# BANG BANG BANG!!!



## Laura (Apr 27, 2009)

Dang, im sitting here is the truck at work.. and its near the firing range.. its an indoor one. but WHOLLY SMOKES!! SWAT is in there doing training.. not sure what they are using but made me jump. 
And of course watching all the men milling around in uniform aint so bad either.....HA!


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## richalisoviejo (Apr 27, 2009)

Laura said:


> Dang, im sitting here is the truck at work.. and its near the firing range.. its an indoor one. but WHOLLY SMOKES!! SWAT is in there doing training.. not sure what they are using but made me jump.
> And of course watching all the men milling around in uniform aint so bad either.....HA!



I love going to the shooting range. I have a Smith & Wesson 357 kept loaded under my bed. IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ve scored expert at the range. DonÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t sneak in and wake me up in the middle of the night. :shy:


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## Candy (Apr 27, 2009)

Ah Laura, love gotta those men in uniform. What is it about that?  Rich, do you really need to load it my father had a sawed off shotgun and all he told us to do if someone came through the door is to point it at them...they probably wouldn't care if it was loaded or not (which it never was the bullets were always kept somewhere else).


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## richalisoviejo (Apr 27, 2009)

Candy said:


> Ah Laura, love gotta those men in uniform. What is it about that?  Rich, do you really need to load it my father had a sawed off shotgun and all he told us to do if someone came through the door is to point it at them...they probably wouldn't care if it was loaded or not (which it never was the bullets were always kept somewhere else).



Not me, IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ve had many death threats in the past. I want it loaded and ready to go.

True story. A friend of mine and his wife were sitting on the sofa watching TV with their 6 month son in the middle, this guy kicks in the front door with a knife in his hand, my friends wife grabs the baby and takes off running upstairs, my friend ran into the room where he kept his pistol, the guy with the knife came running up to him, he was shot in the chest, ran out the door and died two blocks away. They never even knew the guy; it turned out he was PCP.

My friend spent 12 hours at the police station where every officer that walked in the building asking him what it was like to kill a man and patted him on the back.


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## Candy (Apr 27, 2009)

Oh I'm so sorry your friend and his wife had to go through that. O.K. as long as you don't have any children around you can keep the gun loaded.


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## Stazz (Apr 27, 2009)

Eeeek. In South Africa it's pretty much the norm to keep a loaded gun in your house because of how bad the crime is !!! I could have used a gun a couple times lol, just used my fist instead to fight !! And I am not a fighter otherwise


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## ZippyButter (Apr 27, 2009)

richalisoviejo said:


> I want it loaded and ready to go.
> 
> 
> Richard, I don't blame you, especially with the economic condition that we're in right now. My best friend in Texas, thanked for his loaded gun on the coffe table, he took it and pointed at the person about to break into his house ( this happened before his daughter was born, I'm sure he still has that loaded gun, but in a different place so his daughter could not get her hand on it} I myself don't have a gun but a great baseball bat and a great alarm system
> ...


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## Weloveourtortoise (Apr 28, 2009)

I agree about a man in uniform!!!! just something.......mmmm... 
Rich, do not agree w/ the loaded gun for myself, however Matt would love if I allowed in the house as his dad owns a gun shop. Guns are not for me, I had a police officer, friend of the family, scare the crap out of me when I was 6 
-bon


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## Candy (Apr 28, 2009)

What ever happened to getting a dog for protection? I had a guy come to my door once selling alarm systems. When I open my window to talk to him I asked him why I would need one when I knew he was coming from two doors down. I have great watchdogs. I've always considered them much better than alarm systems.


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## Stazz (Apr 28, 2009)

Unfortunately having a gun, having an alarm system, having beams around the house, having dogs don't stop the criminal in South Africa. They steal your gun and use it on you, they break straight through alarm systems and beams, and they poison your dogs if you leave them outside. People have to keep there dogs indoors for them to be safe !!! It's really bad, I have had one too many bad experiences with crime ! Hence why I'm here and not there hehe.


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## Isa (Apr 29, 2009)

Stazz said:


> Unfortunately having a gun, having an alarm system, having beams around the house, having dogs don't stop the criminal in South Africa. They steal your gun and use it on you, they break straight through alarm systems and beams, and they poison your dogs if you leave them outside. People have to keep there dogs indoors for them to be safe !!! It's really bad, I have had one too many bad experiences with crime ! Hence why I'm here and not there hehe.



Stace, does the police try to fight the crime?


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## Stazz (Apr 29, 2009)

They do try.....but the crimes LARGELY outnumber the police force and their resources. And like gang areas, most police are too scared to go near it...no one will!
It's pretty scary if you're not aware of your surroundings. I'm living in Dubai because of that reason, because of the crime...it got too much for me....I hope they can sort it out


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## desertsss (Apr 30, 2009)

Wow, I have seen videos of some crime in Africa and it is crazy. In Northern California it is bad, but not that bad. One night I was watching CSI Miami, and there was a shootout on the show. Well, after the shootout was over on the show I realized there was still shooting going on. It was out my back door. A young man got shot across the street from my house after a fight broke out due to conflicting gang colors. It was neither gangs territory, but I guess that doesn't matter any more. The guy died because he was walking his girlfriend home. The girlfriend held him until he passed and the guy that shot him never got caught. This was 2 years ago. 
It's wierd, I do not fear anyone ever "hunting" me down or anything, but I am scaredto death of random acts of violence. 
I was moving from an apartment and stopped at the local Shell station for soda, I told the guy at the counter to have a great night, and two minutes later..literally..we heard the sirens and it turns out that the people behind us in line were there to rob him. They killed the guy behind the counter for 50 dollars and a case of beer. Just a month ago a woman got shot here working at a recycling center outside of a bowling alley. It's crazy. And this is the world we are bringing our kids up in. 
However, I do have a loaded shotgun in my bedroom, (only until we get my stepdaughter back, then it will be in the gunsafe). 
Too many crazy's in Sacramento.


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## bikerchicspain (Apr 30, 2009)

In England were i was born and here in spain its not legal for you to sleep with a gun under your pillow,Only licensed hunters can have them.Everyone having guns! could that be why there is so much gun crime?


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## Isa (Apr 30, 2009)

Stazz said:


> They do try.....but the crimes LARGELY outnumber the police force and their resources. And like gang areas, most police are too scared to go near it...no one will!
> It's pretty scary if you're not aware of your surroundings. I'm living in Dubai because of that reason, because of the crime...it got too much for me....I hope they can sort it out



Stace, I did not know it was that bad , I really hope they will sort it out.


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## Laura (May 2, 2009)

SA is a WHOLE different world then most of us are used to. Its safer in the bush with lions then it is in Town with the people!
One of the guys I work with has stories of his officer days in Durban... They supply you with only so many bullets.. once it is gone.. oh well.. One car, 5 cops piled inside.. keystone cops.. 
When I stayed at a Home in Johanesburg.. We were picked up at the Airport.. We were in a van, he drove crazy thru the streets, running stop signs, then pulled up to his home and it was surrounded by razor wire and tall fences and locked gates.. He said it was from times past.. but from what we saw on the streets.. Im glad it was there!
And why he ran stop signs... He wasnt a bad driver, he was trying to keep us safe.. Van full of White tourists with luggage.. we were a target! Some of the nicest people you'll ever meet down there.. we were treated like family there and elsewhere.. but it was amazing....would love to go back tho!


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## Stazz (May 2, 2009)

Laura you are absolutely 110% correct about that! It is so scary huh! I hated doing that, I felt so bad running stop signs, and even red traffic signals !!! If I was driving alone, or even with anyone, and I was the only one waiting at the red light, and I checked and checked again for any oncoming traffic, I'd race over to the other side so I didn't have to be a sitting duck at the red light...thats a major major target! We were car-jacked at gunpoint in our own driveway!!! I hated going home every single night after that, we hate to move because of the anxiety attacks I was having. It's affects you forever. ANYWAY !!! happy thoughts & pixie dust 

*had to move  not hate to move. hehe


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## Isa (May 3, 2009)

Stazz said:


> Laura you are absolutely 110% correct about that! It is so scary huh! I hated doing that, I felt so bad running stop signs, and even red traffic signals !!! If I was driving alone, or even with anyone, and I was the only one waiting at the red light, and I checked and checked again for any oncoming traffic, I'd race over to the other side so I didn't have to be a sitting duck at the red light...thats a major major target! We were car-jacked at gunpoint in our own driveway!!! I hated going home every single night after that, we hate to move because of the anxiety attacks I was having. It's affects you forever. ANYWAY !!! happy thoughts & pixie dust
> 
> *had to move  not hate to move. hehe





 That is really sad. I hate the crime and violence. I hate it when someone can't be safe in their own driveway or home! Where I live, there is a new ''trend'', people makes you think they are postmen, or that they are stuck with their car that will not start and ask you to come in, and when you open your door, they will put pepper spray in your face to take all your jewelery and electronic. I am really scared of that, I never open my door. When I am at work, I am often scared to someone will break in my house and hurt Hermy . nowadays, people are crazy. 
Stace, will a cop give you a ticket if he sees you do not stop at a stop sign or a red light.
How come there is that much violence is SA? is there because of something that happenend in the past?


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## Stazz (May 3, 2009)

Yeah that is very scary Isa! Definitely do not open your door to anyone, tell your friends and family to call you before they visit, so you expect them.
Just keep your eyes peeled and stay aware, you will be okay if you stay aware! It's when you let your guard down that they like to pounce. Well thats how it is back home.
Well, I don't think the cop would give me a ticket if they had seen that I had hesitated at the red light/stop sign, and they would hopefully believe me why I skipped the light, they would usually understand I think. I wish I could give a great explanation for the reason why there is so much crime, but unfortunately I dnt think anyone knows!
I know a big part of it has to do with poverty/unemployment. People start to steal, break into houses to keep their families going. Also the guys that usually do the car-jacking are gangs, and they steal the cars for parts, to sell the actual car, or to even use it in a cash-in-transit heist which has been happening too often. The gangs are given no choice really, they are part of the gang, they must do it. Some of them are so very very uneducated and they are also just plain sick in the head! Like guys raping babies cos they were told if they rape a virgin (the younger,the better), they won't ever get AIDS. It is horrid!


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## Isa (May 3, 2009)

Stazz said:


> Yeah that is very scary Isa! Definitely do not open your door to anyone, tell your friends and family to call you before they visit, so you expect them.
> Just keep your eyes peeled and stay aware, you will be okay if you stay aware! It's when you let your guard down that they like to pounce. Well thats how it is back home.
> Well, I don't think the cop would give me a ticket if they had seen that I had hesitated at the red light/stop sign, and they would hopefully believe me why I skipped the light, they would usually understand I think. I wish I could give a great explanation for the reason why there is so much crime, but unfortunately I dnt think anyone knows!
> I know a big part of it has to do with poverty/unemployment. People start to steal, break into houses to keep their families going. Also the guys that usually do the car-jacking are gangs, and they steal the cars for parts, to sell the actual car, or to even use it in a cash-in-transit heist which has been happening too often. The gangs are given no choice really, they are part of the gang, they must do it. Some of them are so very very uneducated and they are also just plain sick in the head! Like guys raping babies cos they were told if they rape a virgin (the younger,the better), they won't ever get AIDS. It is horrid!



OMG that is horrible!!! 
Stace, do you have a lot of relatives living there?


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## Stazz (May 3, 2009)

Yeah I do, my parents, grandmothers, aunts, uncles, cousins! And some of Nick's family too. I worry so much but I just pray for them that they are kept safe from any harm!
I studied Criminology for 2yrs as I was so interested in WHY they do what they do, and what can be done to stop it. It was very interesting!


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## Isa (May 3, 2009)

Stazz said:


> Yeah I do, my parents, grandmothers, aunts, uncles, cousins! And some of Nick's family too. I worry so much but I just pray for them that they are kept safe from any harm!
> I studied Criminology for 2yrs as I was so interested in WHY they do what they do, and what can be done to stop it. It was very interesting!



I am sure you family and Nick's family will do all in their powers to stay safe . Nowadays, anything can happen anywhere in any countries, at least they are on their guard.


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## Stazz (May 3, 2009)

Yeah absolutely !!! I agree, it's best to be on guard anywhere you are, no matter where!!


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