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Someone breaks into my house they'll be blown away by a 12 gauge. It's right next to my bed.
Don't judge others. A man or woman has every right to defend themselves and their home.
I would have moved far away long before my level of paranoia approached anywhere near that which would require me to keep a loaded shotgun next to my bed.
Unless I was just looking for an excuse to start taking potshots at someone.
I have no answer for this because I've never lived in a gated community. I can't imagine "challenging" someone on a public road or a public sidewalk in the places that I have lived.
I feel the same way, as I too have never lived in a gated community.
Walking home some evenings in central London, I see dozens of people walking on or near my street or passing my house, I might recognise one out of a dozen, so what?
Having lived in central London all my life, I just took it for granted, I never thought, “Oh great, I live in Paradise”, it was just somewhere that I lived, but after reading the OP, and in particular his dumbass final paragraph, no matter how much I enjoy visiting the U.S., I just hope that I never rent a vacation home near his house.
Personally I'm a big advocate of armed neighborhood watch, and that neighborhood watch should be very proactive in confronting possible threats, including maybe it clear that they're armed, regardless of the race of the person. What's y'alls take on this?
I don't know about the "armed" part but recently I asked a woman, who turned out to be interviewing for a child care job if she "needed help." She had backed her car into a tree on my property. Later I told the couple that she was interviewing about the incident. They said she "seemed a bit weird" and didn't hire her. A good choice.
What, exactly, is stupid about OP's last sentence?
Someone breaks into my house they'll be blown away by a 12 gauge. It's right next to my bed.
When someone breaks into your house you just call the cops and wait 20 minutes while you and your family are robbed/killed/etc. Good luck with that!!
Don't judge others. A man or woman has every right to defend themselves and their home.
I’ve had dozens of my Brit friends say to me, “Got any vacation time coming up, we’re going to Spain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, how about you and Nicky?”
When I say, “We’ve rented a pool home in SW Florida, or South Padre Island, Texas, or a house in Savannah, Georgia”, a lot of them express amazement, and say, “Have you guys got a death wish, aren’t you worried about getting shot over there, those yanks are crazy with guns?”
I calmly and reasonably try to explain that I’ve been crossing the pond since 1976, at least once per year, often twice, and I’ve visited 18 or 19 of the Lower 48, from NY to CA with plenty in between, FL, GA, TN, MI, TX, AZ, NV, etc. etc., and the only guns I’ve seen, have been on a cop’s hip.
Now I’ll think, oh I get it, maybe they’ve met, or heard of, Mister 7!
If a vehicle wants to follow me in after I put in the code to the gate in my community, I'm not confronting them. This is common practice at my community (if someone opens the gate, everyone immediately behind that person isn't going to separately wait for the gate to close and then proceed to put in their own code. Now, I guess it is a bit different if someone was just waiting in their car or on foot for a resident to come and enter in the code. But, even then, I'm probably not going to say anything. We don't have an issue with break-ins in my community, so the people who are guilty of piggybacking belong there in some way, shape or form, even if they should have gone about entry the official way. If we started to have a problem with theft, things would be different, but even then I'm not sure I'd personally confront people due to fear of retaliation. If things got that bad, security would need to be increased from the management company.
If a vehicle wants to follow me in after I put in the code to the gate in my community, I'm not confronting them. This is common practice at my community (if someone opens the gate, everyone immediately behind that person isn't going to separately wait for the gate to close and then proceed to put in their own code. Now, I guess it is a bit different if someone was just waiting in their car or on foot for a resident to come and enter in the code. But, even then, I'm probably not going to say anything. We don't have an issue with break-ins in my community, so the people who are guilty of piggybacking belong there in some way, shape or form, even if they should have gone about entry the official way. If we started to have a problem with theft, things would be different, but even then I'm not sure I'd personally confront people due to fear of retaliation. If things got that bad, security would need to be increased from the management company.
I live in a gated community and looked upon with suspicion even though I've been here a good while, which is why I'm looking to leave. I don't really do much, just walk to the store or wherever and even that is a problem because I look out of place in their space. If only more people would accept not really being wanted and find somewhere else, even if that place is in the ghetto. Being accepted where you live is more important than being somewhere with all the unnecessary, and costly amenities and then other residents constantly notifying police about your presence in their neighborhood.
Nope. I won't be cutting anything. I've never subscribed to political correctness and I never will. If I have an opinion I will voice it, (Within the respectable language and insult free parameters of a privately owned website of course). The main fact here is, if you are angry, offended, or insulted by a comment I make; then i know you heard what I said.
It's not empowerment to confront every person you don't know. If there is a legitimate concern, then deal with it. But 90% it is simply someone creating a situation that does not exist in an effort to be a hero. If you want to be a hero, have at it, just learn though, that things can go wrong quickly.
I don't believe in confrontation, that is dumb. I do believe in vigilance, and keeping an eye out for our communities. When that is considered wrong is where I have an issue, and the negative stereotypes of the people who do make an effort to watch our neighborhoods. I would love nothing more than to have nosy neighbors, whatever their names are, to keep an eye out for unusual things. They may also see porch thieves, escaped pets, etc., since so many people work all day and are absent. Thieves are certainly getting more brazen, so I'm not sure why there is an issue with noticing something like a suspicious vehicle or person.
I live in a gated community and looked upon with suspicion even though I've been here a good while, which is why I'm looking to leave. I don't really do much, just walk to the store or wherever and even that is a problem because I look out of place in their space. If only more people would accept not really being wanted and find somewhere else, even if that place is in the ghetto. Being accepted where you live is more important than being somewhere with all the unnecessary, and costly amenities and then other residents constantly notifying police about your presence in their neighborhood.
Are you being serious? You are a resident in this gated community and you are saying neighbors call the police about your mere presence? Or in some way give you a hard time? Do give details.
I don't believe in confrontation, that is dumb. I do believe in vigilance, and keeping an eye out for our communities. When that is considered wrong is where I have an issue, and the negative stereotypes of the people who do make an effort to watch our neighborhoods. I would love nothing more than to have nosy neighbors, whatever their names are, to keep an eye out for unusual things. They may also see porch thieves, escaped pets, etc., since so many people work all day and are absent. Thieves are certainly getting more brazen, so I'm not sure why there is an issue with noticing something like a suspicious vehicle or person.
I can understand and respect the point you are making. I've had neighbors alert me to attempted break ins on my car, so be studious is not out of the question.
My debate is mostly centered on people who are so hyper vigilante that they create a problem when there wasn't one in the first place. You hear the stories of lemonade stands being attacked by someone who wants to know if the 6 year old manning the stand has a business license. That's the kind of thing that gets to me. The way the OP posted it sounded like they would be seeking trouble with every person that hangs out in the area. Vigilant sure, but not super wise.
If you grew up in a dangerous area absolutely, I can respect your position.
I feel the same way, as I too have never lived in a gated community.
Walking home some evenings in central London, I see dozens of people walking on or near my street or passing my house, I might recognise one out of a dozen, so what?
Having lived in central London all my life, I just took it for granted, I never thought, “Oh great, I live in Paradise”, it was just somewhere that I lived, but after reading the OP, and in particular his dumbass final paragraph, no matter how much I enjoy visiting the U.S., I just hope that I never rent a vacation home near his house.
Neither do I. I was in many neighborhoods I don't "belong in" just the other day. We are getting a new roof, and the company gave us a massive list of addresses of roofs they did, organized by shingle color, so we could go look at roof colors and pick what color shingles we wanted. My fiance couldn't go with me, so I even took quick pics of some.
I do want to add, that I think the more attention we give to thoughts of security, ironically makes us more paranoid. We have video cameras all over outside that are motion activated. When you get alerts and check them all the time, it has made at least me, more paranoid "We got a back door alert, who is it??!!", like it makes you fearful. 99% of the time it's a bug or the wind, but especially when you get an alert at night, it makes you scared for a minute. I can feel more paranoia in me since we got them then before.
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