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TheSto1989 t1_j16twii wrote

My gf and I just bought a house in the fan/museum district (sort of between them), and I keep talking myself out of buying a gun for home defense. These recurrent posts of break-ins are unfortunately talking me back into getting one.

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Ultimatethies t1_j175acd wrote

If you buy one you need to train yourself to use it and defend it.

If you have a gun, then any fight you find yourself in will automatically involve a gun.

Defending your house with a gun can turn into some dude in your house with your gun if you don’t know what you’re doing.

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TheSto1989 t1_j176evr wrote

Yeah... hence my trepidation. Lots of responsibility but I also don't want to catch someone in my house or breaking in without anything to defend myself with.

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mayflowers5 t1_j17c0ed wrote

Being a homeowner is one of the biggest responsibilities in my life. The weekend we closed on our house, we bought a security system. I feel like that’s honestly the biggest assurance we have that we are protected. I can’t recommend it enough. We have 24/7 monitoring, all our windows and doors have sensors, outdoor and indoor cameras, glass break detectors, flood detectors, and combo CO/smoke detectors. Have felt very safe with that and don’t feel the need to get a gun in my relatively safe neighborhood.

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Charlesinrichmond t1_j16zden wrote

I'm not going to say you shouldn't, that's your call, but honestly, breakins in the Fan/MD are rare. You shouldn't be overly concerned.

I'm not anti gun, I own one, but I wouldn't buy one for fear reasons in your location

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CandidRip2752 t1_j1bthy7 wrote

Gf here. I’m not big into guns but my bf (OP) has been considering it for a while anyway. I’m going to get some mace for myself but if he does end up getting a firearm, I’ll be sure to take the classes for it too.

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Charlesinrichmond t1_j1e0qew wrote

that sounds wise. I would base the decision on your own needs in general though... it's quite unlikely to have have a house in the MD/Fan broken into while occupied (though not impossible as you obviously know!)

There was a stretch where VCU girls apartments were invaded in the eastern fan though. My wife feels more comfortable with a gun in the house, I don't really care either way, but I like shooting skeet so I've had a shotgun around for a fair bit of my life. I think an alarm and mace would be fine. My perspective is influenced by the fact I'm a rather large man who is used to working with deadly things and in bad areas, so not a usual target

If you do have a gun in the house you should absolutely go to the range and shoot it and get comfortable with it. Having one without experience is not a good idea

I do think Cameras are a great idea, and alarms are a good one too. Simplisafe is easy to install and fairly priced

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CandidRip2752 t1_j1f78fs wrote

Thanks for the input! You’re the second person that has mentioned Simplisafe, so I’ll have to look into it.

As far as a firearm goes, if we do end up getting one I will definitely take all the classes I need to be sure I am comfortable with it. I’m glad that screaming at him to get out was all I needed this time. He clearly didn’t think anyone was home.

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Charlesinrichmond t1_j1ipl5j wrote

yeah, that'd be my guess. Breakins seem more likely in the day around here for that reason. Ex outbuildings

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