Tuesday, April 3, 2012

When the situation calls for a gun

Guns do come in handy sometimes. I have footage of a C/O (correctional officer) sitting on his front steps with his girlfriend when a guy walks by real slow, stops right in front of them and shoots the C/O at point blank range. Fortunately for the C/O the guy was a horrible shot and got him in his foot. Unfortunately for the guy, the C/O had his gun and shot and killed him.

~ ~ There’s been few instances where I’ve needed to grab a gun.

Working up in a ‘booth’ watching a very dangerous inmate getting escorted back to his cell, when he turned on the cop and began a heated argument. There I stood with 2 weapons in my hands to use. A launcher that shoots less lethal rounds and the rifle that shoots lethal.

Thankfully I didn’t have to use either but it was the closest I came at work to using one.

Another time I was driving down a highway, coming upon a red light, when a car full of ‘questionable’ guys comes along side me. I had my gun put away in its case, but pulled it out and set it next to me because I had such an odd feeling with them.

And then there was just last week.

Hanging out watching tv one night, when I get a loud knock on my door. Its after 8pm and its dark outside. No one and I mean no one knocks on my door at night. I asked through the door, ‘who is it?’ and a guy answers that he’s giving away free newspapers. {…at 8:15 at night..right.} I told him, ‘no thank you.’ He says, ‘you don’t want a free newspaper??’ All I say is, ‘thank you, no’ and I hear him mutter something to another guy as he walks away.

I stand there for a second thinking it over and immediately grab my shotgun from my room.
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They didn’t knock on any of my neighbor’s doors. Just mine.

My mind works in funny ways. I didn’t peek through the blinds to get a look at them, because the light was on my back and they would’ve seen me seeing them.

I didn’t think to call the cops to report suspicious activity in my area.

I didn’t think to double check my locks until after I grabbed the gun. {they were locked, by the way}

All I did was walk in the back room, grab my gun and take it off of safety to have it ready in case I needed to use it.

I even slept fine that night. I debated locking my bedroom door, but didn’t. My guns were by my side the whole night and have been since. I don’t know what would have happened if I’d opened my door. I’m a suspicious person by nature and can imagine the absolute worse but thankfully I have the mind to know when something just isn’t right.

I hope you have that mind too. It isn’t always the wisest to grab your gun but rather call the cops if someone is lurking around your home or if you hear something suspicious. They say robbers know to make one sound only because often times if we hear a crash {like glass breaking} we’ll pause what we’re doing to see if we hear the sound again. And when we don’t, we continue on, thinking we ‘were hearing things’.

So don’t count out what you heard. Proceed with your safety in mind. If all else fails, call the cops and say ‘this is not an emergency’ first before describing the reason for your call. I do wish I’d peeked to see what they looked like, I do wish I’d called the cops so they’d drive around, but I chose to be Jane Wayne instead.

It worked this time, but that’s not to say it will the next.

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13 comments:

Callie said...

A couple of weeks ago (my first week at MOPS) they had a speaker who talked about this very thing. I think it's good to be a little suspicious, because this is a sick world and there are alot of criminals in it. That situation would have made me nervous too! Good for you for having a gun handy - it's better to be safe. We have guns too, and even though we live in a rural area that's probably an unlikely place to be burglarized, I still like knowing we have them, just in case. Plus they also come in handy during hunting season, so it's dual-purpose for us! :-)

Lisa said...

Gosh you would do well in SA!!! Our crime rate is off charts so we are all suspicious and I for one am constantly checking that the doors and security gates are locked. I hate living like that but it is the nature of the beast.

I have a fight instinct which is so not a good thing.....about 4 years ago I woke up in the middle of the night to a strange and uninvited man standing next to my bed!! Instead of pretending to be asleep I started shouting at him to get out, then proceeded to chase him out of my house (can I mention that at the time I did not sleep in PJ's so you can imagine the sight of everything bouncing all over the place as I gave chase). He had to lock me in my own home to get away!! I hate to think what would have happened if he had a gun and choose to stand his ground.

I have not shared this on my blog only my brother and my mother know that on Friday I was driving back from our head office when I stopped at a traffic light, the next thing there was a gun at my head!!! At this point I must say that I never ever drive with my windows down that far but the car had been standing in the sun and I had only driven about 800meters from the office parking!!! Anyway, I looked at the guy an though crap what now....when two guys got out of a taxi and grabbed the guy from behind and pulled him away from my car....he fell I drove over his foot and called the cops!!!

I grew up with guns in the house and know how to use them but we have strict gun laws in SA now (for the law abiding citizens...the criminals don't seem to care about the law...go figure) so we handed ours in and only keep a small caliber which we take out at night!!

I must say I like the way you roll with the whole shotgun thing...I am just very grateful that you did not have to use it!!!

The Heart Of A Woman said...

I would have freaked out. My husband has tried to teach me how to shoot a gun, but each time is a failed attempt. I am glad you are so prepared :0)

Ashley said...

oh my, emily! you are one tough cookie! hats off to you, girlie! i could never be a c/o. guns freak me out...even though my ex was a police officer and we had like eight guns in the house! crazy!!

i'm glad that guy walked away. that was def a blessing!

Nicole said...

ummm. literally you are my hero. for realz woman. that is so so awesome.

God bless america right?!

angie on maui said...

I don't own a gun and don't know if I'd be able to. While logic tells me that guns don't kill people - people kill people, I think it's the power of a handgun that scares me. That intimidating shotgun of yours? I have no words.

I could not agree with you more about trusting your gut and listening to your instincts. Safety, first!

angie on maui said...

I just read Lisa's (Honibun) comment. Where is "SA"?! I can't imagine how I would handle an attempted carjacking. It seriously traumatizes me to think about it. :-\

Megan said...

I so need to learn to shoot. We have a gun right by our bed, ready and waiting. I am a super freak...I check the locks several times and then lock the bedroom door, too. I would've cried. That is so scary!!! Newspapers. Yeah, right!!

Lindsay said...

As females, I really don't think there's ever a such thing as being TOO CAREFUL these days. You really never know - especially living alone!

Good for you with your gun :)

hannah love said...

this is crazy. being very canadian... i don't ever think about guns.
hahahha i just crawl in my room and pray that bad things go away.
you're brave!

Nicolle said...

Good for you! I'm very pro-gun when it comes to the safety of my home. We have many guns in this house, and I'm not afraid to use them! I'm glad you are ok and that nothing happened. xo.

Anonymous said...

Ahhhhhhhhh that is SO scary! I am incredibly paranoid that someone is going to break into our house or whatever. I need to learn how to shoot better. I want to be prepared!

Rachel said...

I've got to be honest posts like this are just so foreign to me. In the UK hardly anyone has a gun unless they use it for sport/ work (you have to keep it locked away) OR unless they have it for dodgy reasons!

I remember reading a blog post a couple months back about a woman whose house alarm went off and I was shocked with she just casually mentioned about grabbing the guns she and her hubby kept in the wardrobe.

I'm not saying I disagree with it, and it sounds like a good call that you did have them with you in these situations...it's just not something we've grown up with in the UK and so the thought of handling a gun or shooting someone just doesn't feature in my thinking!

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