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

[Alte Schule]

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.)

Like a lot of places meth has been a real problem in Brazos county. I have motion detector lights and cameras front back and sides and at least once every three to four weeks I'll have one or two peek over the back fence or drive by slowly to see if there is anything to steal. I've been tempted to get a non working lawnmower give it a little paint job and leave it about 50 feet inside my front fence but that wouldn't be right would it? That's what my LEO son tells me anyway.

 

[George P]

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.

I just moved from an area where after 15 years, nothing ever happened, even when I have accidentally left the garage open all night long.....while the city has its certain areas, there are some places where crime is a non-issue.......

 

[huntsman]

I don’t apologize for carrying my LCP around the house, LEO response time is 15+ mins in my part of the county(according to Sheriff).

 

[RPZ]

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

This ties in with staying in condition yellow unless you are in a secure environment. At least with a locked door or doors you'll get a heads up on trouble.

 

[BSA1]

while the city has its certain areas, there are some places where crime is a non-issue.......

NOT!!!

I don't mean to insult you but that simply isn't true.

Our little piece of the country is laid back and not much happens. When our kids were younger we had a nice couple with a teenage daughter that were friendly. We chatted with them a few times when we rode our horses by their house. My wife seriously considered hiring their daughter to do some babysitting for us. All was well in the Merry Old Land of OZ until the husband walked into a hospital one day and requested mental health treatment. When asked why he wanted treatment he confessed to killing a lady that lived about 5 miles down the road about 5 years previously. Worse yet he turned out to fit the profile of a serial killer. Wife totally freaked out.

FYI. I have also met BTK, a serial killer that lived in Wichita. Both of them are as normal appearing and acting guys you will ever meet.

I used to keep a Ruger 9mm in my garage. Brought it into the house quite a while back when we went out of town for several days mostly for family reasons if you get my drift.

After reading this topic I realize it is not doing me any good locked in the vault so it is going back out to the garage. I also need to get off of my can and replace the outside light fixtures on the garage. It gets pretty dark out in the country.

 

[George P]

You'd be wrong........sorry. And Wichita has one of the worst crime rates in the nation. There are places where they don't even have stop lights, no crime, no traffic, etc.

 

[Venom007]

I stick a pocket gun in my pocket even when doing things as mundane as taking out the rubbish.

 

[FROGO207]

You have to McGyver your response to the situation. Having a firearm is the best but if all you have is a rake, shovel, or bat then that is what you need to use. If I was casting lead and was attacked then they might just get some hot lead slung in their direction. The dry chem extinguisher near the exit or deployed around the walls will make their day bad as well. Cant see or breath with that stuff squirted in your face. Always have a plan in the back of your head as to how to get the upper hand. If it takes faking a heart attack/panic attack to get to your nearest defense tool go for it. You need to prevail, and NOT be a gentleman about things at that point. I have never started a fight but have never yet lost one that I have been forced into.

 

[BSA1]

You'd be wrong........sorry. And Wichita has one of the worst crime rates in the nation. There are places where they don't even have stop lights, no crime, no traffic, etc.

Anytime you have two people living together or as neighbors you can have crime although there are a fair number of guys that think beating their spouse isn't a crime.

As a very mobile society if there is a road near your home you can have crime. With motorcycles you don't even need a road. In fact rural areas are more vulnerable than urban ones.

Living alone, off grid, on a mountain or other hard place to find and get too as a hermit probably increases the odds of never being a victim of crime but it is a lonely life that is not for most of us.

 

[doubleh]

I don’t apologize for carrying my LCP around the house, LEO response time is 15+ mins in my part of the county(according to Sheriff).

I live in a big county. It's over three times as large as our nation's smallest state but has a sparse population density. Depending on what is happening where we could wait for hours for a response from the SO.

 

[Jonesy814]

I live in a small town. There has been 1 murder in the last 50-60 years. Last armed robbery was in the 70's. Probably has been an armed home invasion in the last 40 years, but I don't remember one . I usually don't lock my car door . The house is unlocked during the day if someone is home, and sometimes when we arent. In spite of the relative safety, I carry a J frame revolver in my pocket all the time

 

[gspn]

Interesting story. I might start keeping my Great Dane leashed to the bumper of my truck just to give everyone ample warning.

 

[JTown]

On occasion there has been home invasions in my county. I always carry a firearm of some type, I also have 3 dogs that alert me of anyone on the property. Also have loaded revolvers in all rooms of the house.
Walt

 

[MedWheeler]

doubleh writes:

I live in a big county. It's over three times as large as our nation's smallest state but has a sparse population density. Depending on what is happening where we could wait for hours for a response from the SO.

My dad lived in Torrance County. Very rural indeed, and he was one of the last still living in the McIntosh area when he died; others had long abandoned the idea of living there when the wells ran dry (he'd intended to raise cattle there, but the drought hit before he tried.) I spent some time out there on a few occasions, the last being to put him in the ground.

The area was so sparsely-populated that his phone number was only off by a count of three from that of the sheriff's office (384-2707 vs. the SO's 384-2704.) In fact, if enough people called the SO at one time, a rare occurrence, one of the calls would actually "roll over" and ring his house phone. Being part of the local emergency communications and HAM networks, as well as a former lawman himself, he'd take the call and pass it on to the SO.

 

[SamT1]

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.

Imagine what a ladle of lead would do. That crap burns to the bone when you get a little splatter.

 

[1911 guy]

A lot of places, including where I live, have the illusion of little to no crime. But it's just that, an illusion. The majority of crime in our country now is drug related. When the addict can no longer steal from family and friends to support his or her habit, neighbors and strangers get targeted. Usually, this kind of non-violent crime is kept under wraps for fear of property values going down and local politicians are concerned about image rather than an informed citizenry. If you're not aware of it in your community it means two things: You don't associate with "that crowd" (good) and your local officials are more concerned with cash flow than an accurate perception of your community.

 

[paulsj]

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.

I recommend move to say Portland Maine. No opressive humidity summer bug noise and better summer temps when climate temp will rise another 10 degrees.

 

[SamT1]

You'd be wrong........sorry. And Wichita has one of the worst crime rates in the nation. There are places where they don't even have stop lights, no crime, no traffic, etc.

Pretty low crime in my parts. Almost all of it is commited by the same folks over and over.

Went outside to get the keys out of my pickup and wife left my yeti on the tailgate pretty much in the road for 4 hours. Kids didn’t even steal my beer or Topochico.

 

[George Dickel]

I recommend move to say Portland Maine. No opressive humidity summer bug noise and better summer temps when climate temp will rise another 10 degrees.

Sounds great, for the summer, but the winters there are more than I want to deal with. Been the south too long now and I don't like cold weather or snow at all. Was in Minnesota visiting a cousin last month, beautiful countryside, 40 acre lake on her property and no humidity. I asked her how cold it gets in the winter and she said -40 wasn't unusual. No thank you!

 

[paulsj]

Sounds great, for the summer, but the winters there are more than I want to deal with. Been the south too long now and I don't like cold weather or snow at all. Was in Minnesota visiting a cousin last month, beautiful countryside, 40 acre lake on her property and no humidity. I asked her how cold it gets in the winter and she said -40 wasn't unusual. No thank you!

I forgot biggest benefit of Canadian border being close in case SHTF here. The only problem is soon Canadians may not want Americans to come over.

 

[GunnyUSMC]

We had a slow weekend in the big city of Baron Rouge. We had one Agg. Rape, two Att. Murders, one Homicide and one Att Armed Robbery. This was just the major incidents in my work email this morning.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

I forgot biggest benefit of Canadian border being close in case SHTF here. The only problem is soon Canadians may not want Americans to come over.

What do you mean soon?

The house is unlocked during the day if someone is home, and sometimes when we arent. In spite of the relative safety, I carry a J frame revolver in my pocket all the time

I grew up on a quiet dead end street in a suburb of a larger city where all manner of crime happened from minor to major televised serial killer trials. When I was a kid I and the neighbor kids across the street would play. Then they moved out and new people moved in when I was about 17.

The long term residents noticed a lot of different vehicles would show up at all hours, someone would run in and come back out shortly thereafter holding something, and then they'd leave. This went on for about a year.

Then one Saturday morning a SWAT team was out front at 5:00 am. Turns out they were selling drugs and stollen guns. They were hauled away, house was seized and sold.

I was taught to keep everything locked up as a kid if it was going to be out of my sight for more than 30 seconds. My cehicle and home is locked up if I'm home or not.

I live in a small town now and crime still hits here now and then. I guess I

I don't have a garage, but if I did I suspect I'd have the door open when working out there. I'd also have a lower cost gun within easy grabs NF distance, like a Ruger AP or Security 9.

I wish I wasn't allergic to dogs.

We all have to choose how we want to live, but for me I don't want to provide a quick grab for a thief by forgetting locks. I also don't want an insurance company to call me negligent for failing to use such a simple security item. I want my insurance claim honored.

 

[bassjam]

Right after I bought my place in the country 6 years ago I had 2 back-to-back “scares”. My garage is on the basement level and both times I had the garage door open as they were nice spring days. The first time I had run upstairs to get my drill, and as I open the door to go back down to the garage I see a 300lb dude on my stairs! I think he about pooped himself too though, I had one of those huge old 18v Dewalts with a 9” spade bit in my hands, his eyes got big as baseballs when he saw that drill! The second time I had on earmuffs and was using the grinder and saw someone enter my garage out of the corner of my eye. Both times they were looking for a nearby house that was for rent and thought they were at the right house. I “kindly” let them know they were at the wrong place and they shouldn’t enter someone’s garage like that. Like I said, I live in the country and my house is about 200ft off the road somewhat hidden by trees and down a hill so you wouldn’t think people would just drive back there, but when it snows and I'm at work I’ve seen plenty of tire-tracks in my driveway that weren’t mine show up.

Since then I’ve gotten a couple dogs large that make plenty of noise and often keep people in their cars. I also keep a hi-point in my shop and there’s typically a NAA .22lr in my pocket when I’m home.

 

[huntsman]

I live rural and believe it reduces the chance of an encounter but increases the chance of violence if an encounter happens.

Been here 55 years and the closest we came to a B&E I stopped.

 

[Jeb Stuart]

What of the most frightening movies and book for me has always been Truman Capote's "In cold Blood". The scene were they sit outside the rural house before going inside is especially haunting. The murder itself is hard to even watch.
And of course the old thinking of NO CRIME HERE. And the Black and White film, adds to the darkness of the horror of the Family killed in the rural farming community.



www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHAJY34g-LY