To feel scared in my own home?

[Colabottle10]

Last November we were burgled. During the daytime, I came home minutes after they'd fled.

We live in a rural village, it's a drive through as in not a dead end, and is a through route to the local town.

Took me a while to feel better about being in the house and slept with a shotgun under the bed for a long time.

The culprit hasn't been caught.

Friday just gone I noticed a car driving back and forth through the village very slowly with two men inside eyeing up all the houses. I saw it again tonight parked up at one end of the village. DH went for a drive to see if he could see it and found it just outside the village at the other end and stopped and asked if they were lost (man and woman this time). They said they were trying to get phone signal. I called 101 and logged it.

I feel scared again. I want to move.

13 toddlers killed themselves with guns in one year. What an appalling indictment of any society that enables such an abomination.

Katz put this up. Thank you, Katz I just want to highlight Under the age of four. Toddlers, under the age of four. Justify that chilled.

I knew I had seen something about under 14's being allowed to handle firearms.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/25/iowa-passes-bill-children-handle-guns

There is no justification for arming a population none at all.

I would be much more scared of being burgled in the USA than the UK - the likelyhood of the person breaking in having a gun themselves and the panic which might ensue once the burglar was discovered - just scarey.

Yep sadly in arizona in 2014 a 9 year old girl killed her shooting instructor as she was unable to control the uzi she had been given to shoot. It's unbelievable really that this would be allowed to happen within the confines of a first world country's laws.

That is the craziest thing I think I have ever read, bloodyteenagers.

But then the article links to THIS

You'd think a shooting range would be safe, wouldn't you. But it shows nobody handling or supervising a gun is safe.

9yr old with an Uzi. FFS.

Sorry to hear about this, it really does suck how people can have such a negative impact on our lives like this. Hopefully the couple will realize now that they've been twigged and move on from the area. I saw a programme with a burglar who said anything that made it harder/more noticeable to enter would deter them - so spiky plants like ivy in front of windows and windowsills with lots of ornaments on them. Not sure if that's any use but hope you can feel better soon.

There was a bit on Jeremy Vine's radio show about 2 weeks ago all about burglaries and it had some tips for prevention from a former burglar. I can't remember exactly when it was on what the tips were (helpful!) but maybe you could google it and see if there is anything immediately you could do to help you feel safer.

Sorry for you OP. We've had a few burglaries in our area lately and I know how unsettling it can be.
Thankfully the police have caught the perpetrator , I hope the police manage to catch the bastards who burgled you.
You have two dogs, that's great, do you have an alarm/CCTV?
There's nothing much I can say to you other than you're taking precautions, you have protection, and I'm sure its highly unlikely that a burglar would return to the same house again. Try to remember that and keep yourself surrounded with family /friends if you can until the fear passes a bit.

(Incidentally I don't feel "unsafe" in my own home at all? I also have tons of American friends and every single one of them has stated they feel MUCH safer in the UK then in the states. Sorry but the stats speak for themselves).

Think OP is long gone since Trump turned up with his own agenda.

Unfortunately, the only real thing that you can do to deter burglars, is to make it easier and more convenient to burgle someone else. So all the above stuff; window locks, visible stickers saying you've postcode marked your stuff etc.

I can't understand how having a gun in your home keeps you safe if you have to lock it away to prevent kids and other people accidentally harming themselves. The whole point of having a weapon is that you are supposed to be able to immediately use it in an attack situation.

Do the criminals sit around drinking tea until you've located the key to the cabinet, got the gun, loaded it and are ready to fire?

I remember you chilledwarmth on this thread. You want everyone in the UK to be tooled up. Well it ain't going to happen because we don't want it.

You were a lone voice on there and you are here and it's hardly contributing sensibly to the thread when it's not going to happen in the UK, is it..

I imagine this will be deleted: but chilled you are not a responsible gun owner. You are a complete and utter dickhead with the IQ of a chicken.

There must be so many sensible Americans that are utterly embarrassed by such wankers.

I don't think the majority of citizens in this country feel unsafe in their own homes, I don't and I don't know any of my friends or colleagues who do.
I don't even feel unsafe at work as a general rule even in the middle of the night on my own in a public place.

More and more I conclude that you can't cure stupid.

It's a simple fact about guns - if it's loaded and readily accessible for an 'emergency' - then it's a danger for any children around. If it's safely locked away with the bullets in a separate box - then you won't be able to access it in said emergency. Anyone that thinks Western society is so dangerous that they need a loaded gun on them needs their head examining, imo.

Tim Jeffries said it so much better though.

'13 toddlers killed themselves with guns in one year. '

that is fucking shameful.

I had a period of months when I felt unsafe in my home. After I left my violent and abusive ex, but he couldn't get in and I slowly realised over time I was safe. If he had access to a gun. I'd be dead. My son would be dead.

I'm thankfully we saw sense years ago and we, as a country seem more rational.