Thanks for letting me know.......

@ SY: I have most of those things, but I also enjoy going to the range and target shooting with friends. To me it's no different that shooting pool, or darts.

I own exactly two guns, both of which I keep under lock and key. I don't belong to the NRA. I don't think arming everyone is a solution. I believe that there should be laws making it both to tougher to purchase/sell guns legally, and that people caught illegally owning/selling guns should have the book thrown at them. I see no need to own high volume magazine rifles, but if people do want them, they should have to pass a much more scrupulous background check, and register them separately, at the very least. Lastly, I don't think owning a gun makes me any more or less safe.

If that makes me a horrible, gun-toting lunatic, then so be it.

Hey, the real stuff is in the safe and it isn't one you'll carry out. Better bring a safe cracker to get in and better have some serious muscle willing to risk their life if you do it when I'm at home. Gotta keep the family money somewhere. And if you get away with it, the capo won't be happy, so you better be good at disappearing.

Realistically, though, I don't think the majority of people could manage a wall safe deep in the basement, and I don't think the majority of people would have heirloom diamonds and rubies to put into it... maybe Sandgoose does. Hell, I don't know.

It's not the theft that I'm worried about. Besides stealing, home invaders where I live also enjoy beating the every-loving shit out of the owners, raping the wife in front of the husband, and/or murdering them for kicks.

It's not a wall safe, it's an Amsec freestanding fireproof safe weighing just shy of 700 lbs and bolted to the floor.

How did trip know I had a cuisinart..... :S

So a floor safe.

"Really? You reference a site of sarcasm as a source of fact? Get your head out of your ass!"

Draugnar, please... You insult me...

I used it because it sarcastically points out the fact that better gun control and less guns in general [italics]might actually reduce the numbers of massacres like the one yesterday![/italics]

And Trip, that's my point exactly for the click click.

"Goose, why in the world would you attempt to confront people that have broken in to your house?"
Isn't this the point of a gun - to confront a burglar and scare them off?

I suppose that the sound of a loading shotgun might deter a burglar, but then why don't you just use something that sounds a lot like a shotgun, but isn't?

Get a lock, insurance and climb out of the window when you hear a burglar. Don't confront...

Call 911 too btw :)

"Isn't this the point of a gun - to confront a burglar and scare them off?"

I don't think I could murder someone just for stealing from me. The only thing I'm trying to do is let my mystery guest/s know that I'm upstairs and armed. I want to avoid contact at all cost. Having blood on my hands, even if was to protect myself or loved ones, would undoubtedly fuck me up for a while.

Not to mention that it also fucks up the burglar for a while.

Only if I miss my target.

@PSMongoose - Canada has much stricter gun control laws and yet their incidence per populace of massacres like yesterday is *higher* than here in the US proving your point to be wrong.

I can find know evidence one way or the other as to yesterday's shooting (one dead and three injured is *not* a massacre - Columbine was a massacre) was done with a legally obtained firearm. But even so "might" is not a good enough reason to take away a person's rights.

I think you misunderstand me. I'm saying a dead burglar is a fucked up burglar.

I meant to put the first use of massacre in quotes because it was no such thing.

I was talking to trip, naturally.

@steephie - And it serves him right. A thief shot on site in the act deserves to die. I know I'm in the minority, but I believe a person committing such a personal violation as invading a man's home has given up his right to life while in the act. I believe in the castle doctrine.

I got you perfectly, steephie. Shooting a shotgun at someone is tantamount to not caring about their overall well-being.

By the way, always aim for the head. Aiming for the body typically slows them down unless they are wearing any kind of body armor where as aiming for the head usually stops them *dead* n their tracks.

Sweet lord, Draugnar. What the fuck are you hiding in your safe that would have thieves showing up in body armor?

I don't ask the Capo when he tells me to put something there. What I don't know won't hurt me. :-)

Really, though, it's some rather nice jewelry that the wife likes to wear one very special occasions passed down from generation to generation and it's there because that safe is fire proof. It's less about theft and more about protecting it in a fire. The house is a brick ranch with a full concrete floor and wall basement built in 1960, but the floor and the interior walls have plenty of wood in them. I figure the basement is the safest place for a fire proof safe as the basement has the least amount of combustible interior materials. If the house catches fire and burned down, it would be brick walls, basement floor and foundation, and one single steal I-beam 80' long left. The safe is under one end of the beam where it meats the north wall of the house. Our marriage license, deed for the house, copies of our wills, her family jewels, car title, and my grandfather's old Rolex are locked away safe and sound

@Draugnar:
Actually, I agree that someone who invades a home has given up all his rights, but I don't think that just because someone deserves to die, killing is the right thing to do.

I didn't say hunt him down, steephie. But should he choose to continue along his path of violating my home, then I have no qualm with killing him. Let the mother fucker die. I'll be merciful and do it with a headshot.

I probably would still have qualms and would be more eager to look for a less lethal takedown, but if that's significantly more dangerous and the man wants to kill someone, he can die.

I would probably mourn for him though.

"@ SY: I have most of those things, but I also enjoy going to the range and target shooting with friends."

Cool. What does this have to do with the home defense thread? Keep your guns at the range, no?

No, keep your firearms at home or on your person if you have a concealed carry permit.