What steps should widows living alone take for protection?

There are higher priority hazards than the very unlikely human home invasion.

Falling can be very serious. Bites from rabid raccoons or bats. Untreated minor wounds that become badly infected. Heart attack from overexertion. Burns from scalding water or oils. Injuries from accidents with home appliances or lawn and garden tools. Medication overdoses. The list goes on and on.

Don't cower worrying about scumbag attacks. Turn off the network fear porn shows and put reality back into perspective. You could always avoid prancing into danger too. Stay out of dark parking lots and alleys alone. Keep the gasoline tank filled. Don't pose an easy target.
 
A nice smaller, lighter weight is a Sig Sauer P938. It has the red dot sight, is 9mm and easy to carry concealed. It won't break the bank is reliable enough that the Secre Service use it. FBI still carry Glocks.

I have one and feel very safe with it. It will get the job done for sure.
 

I'm highly amused at myself right now.

I've been sitting in my front room, absorbed by my laptop.

Yesterday was a scorcher, but today we have relief with a strong southerly cooling everything down. I had left the front door wide open to allow fresh air to blow through the house. I heard a noise but thought it to be just a small branch falling from one of the trees and kept on clacking away.

When my granddaughter arose she noticed a parcel just inside the front door.

It had been thrown through the open front door by a delivery man and explained the sound of something falling.

Who needs a glock in Australia when we don't even keep the front door shut?
 
CooCooforCoCoPuffs said:
You sound like me as I use guns for protection as my dog(s) passed a while back, and I was raised hunting and on a farm part of my life and on farms and ranches guns are just very normal for various uses.

I think alarm systems are 1) too complex and expensive; has to be installed and maintained; 2) just seeing someone creeping around the outside of MY home sets my heart racing, and I've had to call the police before, and that is worthless; not offense to the police, but they have work loads and priorities and you or I may not be the #1 priority over that four care pileup and they won't get to you for 45 minutes! 3) A camera/alarm setup is JUST warning, NOT protection - even if it does call the police for you, what is the priority order of their calls that busy Friday night at 11pm.

I don't want to scare anyone but: my grandmother was raped in her home, after grandpa died. She was 81. She was half deaf, wasn't wearing her hearing aides and didn't hear him come in the back window. After that, she owned a doberman guard dog my Dad bought and trained for her.

Burglars are 98% men, rapists are 100% men to my knowledge. There is only THREE things they are there in your space for: something they can steal and sell; looking for drugs; a sadistic rapist looking for a victim - they do not care your age.

You do not know why they are there, so assume it is rape, when alone in your home; you need to THINK that, it will make you more brave at the moment and keep you safe in court.

I always think I must shoot to take out the threat of physical rape; it is personal; and it gives me determination.

As for me, IF my DH died, and I was then living alone, I would keep my gun bedside which I already have, AND train myself a good guard dog or have someone train (him) for you. Male dogs (such as golden retrievers, doberman, German Shepperd, Malanois, Vizulas are are uber protective of women who love them and they feed off your emotions and seem to know exactly what you are thinking. I love training dogs, as my father did.

My DH is a firearms instructor and has many young women as well as much older women in his classes on a steady basis these days.
I often help him at the range and ladies sometimes relate to me more than him on the range when I help them with the fear of the gun "just going off" on them. I teach them that it isn't just going to go off...you do have control of it once you learn to love shooting. It gives you a sense you CAN handle a nasty situation, it gives you "muscle" power equal to a man or even better, to protect YOU or loved ones.

Loved ones: ALWAYS, if children are near, have the gun in a locked finger ID bedside case. Your fingers know the keys, to code in a code; the kids don't figure it out.

The only other thing I recommend is that you use a REVOLVER and not a semi-auto with a magazine clip, like a 1911.
This is because as both men and women age, our hands weaken for whatever reasons. A revolver is just a trigger pull, and so MUCH simpler to load, etc and think about in an emergency situation.

You just pull the trigger; in an auto there is at least ONE step before you can get the trigger to work (take off the safety - which isn't easy on a woman's older hands on many semi- auto guns).

Another thing that rarely happens with a revolver is they don't jam easily. Semi-autos do at times jam and a woman's hands and a novice has to remember several steps before you can figure out and UNJAM a semi-auto before then be able to do the most important steps: aim well and pull the trigger You don't want a jam in a shoot to protect situation.

Agree with someone else on here that when you get the gun: use it at least once a week or every other week until you feel comfortable. It can be less dangerous than using a car when you get used to it and know the gun.

It takes more time to feel comfortable behind a gun due to: hysteria stories from the "we need more laws" groups.

IMO: We need more accurate knowledge and less hysteria + less violent video games twisting half formed male brains.



Depends if they are singing off key.
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A Malinois is a lifestyle not a dog and not a dog for an elderly.
You can have a machine gun, see Form 4.
 
dilettante said:
There are higher priority hazards than the very unlikely human home invasion.

Falling can be very serious.
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I think a system where you can talk to you r door knocker/ see them before you open the door is a good idea - or have a locked screen door which you can unopen after opening the main door and seeing who it is

But I do agree on protecting yourself from falls and other medical emergencies by having a personal alarm - some of them can detect when you fall and automatically ring for help.
 
birdy said:
I agree. Lights are very important.
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Lights may be a deterrent to crime, but to me they feel like an invitation to intruders.
"Hello, here I am, open to murder and mayhem, come on in, let's party."
I just keep a porchlight on, and when I really want to be left alone, I turn that off --and worry that someone will break their neck.
 
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I’ve lived alone for most of my adult life and never had a problem that I didn’t bring to my own front door.

I would take a few common sense precautions and not overthink it.

If someone is intent on getting in they will break a window.

My problem with weapons is that there is a strong possibility that someone could overpower me and turn a simple burglary into something much worse.
 
Sunny said:
What if the people knocking on your door are good-natured carolers, trying to share the joy of the season? Should they be greeted with a gun?
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I can’t believe this subject is such big hairy controversy.

Good natured carolers would never be dumb enough to climb over my gate.

I live on a 1-1/2 lane road. I have a locked gate and this entire 25 acres was once part of a 100 acre farm, therefore entirely fenced in some sort fence. If someone shows up at my door that means they climbed over the gate or thru the fence along the road. If it doesn’t happen to be one of my neighbors, they might find themselves leaving in an ambulance because I was raised in a hunting family and I am still a good shot.

I also have two dogs who weigh 140 pounds together. They will let someone on the house if I say “it’s ok”, otherwise someone might lose their family jewels.

Annnnnd since a day not too long ago, I was approached by a panhandler at a Kroger gas pump, I now carry pepper spray. .
 
gruntlabor said:
Most terriers are pint-size tigers, love to strut their stuff. Any intruders/suspicious characters make their day.
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How funny you should say that, My 20 lb terrier is always willing to go at the big dog. It is normally at meal time, all he can get is a big mouthful of hair from the chows lion mane. The chow never fights back, like he is standing there laughing.
 
dilettante said:
There are higher priority hazards than the very unlikely human home invasion.

Falling can be very serious. Bites from rabid raccoons or bats. Untreated minor wounds that become badly infected. Heart attack from overexertion. Burns from scalding water or oils. Injuries from accidents with home appliances or lawn and garden tools. Medication overdoses. The list goes on and on.

Don't cower worrying about scumbag attacks. Turn off the network fear porn shows and put reality back into perspective. You could always avoid prancing into danger too. Stay out of dark parking lots and alleys alone. Keep the gasoline tank filled. Don't pose an easy target.
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Most of the bad stuff happens at night.
 
I'm not a widow but I have lived on my own for several years and I have a small apartment(and I mean SMALL)but the building I live in I can afford so that means there are a few unsavory people in my building.I have nimi cams in my bedroom and living room facing the door that enters my apartment.I get alerts on my phone when I'm out thankfully only once was I alerted but it was maintenance.So I feel safer knowing what if anything is happening at my place.
 
There's something you should consider when you get super strength door locks, and window locks. I found out the hard way that EMS doesn't have the key. If you're lying on the floor in the kitchen, you can't unlock the front door. There are "lock boxes" some use. Personally, I figured I might outlive a robber in my home, but I'd rather have emergency responders inside my house taking care of my heart attack rather than outside trying to get in.
 
dusty said:
There are lots of ways to get into a house if the perp really wants to. I once got into a house via a window that was 6' above me with the help of another EMS. I stood on his bask and luckilythe window was unlocked. Got in and found a 14 yr old girl screaming. She was giving birth snd the baby was crowning...
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It was sad indeed. We got her into the ambulance and headed for the hospital. I learned later that she (and her mother) kept the baby girl.
 

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