SUNDAY was a good day 'til the SHOOTING started....Is anywhere "SAFE"?

[Txjaybird]

Today was one of the best days I'd had for a while.  Good company in the late afternoon..just yard sittin' and BS'n among friends...Queenie didn't try to taste test anyone as she already  new them. 

 I managed to send them away with a AC [til I need it]....A HP desk top pc set up [til I etc.....]  big ice chest of groceries even 10lbs of corny dogs.  Plus various other item....except for the ice chest it's o.k. if this stuff stays gone, less for me to deal with later 

We all met up at taco bell & then  Queenie and I did some road running at sunset...always my favorite time.......then went to Wally World and them home.  

We were less than 15ft. from the apt. door when I heard the first shot.......about 3ft for the second.  I live three blocks from the police station & this is the second time in about 6wks this has happened.  Thankfully this time  it sounded like it was at the other end of the complex or in the woods behind that section...during the last incident I heard the second shot ricochet off the metal roof of either my mothers' building or mine while Queenie and I were running between them as fast as our short legs would take us! 

  We got inside and I nearly broke my neck trying to get to the phone in the dark to call 911.

I sat down thinking "if I was living in a van I could just drive away" then I thought "well at least as a moving target maybe we'd be safer?

  I grew up in Dallas TX.  When younger I did a lot of really stupid things that put myself in dangerous situations.... I always managed to walk away, drive away or run like hell. 

 I am seriously believing that safety is just an illusion and all we can really do is try to maintain some control over our surroundings and those we let into our lives......or pull up next to at a red light...or piss off because we move to slowly paying for our gas.  The last happened to me a few weeks ago and the cashier opened up such a can of whup ass on Bubba that I almost felt sorry for him.  

 So am I safer as a sitting duck in my apt. or out on the road where I may have a driving chance at escape?  I will truly welcome any input on this safety issue re: safer in a S&B with walls or in a vehicle [ armed of course in either one]?

The way my luck is lately we'll probably get swept away in a flash flood or become bear breakfast!


                                 Texas Jaybird   [whats left anyway]

 

[Yogidog]

Tjaybird, that stinks.

In my experience, I only had trouble with a stranger once, when I was 20 and naive. Every other time was someone I knew or drinking and/or drugs involved.

I had the same dilemma feeling like a sitting duck. I go with what bob Wells says, it really does not matter if I am objectively safe or not, it matters that I feel safe.

Do I have the option of going if u wanted to? I choose to be stuck here for another few months to build an emergency fund, to feel safe that way.
Sorry u have to live around gun shots, scary to say the least.

 

[ilovemyvan]

JayBird,

I feel for you. I know what you mean, there are very few things as unsettling as a gun shot. I have no answer to your question. There are so many guns around, unfortunately some people are just itching to try them out. So perhaps a less populated area could be safer.

 

[LeeRevell]

"Life in the big city".  Down here on the outskirts, smack in "Bubbaville", if I hear a gunshot, it's not a big deal.  But guns aren't the real problem, it's the thugs and other lowlifes that get them even if they are ex-cons with a record.  Hard to be able to tighten the laws on criminals without punishing the honest gun-owning citizens.
One positive thing is to make the punishment for misusing and illegal possession so severe on the criminal that he avoids them.   But the way criminals are coddled these days, that has little chance of happening.

 

[Canine]

Just get religion.That way everything is already god's plan and you can't change it,so you don't have to worry about it.Actually,I agree with Lee about increasing criminal penalties.

 

[TMG51]

Are you somewhere downtown or in suburbia? You mentioned woods, any chance it's legal to shoot there? Just checking. Where I grew up we would sometimes shoot for fun out in the woods. Every now and then, some conscientious neighbor or other would call the police and report a shooting. The police would show up and remind the neighbors that we live in Vermont and it's legal to shoot in the woods (outside city/town limits). You mentioned Texas, so.... you're probably within city limits but just putting that out there.

 

[SoulRaven]

I came to the decision that if there was a "safe" place, i would find a way to be there. Sadly, there isn't such a place, you know, "Utopia". Here in KS, even in small towns, armed robbers break into homes even with people in the homes, especially the elderly. Here in KS, you don't want to go into someone's house without an invitation. So, if you aren't safe in your home or when you are out of the home........... Just choose to spend whatever time living in a way that pleases you. All the "old" rules don't apply anymore as tomorrow is sketchier than it has ever been.

 

[Gunny]

I don't think it matters much whether you are in a house or your vehicle. Break-ins and robberies in all areas of the city, poor and wealthy. Criminals don't seem to discriminate. But life is a crap-shoot anyway and there seems little we can do except be aware of our surroundings and be pro-active. 

I go out every night about midnight to smoke one of my five cigarettes while leaning on my pick-up. Wearing flip-flops, shorts, t-shirt and a Glock, covered by said shirt. In the five months I've been grounded here there has been no shootings but we have had a couple of strong arm robberies and the usual domestic stuff. My next door neighbor decided to toss his lovely bride against our common wall this morning about 2, I am sure he's still in jail, but I am just as sure she will take him back.

So go out there and explore the world and just be safe. Know where your at and if unsure ask a cop. They will actually help direct you to a safe area if you ask. 

Travel smart..... And safe.

 

[Raven+Squid]

Crime is WAY down over last 15 yrs, much less than since the seventies.

Criminals don't like those cameras everywhere. 

We will never stop crimes of passion.

 

[flying kurbmaster]

I never hear gun shots ......................OH !!!!!silly me!!!! I forgot...... I live in countries with gun control........

 

[GotSmart]

I taught my daughters gun control.

One shot. 

 

[minimotos95]

Anywhere there's people together is unsafe, even where there's no people it's not truly safe, simple as that. The UK has minimal murders by gun but you are also a ton more likely to be stabbed to death or near death than even in America's most dangerous cities.
I believe if you ever feel "safe" you are far too comfortable. I carry my 45 from the time I get up until I go to sleep but it doesn't make me take my guard down. Even now, I'm off the grid, staying in a valley with only 5 other humans but my head is on a swivel trying to stay alert to any possible threat to my and my dogs well being, whether 2, 4 or zero legged. My dog is big enough I don't have to be concerned with small birds of prey like red tail hawks but some owls are big enough that I still have to watch for them. Besides the obvious big cats and bears, even deer, elk, bison and moose have attacked humans. Even small critters like raccoons, skunks, snakes, spiders, rats etc are a danger.
Just my thoughts on the matter, it's not a gun issue, or even a people issue, it's an issue of the human psyches need to feel safe or secure.

You have to find a balance between feeling safe(ignoring the dangers) and being paranoid.

 

[cherterr]

....and don't forget OPPOSSUMS!!  I accidentally closed one up w/ my 2 chickens last night and the poor things were flippin smooth out about 10 pm.  I went out there, tried to put them on the roost and ARGGGH!! There is was.. a huge snarling (really skinny, poor thing)  Opossum.  Scared the crap out of me and I thought about going across the yard to get the gun, but felt sorry for it and thought of the messy spatter all over the inside of my nice purdy chicken house.
My friend came over and helped me wrangle them all to proper places and by morning it was gone.  Sigh... Chickens now listed on CL! : Can't wait to finish downsizing and hit the road.
Yeah, country living IS the bomb when it comes to hearin' gun shots.  You ususally know it's safer for YOU too!

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

I'm often amused by television news stories where somebody get's shot or stabbed and the nearby people are all wailing:

"But how could this happen HERE?!  This is a NICE neighborhood!"

Imagine!  Those damn criminals refuse to stay in the ghettos, where they belong!

+1 on minimotos95's comment re the stabbings in Britain.

Back in the old Soviet Union, where they had terrifically effective gun control, they used to have about 12,000 ax murders a year.  It was the one deadly tool that the state couldn't take away from the collective farms.

I've been noticing in the new York papers that we've been having more machete attacks in NY in the last couple of years.

Regards
John

 

[LeeRevell]

....and don't forget OPPOSSUMS!!  I accidentally closed one up w/ my 2 chickens last night and the poor things were flippin smooth out about 10 pm.  I went out there, tried to put them on the roost and ARGGGH!! There is was.. a huge snarling (really skinny, poor thing)  Opossum.  Scared the crap out of me and I thought about going across the yard to get the gun, but felt sorry for it and thought of the messy spatter all over the inside of my nice purdy chicken house.
My friend came over and helped me wrangle them all to proper places and by morning it was gone.  Sigh... Chickens now listed on CL! : Can't wait to finish downsizing and hit the road.
Yeah, country living IS the bomb when it comes to hearin' gun shots.  You ususally know it's safer for YOU too!

You got very lucky!  Possums are noted and vicious chicken killers.  One possum can murder ALL the chickens, just for sport.  Far better to kill that saw-toothed Mega Rat. 

 

[Cammalu]

Good for you for not killing the poor skinny possum. I think they are cute little things and they come to my porch at night to feed. I've seen possums and raccoons and a cat share the same feed bowl without even a hiss. Everything just needs to eat

 

[GotSmart]

Good for you for not killing the poor skinny possum.  I think they are cute little things and they come to my porch at night to feed.  I've seen possums and raccoons and a cat share the same feed bowl without even a hiss.  Everything just needs to eat

I have had skunks eating with my cats, but I would not let them on the bed.  Once a predator finds the way into the henhouse, it is hard to keep them out.   Possums eat chickens, and anything else they can.

 

[akrvbob]

At the RTR we had a BLM Ranger come and give a talk and answer questions. The problem f crime came up, he said there were pety thefts, especially generators being stolen.

So I asked him, "What about violent crime on BLM land around Quartzsite?" He said he has been there 11 years and had never heard of one violent crime on BLM land around Quartzsite.

You can FEEL any way you want, but if you want to actually BE safe, head out to the desert or National Forest.
Bob

 

[rvpopeye]

I go on the idea that the farther away from a city or town you are , the farther away from that kind of thing you are.
That doesn't mean that it can't happen in the "out there" but it's a LOT less likely.

You said you were in the dark calling 911 , around here (most types of) hunting ends after sunset so gunshots in the dark mean someone is up to something bad or just stupid.
Either way a stray bullet is the same as one aimed properly.........

 

[USExplorer]

Gunshots, urban or rural, don't occupy my attention unless I discover they are aimed in my direction. Most criminals rely on intimidation and the threat of lethal force, so I will probably be occupying the role of bystander when being shot at. The objective would be to seek cover and evaluate escape options.

I do not live like a prey animal, constantly on the alert for predators, because I am not one. When I examine my surroundings, I am primarily absorbing the atmosphere of the place, with threat identification a secondary priority. And yes, God is in control, so worrying is useless. However, there are some things I try to avoid, like: entering an alley occupied by drug users and dealers, hugging a blind corner in an unlit urban area, openly carrying my camera in a ghetto (the damn thing is twelve years old but always seems to attract attention), flashing bundles of 20's in Mexico, chasing cute bear cubs.