..in defense of my home and property.

This past weekend I had burglars attempt to steal my race jetski...they failed.

Here's the pre-cursor to events:

There have been numerous home burglaries in neighborhoods near my home,"within a 1/2 mile". On my street, we neighbors have had a few meetings to plan courses of action to prevent or deter burglars. Our street is a dead end street with a circle at the end. One entry, one exit. We have a fireman, a C-130 gunner, a retired engineer and a chiropractor who live on the street. Nice mid-income homes. 5 of us have firearms in our homes and we all know who has them and what to expect when and if shooting occurs. We've discussed the shooting of warning shots in the air at the discovery of burglars. We also have precautions and protocols in place, just for that time if it ever occured...it did.

About 2:00 in the morning last Sunday, I heard some noises coming from my jetski garage, which is adjacent to my car garage. It is an open structure with a garage door...it is also fenced in around the perimeter. It is close to the master bedroom downstairs, so I can hear what happens clearly. There unfortunately are no windows to view the ski garage...only the door leading from the car garage to it. There is a motion light on the front corner of the house that I can see, is illuminated..but I can't see anyone.

I heard the rustle of the door and I knew..someone is trying to take my ski. The ski is also bike chained/cabled (2 chains) to one of the support posts, so it will take them some time and effort to get it out. OK...clear thinking here we go..handgun is in the Jeep in the garage. If I open the door, they could be in the car garage also. Nope..upstairs to the gun cabinet...flip mini-light,open gun cabinet and grab AR...1 loaded Colt 20 rounder, one loaded 30 rounder goes into my shorts waisteline. On the way downstairs mag goes in..it is dark. Wife is sitting up in bed, I tell her to call the Sheriff and stay put...no what,what,what discussions..she knows whats up.

Go to back door..peek out...pull T-handle, locked and loaded as I open the backdoor slowly. I go around the east side of the house, "the garage is on the west" and I get to the corner..look down my street to see if there is anyone out or about..nope. My house is at the end of the circle..look toward the driveway going to the ski garage..motion light is on...and 2 white males were pulling the jetski and trailer out the ski garage. AR is pointed down, thumb on safety..thumb down..safety is off...showtime.

So, I yell,"HEY! What are you doing??"...one of the haoles runs to the back of the fenced area...one is bolting across the yard through the neighbors yard...AR is pointed to the North "no houses for miles beyond the street" and towards the sky.

Is that the whole story? Then what!

that gave them a good scare I bet, then the cops show up 2 hours later.

Finish the story!!

slow typer. give him a break, im waiting myself.

I like the way you and your neighbors are working together. I wish it were like that where I live.
Nobody approaches anyone on my street. No neighborhood gatherings, things were different when I was a kid......

Finish the story, I want to know what happened after the break.

Are you trying to think up the rest of the story or what?  So far the first person subject of the story is standing in his yard yelling at the burglars.  What's next Nancy Drew?

Oh c'mon! Think of the psychological impact man! Some buck nekkid dude holding a scary gun at 0:dark thirty? If you were a scumbag wouldn't you have just that much more impetus to flee? Hmmm...Maybe we can get local LEOs to give the "birthday suit" uniform a try. I would certainly be more willing to obey traffic laws if I had to fear the idea of what would be swinging its' way towards my car door at every traffic stop. I may be on to some sort of revolutionary anticrime concept with this idea. Think about it. "Stop! Or I will be forced to wrestle you to the ground while I am naked!" The thoughts of hairy backs alone might make the  most hardened of criminals stop and stick their hands waaay out to be cuffed.

sorry...I had an emergency.

More..POP!POP!POP!...pop,pop,pop,pop,pop. The burglar running down the street takes tumble...my ears are ringing but, I can hear the west backyard neighbors dogs barking. Street burglar gets to a truck parked at the end of the street. I can see this in the street lights...pop,pop,pop,pop...out of ammo? Pull,insert, slap,click, 30 rounder goes in. He's now spinning out his tires and has to go down the parrallel street to get out of the area..I run to the northeast corner of my lot jump on a pile of boards to get above the privacy fence...I can see his truck flashing thought he gaps of my neighbors homes. POP!POP!pop,pop,pop,pop,pop,pop. I can see my muzzle flash as I'm pulling the trigger as fast as I can..I hear a loud bang from the street and his truck. No I did'nt hit his truck..I was aiming toward the sky at and angle..towards the Eglin A.F.B, reservation..no houses or structures for miles.

Look over my shoulder..see the neighborhood lights coming on. I go to my backdoor..get inside and see my wife standing, scared to death. She said it sounded like a war outside..I ask did she call the Sheriff..she said yes. I put the AR in the coat closet. I go out my front door..look to the street, neighbors are out, 2 of them armed. Naked, are you ok? What the **** happened..I show them the jetski pulled out..they found cable cutters in the footwell and a mag light on the ground. Well, looks like a burglary was stopped, huh?

As we were talking Sheriff pulls down the street..talks to 1 of the neighbors up there and proceeds to my house..he gets out. I know him..he's an old friend of mine. What happened? I point to the ski and told him what I saw..."the gunshots, was that you?" He asked..yep.."what gun was it?" Ruger .22.. someone said they heard automatic gun fire...nope it was a .22. I said...he smiles..he knows me.

He begins to take his report..sheriff #2 is at the backyard west neighbors yard and radios him..seems as though his shepherd and heinz57 mut, bit the crap out of the haole who jumped the fence. Blood is on the wood fence..the guy must have gotten shredded pretty good.

He talks to my neighbors who explained that we've discussed and planned a neighborhood course of action in case of burglars being found. They were very supportive and pleased that these guys were deterred from burglarizing me. So was my Sheriff friend..

Man...this is cold blooded....it's like saying "and the winner is...." and walking off the stage![bounce][bounce][bounce][bounce]

More...the Sheriff completed his report and said he'd give me a call. Next day, he comes by and ask me to walk with him to the parallel street..Oh, btw..that night I picked up as much spent brass as possible..as I did the next morning...and my ears WERE STILL RINGING!!

That night...I had to strain to hear everyone's conversation..my ears were throbbing unbelievably.

Anyway..we walked to the street..Mr. truck get-away took out a commercial properties sign and it's 4x4 posts..there is broken plastic and fluid in the street...oops! He must have heard that 30 rounder, huh?

Sheriff checked all the emergency rooms that night for dogbites...no luck.

They left my house that night, with less than what they brought. I can be assured that I reacted in a calm, cool manner with regards to the use of deadly force. it was for deterrence only. I never endangered the life of my neighbors or family. I used my head and did not over-react. So says the Sheriff...as do my neighbors. My wife got over the intial shock of gunfire and is very thankful it turned out ok. She said she understands why I have guns now [:)]

The AR15 became a valuable ally for my home defense..I'm glad that I got to use it for more than range shooting. It was worth every penny of what I paid. I always felt that I would be able to be responsible and act mindfully if I ever had to use it for protection. I did.

I know that I left out gaps and parts of the story...but, that is the basics of what happened. Now, if there are any terrorist who happen to stray into my neighborhood...look out. I am armed and NAKED!

[b][blue]NAKED[/blue][/b]

So I'm guessing that you pick up all of your .223 brass before the Sheriff got there?

nevermind you just answered my question....

Uh, not the best way to handle this situation. (Rattling off [b]FIFTY[/b] rounds [b]AFTER[/b] the actors fled?) BTW, there is absolutely no way to guarantee that one of your fitty warning shots wouldn't come down and hit some bystander walikng through a "empty" field....

Scott

P.S. Am I the only one who noticed that our nekkid gunman has the screenname "naked gunman"?

I would be a-scared to discharge an AR15 in the PROK. Good one for the Armed Citizen chronicles though.

Scott,

The guy had three choices.

1.  Do not Fire
2.  Shoot the badguys
3.  Fire shots to scare the badguys


Let's say he chose option 1.  The badguys flee but have no fear of returning.  They simply learn to be quieter next time.

If he chose option 2 he is now in jail, his weapons are confiscated, the badguys are dead/dying/wounded and the badguys' families sue him civilly.  He may/may not be found justified but he spends 10's of thousands to defend himself for the next 3-5 years.

Option 3.  Warning shots into an area that is reasonably known to be deserted.  Badguys hurt themselves getting away.  Negihbors are alerted and the badguys won't even THINK about returning.  Not only that but the badguys' buddies will also never again grace the neighborhood with their presence.


I say good job NAKED-GUNMAN!

I also used an ar to scare away badguys once.  Several 30 rounders into the woods behind my house after a prowler shined a laser onto my wife around 11 pm.  Guess what?  No more problems in our neighborhood.

Get ready for the armchair quarterbacks to come out in force to tell you that you "Should never fire a rifle into the air.  You can't be sure the woods were deserted.  You might have hit someone.  You were careless."

Warning shots are almost as effective (and a lot less costly) than killing a prowler.

TheRedGoat

I have to call BS on this one.  And if this is a true story, this is a prime example of what not to do.  If you are going to discharge a firearm, know you target and aim center mass.  God only knows where those rounds went or landed.

Edited to add that if you felt a warning shot was justified, one would have been enough to scare the sh*t out of the bg's.  50 is a bit over the top.

No..I was'nt naked during the chain of events. I was wearing at-shirt and cotton Wilson shorts...blue.

Eglin AFB RESERVATION is about 1,000 square miles of...woods. Not Eglin AFB the base. I guess you'd have to see a map of the area to understand.

D-Scott..I really don't care what you think is the "best way" to handle this situation. That is why we've had neighborhood meetings and discussions. You take of your street, I'll take of mine. Of course it has to be within the law...I was. Why is it..that someone will post an event that deals with use of guns...and nurse ratchet shows up says it was'nt good enough..I post this becuase it wa s an event that happened with an Ar15..that turn out good..and was within the law. So KMA.

[b][blue]NAKED[/blue][/b]

One shot fails to make the impression that 50 will make.  Walk softly and carry a BIG stick, right?

As for "God only knows" it sounds as if Naked also knows where those rounds landed.  

If Naked had fired onto the badguys, I assume he would have also been aiming toward his neighbor's homes.  I would prefer my chances with .223 raining onto woodlands, than spraying through my neighbors back yard.

TheRedGoat

HKer...call my bs..now what? What do you accomplish by...nevermind. I have a pretty good idea of where those rounds went.

You cynical ones...have no idea what it's like if someone breaks into YOUR HOME OR PROPERTY and begins to commit a crime...if you did, you'de probably be lauding me instead of questioning. Whatever..I was doing what I'M LEGALLY ENTITLED TO DO! The Sheriff of my county concurred...do you understand?? Get over yourselves...

[b][blue]NAKED[/blue][/b]

I am not a nurse, BTW. Just pointing out one possible negative outcome to your reaction to the situation. (And I mananged to do it without violating the forum conduct code.) You of course have every right to make your own choices how to react in a situation. However, I think if you post a thread on a discussion forum, expect discussion. And your actions [b]DO[/b] affect us. We are also gun-owners. And we also would have suffered a negative impact if you killed some family out camping in the woods....

(For those who think firing up into the air is harmless, I refer you to the Lee-Metford and Lee-Enfield rifles up to and including the Short Magazine Lee-Enfield Number 1 Mark III. Those volley sights are there for a reason. What goes up, does come down.)

Scott

(EDITED FOR AN EXTRA LETTER)

RedGoat,
I'm not flaming or anything, but was the laser the only thing that this prowler did? So it could have been some idiot 8 year old prankster with a new laser toy?

Naked,
Just curious, but why did you lie about caliber?

Edited to add: What type AR?

Why not shoot the truck??

Also, why lie about the weapon that was used?

I lied about caliber for the report...if I would have said AR15. His Supervisor would probably want to check me out. DOn't know that...but you never know. The black rifle sometimes brings out the worst in people, if you know what I mean. By saying it was .22..what does that mean? It means it could have semi-auto fire with a "common" rifle. Case closed.

The AR is a Bushy shorty...and why did I fire 31 rounds? The first 20 went very quick...I was surprised. After the first 3 pops to the northwest...I aimed north and let her rip. When I ran to the back fence I shot only 11 more shots...and then returned back to the house.

Everything northwest, due north and north east is Eglin reservation...all the way to I-10 about 13 miles away..it's the gunnery range for the C-130's and A-10's...we here burrrrrrrrrps and BOOms..almost every other night from the North.

I'm still amazed at the reaction...I'm a CCW holder..go to the range frequently, belong to 2 gun clubs...and getting the third degree from brother AR owners...weird. My neighbors could'nt have been more appreciative...as was my Sheriff friend. I feel sorry for those who are overly worried about FOLLOWING the law...God forbid if any of us should break any.

[b][blue]NAKED[/blue][/b]

I know what it is like to have someone break into my home and yes, I was laughing at your story.  Thanks for telling it, you made my afternoon.  I think you handled the situation just fine.

you did good, but instead of aiming up, which could cause problems incase of someone who was in the direction you were , and so you dont waist all your ammo, next time shoot to kill.  i dontrecommend spraying.  ofcourse i have never been in that situation before so i may not know what the heck i am talking about.  but, as my dad has taught me, the only time i shoot at someone, it is to kill. not to wound or scare, but to kill!  at least you didnt get hurt.  congrats for you !    


you still did good though!

2AM? is anyone really going to be out in a field at that time? very doubtful. si the possiblity of it hitting a innocent in the field is about as remote as pluto defrosting in 30 seconds.

NG,i agree with your actions to a point,but what alot of people(including LEO)don't know is there is a law on the books in FL that says the only person who can shoot at someone fleeing,who is not shooting at you,is a dept.of corrections officer.so you did get a little break.but i still don't fault you.

It is a cul-de-sac.  Shootin' at the truck means any stray rounds are towards a home.

Dave_Tx,

To shine the laser into my home, through the window that was used means the prowler was on my property.  I live out in the country, and there is no way to shine the laser in without trespassing.

I did NOT assume it was a harmless laser.  Even teachers make enemies.

Simply put, I was concerned for my wife's safety, and it was clearly a justified use of deadly force under Texas Penal Code.

IF I had seen someone, I would have likely killed them.  Firing into the woods was the only option available since I had no other targets.

(BTW, the sweet outcome of my story is the purchase of an Essential Arms preban from the investigating Sheriff's deputy.  [:)] )

TheRedGoat

In the State of Texas if someone is on your property at night, it is assumed their intent is not good and you can s  h  o  o  t them with no problem.  

It's so easy to criticize. Sounds like he had it planned out pretty well, it sounds way more honest than a BOG tale so i'll not scream bullsh*t and anyone who does is probably just envious that you don't have a story to tell. You weren't there you don't know. Those sorry asses probably went home cleaned 10 lbs. of sh*t outta their shorts and cried in each others arms. I don't think i'd have fired 31 rnds. but I wasn't there so I don't know for sure what i'd have done and it's doubtful anyone else does either.

The Sheriff might better haved checked out the local Wal-Mart for someone making an emergency purchase of underwear[:)]

How many of you would've tried to hold them there for the police?  

NG,
Seems like you had the drop on them. I almost expected you to shout something more compelling than "HEY! What are you doing?"

I think you did ok in a stress situation, Nekid. No deaths, scared punks.

Too bad they weren't caught.

-legrue

RedGoat,
I gotcha. I only ask since, when I was pretty young, I shined a laser through a window to scare my neighbors! They were good friends - no guns - and living in a suburban neighborhood. We all thought it was funny as hell.

I would've been very distraught had they rapid fired an AR in my direction, however!

I would of lit the mother fuckers up like a christmas tree.


You did good, you showed the POS's what they deserve for breaking into your abode.  

c-rock

"HEY, what are you doing?" Was a way to identify who they MIGHT be..it could have been someone I knew who would have answered, "hey Naked it's Joe and Eddie..we came by to steal your ski" or something, to tell me that they were bad guys...they ran..that answered the question. Before that even happened...I looked down the street to all the neighbors houses...making sure there was noone out. The neighbors are full aware of what gunshots in the night signify...we've discussed it numerous times.

And yes...warning shots in the air are within the law. Discharging a firearm in the city limits..is another. I am not in the city limits...heck, I could shoot skeet across the other side the parallel road if I had permission.

If the situation arises again...I'm sure that there will some changes to how I react. I might try and find a way to catch them or photograph them or...whatever. I don't believe these 2 cowboys will be coming back any time soon. As a matter of fact...this may have cured the rash of burglaries in the area...so say my Sheriff friend.

I am pleased with the way it has turned out...I have a weapon to deter first. Then if necessary, stop someone from harming me and my family and my property.

I'm sure most of you would probably have a similar take, if the situation and place that occured were the same.

I do love that AR...
[b][blue]NAKED[/blue][/b]

Good analysis [b]RedGoat[/b].

Other than the excessive waste of ammo, sounds like [b]NG[/b] did a very good job of putting the fear of CIVILIANS into those cretins.

VOILA'!! My 300th post! I have'nt been on here in while...eventhough I do like this place...I've learned a wealth of knowledge. And how to properly use the AR15...[:)]

Too bad I could'nt make the BRC...I would have loved to have met all the screen names. as you can see, I'm glad I own the black rifle!

[b][blue]NAKED[/blue][/b]

What was your handgun doing in your car in the garage?

Unless you sleep in your garage a lot, seems like a less than optimal place to put a primary defense weapon.

Not exactly a "textbook" response, but... the bad guys were thwarted and no good guys got hurt, jailed or sued, so huzzah, huzzah! [beer]

NAKED-GUNMAN, I do have a few questions for you:

1) How long is the barrel on your AR?  Do you have a muzzle brake?  (I'm curious about the temporary hearing loss.)

2) When you spotted the two burglars, did you check to see if they had any friends nearby?

3) How concerned were you that the bad guys might shoot back?

From a legal perspective I also agree that the situation was not handled well.

I can't speak for the laws on the use of deadly force in Florida, but in NY, a home owner, in this regard, is NEVER EVER permitted to use deadly force unless there is an actual invasion of the dwelling...one can never use deadly force in an effort to protect personal property alone, for instance, a jet ski.  

The only time the use of deadly force is permitted to protect property is if a felon is fleeing with the property and the victim then uses deadly force to prevent the escape.  

I realise that the victim in this case was not attempting to hit the burglars, but the doctrine on the use of deadly force is relevant because had the victim's fire accidently killed an innocent bystander without him having the "benefit" of rightfully using deadly force, then the victim would be guilty of a quite a serious offense which would most likely not transfer over to the felon under a doctrine of felony murder...this last point is debatable though.

It's quite possible that things are different in FL though...still, you got lucky NAKED...and so did the burglars I might add...

Just my .02