Time to get a gun. And a dog. And a realtor.

Ok, so we were already planning on getting a gun (we're both recreational shooters anyway, but given where we live, I'd like to have one in the house so I have some measure of protection when I'm here alone for months at a stretch). I have two registered sex offenders (at least one is a convicted rapist) living within 1/2 mile of my house, and I spend 6+ months alone at various times. I'm not a crazy vigilante, but I don't like being defenseless either.

And we're already looking into a dog...preferably a large one with a loud bark, a protective streak, but doesn't eat cats. That's already in the works.

The realtor was also on the agenda, because we're not loving Life in the Ghetto. The gunfire at night is rare, but disconcerting. The rap music blasting from car stereos at all hours of the day AND night is NOT rare, and makes me want to spontaneously combust. Hearing racial slurs under people's breath when they walk by within earshot is not pleasant, nor is having passersby throw trash in my yard (and ONLY my yard). I'm quite over having smokers play target practice by flicking their cigarette butts onto my front porch...which is about 25 feet from the sidewalk, so it's taken them a fair amount of practice (the evidence of which is on the grass surrounding said porch), but fortunately they haven't burned my house down yet.

So we're already ready to arm up, get a dog, and MOVE the fuck out of this neighborhood. The last straw?

Eddie went out to his car this morning -- which mind you is parked behind our house in a FENCED-IN yard -- only to find the passenger side window smashed in, glass all over the seat and the grass, the glove box open and its contents all over the car and the lawn, etc. Someone or something must have scared them off (maybe when we pulled in the driveway last night -- the passenger side of the car wasn't quite in my line of sight, so they would've had a few seconds to book it before I saw them), because nothing was missing. My husband's iPod was in the glove box, and it was still there, as were several other things that weren't of tremendous value, but would probably have been stolen under normal circumstances (clothes, shoes, CD player).

So what's next? Breaking into the other car? The shed? The house? Home invasions are a big problem in this area, too. I've had a car busted into before (in a mall parking lot right outside the security office, no less), but these ballsy motherfuckers waltzed right into my yard, not 10 feet from my house.

I needs me a gun, I needs me a dog, and I needs me a house out in the sticks and away from all this city-living bullshit.

Just had to vent. I feel better now.

Bmwhtly said:

A Gun, A House and a realtor?

It strikes me that if you got y'all a realtor, you wouldn't need the other two.

But that may just be.

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Well, we're planning on the dog and the gun anyway...that goes back to the "living alone for several months at a stretch". Can never be too careful, right?

The realtor will solve the ghetto problem though.

Bmwhtly said:

Well, I live alone all the time and I have neither.

Although my lack of firearms is mainly due to the fact that there isn't a full-bore rifle range within 50 miles of here.
And thanks to the licensing laws over here: No range, No license.

Plus I prefer cats.

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I don't mind living alone...but in this area, even the not-so-ghetto parts...I'd rather have a little back-up.

I do prefer cats, but I like dogs too.

Devil Ledbetter said:

I live in a beautiful neighborhood. Neat, friendly, big houses, tidy lawns, a wide, grassy boulevard with lots of trees. High taxes, too. Cars around here get broken into even more often than they did in the borderline-crummy neighborhood I lived in 10 years ago.

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Oh, it can happen everywhere...but it's getting rather frequent here, and makes me nervous.

But if you move, there's no guarantee your car won't get vandalized again.

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No, of course not. But there are neighborhoods around here in which I'd feel a hell of a lot safer. You can't guarantee anything anywhere.

I don't know what you keep in your car, but my car doesn't have anything in it I'd shoot another human to protect. Also, if you shoot someone breaking into -- or vandalizing -- your car in the middle of the night, that's not considered self-defense in most places.

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I wouldn't shoot someone for breaking into my car. What I'm worried about is if it escalates to coming into my house. There have been a lot of home invasions and attacks in this area lately. They can take anything they want...but I have no illusions that I can fend off someone who wants to harm ME.

I know breaking into a car doesn't automatically mean we're going to be attacked from all sides now. Not at all. It was just a bit of a jolt and made us both feel rather vulnerable. I've been feeling very unsafe in this neighborhood for a while, and this was a bit, shall we say, close to home.

Maryn said:

I'm sorry you were targetted, and I agree that it's not a neighborhood where you should stick it out, but you'd shoot a thief dead to save an iPod? That appalls me.

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Not at all..sorry I didn't make that clearer. They can take whatever they want -- my concern is if my life or my husband's is threatened. We've been planning to get the gun for some time anyway...this just made us suddenly feel rather vulnerable, hence we're speeding up the process of getting a gun and calling around to realtors.

Sorry...should've clarified. I would never shoot someone over any material item...though if my husband leaves his iPod in his car again, I might shoot him...