What Burglars Won't Tell You . . .

[Lone Frogman]

Do not keep the registration for your car in the glove box. Instead, put it under the seat in a plastic bag. This makes it just a bit harder for a burglar to get your address when you and your car are at the mall, beach, etc.

Now days they just punch in home on your GPS. I got mine programed to the loco PD.

 

[NETim]

Going outside, armed, deliberately, while you were not under immediate threat to your person while inside the building, confronting and then shooting, well, I personally don't want to be in the position of having to explain that to the judge and jury. Heck, I don't want to ever have to drop the hammer on someone, regardless of my predicament.

Suppose you had to explain to the next victims how you had the them dead to rights but did nothing because you were afraid to act? Maybe we should be responsible our inactions as well as actions. The right thing isn't always the easiest or neatest way to go but it has always allowed me to look at mirror.

The only time I'm going to use deadly force is if my life is in immediate jeopardy, so I'll do something. But my goal will always be to avoid conflict whenever possible.

I'm sure that those down the line would be grateful, should it be even possible for them to know they were next, but in light of huge costs involved in defending oneself in a wrongful death lawsuit, I'm pretty confident their gratitude will stop well short of their checkbook.

I don't write the rules. I just live with them.

People do love their litigation.

 

[Jax]

And therein lies the freedom of choice in this country; God Bless the states that cover their citizens.

 

[Thalassamania]

Lowest crime rates in order for 2007, low to high:

Violent crime: Maine, North Dakota, Vermont, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Utah, Rhode Island, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Kentucky, West Virginia.

Property crime: South Dakota, New Hampshire, North Dakota, New York, New Jersey, Vermont, Massachusetts, Idaho, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Connecticut, Maine, Kentucky, Rhode Island, West Virginia

West Virgina is 12th with respect to violent crime and 15 with respect to property crime.

... but you are more than five times as likely to die in West Virginia as a result of being shot than you are here in Hawaii.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Table 297. Crime Rates by State, 2006 and 2007, and by Type

 

[Paladin]

Here in the mountain state, if they break into your home or are a clear threat to you (or someone else) anywhere you have a legal right to be and you shoot them, there will be no judge or jury. The law clearly states that there will be no arrest, no prosecution and no civil action by the dead criminal's family.

 

[Paladin]

Lowest crime rates in order for 2007, low to high:

Violent crime: Maine, North Dakota, Vermont, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Utah, Rhode Island, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Kentucky, West Virginia.

Property crime: South Dakota, New Hampshire, North Dakota, New York, New Jersey, Vermont, Massachusetts, Idaho, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Connecticut, Maine, Kentucky, Rhode Island, West Virginia

West Virgina is 12th with respect to violent crime and 15 with respect to property crime.

... but you are more than five times as likely to die in West Virginia as a result of being shot than you are here in Hawaii.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Table 297. Crime Rates by State, 2006 and 2007, and by Type

Oops. Looks we've slipped some. We used to be right next to Vermont.

 

[AfterDark]

Here in the mountain state, if they break into your home or are a clear threat to you (or someone else) anywhere you have a legal right to be and you shoot them, there will be no judge or jury. The law clearly states that there will be no arrest, no prosecution and no civil action by the dead criminal's family.

Well WV is heaven after all!

 

[Paladin]

Thal,
The problem with census stats is that they do not differentiate between lawful and unlawful shootings. In 2008, there were a total of 60 murders in WV (not all with firearms), a state with app. 2 million people (down from 64 in 2007 and 85 in 2005) while Hawaii had 25 murders and a population of app. 1.2 million. If you have five times the likelihood of being shot in WV, then you are evidently on the wrong side of the law. The other stats, such as burglary and theft, are surprisingly close, considering WV has around a 65% higher population. HI had 9, 379 burglaries to WV's 11,066. HI had 31,492 thefts to WV's 32,337. HI had 889 robberies to WV's 1,086. HI had 5,133 auto thefts to WV's 3,204. HI had 365 rapes to WV's 362. HI had 2,036 cases of aggravated assault to WV's 3,657. HI had 3,512 violent crimes to WV's 4,968. Of course, "violent crime" covers everything from domestic violence to a couple of guys duking it out in the parking lot, so those stats can be a little misleading. Considering WV's higher population, a person's likelihood of being a crime victim is actually a bit higher in Hawaii than in West Virginia.

In all the twenty years that WV has been a Shall Issue state, there has been only one carry permit revoked for unlawful behavior.

I think I'll stay in Almost Heaven, thank you.

 

[Jax]

Thal,
The problem with census stats is that they do not differentiate between lawful and unlawful shootings. In 2008, there were a total of 60 murders in WV (not all with firearms), a state with app. 2 million people (down from 64 in 2007 and 85 in 2005) while Hawaii had 25 murders and a population of app. 1.2 million. If you have five times the likelihood of being shot in WV, then you are evidently on the wrong side of the law. The other stats, such as burglary and theft, are surprisingly close, considering WV has around a 65% higher population. HI had 9, 379 burglaries to WV's 11,066. HI had 31,492 thefts to WV's 32,337. HI had 889 robberies to WV's 1,086. HI had 5,133 auto thefts to WV's 3,204. HI had 365 rapes to WV's 362. HI had 2,036 cases of aggravated assault to WV's 3,657. HI had 3,512 violent crimes to WV's 4,968. Of course, "violent crime" covers everything from domestic violence to a couple of guys duking it out in the parking lot, so those stats can be a little misleading. Considering WV's higher population, a person's likelihood of being a crime victim is actually a bit higher in Hawaii than in West Virginia.

In all the twenty years that WV has been a Shall Issue state, there has been only one carry permit revoked for unlawful behavior.

I think I'll stay in Almost Heaven, thank you.

Excellent rebuttal, Pal!

The best statistic is a normalized x events per 100,000 population, but even that isn't good if the environment is not contextualized.

 

[mdb]

A few years ago, while living in an upstairs apt. in San Francisco, a downstairs neighbor banged on our door after midnight.-"They broke into our apartment, the window is broken and the door is open." We took our friends in. I asked my wife to call the SFPD. I tucked my 1911 Colt into my waistband and went downstairs. I swept the apartment. It had been ransacked. The bad guys were gone.

On my way back up the stairs two SFPD cars pulled up in front of the building. I knew better than to move. I placed my 45 on the ground and stood still with my hands in the air. All four officers drew down on me. The Sgt. told me to get on the ground. I did. My wife was yelling-"He is my husband, we are neighbors." The police patted me down. I explained the situation. The Sgt. told me: "We could have taken you out and we all would have walked. What the hell were you thinking?"

I'm a bit more inclined these days to stay inside.