Gun violence- are you a victim or know somone who was?

People close to me:

My ex wife was raped at gunpoint while I was away on business. The perp was caught and is as far as I know is still in prison. She on the other hand was never the same and in the end caused mental illness that she could not shake. I carried that guilt that I wasn't there because he was a man I had hired to take care of our yard and he knew I was gone. He had been taking care of our yard with no incident for months up til then. He effed up 3 lives and mine was the least affected of the 3.

Long before we met, my current g/f lost her brother when he was making a night deposit that included $350 in cash and all the rest receipts and checks. An assailant simply walked right up behind him, and shot him point blank in the back of the head. Never caught.

Mine. First of all I am 6'6" and in fairly decent shape. As a rule not bothered by anyone with common sense.

I had a drug addict stop me on the street holding his hand in the jacket pocket like it was hiding a weapon. Unkempt, filthy, and dazed looking in his eye. Confronted me and said "Give me some money man" as he held his masked hand out in a threat. I cold cocked him in the jaw instantly. He went down. Out cold. That was the end of it.

I stopped an attempted carjacking against me by pulling my weapon. At which time they fled the scene. Called the cops. They said there wasn't enough info to even start a search as it could have been any number of people.

I had a man in a truck that didn't like that I was passing him with my truck and trailer. He kept giving me a hard time passing me then slowing down, daring me to pass him then slamming on his breaks and repeating. Flipping me off and throwing drinks in cups at me. The next time he started to pass me I had placed my gun on my dashboard in plain view. He braked hard to get behind me. I called the cops in my car and told them where we were and when they showed up he pulled off the road, one followed him with lights on and that was the last I saw of him.

I was traveling in a fairly desolate stretch of road. We used to call it no mans land. I was on my way to a scheduled event. Just making time down the road. It was cold like 40 and a wet drizzle. A car ahead was pulled over with the hood up. Again its no mans land. I stopped to help the guy. I noticed he stayed on the far side of the engine bay as he was attempting to explain what he thought the troubles were. He started out on one side and eventually we he was now between me an my vehicle as far as how we were configured. I was on the front side of his car and he was on the front left side facing me and between me and my car. As I leaned down to try and asses his possible causes, he pulled a knife and said "Give me all your cash mother fucker." I held up my hands and said "OK man please don't hurt me." I stepped back as if to go to my wallet. I reached back into my jacket like I was going for my wallet and drew my weapon. His hands went up and he started to plead for me not to shoot him. I said....now I'll give you two options. I will call the cops right now and you will be arrested and that suits me fine (to myself...I will be detained an hour at least to fill out paperwork etc. and he really wasn't worth my time). Or I will allow you to go in peace if you do the following. With that knife, you will slash all of your tires and your radiator hose and then give me that knife and you can do whatever you want out here. He chose the later. I figure a set of tires, a new radiator hose, a tow home and the total money spent was a lesson that might stick with him a little better.

 

That happens way more than you think. So you don't know if it came from within the apartment complex or outside? I would think the police investigators would be able to figure that out. A little girl got killed the same way, laying in her bead not too long ago. I can't imagine being the parent of that little girl. Extremely depressing. If you would have been at the wrong place at the wrong moment.......

 

he never bothered about shit like that sent me to India once with a return Ticket from another Airport Lol should have seen the guys at the factory when I asked for a lift I said "why is it far " they said" its not not that there is no Road " they sent Two guys in an off road vehicle to pick me up took about six hours to get there then I had four flights I booked 48 Hrs Travelling on that trip home
Ha ha he used to pull that shit all the time once he sent me to China on the Wrong day !
I loved that job it was an adventure for sure

 

VERY MUCH THIS! There were lots of guns in the 50s. Yet it was a one off event if someone committed a crime with them. An armed robbery was a big deal.

 

Wow, I would have hit him in the mouth as soon as I got back, Lol! Or at least lace his coffee with a laxitive to return the favor! Do you miss those days, man? Sounds like you still had a good time.

 

You've had everything that I've worried about happening, happen to you. Damn it man.......!!
Hey, did you get some counseling for your wife after that happened? What about you? How are you holding up after that particular incident? I gotta tell you, that's something that I fear the most, is not being there to protect my wife and daughter. I know I would have an extremely hard time dealing with that, and I think that would literally destroy my spirit! Thank you for sharing all of that, as you've brought an interesting perspective to this thread, and to all of us that read that.

 

They came out and did a report and I never heard anything else about it.

Edit: I do think that got me out of the lease though.

 

i recounted my home invasion a few years back on hip...

two morons with pistols.....burst in my front door with masks while i was napping on my couch.....

i went at them with a baseball bat ...both ran away with some good bruises.....gun ended up being a pellet gun...there is pics of the crap i got off the one kid in my albums here somewhere....i clobbered second guy at the screen door to my house and his back pack fell off, he dropped the gun and ran off

these guys weren't smart...i live on an island...kinda tough to escape but i didn't give chase...they were young idiots who heard i had dope stashed here and i did not want to involve the popo,,,,,

i have several drug and gun related stories..some of those icisets i was on the gun side...some i was on the no-gun side.......

stoners lounge chat has a gun story every month ....Pittsburgh is a dangerous place

 

Nice.

I don't like guns, I'm like Eric's wife in that respect, they just make me nervous and I'll never learn to shoot one.

But I'm just as paranoid as the next American and I have baseball bats, an actual police baton, an iron bar, and an axe hidden strategically around the house. This gives me hope they'll be enough. Lol I'm just realizing i've spent all week ridiculing the gun nuts but I think I am a nut too.

 

Don't ever let the bad guy get a hold on any of those.

 

Hey....at least you have something. Do you know how to use those things, like really good? I had stuff laying around in my house before I got married, and never really cared to have a handgun. But as soon as I got married, I started thinking a lot about getting a gun for the sake of family protection. I would always assume that whoever decided to break into my house, will more than likely be armed, and I don't want to be the one bringing nunchucks to a possible gun fight. Now that I have it, I'm able to rest easier.

 

You didn't have to pay rent, or you were able to leave immediately without losing your deposit or other said penalties for terminating your lease early?

 

Nah but I have spunk. I'll just start swinging if I have to.

But I also have escape routes planned, if I heard someone trying to get in the house I would most likely be slipping out a window on the other side of the house and running to a neighbors for help

We do have a gun in my house but have to keep it locked and unloaded. It wouldnt help me if I was home alone of course because I don't know how to use it. Do you keep yours locked away? I'm not convinced my boyfriend could get to it and get it loaded quickly enough but he thinks otherwise because he thinks hes Rambo

 

I was able to break the lease without being charged penalties.

 

No. It's out of site, with a full magazine inserted and a round chambered. If I'm in another part of the house and something starts to develop, I need to get to it, fast as possible. It needs to be made ready as soon as I get my hands on it. Have you ever seen footage of a home invasion? Those happen rather quickly, totally unexpected, and are executed in a fashion to take you completely by surprise so that you don't have enough time to react. I'm not fast enough to get to another part of my house, unlock/unsecured a gun, load it, etc.,if I was in a situation like that. A burglar, snooping around, trying to break in quietly (or noisily, because some don't care), I MIGHT have a chance if it's locked up. Just like you rehearsed and planned your escape route (smart girl by the way), he should be doing some rehearsals too. He should time himself unlocking, loading and clambering a round in that gun.

 

Nope, not me. My grandparents fought in WW2. So I guess I knew them. But that's not the same, really.

 

My friend and a few of his mates moved into a new house they were renting and invited a bunch of us over for a house party one night. This house was located on a corner of two intersecting streets. The night was coming close to an end, most of us were standing outside the house on one of the intersecting streets, we were hanging out and waiting to have our DDs pick us up. Then we all heard 3 loud bangs coming from the other side of the house. I knew it was gun shots. I told my friend it was a gun but they insisted it was a car backfire. We heard a the wheels of a car skid away. The house was shot at 3 times through the wall in the upstairs bathroom. The cops caught the shooter later on. It turns out that the house once belonged to some sketchy gang members. The shooters didn’t know their target no longer lived there. And assumed we were partying with the bad peoples they were after.

Another time I was threatened at gun point. I used to work security for the film industry. We were filming a Hollywood movie and we were shooting a few scenes out in the country. I had to work a night shift one cold winter night out at the location where they were setting up. The scene was at an old farm house. I got out there assuming to meet someone. I was wearing all black from head to toe. I looked scary. Got out of my car at the address I was given. I was met with a very angry woman who screamed to get off her land or get shot with a gun pointing at me! They gave me the wrong address! I bailed so fast. The actual location was a little further down the road.

 

5 years ago, in my current neighborhood, we had a case where an angry, bitter ex-husband entered the home of his former wife and killed her with a legally owned hunting shotgun. He then turned the gun on himself and committed suicide right after. The word has it that he was pathological in his jealousy, and just didn't want to accept that his ex was now seeing other men. This was just about a 100-150 yards from my place.

Also, in the 90's, when I was still living with my parents, this guy who used to live next door to us, right across the road, suddenly committed suicide with a handgun in Christmas of 1999. He lived alone and was collecting disability, because he had a drinking problem and mental health problems bad enough that nobody wanted him around anymore. Apparently even his family hated him. No idea where the gun came from. In retrospect, it feels kinda disturbing that he had it in the first place, so close to us. But in the end, he only used it on himself.

 

So far, I think we're the only two. That's kind of freaky

 

Yeah.. That does seem like something...
Oh well I'm happy to be apart of that statistic.