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Lumping in "many" or "most" rural gun owners in with this guy is very unfair.
I live very rurally. No one just happens across my place accidentally. My doors are never locked. I'm not paranoid or trigger happy, I certainly hope I never have to shoot anyone. I'd really rather not.
However if anyone shows up at my house after dark randomly, I'll assume they aren't there to borrow a cup of sugar until proven otherwise. I also know where my wife is at all times. I'd certainly expect her to give me a heads up if she was coming home early in the middle of the night.
This guy f***** up big time and made several bad decisions costing his wife's life. No need to lump responsible others in with him unless you have an agenda.
It's generally understood when approaching a truly rural house that you make your presence known before knocking on the door, especially in the middle of the night. I doubt these people were even in a truly rural area.
Troopers are at least a half hour away under perfect circumstances. Could be hours, or the next day. It's generally known that everyone is armed.
Still one guy messing up (big time at that) doesn't constitute a widespread problem. You seem really proud of yourself that you've lived in hardcore murder big cities, does that make you better than the rest of us?
Oh yeah, I've also lived in big cities with plenty of crime. Being prepared for a potential anything doesn't make you paranoid, it makes you a realist.
In the rural area where I was raised, people are so non-paranoid, they rarely even lock doors.
^^^ This. And to this day in a rural area I don't lock doors. I of I will be gone more than a few days a few of my pet sitters feel more comfortable going onto a locked place. I haven't always been so rural that I can't get to town in a few minutes either. Sometimes I have, other times, not.
The dogs do their jobs famously. My neighbors never locked up either, until the older ones started listening to the scary national news.
The only times my doors have been locked are when I had company who locked them after I went to bed (fair enough, they couldn't sleep otherwise).
Some people are just like that, others just don't want to live that way.
Each time I move I have to go get keys made, or locks changed, because I have no idea where they are... that said I choose to live where I feel safe.
When coons killed my chickens I slept on the couch with a rifle for a few weeks so I'd be prepared.
Oh, sorry, I did live in the LA area for about 10 years, and I did lock my doors, if just to protect the dogs I finally locked my old car too, after getting tired of listening to everyone freak out on me. That car ended up broken into, and was stolen. Good lot of locking that did, I just lost a window too.
Yes, and do so constantly. 40-ish years, now, and counting.
^^^ this again. And I don't have a gun. I like guns just fine, but have no time to practice with them again after years, keep it loaded and under my pillow, etc.... not going to happen. When my ticket comes up, it comes up. Common sense has kept me safe for 40 some years, not locks and guns and fear.
I guess there is a need for game wardens to be wary of water and possibly criminal "sportsmen."
Yes, I certainly would drive virtually anywhere in the US unarmed, and I do.
I would say there's a need to be aware of one's surroundings but there should be no need to go through life wary of every turn in the road.
^^^ this. Awareness, and listening to your gut. I also walk at night with my dogs. Some may call that unarmed?
On another note. If I had been the mans wife, knowing there was a loaded gun, I would have called him, or if he was a heavy sleeper honked, or I would have called the kids, or honked again, and then called him again. I would know there was a chance I could be shot.
This is the price you pay for keeping loaded guns, hence the reason those specially with small children often choose against it.
OP this is not just rural at all, AT ALL. It is far more prevalent in suburbs, and cities imo.
Additionally, my mom is getting a little paranoid in her older years. She watches a lot of dateline, ID, and all the other true crime shows. And she has appetizers of Cops and those Gangland shows. She she also worries that stuff happens in the "city."
{snip}
The combo of seeing all of the true crime shows, hearing about crime on the news and anecdotal stories about their own city make them paranoid.
BINGO!!!
I have noticed this in recent years, and it's aggravating as heck. As I mentioned, just a few days ago a mother insisted on accompanying her daughter who CLEARLY was old enough to go to the bathroom on her own, she had to be at least 7 or even more like 9 judging by her behavior and size. Her daughter was yelling at her "I can go by myself, I don't need you following me everywhere all the time," she clearly was exasperated. This was not in a large mall or a Walmart, this was in a very small eatery and the bathrooms were small little affairs with a "tank" commode (not a "jet engine" one) and with locks on the doors. I just shook my head.
My best friend used to rent his house to people. This was a house WAY away from everything, on like 70-odd acres and well off of the road, and the school was like 20-odd miles away. The people he rented from, the husband was easy-going but the wife was nervous to the point she got on other people's nerves. She INSISTED that ALL the doors had to be locked, during the DAYTIME mind you, all the curtains drawn all the shades pulled, every single minute. My mother, last year we made the mistake of letting her go on our vacation, we had a cabin way in the middle of nowhere in a town of like population 400 and she would flip out if we so much as went outdoors for 5 minutes during the middle of the day and not lock the back door. I finally told her to knock it off that I was tired of having to bang on the door, of my own cabin which I paid for myself in full, everytime I wanted to go back inside. Her response was "you must not watch much TV" and my reply was "no I don't, and thank goodness, because I don't need to be brainwashed like that."
Being cautious is one thing, but no way could I live like that.
And as I said, being irritating and annoying is one thing, but shooting your own wife on account of self-inflicted paranoia is another. It's reckless, irresponsible, and deserving of a criminal charge of at least involuntary manslaughter, and such a person should not be able to own a gun again ever even once they're back in society.
The point is that being paranoid about crime can result in an awful tragedy. Imagine, being so paranoid about a burglar breaking into your house and harming your loved ones that you go over-the-top and in doing so end up causing the very harm yourself that you were worried about someone else doing. The very weapon meant to protect your loved ones was instead used to harm them, and by you of all people. What a burden to carry.
It may well be that the paranoia I spoke of is common in many areas, but what I'm saying is that I've especially noticed this with people in rural areas and if there is anyone whom you would think would be at-ease it would be people in the boonies like myself. Instead many of the ones I've met seem almost obsessed with the idea/possibility of a burglary, and I'm like "sorry, but our/your little area ain't all that." Moreover, whatever region, anyone thinking of using/buying a gun for protection better darned well also be just as vigilant about learning how to use it properly as being concerned about the possibility of a burglary to start with, what caliber to use, revolver or semi-auto, etc.
I moved from a city to a rural area in 2001.
The thing is, the incident you described is extremely rare. It's not as if there is a boom in rural people killing each other out of paranoia. The locals where I live are armed to the teeth, and death-by-guns is practically zero.
One incident gone bad isn't a trend. That said, people here do consider themselves the first line of defense rather than hoping/praying/wishing the cops get there on time. Most locals have been here for generations, long before the modern concept of calling the cops and waiting. They practice gun safety as a basic life skill because they hunt for food and protect livestock.
I think people here are relaxed because violent crime is almost unheard of, yet prepared to do what is necessary if it does happen. This attitude has been working well for them for a long time. If you just look at the rate of gun deaths in rural areas, it's clear that it's a non-issue.
I don't know if my cousin's three neighbors who locked their houses at night were " paranoid" or not.
However, the occupants of those three houses are alive and the three occupants in my cousin's house are dead.
Because there are so few instances of violent crime in many rural areas when it does happen the psychological impact is greater than it is where violence is more prevalent. I sort of alluded to that in my post but I wasn't clear enough.
I taught for over thirty years in a DC suburb but many of my students kept their familial ties to the city. Over those years many of the kids lost relatives to street violence in DC as well as the higher crime areas of the County (where they lived was very safe overall). The common response was, "Oh well, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time".
Lumping in "many" or "most" rural gun owners in with this guy is very unfair.
I live very rurally. No one just happens across my place accidentally. My doors are never locked. I'm not paranoid or trigger happy, I certainly hope I never have to shoot anyone. I'd really rather not.
However if anyone shows up at my house after dark randomly, I'll assume they aren't there to borrow a cup of sugar until proven otherwise. I also know where my wife is at all times. I'd certainly expect her to give me a heads up if she was coming home early in the middle of the night.
This guy f***** up big time and made several bad decisions costing his wife's life. No need to lump responsible others in with him unless you have an agenda.
It's generally understood when approaching a truly rural house that you make your presence known before knocking on the door, especially in the middle of the night. I doubt these people were even in a truly rural area.
Troopers are at least a half hour away under perfect circumstances. Could be hours, or the next day. It's generally known that everyone is armed.
Still one guy messing up (big time at that) doesn't constitute a widespread problem. You seem really proud of yourself that you've lived in hardcore murder big cities, does that make you better than the rest of us?
Oh yeah, I've also lived in big cities with plenty of crime. Being prepared for a potential anything doesn't make you paranoid, it makes you a realist.
If for no other reason than the chance of getting bitten by a dog in their yard, definitely don't just pop up at the door without a callout.
I don't get the guns, but they don't keep their doors locked. Keep your doors locked, no guns, and install a monitored alarm system.
People with unlocked homes and have guns, are just begging someone to come in so they can have the drama to shoot them. That's what that is all about.
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I finally locked my old car too, after getting tired of listening to everyone freak out on me. That car ended up broken into, and was stolen. Good lot of locking that did, I just lost a window too.
