Thin line between paranoid and prepared

[MPanova]

How many of you also feel there is a thin line between paranoid and prepared. While a freind of mine was visiting we started talking about guns and CCW. I told him that while me and the wife are asleep we each have a pistol on our night stands. While we are just sitting around the house I tend to keep a pistol with me in which ever room I am in. If I plan on being in the office on the computer I have a pistol on the shelf of my computer desk. If we are going to be watching TV in the living room I have a pistol on the end table next to me. I told him I do this because the way our house is layed out if some one was to kick in the front door and try to come in and harm me or my wife we would have to meet them in the hall way or entry way to get to the gun if it was in the bed room. He said I am paranoid but I feel I am just prepared to defend my castle so to speak. What are your opinions? am I paranoid or prepared? and do you guys/gals do anything similar?

PS

before I get flamed for this lol If we are both gone we each have our carry pistol on us and we lock the rest up incase someone breaks in while we are gone. Also we do not have any children so leaving the guns out is not a problem since its just me and the wife

[Mike P. Wagner]

What neighborhood do you live in? What's your line of business? How much cash do you keep around?

It seems to me that a reasonable answer to the question has to factor in the level of threat. If you are in the car repo business and live in a tough neighborhood, then you might need a different level of vigilance than a computer programmer who lives in a gated white bread community.

If I ask you wether I am paranoid for wearing body armor, it probably makes a difference whether I am on patrol in Iraq or sitting in an office.

Mike

[Playboypenguin]

I think alot of us walk the fine line betweened prepared and paranoid all the time in many aspects.

I think what matters most is not what you do, but why you do it.

Do you keep a gun around because you like to be prepared for the worst even though you do not think you will ever need it or do you really feel like you could be attacked at any time.

I personally carry a gun even though I think I will never need it. But I like to be prepared.

I carry two bags in my trucks. One is a tool kit with flares, jumper cables, tools, fix-a-flat, and other automobile related items. Some would say I have a brand new truck so why carry all these tools and such on me all the time.

The other is the one alot of people would consider as paranoid. It is a survival bad with a small tent, thermal blanket, a .357mag revolver, ammo, a large knife, a collapsable shovel, water purifier, signaling mirror, a cranks power flashlight, a bowsaw, crank powered radio, rope, a hatchet, and a few other items. I do not need these things and I do not feel I will ever need them but I like to have them.

I do not do the things I do becauseI am afraid something is going to happen to me. I do it because I enjoy being prepared for most any situation.

[JohnKSa]

The only person I know of who has a gun in every room is an ex-LEO. Pretty hard to argue that he's making the decision to do that out of ignorance.

I don't like spreading guns around the house, I find it's much easier to wear one.

[Dreadnought]

Originally Posted by JohnKSa

I don't like spreading guns around the house, I find it's much easier to wear one.

x2.
Even doing yard work or automotive work. No such thing as "too prepared".

[CarbineCaleb]

Well, I don't think there's any right or wrong here, just airing personal philosophy. I know that when I've read about people wearing their guns into the shower, I think, how awful it must be to spend your entire life, every waking moment, fixated on the fear of an attack on your person. While of course I can be attacked much more easily than such folks, I'd rather spend my life smiling and thinking about the positives and enjoying, than living a lifelong nightmare of constant contemplation of what is the worst possible thing that can happen in the next 5 minutes.

As someone says in their tagline - just my 2 cents and it probably ain't even worth that

[MPanova]

I guess it comes from always wanting to be prepared for the worst but hope for the best. I live in a good area but when we first moved in there were still alot of houses still being built and from the outside our house looked just like any of the other houses that were complete but no one lived in them yet. Three weeks after moving in we had someone try to get in the house thinking it was one of the un-lived in completed houses. I had to hold him there at gun point until the cops showed up to arest him. I just want to make sure if something like that or worse happens I am prepared to defent my home.

To answer another question. I work nights at Texas Instruments but as a side job I do car audio wholesale. so at times I do tent to have 20,000 dollers or more of car audio equipment at the house. No cash laying around but I do have a lot of valuables in the house.

[Socrates]

Get beat over the head with a Walther PPK/S at Mel's Bowling Alley in Alemeda, by three big black guys, who are just taking it out on you because they are high, and are mad at the alley manager, who is a real jerk...
Then tell me what kind of line there is...

S

[DarthTedd]

Just get one for each room of the house.

[JohnKSa]

I know that when I've read about people wearing their guns into the shower, I think, how awful it must be to spend your entire life, every waking moment, fixated on the fear of an attack on your person.

Having participated in a few "gun in the shower" threads (and even having started one) I can tell you that very few, if any, wear (or even take) a gun into the shower. Some try to have one easily available while showering (within easy reach), but I think it's highly unusual for even the most "prepared" to actually have to waterproof a gun for shower duty.

I do think that it's very smart to have some sort of self-defense plan for the bathroom (including bathing/showering) since a person is typically very vulnerable in the bathroom. Criminals are smart enough to realize this and it has been documented that at least one serial killer made it his MO to break into houses when he knew that the woman of the house was likely to be in the shower.

I think that we often make very inaccurate assessments of motive based on what we feel would be OUR motives for an action. For example, I have several fire extinguishers--maybe someone would interpret that as my being fixated on the fear of a housefire. I don't feel that way at all--I just consider it part of a reasonable plan for dealing with the chance of housefires.

[oldbillthundercheif]

Everyone spins the weird roulette wheel of risk every day. It's best to be prepared when your number comes up. There is nothing paranoid about keeping a firearm close by.

[RsqVet]

Having a gun in ready reach ====== Not paranoid

Walking around the house with a slung long arm === paranoid

Keeping an extra 1000 rounds around because you never know == reasonable

Having it all loaded in magazines and rotating it monthly === paranoid

Obviously the above statements are excepting extream circumstances.

Hey It's obviously a matter of degrees but I don't think you will find too many here thinking that is strange. I work nights myself at times and offten can not get back to a day schedual so I find myslef out in the garage working or outside working. I have been startled at times by various comings and goings or odd charicters only to realize I am gunless; I usually correct that by tucking a snubby or G26 in the back pocket.

[mike452]

I think you are prepared! For what? I have no idea!

Wow! I’m the minority here. My guns are for entertainment and hobby. I didn’t buy them for protection. I live in a decent neighborhood and I do have dogs that will give me a bit of warning. I will relocate if I have to watch my back all the time.

I do sometime have the fear of confrontations that might get out of hand, but the possibility of shooting the wrong person keeps my guns away. And it prevents me from escalate problems.

I do want to get a big truck just incase the guy next to me makes a blind lane change or the heroes that slams on their brakes because they didn’t like me tailgating.

You might be asking the wrong group of people. It's like asking the UFO forum if wrapping your head in tin-foil every night is paranoid or not.

[samsmix]

Does the stainless .410 derringer hiden behind a perfataped and painted over hole in my shower wall count as paranoid?


I can put my fingers through the paper if I need it, but you REALLY can't tell it's there. In my old place it was in place for 3 years without a speck of rust or corrosion.

[RsqVet]

Samsmix ---

UMMM, that would depend a little on who you are and where you are, without knowing that it's hard for most of us to calibrate the meter though a dedicated, hidden shower gun is certianly at the extream, it's certianly a good idea if one needs such.

Put another way the most consistantly heavily armed individual I knew was a LEO in the IA division of a big city department who had considerable responsibility for catching and removing mobed up and otherwise corupt cops. I'm not talking about somone who was responsible to taking reports from suspects who thought their cuffs were too tight, I'm talking a guy who was responsible for diging in deep and finding / eliminating coruption.

Anyway he was 3 gun armed 24 / 7 and made it a point to carry the 2 backups in manners that were as far removed from the normal mode fo LEO backup carry as possible. Why? Because he figured if he ever was in a fight it was going to be with individuals familar with firearms and routine carry, likely other cops. He also carried a car pistol and shotgun and had a ballistic liner in his brief case.

Obviously if this guy was a Kosher butcher I'd have thought him more than paranoid, given his job it sure seemed reasonable.

[Condition Plaid]

The only bad gun to bring to a gunfight is none.

[marlboroman84]

You're only paranoid until you or someone else needs what you have, then you are prepared. Threat levels change constantly, so your current situation is not the issue. People break into houses in great neighborhoods all the time. Be as ready as YOU see fit and don't worry about everyone else.

Look at Burt in Tremors.

[gvf]

I'll be CCWing soon with a Business Carry, at particular times.

I got the permit due to discomfort I felt due to a few actual situations that had occurred near where I will be carrying. However, I am going to decide after a few months if I will continue to carry based on this: my chances of being attacked are in reality quite slight, likely the same as most who have some occasional danger at some times but are not constantly or usally exposed to violence. Therefore, a large part of the benefits of CCW would be psychological for me and likely many others if you look at statistics, this psychological benefit would be a sense of some potential security in a rare but lethal situation. If I become more unsettled by legal worries, fixating continually on danger, concerns about making a mistake in judgement etc., I'll stop carrying and accept the slight risk I will be attacked, the same as I accept many other slight risks: flying, driving etc.

That's becasuse of my own circumstances, for those exposed to violent crime on a regular basis, the consideration would be different.

[MPanova]

Growing up with no money and in a very very bad part of Houston I was at times mixed in with the wrong group of folks if ya know what I mean. My wife on the other hand grew up pretty sheltered and in a safe middle class area. She was always under the impression that the nicer or more expensive the neighborhood the less crime there would be. Hence the safier we would be. I had to explain to her that those looking to break into homes and steal things are going to look in those very neighborhoods. The house we live in now is in just such a neighborhood. She is now realizing what I have been telling her for years. I hope nothing ever happens but if it does I will be damn well prepared.

[seeker_two]

While I haven't reached the "carry around the house" or "gun in every room" (mostly due to $$$ ) stages, I do try to keep at least one handgun nearby my home's entrances just in case...

And I don't believe in guns in the bathroom. Too much steam and other junk to mess with the mechanism. I prefer knives for that. And you'd be suprised how handy a knife in the bathroom can be (opening meds, trimming candles, etc.)

Besides, a little rust & corrosion on a knife doesn't cause jams or malfunctions...it only enhances its lethality...

[deadin]

I read somewhere that if a person exhibits 4 or more of the following traits they are considered paranoid. Recognize anyone?

Unwillingness to forgive perceived insults
Excessive sensitivity to setbacks
Distrustfulness and excessive self-reliance
Projection of blame onto others
Consumed by anticipation of betrayal
Combative and tenacious adherence to personal rights
Relentlessly suspicious

[jeo556]

Again, better to have and not need than need and not have. I usually have a pistol close by at all times when at home. A lot of my friends make fun but always seems to sneak in the fact that if the SHTF, then they'll be coming for help. Paraoid or Prepared??? Whatever you feel is needed is exactly what you should do.

Samsmix. If the derringer behind the wall is true, you're the man. If not then you are just funny as hell.

jeo556

[cheygriz]

Remember:

EVEN PARANOIDS HAVE REAL ENEMIES

[L_Killkenny]

I agree that there is a thin line between being prepared and being paranoid. Unfortunatly you cross the line a couple miles back!

Everything is relative to location and circumstances but the only place where someone needs to worry about ALWAYS having a gun within reach is a war zone. Some neighborhoods in the US are very bad but NONE justify you're level of paranoia. Maybe you should move? Oh wait, don't do that. You might end up in my neighborhood and my neighbors are already on the far side of nuts. .

Stay where you're at, bunker down and order a domino's pizza everynight. Slide your $$ under the door and have them leave the pizza and slowly back away. Retrive pizza when the coast is clear. Never go outside!

Does all that sound pretty nuts? I say yes. I also say your closer to that kinda nuts than is good for you.

LK

[Mike P. Wagner]

Wow! I’m the minority here. My guns are for entertainment and hobby. I didn’t buy them for protection. I live in a decent neighborhood and I do have dogs that will give me a bit of warning.

I'm more or less with you on that. Here's my analysis:

1. I live in a quiet cul-de-sac with a very nosy lady at the entrance. If a car is parked over night on the cul-de-sac, and she doesn't know who it is, she calls the police. And they come! (Last time, it was a guy from an apartment several blocks away trying to his car from a the repo man!)
   
2. I also wake up slowly and at times am confused when I wake up.
   
3. There are lots of kids over at the house. Mine are safe around guns, but I don't really know about the others.
   
4. I have a college age son, and when he's in town, he and his friends keep extremely unpredictable hours. The college age son is also probably why I don't have much cash or electronics lying around.

So I have made about the same judgment call that you have.

However, it strikes me that the following two situations would prompt a higher level of vigilance:

so at times I do tent to have 20,000 dollars or more of car audio equipment at the house. No cash laying around but I do have a lot of valuables in the house.

Put another way the most consistently heavily armed individual I knew was a LEO in the IA division of a big city department who had considerable responsibility for catching and removing mobbed up and otherwise corrupt cops.

I think it's pretty hard to determine if a given level of vigilance is reasonable ("prepared") or unreasonable ("paranoid") without understanding the level of threat. If you are in a war zone, thinking that there is an army of people looking to kill you a perfectly reasonable assumption. That's probably not the case if you're shopping for pants at a suburban Target.

Mike