, nothing will happen. I'm sorry for my preaching from my soapbox, but this is something has bothered me for a long time. It just struck a chord to see someone dealing with the same thing.

[MAXIMAN]

jeffe

Thanks for the lesson. Seriously.

I have no idea what you are going through or Linux. I have been fortunate enough to have never HAD to live in a big city for long. I lived in Houston for about a year after college and promptly left. It was such a mess. I don't ever plan on living in a mess like that again unless I absolutely have to.

I want you all to know something else. Although I would have no reservation about killing some one in self defense...it would be a nightmare to actually have to do it ... I think. I can only imagine the feelings of second guessing yourself...if it was absolutely neccesary...could I have done something else...etc.

I came very close to literally killing two men on a desolate road in New Mexico about 27 years ago. They threatened my life and the lives of my young wife and 2 year old son. That was the sickest feeling I've ever had in my life yet I knew in my heart if push came to shove I would be slinging hot lead out the end of my Superblackhawk .44 mag. When they realized how serious I was the left us be...thank God.

I can only pray that your circumstances and those of Linux will somehow change. But unless the cops help...geesh...what else do you do? It's sad that so many of our cities are wrought with drug crimes. I think I have a remedy for that but that would be an entirely different topic.

Blessings

Cody

[HobbyMan]

First of all, Now that someone has actually been injured, you should move, No questions asked. It is not just people playing around. It may be hard to sell a house and buy a new one, but how hard is it to deal with a family member's death? I want to say that I don't believe in banning the ownersip of firearms. I agree with Thomas Jefferson. One more thing to think about. How hard is is to get guns illegaly? There are plenty of ways to bring in illegal weapons into the US. If we put a ban on owning firearms, the legit citizens who are responsible enough to own them will be left without them. Then, the only people with guns will be the criminals who should not own them. That puts Joe, the responsible citizen, in jeapordy. Right now, it is Joe's choice to own a gun. That is why we have the bill of rights.

[flb_78]

I hate to say sell and move because it seems like you would be running away, but you are talking about the safety of your family, so sell it and move your family.

[jeffe]

Maximan We were able to move out about 8 years ago. And unfourtunely the neighbor is worse. Our ex next door neighbor wants to move but she has been offered next to nothing for a nice house. I do want to set a couple of things straight. I am against almost any type of gun control. I am also for concealed carry. But with what we are talking about it ,owning a gun would do little or no good, except possibly cause more trouble. And even though as I stated I am heavily involved with a prison ministry, and from doing this getting to quite well a whole spectram of convicts, including several ex gangbangers, I am for being tough on criminals. If anyone is interested in the ministry i do email or PM me. So once again sorry for for my strong feelings, but I believe unless you have expercienced this stuff it's very hard to understanf. Jeffe

[MAXIMAN]

Originally posted by jeffe
So once again sorry for for my strong feelings, but I believe unless you have expercienced this stuff it's very hard to understanf. Jeffe

I couldn't agree with you more.

Blessings ...the work you do is important to many prisoners.

[Special Ed]

Self protection

" My dad has told me plenty of stories of people at rest areas and other dark places that would make you chill. WE never take a trip(motorcycle or car) without Mr smith and Mr Wesson."

Wow! Sorry to hear about your plight, man, but Hobbyman's reply reminds me of a magazine article that I've had in the back of my mind for some time called "Packin' for the Road." Every state has a different law regarding carrying a firearm. It might be usefull information for those of us who are concerned about self protection on trips: oh yes, and obeying the law!
E.Liberty

[mainlylinux]

Update

Saturday there was another shooting, about 2 blocks away. One person was shot.

2 other shootings the same day, but further away. Saturday my wife and I are going over to talk to my mother in law - it's possible that we are going to temporarily move in there.

It's just a shame that a few bad apples ruin the bunch.

I feel bad for people that don't have a way out of these situations, and I know there are a lot of them out there.

Jeffe, what's the situation like in the prisons? It seems like so many people aren't scared of going to prison anymore. I don't know...

Dan

[jeffe]

Lets put it this way. I am involved right now at SOCF prison is southern Ohio. You may remember it as the one that had the Easter Sunday riot 10 or 15 years ago. It is a maximum security prison. But I have also been involved in lower levels of security. I have been doing this regularly for 15 years. I will touch a few high or low points.
Noise...There is always a high background level of noise. Because every thing in there is "hard" the noise just constanly echos. After a while it causes a dull head ache.
TV...Despite what people think they do not get state supplied tv and cable in their cells. They have to provide their own approved TV. And they have an outlet to plug into that just gets broadcast channels. Like what they used in Apartment buildings before cable. They a CCTV system to show other things on. Educational and occasionally movies.
Food...It for the most part is not too good. I have eaten their food in several prisons and it pretty much tasteless, bland ,and starchy. I can see why riots start over this. If they have a prison job or someone adds money to their account they can buy from the commisary. There is a microwave available in the common area of their unit. Unless they are locked.
Safety...They have to pretty much keep their head on a swivel. As weird as it sounds, a max prison is usually safer because of the the level of security and control.
Eduacation...A high number either are unable to read and write at all, or at a very low level. In some prisons they are required to gain a GED before they can either get a job or do toher programs. SOme prisons offer some good training. RCI has a prison shop where they learn to make high quality furniture. My understanding is that the desk in the governers office was nade by them
Privacy...Unless you are in lockdown or a max prison like SoCF you have none. Most prisoners are in double celled in one that was designed for one guy. In Ohio most cells are around 8 by 10 or 12 feet. This includes their sink and toilet.
Correction Offices or CO's...Some of the CO"s I know do have a heart for helping these guys change their lives. But there are one that are really either just there for a paycheck or actually for want of a better word sadists. And a lot of CO's fit somewhere in between.
The prisoners themselves...Some of the prisoners are probally beyond help and should never be let out. But a lot of htem do want to improve and not come back. The recidivism rate, which is how many get out and come back is around 70 to 80% for serious felons. If the men actually do hear what we tell them, and work the program, the rate drops down in to the 20 and 30% rate. This is true for other programs also. A friend of mine , who is also an ex warden said, " My job is to always keep my staff and these men as safe as possible while they are here. ANd to equip them so they never come back."
Accountibility....The first step for these guys is to own up to what they did. One thing I do want to make clear is that I am not advocating that these guys should not be where they are. They did do something that they need to be responsible for.
I hope this give you an idea. Jeffe

[xs650mike]

Sad situation when you can't get police to respond. Maybe moving is the best option. I used to live in a bad neighborhood in San Fran where it was common to hear pistols being emptied into the sky off people's back porches, especially on Saturday nights. I always worried about where those rounds were coming back down. Of course parts of Frisco are a war zone nowdays.

Damned quiet where I now live but there is a case going through the courts here (the DA is a friend of mine) where three guys from San Fran came up here and home invaded someone they thought had a bunch of weed. Woke up the homeowner by hitting him in the face with a shotgun butt. Beat up his wife with fists and brain damaged his son with a baseball bat. The homeowner managed to get to his pistol and killed 2 of the perps. The third is being tried for 2 counts of murder under a California law that fixes responsibility for the death of anyone (including another perp) on the perp no matter who pulled the trigger. The guy's San Francisco attorney is pulling the race card saying we're all racists up here in Lake County. We're not racists, we just don't like people of any color coming up here robbing and looting.

[Kurt]

You should get some of your buddys together and buy sniper rifles with silencers and high powered scopes. You could just hang out on high points around the problem areas. You guys could pick em off while they are trying to find out where the shots are coming from. If the cops don't respond until someone calls you should be fine.

After that have a bake sale on the corner. LOL

[HobbyMan]

That thought has crossed my mind before.

[Kurt]

You might want to get a black ski mask too... I'm going to stop giving advice now.