Just found out my house is being scouted, what to do?

Bad idea. Little old lady happens to touch your fence which stops her pacemaker. Dead! Not good. The problem with man traps is you can't control who it activates against.

 

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It is metal but I really dont want to go through the hassel of setting that up and end up hurting a kid playing around.

 

Yea and the bullet lands on some innocent kid..

 

isn't that pretty normal out there in socal though?

 

you could justify putting up an electric fence "for the dog" then it wouldn't necessarily be a man trap. just have to be careful with it and tell neighbors. just turn it off when your home. hopefully a kid wouldn't be snooping around your yard anyway. they should be in school

 

OP--

Obviously if they show up in a van, multiple times, they mean business.. Dont get a baseball bat, dont get more boyscout pocket knives, get lethal weapons.

Make sure you get a firearm that fits the layout of your home. Glocks, shotguns, AR-15s are not all applicable home defense weapons. You need to be;

A) Comfortable with the weapon system
B) Make sure it applies to your house layout
C) Make sure you can clean it, possibly field strip, reload quickly, and identify malfunctions

i know that it seems overboard, but it isnt a typical break in if they come back , when they decide to hit, they'll hit hard, and you should be ready.

 

they aren't going to come when he's home, that has been made pretty self evident.

 

I love the logic here, let's all just shoot rounds in the air.

A Tampa, Fla., pre-teen who was ringing in the New Year with his family was critically injured when struck in the head from celebratory gunfire. Police have not yet identified a shooter and do not think anyone in the immediate vicinity fired the shot. Twelve year-old Diego Duran remains hospitalized, and the investigation is ongoing.
The Tampa Tribune reports the boy is able to respond to his family by moving his hands, which has provided no small amount of relief to his mother, who has been by his side since the injury occurred.
* The incidence of injury or death due to celebratory gunfire spurred Miami police to launch a campaign aimed at educating the public about the dangers of the same. In a press conference and rally last June, Miami hosted a "One Bullet Kills the Party" campaign to raise awareness of the very real dangers of celebratory gunfire.
* In 2010, a 6-year-old Italian boy celebrating the New Year with his family at a Miami restaurant was shot by random gunfire. The Associated Press reported the boy was injured within hours of the city of Miami's appeal to residents to cease celebratory shooting.
* A 69-year-old man was killed in a New Year's Eve celebration that ushered in 2007 when someone fired a semi-automatic weapon into the air in a South Florida neighborhood. The Plantation man was hit in the shoulder by the bullet, which then lodged in his heart.
* That same year, five bullets fired into a couch in celebration of the new year struck and killed 11-year-old Joshua Arroliga, who was hiding behind it. The shooter, Zenon Fernandez, was sentenced in February to serve 10 years for manslaughter. CBS News.com reported Fernandez apologized to the boy's family at his sentencing, telling them that when he fired at the couch, he was unaware that anyone was near it.
* The Orlando Sentinel reported in 2006 that two adults were shot in unrelated incidents during New Year celebrations. In both cases, police say that celebratory gunfire is the likely cause.
Ruby Cintron, 26, was struck in the face by a stray bullet. She survived the incident but has lost the use of an eye. The unidentified male victim was shot was struck in the head by a stray bullet near downtown Orlando. Police reported numerous shell casings in the area, but had not identified a shooter.

 

No they might not, but what if he takes a day off or comes home early, better be safe than sorry.

 

I'd take all the advice form here. Escpecially a security system. Personally I would leave a note saying you know what they are up to. I'd be real careful about shooting a burglar unless you are in immediate danger. Make sure you something to the effect of "back away or I'll shoot" or stab in your case just to help cover your self for later. There have been stories of criminals breaking into homes and being shot. Then turning around and suing the owners and winning. On that note I sleep with a loaded AK-47 under my bed and my bench made on the dresser. Do whatever you have to do to protect you and your family. Also I don't know how your home is set up but try putting a cheap cam up outside to capture any vehicles and possibly orient it to capture license plates as they pass by or park. might be able to prevent it if you know who it is before they even enter your home.

 

Don't laugh but I have hornet spray hiding all around my house exactly for this. It shoots far and is cheap. Get that in your eyes burns like hell. Gives me some time to get the heavy hitters

 

The neighbor thing was already mentioned, but this really works the best in my opinion.

In fact my wife and I have gone out of our way to get to know our neighbors for this very reason. By the way the nosier they are the better; these are the people you want to build relationships with. Sure they might not be the funniest people to invite over for dinner or to talk to, but man the return you get on protection when away is well worth it. Also look to become friends with the stay-at-homers like the older retired folks (typically very nosy) and the stay at home moms.

We also worked with our city to get neighbor watch signs put up and started a face book page for our housing track so everyone can communicate with one another and keep each other up to speed on the latest news (Mr. Mike’s car got broken into, Tom saw little Timmy spray painting a giant penis on Mrs. Andersons house…… you get the picture).

I can't say this has gotten rid of the crooks, but I can honestly say I’ve seen a huge difference as far as vandalism goes and response time from the cops.

Just wanted to share

 

Leave your radio on when you leave if you have a computer at work down load logmein set up a camera on your home computer and watch/record from work.

 

Lock and hide all spare keys to any vehicles at your home! A member on here had their Tacoma stolen after someone broke into his garage and stole his spare key!

 

Thanks for pointing that out, I will actually just get a shotgun after thinking about it. I dont need a stray bullet from a glock go through a wall and hit any of my family. And if i'm correct, shotguns are much easier to obtain. But not ruling out the glock since it has its benefits too, just going for shotgun first.

 

i would set up game cameras and blend them in any bushes or trees, may be cheaper than a whole surveillance system.

If you were to bust them yourself, hide the tacoma at the neighbors house and beat them at their own game, be stealthy too. if no firearm, get a tazer/ stun gun in each hand and crank up the juice.

 

Also you guys should get a designated safe room, that way they'll be out of the way if shit does go down.

 

To meet the law, it would probably be ineffective against a person.

17152. No electrified fences shall be offered for sale, sold,
installed, or used in this state, or otherwise connected to a source
of electrical current, unless the electrical current is limited and
regulated by an electrical controller which meets or exceeds the
standards or specifications of the National Electrical Code of the
National Fire Protection Association, the New Zealand Standards
Institute, the Standards Association of Australia, or the
Underwriters Laboratories for intermittent type electric fence or
electrified fence controllers.

 

Dang good luck man. Make sure you rent Home Alone 1 & 2 for some inspiration

 

Get an alarm! The local company here is excellent when it comes to calling the authorities asap (I accidentally tested the smoke detector they installed the other day, fire department was at my house in minutes). My alarm also has this crazy-loud siren that goes off, sounds like an air-raid siren. Then the company comes over the two-way speaker in the house, asking if there's a break-in. I feel pretty safe leaving my house knowing I have that.