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I don't own a gun, but I've been a victim of burglary once and attempted burglary once.
I was visiting friends over the weekend many years ago. I arrived home to find my front door open and the inside of my house trashed. Everything of value was gone - electronics, and other small things. The police came out and told me that more than likely, they'd never catch the criminal and even more likely, whoever did it would return within the month because I'd have new stuff. I'm not huge on gun ownership but am not a gun control freak either. Instead, I slept with a baseball bat under my bed for a while.
Fast forward 12 years. I'm living in a different city. I'm awake one night reading in bed when I hear a strange sound coming from downstairs. It sounded like my cat trying to scratch the screen on our window. My wife was sound asleep and I noticed that our cat was laying on the floor by our bed. I grabbed my baseball bat and went to the top of the stairs and listened. There was a slight hope that if someone was breaking in, I'd catch them at it. I was not wanting to be a victim again and would have loved a bit of vengeance. My heart was pounding in my chest as I stood and listened for a moment. When I was certain it was the sound of someone trying to come into my home, I yelled down the stairs, "If you're there when I get down there, the medics will be washing your blood off the walls." I then leapt down the stairs to see this guy push himself out our window and take off running down the alleyway. I had an incredible rush going on and was about to take off after him when I realized I was in nothing but my underwear.
I called the cops to report it. The conversation went a bit like this:
Me: I just caught someone trying to break into my home.
Them: Are they in the house?
Me: No, I scared them off.
Them: Was anything taken or was anyone hurt?
Me: No, I think I scared them before they actually got in.
Them: Did you get a look at the person?
Me: Not really, he looked like he was about 20 years old, white guy wearing a black or blue sweatshirt.
Them: We could send someone out but if it's not that serious, we're a little busy right now.
Me: What should I do, then?
Them: We can give you a number to call to report it and an investigator can come out tomorrow to look into it.
Me: But aren't I reporting it now?
Them: This is an emergency number, we don't take reports like that.
Me: What's the number?
Them: yada yada yada. We'll have a patrol drive around the area and see if they notice anything. Other than that there isn't a whole lot we can do.
Me: [dumbfounded silence]
The number they gave me was a recorded message where you leave the details of the incident. I was never called back and no one ever came to my home. I told my neighbor about it and he said the same thing happened to him the year before with the same response from the police. Unlike me, he bought a gun.
My take is this: apparently, in many cases, you're on your own to protect your own home. Do it as you see fit.
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"I can normally tell how intelligent a man is by how stupid he thinks I am" - Cormac McCarthy, All The Pretty Horses
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