robbers-smash-into-home-with-battering-ram

[Matt Harper]

Mr Trophy said:

In all seriousness, if you some how manged to get to your shotgun (here in the UK) and discharged it at someone breaking into your house, I am pretty confident (?) that the police wouldn't take lightly to that and you would get done no?

Not sure if the question is aimed at me - but yes, I suspect so. Therin lies another difference, in much of the US we have a law that is referred to as a "Castle Doctrine" - your home being your castle. If a person breaks into your home and you are fearful of grave injury or death as a result (pretty much construed as, "if they're in your home uninvited, chances are they are there to harm you", you may employ deadly force to defend yourself - and your property.

It's pretty much unheard of (at least in FL) for a homeowner to be charged with killing an intruder (unless somehow lured there). Should point out that the intruder has to have entered your premises (the house itself) - you'd be on shakier ground if you greased someone in your back yard or on your driveway, because they don't present an imminent threat - but even in those cases the homeowner sometimes gets away with it. It's a different culture to the UK, that's certain.

[vonuber]

Matt Harper said:

Somewhat less likely.....

Er... someone smacks your door open, enters, sees the shotgun and goes 'oh excellent, just what I needed".

[Matt Harper]

vonuber said:

Matt Harper said:

Somewhat less likely.....

Er... someone smacks your door open, enters, sees the shotgun and goes 'oh excellent, just what I needed".

What? Seriously? You think I'd have my shotgun by the front door? Don't be such a silly-bks.
It's in a walk-in closet off my bedroom - some distance from my front door.

[YankeePorker]

paranoid airbag said:

Right, this would never happen somewhere like, say, the US.

A bit OT but my family feel much safer here in Florida than we did in France or Britain. Maybe lucky enough to live in nice areas, but burglaries here are EXTREMELY rare compared to our village near Paris or (going back a bit) our town in Surrey.

It may be a rather perverse perception of security because I know that the statistical risk of being in the wrong place at the wrong time when some crazed loon decides to shoot at people is much (like a factor of 1000 at least) higher, but in day to day living we don't worry about crime anymore. Is this a result of crims knowing that they are risking their lives?

[Digga]

YankeePorker said:

A bit OT but my family feel much safer here in Florida than we did in France or Britain. Maybe lucky enough to live in nice areas, but burglaries here are EXTREMELY rare compared to our village near Paris or (going back a bit) our town in Surrey.

It may be a rather perverse perception of security because I know that the statistical risk of being in the wrong place at the wrong time when some crazed loon decides to shoot at people is much (like a factor of 1000 at least) higher, but in day to day living we don't worry about crime anymore. Is this a result of crims knowing that they are risking their lives?

I think you can attribute that to a psychological phenomenon, with regard to diversity of outcomes. It's a paradox; everything is very civilised, until suddenly it is not, and then in a small number of instances it can get very, very bad indeed. I had similar feeling spending time in South Africa about ten years back and, in retrospect, wonder just how close Mrs Digga and I came to disaster on a few occasions.

[skyrover]

rovermorris999 said:

skyrover said:

Thanks for the slur...

My first hand experiance of the USA was a massive amount of very safe areas and a small amount of very unsafe ones.

Much like here then.

yes and no...

US rough areas are much worse than UK one's, but also very confined and small.

Crime tends not to spill out of the bad areas as much... burglaries are almost unheard of in many big city suburbs.

[Soov535]

Mr Trophy said:

Matt Harper said:

Eleven said:

Esseesse said:

Soov535 said:

LordHaveMurci said:

Esseesse said:

creampuff said:

Soov535 said:

Very sensible.

Unfortunately in the UK you have to be quick at getting the shooter out of the safe

Then getting the ammo out of the other safe

I knew about the safe, but didn't know about a separate one for the ammo.

Not required for shotguns. Not that it matters, you still wouldn't get your 12 bore out quick enough anyway.

Trust me I would!!!

Where are safes typically located (i.e. how easy is quick access) and what kind of lock is typically on it?

Somewhere out the way as a rule. Bedroom, loft, under stairs cupboard.

They locks vary but the cheaper ones have a clunky double sided key. It's not easy to open the safe quietly.

Key to all of this (see what I did there?) is that the supposed motivation for having a firearm in the home is fundamentally different in the UK, compared to the US, in the majority of cases.

In the UK you keep long guns for hunting/sport-shooting and that's why they're secured as they are required to be. Over here, as we all know, the mindset is a little different - the VAST majority of shotguns are employed not to bag a brace of game birds or to vaporize brightly colored ceramic discs - they are utilized as home defense weapons (particularly the large capacity tactical pump varieties like my Remington 870).

I would anticipate that UK gun owners get to shoot their weapons far more frequently than their US counterparts - even if it means donning tweed to do so.
The reality is that your common or garden British home invader is far, far less likely to be armed with a gun than his US contemporary - and as a result, wrestling with the locks on your gun safe should, in theory, be less of a point of tension.

I also think that home invasion is a crime that is really quite rare both in the UK and US - statistically most US home-invasions are criminal on criminal crimes and as a result, I care very little about the outcomes.

I looked back at the video on page #1. The tool they used to breach the door looks absolutely purpose-made for that task and is identical to the device used by my daughters police agency to gain entry - they affectionately refer to it as "the spare key". I wonder if they nicked that too?

Edited by Matt Harper on Tuesday 25th November 18:27

In all seriousness, if you some how manged to get to your shotgun (here in the UK) and discharged it at someone breaking into your house, I am pretty confident (?) that the police wouldn't take lightly to that and you would get done no?

Don't know, but if (GOD FORBID) it came to that or my wife/son being raped then I'd probably take my chances!!

In any event I expect a warning shot would probably do the trick.

[Eleven]

Soov535 said:

In any event I expect a warning shot would probably do the trick.

But think of the décor. Far better for the pellets to be stopped by the torso of a scrote than pepper the Farrow and Ball.

[creampuff]

YankeePorker said:

It may be a rather perverse perception of security because I know that the statistical risk of being in the wrong place at the wrong time when some crazed loon decides to shoot at people is much (like a factor of 1000 at least) higher, but in day to day living we don't worry about crime anymore. Is this a result of crims knowing that they are risking their lives?

I have relos in Los Angeles who leave their back door unlocked when they go out.

[Sheepshanks]

YankeePorker said:

A bit OT but my family feel much safer here in Florida than we did in France or Britain. Maybe lucky enough to live in nice areas, but burglaries here are EXTREMELY rare compared to our village near Paris or (going back a bit) our town in Surrey.

We go to Orlando quite a lot (Disney stuff etc) and it's never even occurred to me feel unsafe there, yet if you were of a nervous disposition you wouldn't want to read various forums about how many people have had villas broken into, stuff nicked from hotel rooms, bags snatched etc.

I guess they're leaving residents alone and going for the soft targets.

[LordHaveMurci]

Eleven said:

Esseesse said:

Soov535 said:

LordHaveMurci said:

Esseesse said:

creampuff said:

Soov535 said:

Very sensible.

Unfortunately in the UK you have to be quick at getting the shooter out of the safe

Then getting the ammo out of the other safe

I knew about the safe, but didn't know about a separate one for the ammo.

Not required for shotguns. Not that it matters, you still wouldn't get your 12 bore out quick enough anyway.

Trust me I would!!!

Where are safes typically located (i.e. how easy is quick access) and what kind of lock is typically on it?

Somewhere out the way as a rule. Bedroom, loft, under stairs cupboard.

They locks vary but the cheaper ones have a clunky double sided key. It's not easy to open the safe quietly.

My gun safe is in the cupboard under the stairs, the keys to that safe are locked in another safe sat next to it, the keys to that safe are hidden elsewhere in the house, known only to me. No, I won't be getting my shotgun out if I hear a bump in the night, not sure I'd want to anyway to be honest. There is a Maglite next to my bed in case of power cuts though...

[Matt Harper]

Sheepshanks said:

We go to Orlando quite a lot (Disney stuff etc) and it's never even occurred to me feel unsafe there, yet if you were of a nervous disposition you wouldn't want to read various forums about how many people have had villas broken into, stuff nicked from hotel rooms, bags snatched etc.

I guess they're leaving residents alone and going for the soft targets.

I wonder if it has anything to do with the housebreakers being confident that the tourists are likely to be out during the day - and if they are not, they won't be armed to defend themselves?

I live in a very agreeable and ultra-safe neighborhood south east of downtown Orlando. Thankfully we experience almost zero crime, so home defense for me is a precaution, not a need.

The tourist enclaves of this metro area are typically very safe - exception being I-Drive between Kirkman Road and 528 Beachline. There is an elevated risk of theft from hotel rooms or robbery against the person - but it's not a massive problem - Disney see to that.

That said, there are areas of this city which are highly dangerous, which is incongruous, given that this is "The happiest place on Earth".