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I think you would be extremely hard pressed to find a safer spot in the US that has all of the amenities of the Triangle. And, while it depends who you ask, I read as much that says that the UK is more dangerous than the US anyway.
I have an alarm system in case of break-ins but no gun. I live in Durham. I did briefly consider buying a gun after a break-in five years ago, but after a day abandoned the idea because it's a safe neighborhood and there was no real ongoing threat, IMO.
To the OP, it's important to remember that crime rates in general are going to be higher in the US than they are in many other first world countries. That said, neither Raleigh nor Durham's rates are high when compared to peer cities across the nation. In fact, for Raleigh, the rates are pretty low. The suburbs in the Triangle will boast even lower rates but I don't think that there is any city in particular that one has to avoid across the board.
Overall this area feels very safe to me. I live in Cary and moved here from the Chicago suburbs. I also lived for a time in a very nice village in Surrey, England. There is really not much crime in Cary. I never feel unsafe here at all. There are some sort of sketchy areas in Durham and Raleigh, but overall I think it's very easy to avoid most trouble if you want to. As a prior poster mentioned a great majority of the crime here happens between people who know each other or who are involved in some way with drugs.
I lived in a small village in Surrey too ! It was nice always feeling safe with the windows wide open even while sleeping. I had a hard time wrapping my head around no screens on the windows. I was from FLorida and kept imagining all of the bugs and critters that might come in. Lol
I have an alarm system in case of break-ins but no gun. I live in Durham. I did briefly consider buying a gun after a break-in five years ago, but after a day abandoned the idea because it's a safe neighborhood and there was no real ongoing threat, IMO.
Alarm system is safer for you, anyway. Any time you introduce a gun into a home, you increase the risk that it'll be used on the owner.
Unless you're the type who will be carrying a gun regularly and/or running steady target practice drills and you live alone without any sort of partner/spouse that might potentially lose it and shoot you with your own gun, of course.
I say that tongue-in-cheek, but that's how Phil Hartman died, so one should never discount the notion that an unstable or addicted spouse could shoot one in one's sleep.
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Alarm system is safer for you, anyway. Any time you introduce a gun into a home, you increase the risk that it'll be used on the owner.
Unless you're the type who will be carrying a gun regularly and/or running steady target practice drills and you live alone without any sort of partner/spouse that might potentially lose it and shoot you with your own gun, of course.
I say that tongue-in-cheek, but that's how Phil Hartman died, so one should never discount the notion that an unstable or addicted spouse could shoot one in one's sleep.
Yeah - I live alone and am hoping that I will avoid unstable or addicted spouses in the future, but I just didn't see a need for one overall. It was just a spur of the moment thought right after.
I do have a dog but I saw no blood on my carpet after the robbery and I'm guessing the person just gave the dog a treat. I was lucky my dog was left behind.
Alarm system is safer for you, anyway. Any time you introduce a gun into a home, you increase the risk that it'll be used on the owner.
The study that came up with this statistic was thoroughly discredited in the 90s. Try again.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RedZin
Unless you're the type who will be carrying a gun regularly and/or running steady target practice drills and you live alone without any sort of partner/spouse that might potentially lose it and shoot you with your own gun, of course.
I say that tongue-in-cheek, but that's how Phil Hartman died, so one should never discount the notion that an unstable or addicted spouse could shoot one in one's sleep.
A single anecdote is not data. By your logic, you should also remove knives, shovels, axes, circular saws, hammers, chainsaws, screwdrivers, icepicks, bleach, ammonia, Drano, string, rope, swimming pools, stairs, baseball bats, golf clubs and cars from your house as well if you have a spouse since any of them can(and have been) be used to kill (that is how Nicole Brown Simpson died). See, I can be off-topic and tongue in cheek with a single anecdote as well.
Now to the OP, as I said before check IMAPs however the Triangle area is very safe overall compared to a lot of the country. And yes, people have guns here but there aren't any wild west shootouts. Remember that people who own pistols get checked twice (once by NC, once by the Feds) and rifle and shotgun owners get checked by the feds. So don't worry about the non-criminals owning guns. The Triangle is a great place to raise a family and I hope you find success here.
The study that came up with this statistic was thoroughly discredited in the 90s. Try again.
A single anecdote is not data. By your logic, you should also remove knives, shovels, axes, circular saws, hammers, chainsaws, screwdrivers, icepicks, bleach, ammonia, Drano, string, rope, swimming pools, and cars from your house as well if you have a spouse since any of them can(and have been) be used to kill (that is how Nicole Brown Simpson died). See, I can be off-topic and tongue in cheek with a single anecdote as well.
True enough. Honestly if I felt unsafe in general I would own a gun - I say this as someone very much lefty in other ways. I just don't. It was an isolated thing and my leaving the patio door open with only the screen closed certainly didn't help (sigh).
Thanks for your insight - always interesting to hear what locals have to say. I am learning the gun debate is obviously one of those things that get discussed on forums like this but opinions are so polarized that agreement is never reached!
did LOL at the soccer hooligans - they are amateurs :-)
Shanti - you seem to get what I mean - how are you and your son settling down?
Any time you introduce a gun into a home, you increase the risk that it'll be used on the owner.
Quote:
Originally Posted by netbrad
The study that came up with this statistic was thoroughly discredited in the 90s. Try again.
I'm gonna have to side with RedZin on this one.
If you don't introduce a gun into a home, there is zero chance that the gun will be used on the owner.
If you do introduce a gun into a home, there is a non-zero chance that it will be used on the owner.
Hence, the risk has increased.
[/math]
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