I thought I was getting a bit paranoid in my old age, but

[George Dickel]

on the news tonight a man in Nashville was working in his garage when two thugs pistol whipped him demanding money and the keys to his car. They said they would go in his house and hurt his family if he didn't comply. He told them that there was no money in the house and gave them the keys to his car but it was a manual transmission and they couldn't drive it. They then put him in their car and drove him to an ATM where he withdrew the max money it would let him have. They let him go and took off. This was a good neighborhood, not a bad part of town which maybe was the reason the thugs targeted it, better chance of money there.
Whenever I'm in my workshop, a two car garage sized building separate from my house, I have a pistol in my pocket. I live in a good neighborhood, not as nice as the one I mentioned, so I thought I was being a bit paranoid having a gun on me. This incident made me realize a good neighborhood means nothing. I'll keep carrying my gun whenever I'm outside or in the shop.

 

[Lyle Wyatt]

Get up in the morning, put on your pants, put on your gun, start your day.

 

[1911 guy]

There is no place free from crime these days. If you think you live in a "nice" (usually a euphemism for little to no crime) neighborhood, talk to your local police chief. He will disabuse you of that notion.

 

[JONWILL]

There was a guy posting about his wife asking why he was always carrying his gun around the house.

His answer " Honey, 100% of Home invasions occur at Home, and that is why I always carry a gun around the house"

 

[MedWheeler]

I wholeheartedly agree with the premise of this thread.

If you have to "run fetch the shotgun", you're already too far behind.

If I have enough stitches of clothing on to hold a gun, they are.

 

[hso]

First off, don't leave your door open for them to come in on you like that.

 

[ontarget]

Get up in the morning, put on your pants, put on your gun, start your day.

That's how I roll. Every single day.

 

[FROGO207]

There is always that element that are evil and they are always looking for a soft target. The better neighborhoods are always a good target to them IMHO. Often the residents there are, shall we say "blissfully unaware" of a crime problem. Around here if I am not actually carrying then there is something within reach to protect me. Agreed that some situational awareness will go a long way to keep from getting into this situation in the first place. I am a realist and see the crime rates rising here, exponentially in the recent past it seems. YMMV

 

[Hunter86004]

It seems like all neighborhoods have a dirty underbelly we never hear about. Better to be safe than sorry.

 

[JohnBiltz]

The same thing happened to two off duty Vegas deputies while I lived there. They walked into an open garage door while the deputies were sitting there having a few beers, things went significantly differently.

 

[BSA1]

First off, don't leave your door open for them to come in on you like that.

That is not practical in my part of the country right now. The average daily temperature has been in the 90's making the inside of my garage over 100 if I kept it closed up.

But your point that in some areas the owners are virtually prisoners in their home is well taken.

 

[bannockburn]

Whenever I'm home the garage door is closed because it's an attached garage. If I'm working in the backyard, the house is locked up and the alarm is on. I pocket carry a KelTec P3AT.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

Yeah, I think it's pretty common to leave your garage door open when you're working in there.
Not many folks in my part of the country with heated and cooled garages. And I would probably be smelting lead or something that requires the ventilation.

 

[Capt.Roll]

Many assaults/attacks/robberies are crimes of opportunity; paying attention to your surroundings can help provide you an edge.

When I'm home working in the garage or working in the yard, my dog (Chihuahua) is always with me. She will provide an early warning if she sees/hears anything that originates beyond my location.

I live in a nice neighborhood, single family homes in a "good" part of the city. There has been one mass shooting at a church two block away and many instances of people being robbed in their driveway while unloading groceries. Most likely they were followed home from the store. Like the saying goes; be ready so you don't have to get ready.

 

[GunnyUSMC]

Most people live with a false sense of security. They think the world in which they live is protected and safe. Then there are those that have John Wayne syndrome. They are the ones that think no one will ever get the upper hand on them.
The truth is you will never be safe all the time and even the best don’t always win the fight. All that you can do is be prepared.
Don’t worry about people thinking that you’re paranoid. Preparedness is the cure for paranoia..

 

[doubleh]

The summer temperatures here range in the upper 90s to well over 100 degrees from the middle of May to the middle of September. If I kept the garage door closed I couldn't stay in the place for five minutes and I spend a lot of time in there doing important things or so I think. I do have a swamp cooler. They don't work with out air flow so it's an open door for me. I have never in all the years I've lived here had anyone bother me but there is assistance close at hand if I ever do.

I think part of it is the fact of where I live and also like a couple of cops have told me, "everyone in NM has a gun" which is pretty much the truth, especially for my part of the state but I'm prepared if someone decides that I'm an easy mark..

 

[MachIVshooter]

First off, don't leave your door open for them to come in on you like that.

Unless it's freezing cold, who wants to work on a vehicle or other project in the garage with the door down? Like everything else, it's about balancing the risks with your life, what makes you happy or comfortable. I've been a wrench for 20 years now, in addition to machining & gunsmithing in more recnt years, often >10 hours straight in the shop on a given day. I like fresh air and natural light; if it's over 50°F, my shop doors are open. I'm not gonna spend over half of my working days miserably hot and suffocating on chemical fumes just in case some idiot thinks it's worthwhile to accost me. If someone wants to come in and try to mug me, have at it. I don't need to make it to the gun in my toolbox; something within arm's reach is perfectly suitable skull cracker, be it a 3 lb sledge, a pry bar, a length of stainless bar stock, etc.

 

[Good Ol' Boy]

Im in the sticks and currently in the garage with the door open sanding on some grips.

Still, I have one gun on me and one nearby.

Doesn't matter where you live the boy scout motto is still relevant.

 

[Ks5shooter]

should of, could of ,would of. Keep your firearm close and you will most likely not say those words.

 

[Alte Schule]

Between April and October puttering around in my garage is next to impossible. Living next to a creek with 100 acre plus tract of woods on each side breeds mosquitoes. Not the big kind the little gnat size ones that come in swarms using Kamikaze tactics. They have no fear.
During the winter months it's different. It's a rare day around here when the temperature during the day dips below 50. So working with the door up is usually pretty comfortable. When I do I have a J frame or something similar in my back pocket and Beaudreaux, my faithful 120 pound Rottweiler out there with me. He likes to lay in a spot where the sun shines on the concrete next to the hedge where he can recon the road and part of the creek. His presence can be intimidating. Strangers keep their distance.
Paranoid? Nah, I call it taking the necessary precautions to keep me, my family and property safe.

 

[22250Rem]

Doesn't matter where you live the boy scout motto is still relevant.

...... Excellent; and if some of you weren't boy scouts that motto is: " Be Prepared"..... This thread reminds me of the old "fire extinguisher analogy" about it being something close by you hope you never need, but if you do need it, then it's priceless.

 

[CapnMac]

Perception can really be everything.
If you ask my neighbors, they'd probably call this a "safe" or "nice" neighborhood. While entirely glossing over how the house at the end of the street is owned by (or the sone of) a fellow involved in the narcotics trade. Or, the fact that some very transient types live just 4 blocks away in two directions. And, that we are just on the other side of the interstate which has a number of state national entertainment draws (which always attract predators--and bums).

It's just a "neighborhood" to me, and I treat it accordingly. My "first line of defense" is having a situational awareness that is far wider than others'.

 

[earlthegoat2]

Paranoid....hmmm. Depends I guess.

I live in an "up and coming" neighborhood. 1/4 mile north of me is sketchy. 1/4 mile south has million dollar estates. I like it here. There is just enough uncertainty to keep me aware. I have a detached garage that I built. When I started using it, I screwed a Blackhawk Serpa holster to the underside of my woodworking bench to keep a Beretta 92. I have a gap in my general purpose bench that has a carefully hidden Mossy 500 18". It is unlikely these guns would even be found in the event the garage was broken into but they are in a position to be quickly deployed no matter where I am in the garage. Usually I have a J frame in the pocket too.

So maybe I am paranoid too. Around here, I tend to think I am normal.

My wife was a parole officer for a time. There are felons living in every neighborhood imaginable. Real violent offenders too not just druggies or kiddie touchers. There are no truly "good" neighborhoods.

 

[CapnMac]

Strangers keep their distance.

Brazos County is a tad unique, too.
A person can live in the outskirts of Cawthon, or Edge, and still be rather close to a pair of cities now about 90,000 each, with a number of high-attraction and high-dollar "attractants" about (and afoot).

I lived, for a short while, on the near east side of pre-vitalized downtown Bryan. Many of the ninnyhammers (who have all now decamped to be "Southies") would recoil in horror that I could live in a "dangerous" area like that. "Aren't you afraid of [insert evil doers]?" Nope, they tend to be afraid of me. (Which was much more about not only not having "stuff" but not looking like I had any.)

 

[RA40]

I'm in a tract home at the end of a culdesac and most my neighbors are retirees that are home. Three of the neighbors are constantly in their garage tinkering and one late into the evenings. I personally don't like leaving the garage door open to display anything to tempt those passing by. The past year I leave it partially open about 6-8" to allow some airflow. The mosquitoes can smell me sweating away so now I leave the door down. The aggressive Asian tiger mosquito scares me.

Yesterday some road ragers came down the street and had their confrontation a house over from mine. Was pretty tense so was glad one party drove between the car that blocked him and they continued their raging-chase elsewhere.