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

it was a rush until people stated pointing out ''what if'' scenarios lol.....I woke up and first thought it was my buddies playing a bad joke...but when one stood at the door while the other started rifling around my desk

I just sat up....put my running shoes on....I have metal stuff in both feet and ankles and need my shoes on to do battle....

I had to walk back into the other room where the bat was and when the kid at the door saw this he yelled ''he's got a bat'' and he turned to run....by this time my swing was already in motion and I clobbered him across his back and he fell out the door...

.I turned to the other kid and swung at him...gut him twice before he fell out the door and it was the second guy who dropped his knapsack and gun before he too ran off .i actually got in the van and stated driving after them but they cut into a farm field and towards the forest so I started yelling at them that I will be waiting at the ferry for them....

I didn't bother though...it was morning and I wasn't gonna wait there all day....hopefully they hid until dark and at least suffered a little.....I found out who they were through some locals and one of them is in jail and the other left town but I heard he is now back....this all happened maybe 4 years ago?

 

NMRN (I acronymed your name), man, thank you so much for this. Once again, your input has been very interesting and intriguing as well. I am concerned about one thing, and all I'm trying to do is get you to think about this: Lock your doors to your house....at all times. If you are concerned, and if there is a BOTL report on your ex....don't make it easy for her, or anyone else for that matter. Your first line of protection is that locked door(s)! I can't express to you how much that makes my hair on the back of my head stand up, to read that you leave your doors unlocked.

I get it, the neighborhood is safe, but even those neighborhoods are discovered at some point, and what better place is there to go looting, stealing, etc., than in a nice quiet neighborhood where nothing happens, which brings me to this point. 30 years ago, a family that lived in a prominently wealthy neighborhood in my hometown was brutally murdered. All were beaten to death by baseball bats, except for the little 2 or 3 yr old girl, who the authorities found walking around the house naked in a daze with blood all over her. The father was a famous local weatherman- he was killed, wife was raped and killed, daughter that was a teen or preteen age was raped and killed. There was no sign of forced entry. People in that neighborhood left thier doors unlocked, and I'm sure this was the same for that family. And It was all a part of a gang initiation.

We have quiet safe neighborhoods here, and people are shocked when they catch camera footage of someone stealing packages, trying to break in or just trying the door to see if it's unlocked, or randomly vandalizing thier property. You just never know, man. I've seen and heard my doorknob being slowly turned while sitting in my living room quite a few years back when I was single. This happened several times. Those could have been life changing events for me if I was asleep in my recliner and if the door was unlocked.

I apologize for going too much into that topic, but that just struck a chord with me. I don't know anyone here on a personal level, but I do care for people in general, and sharing valuable, useful information, is a way to look out for others. I'm sure you can handle yourself, but you never know if she (ex) may come by herself. That's just insane!

 

First. We don't leave them unlocked as a way to say we don't care. WE just don't put OMG check the doors to make sure they are locked as part of our daily assessment list. If we leave them unlocked we don't go into a heart racing panic over it.
Second. Since the incident with my ex yes I make sure they are locked now. But as an example I left on business for 3 weeks once. Came back to realize that for some reason I had left my front door unlocked. Nothing happened but you don't say thank goodness you just say....stupid me that could have been different if someone knew.

I leave my pickup in the backyard. It hasn't been locked in a year. I don't have anything of value in it but the point is, we just know that everyone watches and knows whats normal here. If that truck is moved, and I'm not here, I get phone calls from my neighbors.

None of this is an excuse if we have a loss due to our own negligence.

I live in a community that we all pretty much know one another by face at the least. If there is someone here, that we all know isn't normally here, its a remarkably effective process of making sure we know where that person went and if in fact they belonged there. And not to make this political. But we all try our best to keep out the elements we find undesirable as a community. We can't stop anyone from walking on public land, but the cops patrol here pretty regularly and they are old school. They know their beat and if it don't belong here, they have that element gone pretty quickly. We don't question what they did etc. we just keep supporting them and their dedication. We have ZERO outsiders here that we see twice.

We all live in different circumstances. Come from different experiences. Have different perspectives. To hear these stories of drive by shootings is pretty foreign to me as a realistic threat. That in no way means that it can't happen to me. I simply regulate my threat level defenses as I go about my activities. I generally know where a chance at drive-by shootings would be more likely. But this country is certainly changing when it comes to what has become normal crime vs abnormal crime.

Within the last year, due to mainly work related reasons, I have decided to open carry. All legal, I just never chose that option. I was self conscious at first. But in about 3 weeks I began to realize that dudes that look like they might be a higher threat potential, never come within 50 feet of me now. I am not assuming they would accost me, but it is obvious they wish to be nowhere near an armed citizen. They do so at their own choosing, not because I tell them too.

I call it self eluding....lol.

I still eat in the same restaurants, use the same businesses etc., I just see that I am around a lot less sketchy looking people.

To your point about the gang initiation. I wasn't going to bring it up as I thought it might start a words war that took this off topic. But during the trial, the rapist testified that the reason he did it was to get accepted into a gang. The initiation was you had to rape a white woman (of a certain classification) and provide evidence to the fact. It was witnessed by another and that was the proof he needed. But it was a defense of I was being forced to do it therefore not as responsible. He was hoping to get off or a lighter sentence. While there was evidence of other persons there, he never gave a description and my ex never saw anyone else. The cops stated, he will be protected in prison by that gang. They never give each other up.

If this is reality in today's world, which it seems to be as I watch the media, I'm sorry but yeah I'm fucking arming myself.

 

And that's why I have mine and a concealed carry permit. You have an awesome neighborhood then. My neighbors aren't that tight, except one that's right next to me and one across the street. We need to get to that level, but I'm not sure if it will ever happen. The good thing that we do have going for us is the "Next Door" app, where the community keeps each other informed about everything. It's not all that great, but at least we have something. Your neighborhood situation is most preferred though. Good deal, man.

 

It is multiracial and multi background. With a common desire to live in the same way. It helps that we are small. There are lots of other suburbs around us but we have a unique small out of the way hidden cove of nice. One of our neighboring communities was similar. Somehow a magazine discovered it, and designated it one the 3 best places in the country to live. From that moment their lives changed. Not for the better. Outsiders arrived wanting that piece of the pie, then attempting to change it to their taste. What was idyllic 6 years ago has become a nightmare to enjoy now.

It took me awhile to make them feel OK with me. I am a single man, with no kids, and I bought this giant house. They were convinced I was going to be up to something. They learned that I bought the neighborhood, not the house. If you show me a small home that I could have bought, I'd have been all over it. I quickly showed them single childless males could be people too.

 

LOL, that's awesome man! I hope the dynamics of your neighborhood environment never changes. I would go nuts if I was in the other neighborhood though. It's like that with everything that's good and the word gets out. People come from everywhere to suck the life out of it! It's damn shame....Happy for you though!

 

As to crime here. This is considered a big crime here. They are building a house here in the neighborhood. Because of that there are trucks that the contractors use. So we sort of just know and can't be on alert over unusual trucks. So a scumbag decided to cruise the neighborhood. He went into a garage to steal a little edger that was I guess left outside. Making out like a lawncare guy. His next door neighbor saw through the woods and jumped in his car and drove over and blocked him in while they called the cops. By the time the cops arrived they were saving him from getting his ass whooped. Petty theft in the scheme of things, but I doubt he will come around anymore. He made out better with the cops.....lol

 

That happens a lot and just the way you described it. We got issues here with contractors building houses near us as well. They know the neighborhood, are watching all day to see everyone's routine and once they got it down, shit comes up missing.

 

Airheads, breaking into and holding radio station up with water pistols.

 

Unfortunately I didn't know them all that well, and didn't pay attention, so I don't know. Other than the fact that apparently the divorce was already finalized when I moved here in 2010. The actual murder/suicide happened in Nov. 2012, so he actually let it boil inside of him for a few years, before committing the bloody act. Her seeing other guys, I guess, was the final trigger.

I'm in a European country, so unfortunately our legislation does not permit self-defense carry for ordinary citizens. It's for law enforcement only. Which is kinda bullshit. I hate that our society has demonized even something as simple as self-defense, just because the victim's use of necessary force might hurt someone's feelings, and that our own governments want to keep us defenseless.

 

Here's something I thought of while is was finishing my last response to you about that situation. I know that sometimes, we don't always get the full story, and there are a multitude of other possibilities we never take into consideration. It's possible that she might have started seeing others sometime prior to the divorce, or even the duration of the marriage.
He discovers this all after the fact, and just loses his damn mind over it. In my mind, I'm just trying to figure out the deeper "why" to situations like that.

Are there any armed attacks on citizens in your country?

 

That is true, but I will say that despite stabbings and other gruesome murders, I would say that the incidence of violent crime per capita is far lower than it is here---at least, that was the case when I spent many years there---granted, there has been one long recession since the early 1990's and violent crime and economic woes go hand in hand, but I imagine that is still the case (while being too lazy to actually look up the statistics).

To a citizen of Japan it may seem like there is a lot of violent crime---but this is because the media sensationalizes it---or at least, really digs into the story of each case. They have had a few serial killers and some home grown terrorists.

On the other hand, suicide has always been a problem there.

 

Not sure I ever watched it. Gonna look it up!

 

Oh I agree that they have far less issues than the US when it comes to murders and such. I was just pointing out the fact that things do happen there, even without guns. The just had a serial killer incident a few months ago. This was pretty weird though. From what my wife was telling me, people who wanted to commit suicide set up arrangements online and then would come to his apartment, and that's where he did it. I think there were over twenty bodies discovered (I'll have to research it or ask my wife again). And there's places of choice around the island that are famous for the place of choice to commit suicide. Most of them stand in front of a train. It's sad.

 

Gotta watch it, an absolute metal head cult classic, the entire film is absolute gold, and straight up my sense of humour.

 

As i understand, Japan has one of the highest suicide rates in the world..

 

I'm also in Europe (born and raised), and strongly disagree that its bullshit.

Not sure which european society you're in, but I doubt they demonize self-defense all together. That sounds unwise and unlogical indeed.

 

It's scary. It's almost as if it's a glorified act there. Pressure of living up to high expectations takes its toll.

 

They have some very disturbing (sub)cultural aspects. But I guess that's better saved for an other thread

 

My wife and I were threatened with a gun in the Philippines one time---I wasn't scared because I doubted very much he intended to use it----it was the brother-in-law of my wife's sister. He worked for the Presidential Anti-Crime Commission---which was set up by President Ramos, I believe. But when the corrupt President Estrada came to power after Ramos, he was still in this commission which under Estrada became a clandestine group that did his bidding---including bombing a Manila shopping Center in an attempt to gain popularity for Estrada. I can't say what role this jerk played in that----but I do know that he was on a need-to-know basis. He pulled the gun on us because we had helped my wife's sister rent out her house, when he thought that he was going to be in charge of renting it out, and therefore we cost him a commission and over-pricing. It was a stupid thing, and I got angry that he would pull a gun on us, and demanded he leave immediately.

There were several times in the Philippines that there was an implied threat of violence. And on my first visit to the Philippines we were arguing with a taxi driver when a security guard came over and said something to my wife. She answered back, "No, no, that's ok." Later she told me that the guard offered to go up to a window above the street and shoot him for 50 pesos (which was probably about a $1.50 at that time).

My wife's family has a long history in Philippine politics---in fact, her uncle ran against Estrada in the primaries. And his distant cousain was Vice President Laurel who was a constant thorn in President Cory Aquino's side, while her Uncle (General DeVilla) was her right hand man. Anyway, we had numerous high ranking friends in the NBI (the Philippine version of the FBI). We even spent a couple of weekends at the beach house of the Director of the NBI back then.

Anyway, during my first year of living in the Philippines we had gotten scammed on a car deal by two dealers that apparently were selling cars and then claiming that the contract was not properly followed and would then repossess the car and sell it to someone else. They took our car while we were away in Japan for a few weeks. When I returned and threatened to take them to court they smugly answered, "We can go to court if you want, or we can go to guns if you want---whatever you want." We complained to some friends at the NBI and they said they'd help us.

They arrested both of them and took them to the HQ where they said that they really just wanted them to meet us. SO they agreed and we set a time at a local restaurant where we could discuss this. My father-in-law wanted to come too so we said sure. The meeting was bigger than I expected with two of our friends from the NBI and 3 other people that I recognized as well. At the meeting they both were obviously nervous and quickly stated that they would do whatever we wanted---return the money or the car. We said we just wanted our money back. They wrote a check for whatever they could and promised to pay the rest within the month (which they did).

As we left, my father-in-law asked me if I knew who the other 3 people were. I said, "Yeah, I've seen them at the NBI." Though they never had uniforms, and usually sat playing with their guns and always smelled of beer. He told me that they were not official NBI agents---and officially had no connection to the NBI. He then went on to explain that they were paid assassins, and if the meeting did not go as planned, they could very well have escorted them out the restaurant and shot them. (My first thought was, "Welcome to the Philippines." I'm glad too that things went as planned.

Technically guns are illegal in the Philippines, but they are all over the place. I even got to fire an uzi and an armalite (a smaller M-16) there----a friend who was a police officer wanted to sell them to us, and let us shoot them.


I always felt the Philippines was a bit wild and dangerous---though after moving back home to the States in about '96, I have watched this country grow more and more dangerous. A year or two ago I pointed out that there is a shooting or two reported or talked about on the local news every night now-----something that has not been the case for Denver.

Last December, a week or two before Christmas, a gunman walked into a Walmart that is about 7 - 10 miles from here and started shooting random Hispanics. I think he killed 4 people. One of them was a very loving man, who was well known for his smile. He was trying to shield his wife when he was killed. It turned out that he was the uncle of a close friend. The family was devastated. In fact, just last week, my friend's 6 year old daughter was retelling me the story of how the bad man killed her uncle. At the time I was sharing this story with another friend who told me that she also knew this guy, and how sweet and loving he was.

The right wing narrative is that it is to soon to talk gun control whenever a shooting happens----that it is disrespectful to the victim's family. This guy's family found that narrative offensive. They are angry that this country values life so little that gun sales can skyrocket and there is no control. There were numerous red flags that should have prevented this man from buying guns. They are very vocal on this, but I don't think they have any public forum on which to express it.