Christ Centered Gamer

SO.

I'm sitting here oiling and cleaning a Smith and Wesson that I recently purchased because my apartment was broken into once (none of my stuff was taken, but ~$2500 of electronics of my roommates were taken from the main living room area), and a second attempt was made five days later while another roommate's girlfriend was there alone (keys were taken the first time, and they were trying the lock with the old key--luckily we had the locks changed). Both times we were apparently watched because these have happened while we were gone. We've all had a hard time sleeping through the night, and we are having a hard time trusting either our neighbors or the shady-looking maintenance people. Combine that with exam stress... yeah.

My last few days have been spent mentally preparing for the act of shooting another human being with ill intent toward myself and my close friends. The police have been almost no help, and the apartment complex staff have been laughable ("Be safe and make sure to lock your doors!" ...yeah, thanks, I'm 22 and I didn't know that). Frankly, the police were almost insulting in how much of a hassle we were causing them (sorry to bother you by making you do your job, jerk). Now, I'm prepared to defend myself, my one roommate is a 2nd-degree blackbelt in Tae Kwon Do (and is, frankly, the most ripped guy I've ever seen) and the other is a former collegiate wrestler, so between the fists, blades, and bullets, we'll be fine... but we have absolutely no sense of security in our own living space.

SO I HAVE THAT GOING FOR ME... WHICH IS NICE. Prayers appreciated. I'm not one of those guys with a big faux machismo who pretends that taking a life is nothing, but I'm ready to put an end to this if they try breaking in a third time. I don't screw around with robbers, and I've about had it with this apartment complex as it is (unrelated maintenance problems, the whole place is kind of a joke).

Praying for your safety and for a bloodless resolution.

Personally I think it would be good to talk to neighbors and/or post fliers even if one of them is the criminal. If you ask a dozen people to keep an eye out for anything suspicious, about 11 of them will probably be innocent and they're likely to be on the lookout after that. The criminal would probably be too scared to try anything else for a good long while, unless he's unusually bold. When the silent majority gets involved and joins your side, you have the upper hand.

Oh and marking valuable property, recording serial numbers, etc. could be useful in case you need to report stolen property. You probably heard that already though.

If you're a Christian, perhaps you can find peace in Christ even during this time. I'm sure God wouldn't want you worrying yourself sick, though taking appropriate actions is certainly good.

praying for justice and peace

Aim for the pelvis, immobilize first, then kill. But I shouldn't have to tell a future PT that. Gods with you brother.

But what we really wanna know is your stance on the caliber wars.

Haha, well, IMO the best "caliber" for hkme defense is 12 gauge, buckshot. However, the apartment doesn't exactly allow firearms.

My thought is that they also don't allow theft and breaking and entering, and I'd the police and apartment admins neglect to secure their grounds... I will not be left defenseless.

But we can have a more lighthearted discussion about calibers in another thread

Honestly for me, I would HOPE that the perps come back. That is, with myself now having a gun I would hope. I don't think I could sleep peacefully again, without knowing that they are either caught or dead. I just try not to think about all the OTHER criminals out there...

If you sincerely think that you've never actually come to terms with the weight of taking a life.

I do not claim to be without conviction or shock. Just that I don't think I would feel overly guilty for an extended period of time. I honestly won't know for sure until I come into the situation.

Praying for less stress and for you and your roommates safety. I stand by you in your decision to defend yourself and your property, buy I do hope the Lord gives you discernment if another break-in does occur. Have you guys considered moving?

There's not a lot of options for us to move to--most places are filled up atm (college town) and we have 10 months left on our lease, meaning we'd have to find people to fill our place to get out

Ouch, ok. Possible you and your roommates could get a monitored alarm system, such as from ADT? It would cost some money though.