What would you do to a burgular in your home?

[tellner]

Hi, this is my first attempt at a poll so I hope it all goes well!

Background to poll:

It is the early hours of the morning, you are asleep upstairs with your darling wife/hubby/partner sleeping next to you. You wake up after hearing some noises downstairs. You creep downstairs and enter your livingroom and suddenly find yourself face to face with a burgular. Assume the burgular looks healthy and strong. He is startled by your sudden appearance and has not moved yet from where you have discovered him.

What would you do?

"You creep downstairs" - wrong answer.
I'd grab the sppropriate tool and flashlight and release the dog, taking a prepared position and shouting the prepared signal my wife and I have agreed on. That means that ******* has to contend with 80 pounds of fiercely protective dog and a lot of unexpected noise. He'll probably be tripping over things and won't know where the lights are. He is going to be one distracted scumbag. Odds are he'll run. If he doesn't he's at what they call a "distinct tactical disadvantage".

If I were dumb enough to go down and confront him under the circumstances you outline I'd probably attack right away. He's committed a home invasion burglary while there was a loudly barking dog. He is "strong and healthy" which means he's dangerous. He's close enough that he could kill me while I'm issuing the challenge and trying to get him to surrender.

In other words, the situation sucks. Take advantage of surprise. Make sure he's not a threat one way or the other. Keep an eye out for the rest of the *******s who may be with him. Get to a safer position. Call police. And so on.

 

[Big Don]

How many of you have burglar alarms in your house? The sort that make a huge noise and wake the whole street up?
People who break into houses hate noises of any kind, even a small dog is a nuisance to them and they will chose another house to break into.

I have a psychotically protective Queensland heeler...

and a pump shotgun, the "Ratchet of Doom" is a singular sound, it cannot be confused with anything else and in the dark, will strike fear into anyone.
Not having encountered this, I don't know for sure what I would do, I know what I'd like to do...

 

[newGuy12]

Ah, yes, the shotgun! Definitely a nice choice of firearm for house protection!

 

[MA-Caver]

Ah, yes, the shotgun! Definitely a nice choice of firearm for house protection!

Indeed... provided your house has thick insulated walls to protect the family that might be hiding behind them.
The sound of doom is definitely intimidating to be sure but it's the click of the hammer locking of a pistol that you might not hear that is more deadly, they're easier to conceal in the dark.

 

[JadecloudAlchemist]

Do everything I learned from watching Homealone 1-3

 

[tellner]

How many of you have burglar alarms in your house? The sort that make a huge noise and wake the whole street up?

I do. It's an eighty pound multi-mode self-propelled perimeter alarm system with threat-assessment and threat-neutralization capabilities. We uninstalled the self-replication components, but in theory we could have used the unit to produce dozens of others.

Her name is Papillon

 

[newGuy12]

To MA-Caver -- If I were to choose, though, I would prefer the shotgun, because it has the spread -- you do not have to aim so well. With less training, the shotgun is effective. I do not own a firearm, not because I do not like the Second Amendment (I do) -- its that I do not wish to have the responsibility of owning a firearm -- I wish to live carefree, not worrying about accidents with a gun.

Like you, I live with a family member -- my Grandmother, who could not put up a fight. I have confidence thought that should the terrible occur, that I could give some resistance to the intruder. She would of course make the phone call.

To Tellner: Yes, the Dawg will never fail!

My brother has a dog, and it does not matter who comes in the house, for some reason, stepping across the threshold makes the dog go crazy, it is very territorial. The hair on the dogs back stands up, and it is very scary!

 

[theletch1]

I'll just go back to sleep as soon as the noise of Erica whoopin' their *** dies down.:lol2:

Really, though, there are so many variables in this scenario that giving a one line answer is out of the question.

 

[blackxpress]

Morph4me beat me to it. My answer to the poll (if it was available) is "none of the above." If I heard someone downstairs I would not go down there to investigate. That's a real good way to get yourself killed. I would jump up, lock the bedroom door and call 911 on my cellphone while waiting, shotgun in hand. Hopefully, he's not crazy enough to force his way into my room. That shotgun would make an awful mess.

 

[MA-Caver]

To MA-Caver -- If I were to choose, though, I would prefer the shotgun, because it has the spread -- you do not have to aim so well. With less training, the shotgun is effective. I do not own a firearm, not because I do not like the Second Amendment (I do) -- its that I do not wish to have the responsibility of owning a firearm -- I wish to live carefree, not worrying about accidents with a gun.

Yes true... but I was speaking about the intruder having the pistol that you cannot see in the dark.
But one's walls in a normal house is not designed to stop bullets or shotgun blasts. So one must aim carefully and have a full choke instead of a wide spread. This is for IN home defense. Outside, yeah wide a pattern as possible for human targets.

 

[elder999]

Really, though, there are so many variables in this scenario that giving a one line answer is out of the question.

...kind of why I picked "kill them." I've repelled burglars, back in NY. The sound of my shotgun ("Ratchet of doom!" love that, Don) was enough-that and my "Get out of my house, NOW." After that, though.....plus, my dog is likely to actually try to eat anyone breaking in: he's a 180 lb. fila brasiliero, and really, reallly, really does not like strangers....except with ketchup.

 

[MA-Caver]

...kind of why I picked "kill them." I've repelled burglars, back in NY. The sound of my shotgun ("Ratchet of doom!" love that, Don) was enough-that and my "Get out of my house, NOW." After that, though.....plus, my dog is likely to actually try to eat anyone breaking in: he's a 180 lb. fila brasiliero, and really, reallly, really does not like strangers....except with ketchup.

Your brasiliero looks like a bloodhound. had to look it up. Cute.

 

[tellner]

...kind of why I picked "kill them." I've repelled burglars, back in NY. The sound of my shotgun ("Ratchet of doom!" love that, Don) was enough-that and my "Get out of my house, NOW." After that, though

The choice was stupid. The question was stupid. Answering "Kill him" is felony stupid.

And I'll notice that you didn't even include your own choice as one of the possible options.

You screwed up badly on this one with your "all macho all bloody" versus "fluffy bunny help him burgle your house" setup.

 

[elder999]

The choice was stupid. The question was stupid. Answering "Kill him" is felony stupid.

And I'll notice that you didn't even include your own choice as one of the possible options.

You screwed up badly on this one with your "all macho all bloody" versus "fluffy bunny help him burgle your house" setup.

Nah-not felony stupid at all-I live in a remote area where emergency response time is only guranteed at a 45 minute minimum. That means, if I call the cops, the Sandoval County Sheriff-the most likely respondent-might be more than 45 minutes away. He also might be right down the road, but I can't count on him. I can count on my dog, and my shotgun, and if someone breaks into my house-and someone is at home-if they don't run out right away when they realize that someone is at home, it's very likely that they'll be shot, or eaten-in fact, really likely that they'll be shot, because they have to have done something to my dog, and they are obviously not there for the TV set.......(I've explained all this somewhere else before. Naturally, if i chose to live somewhere else, my repsonse would be different, as it was in NY.....)

 

[elder999]

..so, just to clarify: not what I want to do, or what I necessarily would do, but the more than likely outcome.

 

[myusername]

The choice was stupid. The question was stupid. Answering "Kill him" is felony stupid.

And I'll notice that you didn't even include your own choice as one of the possible options.

You screwed up badly on this one with your "all macho all bloody" versus "fluffy bunny help him burgle your house" setup.

Sorry is any of this directed at me? I'm unsure as you quote someone else but you are referring to my thread.

 

[Big Don]

I do. It's an eighty pound multi-mode self-propelled perimeter alarm system with threat-assessment and threat-neutralization capabilities. We uninstalled the self-replication components, but in theory we could have used the unit to produce dozens of others.

Her name is Papillon

Too funny. You've really been on a roll lately

 

[grydth]

I answered, "kill him" as well...... and macho nonsense had nothing to do with it.

I have a big dog as well, so if the guy is that far along, he's killed the dog and is still looking for more blood....... I also have 2 young daughters and, so sorry, I am taking no chances.

Perhaps I will be in legal trouble, but I won't have 2 murdered daughters. There is no penalty the law could impose that would let the burglar through to my kids. Period.

The bad guy gets the death penalty. Stay out of my house and leave my family alone - or the last thing you ever see will be a huge miuzzle flash out of the dark.

 

[Ceicei]

If it is possible, try to identify who the person is before you shoot. Don't shoot blindly. Most likely, it will be a bona-fide intruder, but we should take caution to be sure it is not a person we know. (Some posts already mentioned possible friends of teenage children, etc.)

That said, anyone who dares to enter my house without permission while we're still home is considered dangerous. I assume he/she has entered with intent to possibly cause harm; thus I will shoot.

My two dogs, however, will make a lot of noise if someone enters, so the intruder better take warning to stay away.

- Ceicei

 

[MA-Caver]

If it is possible, try to identify who the person is before you shoot. Don't shoot blindly. Most likely, it will be a bona-fide intruder, but we should take caution to be sure it is not a person we know. (Some posts already mentioned possible friends of teenage children, etc.)

That said, anyone who dares to enter my house without permission while we're still home is considered dangerous. I assume he/she has entered with intent to possibly cause harm; thus I will shoot.

My two dogs, however, will make a lot of noise if someone enters, so the intruder better take warning to stay away.

- Ceicei

Well consider this... you do have an advantage in a way... yep two dogs and kids that hear well... one is a (jr.) BB and the other a brown. Both I know will defend their family fiercely. Not to mention a very stalwart husband who likes his weapon(s) on top of you with your MA and other qualities.
But also consider this... if it one of your friends that needs to enter chances are good that they'll turn on a light so that they can be seen to be "heard". :wink2:
I think your sons friends will probably know to call out (and they will... thinking they won't have to worry waking you two up)...

But yes, you're right on the money there... ID the target and be prepared to shoot if there isn't instant recognition. Anyone else... should know better. I sure as hell would. :uhyeah: