Alarm System and No Gun

clip11 2011-06-04 22:07:17 UTC #1

Whats the point of having a home alarm system when you don't have a gun? If someone kicks in your door at 3 am in the morning and your alarm goes off and you don't have a gun, then what? Will you just cower in the corner and hope for the best? An alarm system may be good if you aren't there, although it may not help alot. But if you're there what will you do?

I'd rather have a Mossberg 12 gauge than a Brinks alarm system anyday.

JaseHxC 2011-06-05 12:24:39 UTC #2

I'd just put on a ski mask and tell the intruder that I'm already casing the place (inside job, I'm fucking the lady in bed upstairs while he husband is away) Make a deal to begin breaking into homes together as a masked duo of crime. Shake his hand and send him on his way, but the second he turns around...put a knife in his spine.

jehovasfitness 2011-06-05 13:23:38 UTC #3

wait for the cops? You do know the alarm company alerts the cops...

that being said, we set of our alarm on accident they called us for the password and the gave them the word. She was ever so slightly off and 36 mins the cops show up. 36 mins? yeah, we'd be dead prolly or the robbers gone

Nards 2011-06-05 14:23:43 UTC #4

Nobody breaks into houses at 3AM.

challer1 2011-06-05 14:30:42 UTC #5

When I was growing up someone broke into our house when no one was home; apparently they left immediately when the alarm went off as they didn't take a thing. As mentioned, alarm companies do alert the police.

Ct_Rockula 2011-06-05 14:42:41 UTC #6

Clip lives in Detroit though. The cops are probably the ones breaking in.

TheBodyGuard 2011-06-05 15:00:31 UTC #7

Big sigh...

I'll reply with a question: What's the point of having a gun if you won't use the gun? Plenty of people won't.

And yet another: What's the point of having a Mossberg when you're not home?

Criminals tend to avoid wired properties. It's a fact. If someone is actually intent on "picking" a target, kicking in the door, you can probably bet they are there for you or your property specifically, and you may not have time to get to your gun. Where does your Mossberg sit, leaning against your bed where you sleep? Under your pillow?

An alarm, like a gun, is merely a "tool" in the risk management of home protection, along with trimmed shrubbery, proper lighting, fences, etc. Personally, I'd take all the foregoing, the alarm system and a gun.

biglifter 2011-06-05 15:13:54 UTC #8

2 black labs would let me know they are coming. 1 Glock 21 lets me know they're not leaving alive. Cops can take as long as they want.

reddog6376 2011-06-05 15:38:02 UTC #9

The same thing happened to us. The police got arrived in ~15 min. A lot can happen in 15 minutes.

"Why do you carry a gun?"

"Because a Policeman is too heavy"

batman730 2011-06-05 15:54:26 UTC #10

An audible (and loud) alarm will often (not always) drive an intruder off. These guys generally don't like attention and are primarily after your property. That said, a firearm and a rehearsed plan to get all family members to a predetermined, defensible location is a good idea.

However a firearm is only as good as the training and resolve of the person holding it. For those who could not bring themselves to kill another human being a loud, monitored alarm system and some sort of a safe room and again, a rehearsed plan to get all family members there, are far better than a gun.

NvrTooLate 2011-06-05 16:24:36 UTC #11

I sell security systems (commercial sometimes resi)...

I'll take the rifle.

SuperAlienFreak 2011-06-05 16:31:34 UTC #12

Where the hell do you people live that you need safe rooms, shotguns and rehearsed plans incase someone breaks in tries to kill you and steal your stuff?

Gambit_Lost 2011-06-05 17:42:18 UTC #13

This is the exact reason I keep a ski mask next to my bed.

SkyzykS 2011-06-05 17:55:56 UTC #14

I guess it is by design, but my house is built like a trap system. No matter which door someone enters, they block themselves from going the other direction. Given that the side door is more likely to be used in a break in because the front door is directly in line of sight to the front street and well lit, there is only one way someone could travel through the house. I already know which way that is, but they don't.

There are also blind turns as the jambs and entry ways to each room and hallway are built out from the walls, which narrows a persons view and ability to move as they pass from room to room.

Put this all together and you have a very bad situation for someone who has inadvertently stumbled into a death trap of sorts. Their way in was their only way out, and they have no idea where they are, what is around the next corner, or behind them.

My dog isn't very human aggressive, but she is noisy, and I have a couple of very sharp and sturdy blades at my disposal.

TD54 2011-06-05 18:04:30 UTC #15

Nobody breaks into a house and continues to do whatever the hell they were planning on doing when that alarm goes off. It's the loudest most obnoxious sound in the world. I would love to hear about a robber/killer that broke into someones house and proceeded while the alarm was going off. Can't imagine that has happened too often

batman730 2011-06-05 18:07:36 UTC #16

Dude, not saying it's a big problem. In fact it's beyond unlikely where I live. I just like to have a workable plan for worst case scenarios. As for the "safe room" BTW, I don't mean a crazy vault type deal, just a room with a decent door, frame and strike plate and preferably an alternate exit inaccessible from outside (i.e. rope ladder+window) where everyone can hole up until the cops come.

As far as rehearsing, it's no different than a fire drill. You don't want to be figuring that shit out when it counts.

EDIT - I'm gonna get a ski mask too, just in case.

hockeydawg 2011-06-05 18:10:21 UTC #17

I have a black leather gimp mask. Will that work?

goldengloves 2011-06-05 20:47:50 UTC #18

TheBodyGuard wrote:

clip11 wrote:
Whats the point of having a home alarm system when you don't have a gun? If someone kicks in your door at 3 am in the morning and your alarm goes off and you don't have a gun, then what? Will you just cower in the corner and hope for the best? An alarm system may be good if you aren't there, although it may not help alot. But if you're there what will you do?

I'd rather have a Mossberg 12 gauge than a Brinks alarm system anyday.

Big sigh...

I'll reply with a question: What's the point of having a gun if you won't use the gun? Plenty of people won't.

And yet another: What's the point of having a Mossberg when you're not home?

Criminals tend to avoid wired properties. It's a fact. If someone is actually intent on "picking" a target, kicking in the door, you can probably bet they are there for you or your property specifically, and you may not have time to get to your gun. Where does your Mossberg sit, leaning against your bed where you sleep? Under your pillow?

An alarm, like a gun, is merely a "tool" in the risk management of home protection, along with trimmed shrubbery, proper lighting, fences, etc. Personally, I'd take all the foregoing, the alarm system and a gun.

Good post, BodyGuard. Too many people get caught up in firearms as if they're the pinnacle of home defense and completely overlook other deterrents. People that forgo the other deterrents in favor of only having a firearm can also worsen the problem if they don't store their firearm or firearms probably properly. All it takes is a criminal to break into their residence while they're away to lose that 12 gauge shotgun to the black market.

PJS2010 2011-06-05 22:00:38 UTC #19

It will probably work better than a hockey mask!

Simon_Adebisi 2011-06-05 22:25:31 UTC #20

I'll just leave this here.