Tipptruck,

Do what you need to do to feel safe and protect yourself. You are your own man. Buy a gun or don't. That is your decision and yours alone. No one on this forum will be there to help you in the middle of the night if things go wrong. It's on you and you alone. If you feel comfortable calling 911 and waiting for the police to come to help, well, that is your choice. If you want a gun do what many have said and take some courses and get one. If you're uncomfortable with a handgun then get a pump shotgun. Get a small wall safe to keep it in and keep it locked and keep the key handy. If you don't want a gun then keep the ball bat and supplement it with a canister of pepper spray. Buy two and practice spraying with one of them.

PM me if you need some advice.

Best Regards,

Tom

This is going to sound mean but oh well.  I got this strange gut feeling from reading your other posts that you owning a gun is a big mistake..  Just please be careful with it........

hey bro,

I carry a gun 4-5 days a week. It's a requirement for what I do. Some things that some of the other guys didn't bring up.

If you have that gun and the situation dictates that you're in close quarters you need to be able to retain that thing in a hand-to-hand situation, provided you don't have a carrying method that incorporates some kind of retention of it's own. Once you pull it, you better be 100% sure that the next thing you do with it is kill someone. If you're not a fighter, and you lose that gun to your attacker they will use it on you.

I've pointed a gun at people with the intention of pulling the trigger and it's different than what you think it may be like. When you're in that situation everything else about life goes out the window. Just know that once you introduce it into your encounter very rarely can you de-escalate from there as a civilian.

Lastly, the best shooters have around a 70% hit rate in high-stress situations so know that if you qualify as a 100% shooter, which is rare, you're only going to hit your mark 7 out of 10 times or less when you're scared for your life. You'll need to account for the other 3 bullets that are going somewhere else also. Statistically, most situations involve 3 shots from 10-15' feet, so you may not hit them at all. Just because you shoot someone does'nt mean that your fights over either. I saw a guy this week who was shot 5 times and is still alive right now, he ran three blocks after he was shot also.

In my opinon, buy a dog.

hey bro,

In my opinon, buy a dog.

Very good point there.  My aunt's house got broken into about 3 three years ago.  She, along with her daughter, was inside at the time.Her car was at a neighbours house, so i guess the crook thought nobody was home.  They have a small cocker spaniel, which is not anywhere near the "guard dog" type.  The guy kicked in the door and sent that little dog barking .  My aunt ran to the door and the guy was gone.

Crooks don't like dogs.  

hey bro,

In my opinon, buy a dog.

Crooks don't like dogs.

Aaah, yes.  Nature's burglar alarm. . . and it even works if the power is out.