Well it has happened again! For those of you who read my last post on this topic "Shooting in my Neighborhood," you're familiar with the level of crime in my neighborhood. However, for those of you unfamiliar I will give a brief review. I live in a two-year old college apartment complex with all the amenities (indoor and outdoor pool, weight rooms, free tanning, etc.) and pay a pretty penny to live here. The neighborhood before the construction of the apartment complex was a safe community in a rural part of town. My girlfriend and I have lived here for a year, but are moving out in four weeks to a lesser known apartment complex in the suburbs where the residents are mostly older people and young couples. The reason we don't have a house yet is that we are leaving this part of the state once I graduate from law school. Well, last Thursday (June 23) two men in ski-masks entered the apartment of a resident and demanded drugs from him. The resident was not the intended target of the robbers, but rather an innocent person with no drugs. The two men pistol whipped the resident and then made off with his wallet. When police arrived they discovered during their investigation 3-5 lbs of marijuana and a 5 lbs bag of an off-white substance in an apartment above the victims in the same apartment building. Apparently the two robbers had made a mistake with the address. The resident with the drugs was taken into custody and police are still in search of the two robbers who assaulted the innocent resident. Now, the above would be bad enough on its own, but on June 14 there was a shooting under similiar circumstances (see "Shooting in my Neighborhood"). During that incident a drug robbery took place that resulted in a struggle causing a pistol to be fired twice in an apartment seperated from others only by cheap dry wall. Luckily, no one was killed in that incident. In addition, last October a fight took place between two men visiting a stripper and that resulted in a pistol being fired into one of the hand of one of the men. Needless to say I'm concerned and I've attempted contacting my apartment management only to be told numerous times that the manager was unavailable (yeah, right). I'm waiting for the township police to return my call, because I want to know what steps they plan on taking to ensure the safety of my girlfriend and I. Meanwhile, Mr. Steyr (M-40) sits on my night stand loaded with .155 gram JHP goodness, but as much as I could go for live target practice I'd rather not be put into that situation.
Oh yeah....thought I should mention the so called security we have in place at this apartment complex. The club house areas and parking lots have security cameras, the parking lot is gated and requires either a key card or remote opening from a resident to enter. We have a safety patrol of one person during the week and up too four during the weekends. In addition, throughout the week police set-up speed traps on a roadway just off the apartment complex. All of that and yet its still the Ghetto.
Brutality Alright, MOD, it's time for the heavy shit...this is getting ridiculous. What you need are trip-wire activated 12-gauge shells on a perimeter all around your building ... 'bout one every three feet. Tiger pits (Don't forget to smear the feces over the tips of the bamboo spears!) Put together a couple of tin-can Claymores on the flanks and steel-plate your walls. Interdiction squads (betcha there'll be few volunteers from SC) to do search and destroy missions on drug houses in the complex (Illegal? fuggit, the cops there obviously can't find perpetrators). Bring the fight to the lil' bastards. Also, drop a few hungry wolverines around the shrubs; they'll take care of anything that moves after dark. :twisted: Obviously, I'm kidding. Pisses me off to hear you're you're still stuck in this crap. On a practical side, if you haven't heard from your landlords by now you probably won't. Consider a letter to the editor at your local paper or a trip to the city council to put your fears out into the public eye. You're not likely the only one in your complex with frustrations here, and there's strength in numbers. Get together with the good folk and look out for each other. 8O And keep on looking out for yourself, bro.
DUDE - that totally sucks! Remember on your other thread I said to be prepared as criminals are known to get an address wrong - and there you have it! I really hope you are looking to move. If you are in the middle of your lease there may be grounds to break it due to the extenuating circumstances of a crime wave. You may need to consult a lawyer but it really sounds like time to get out of there and out into the country (or some other safer area). What city is this so I can make a mental note not to accept any job offers there! Best of luck and keep your head down and threat sensors up! Jeff
I'll come out blasting them with my 10.5" SBR with a Beta mag loaded in a rock and roll manner and another strapped on my belt.
OK MOD if you haven't already and your state allows it's seriously time for ccw. You and GF. even if you can't get a permit in time, you can still wear in your own home (unless your state has some really stupid laws). mr m40 might not do you a lot of good if it's on the nightstand and your in the kitchen when thugs waving guns barge in.
I'll second FlaChef on carry in home-- these thing happen faster than you could possibly imagine -- fortune favors the prepared!! Don't put that Steyr on the bedside table until you are in bed. And remember the very first rule for a gunfight -- don't go. Second rule -- leave. All kidding aside, move out, even if it costs you money. You can replace money, you can't replace life and limb. Another random thought - make sure you have a light like a Surefire or Streamlight for positive id, and work out and practice a procedure so you don't shoot each other. That's another reason to leave ASAP-- all this added worry tightens the screws inside your head, you end up with a war-zone mentality. A few years ago we were having a neighborhood crime-wave. I came home a day early from hunt camp, unannounced, in the middle of the night, sneaked in so as to not disturb my sleeping wife, and came within a second or two of being shot-- she had the hammer back! My stupidity almost resulted in a greiving widow. Get out of there ASAP !
+1 I'll second that emotion from FlaChef and 'gator. Here on the shark coast there's no legal issue if you carry on your property (in the house, in the yard, on the driveway) without a permit, as I understand the law. There may be legal issues in your state, but, then again, I get the idea you spend a lot of time poring over case law anyway. I'm afraid I'll never forget the story the old LEO in my CC class told about the woman who kept her pistol in the bedroom, only to be broken in on when standing next to the door in the kitchen, two rooms away from her pistol. You can fill in the rest of the story...
Ok, I'm walking around my apartment with my M-40 in my Blackhawk Omega Thigh Holster because its more comfy then my Galco FBI cant high rise belt holster. I have door and window contact alarms I got awhile back from the Home Depot, battery operated and cheap, but they do the job at 95 DB if tripped. SOUNDS INSANE HUH? My GF thinks I'm over reacting. Oh well, I'll be out of here in a few weeks and then the place can go to hell as far as I'm concerned. I feel like a secret service agent because I make sure that I'm the first one out of the car, first in the apartment and first out of the apartment. I carry my M-40 via my CCW in the old Galco when we go out. However, I do not carry it when I have to go to my classes and back because my law school does not allow even licensed handguns. My girlfriend is scared to death of handguns and has a very difficult time working the slide of the M-40 to load it. I bought her some mace and I'm trying to convince her to let me buy her a .38 wheel gun or something light and have her practice with me with it. She is really little 5'5" about 110 lbs and doesn't have alot of upper body strength. ANY IDEAS ON A GOOD SELF-DEFENSE GUN THAT A SMALL WOMAN CAN FIRE AND ISN'T INTIMIDATING? We live in a state with same day registration and purchase so no waiting period.
MOD - good job. I hope you only every have to play Secret Service and not get into any In the Line of Fire scenarios :wink: My wife is also small 5'4" 106lbs, and she loves my S9. I try to get her to practice as much with me as possible, which amounts to about once or twice a month. When she was new to guns I started her slow and with small calibers (.22LR) to get her to have fun hitting targets and forget about recoil. Then we moved up to heavier full-size guns (USP, Sigs, 1911s) before getting to lightweight/compact medium caliber+ weapons. Now she loves shooting and doesn't even think about recoil, even when shooting +P+ out of the Steyr. So I would recommend starting with .22LR target pistols to get her acquainted with the basics of marksmanship, and for SD I would recommend a STEEL .38 revolver. The ultralights are good for carry and concealment, but they will kick like a 10mm and may turn her off at first. Good luck! Jeff
If you don't feel the need to buy American, Taurus makes affordable small 5-shot 38 snubbies that are rated for +p ammo. Practice with the lowest recoil stuff you can find-- save the hot rounds for the carry load. My S9 shoots a lot easier, but a wheel gun is always ready, nothing to it but point and shoot. If she isn't going to use a pistol , upgrade your mace to a big can of that grizzly bear stopping pepper spray they sell for hiking out west-- you can get it from outdoor catalogs like REI--just realize this, if she uses it indoors or into a wind, everybody will be incapacitated-- that stuff is hellfire in a can (about $40 per can). Just do a Google search for "bear spray". I carry a can in my car-- it provides a scrawny little guy like me a non-lethal show stopper. And, yes, the same companies market a less potent personal defense product, because you can't legally use this stuff in some places (maybe even Canada, and they have some REAL bears). Heck, I'm doing the guy a favor if I spray pepper instead of JHP :wink:
GREAT IDEA! TASER would be great, now I just have to find where to buy one online. Hope they aren't an arm and a leg to buy.
Davidsons has tasers (taser international). http://www.galleryofguns.com but they are rather pricey. Matches
+1 for a 5shot snubbie. My wife loves her ruger sp101 in .357 w/ 3"barrell and got a $60 carry purse for it. For Practical match stuff she quickly realized the shortcomings of one and shoots my S9. She too could not rack or load the M40, but has no problems w/ the s9. One trick someone showed her is to hold the gun parralel to her body and not away from her body so whe can "put some shoulder" into racking it instead of just using armstrength. A great little training gun is a bersa .380! Cheap, light recoil, fun, accurate, and builds comfort and familiarity w/ autos.
One more thing - I'm certain that your GF does indeed have the strength to rack the slide on your Steyr or any other semi-auto. What keeps her from doing so is nerves and lack of experience. My wife is barely 5' tall, and couldn't rack a slide worth a damn when she first handled a gun. She would literally shake, as though it was a strain. But it was just nerves; about accidental discharge, pinching a finger, whatever. If your GF gains just a little confidence and uses the proper overhand technique, she could rack that slide all day with problem. Just an observation. As far as guns for ladies - personally, I think semi-autos are just fine. Generally, the lighter SA trigger pull will help a woman be more accurate than with a DA revolver. I can second the Bersa .380 as a great ladies' gun - my wife carries one. She has the Firestorm (sister to the Bersa and made by Bersa) which has a softer and more comfortable grip.
Get her a Makarov!!! http://www.jgsales.com has them for a steal. It is a great gun. I thought they were POS, until I took a class and the instructor told me to fire his. Blew my socks off. Can't beat it, especially for the $$. Robust and reliable. "Cheap and Cheerful". Gets the job done. Russian Mafia love using it as a hit gun.
I like the redundant nature of the revolver. If you have a FTF, pull trigger again. But, they have sharp recoil, generally are heavy, aren't ergonomic and they are bulky. Mak is nice and thin. Carries 8 rounds. Extremely reliable. Throw it across the parking lot and it is still good.
