Boondocking safety-Are you armed?

doc brown wrote:
I refuse to be a victim.

No matter how many guns you carry, the choice is usually NOT yours.
The first bullet out of the barrel often wins.

And every time you pull the trigger there is a chance that you will end up being a criminal and not the victim.

memtb wrote:
While admittedly rare, boondockers are sometimes victims of violent crime. Several years ago, 2 escaped convicts murdered an elderly couple that were boondocking ( in Arizona I think). One of the escapees was captured about in Meteetsee, about 50 miles from our home. Had they been armed and cautious, maybe they would have survived....maybe not!

If one cares to do an internet search...campers do become victims! Yes it is rare, but....!

I believe that was New Mexico: https://www.inquisitr.com/3335201/linda-........ase-subject-of-passport-to-murder-on-id/

LS

Thanks, toedtoes!

I do want to add that this has been a nice civil conversation from both sides and I have enjoyed it and found the varying viewpoints of interest. It won't change my mind about not having a gun, but I have respect for those of you that do and have posted here with your experiences.

We boondock so far in on back roads it is highly unlikely anyone will stumble upon us, whether looking for victims or not. Typically, we do not see or hear another vehicle or person for days at a time.

Yes, we are armed anyway. It is like always wearing a seatbelt or having a first aid kit handy. I do not plan to have an accident, and take every effort to avoid one, but I cannot foresee the future and am prepared just in case the unlikely happens.

LenSatic wrote:

toedtoes wrote:

doc brown wrote:
Sweet! Eight pages and we are still on. Interesting, the antgunners will never convince the progunners and visa versa. I carry whether you like it or not, you'll never know I have one but you better pray that when you are in a really bad situation someone is nearby and willing to help. Help could involve a firearm, not necessarily. But if a firearm is required you'll be thankful the armed citizen was willing to help. No law says he has to. As my neighbor in my sticks and bricks neighborhood who knows I carry and knows my house is stocked well asked, "if I'm in trouble over here will you come and help?" My answer, "I'd call 911" , but he says "that will take about 10 minutes for the police to arrive", "sorry why don't you get a weapon for your families safety", " no way I would never own a gun". There you go, I hear that quite often. I refuse to be a victim.

I protect myself. I do not depend on a stranger carrying to keep me safe. Likewise, I don't expect an armed neighbor to come to my rescue. I take precautions as I see fit, not as others dictate.

I am willing to accept the "risk" of not having a gun. I refuse to be a victim too. I just don't believe I need a gun for that.

I believe that was New Mexico: https://www.inquisitr.com/3335201/linda-haas-gary-haas-retired-couples-charred-bodies-found-dead-in-burned-out-trailer-on-new-mexico-ranch-killed-by-inmate-john-mccluskey-case-subject-of-passport-to-murder-on-id/

LS

I think you quoted the wrong post.

Interesting article. If you read below it says the daughter of the victims was shot and killed by her husband in front of their son.

Ooops. Thanks, toedtoes!

LS

doc brown wrote:
Sweet! Eight pages and we are still on. Interesting, the antgunners will never convince the progunners and visa versa. I carry whether you like it or not, you'll never know I have one but you better pray that when you are in a really bad situation someone is nearby and willing to help. Help could involve a firearm, not necessarily. But if a firearm is required you'll be thankful the armed citizen was willing to help. No law says he has to. As my neighbor in my sticks and bricks neighborhood who knows I carry and knows my house is stocked well asked, "if I'm in trouble over here will you come and help?" My answer, "I'd call 911" , but he says "that will take about 10 minutes for the police to arrive", "sorry why don't you get a weapon for your families safety", " no way I would never own a gun". There you go, I hear that quite often. I refuse to be a victim.

I protect myself. I do not depend on a stranger carrying to keep me safe. Likewise, I don't expect an armed neighbor to come to my rescue. I take precautions as I see fit, not as others dictate.

I am willing to accept the "risk" of not having a gun. I refuse to be a victim too. I just don't believe I need a gun for that.

While admittedly rare, boondockers are sometimes victims of violent crime. Several years ago, 2 escaped convicts murdered an elderly couple that were boondocking ( in Arizona I think). One of the escapees was captured about in Meteetsee, about 50 miles from our home. Had they been armed and cautious, maybe they would have survived....maybe not!

If one cares to do an internet search...campers do become victims! Yes it is rare, but....!

pianotuna wrote:
What has this got to do with boondocking?

LenSatic wrote:
I spent 3 years in the US Army Infantry during the Viet Nam war . . . and never fired my weapon except at the range. But I never want to be in the position Suzanna Hupp found herself in:

Hupp and her parents were having lunch at the Luby's Cafeteria in Killeen in 1991 when a mass shooting took place. The gunman, George Hennard, shot 44 people in all, killing 24 of them, including himself. The fatally wounded included both of Hupp's parents. Hupp later expressed regret about deciding to remove her gun from her purse and lock it in her car, lest she risk possibly running afoul of the state's concealed weapons laws; during the shootings, she reached for her weapon but then remembered that it was "a hundred feet away in my car." Her father, Al Gratia, feeling he "needed to do something", tried to rush the gunman and was fatally shot in the chest instead. Hupp, eventually seeing an escape through a broken window (broken by the shoulder of another fleeing victim), grabbed her mother by the shirt telling her "Come on, we have to go now!" As Hupp moved toward the only escape, she believed her mother to be following her, only to find out later that Ursula had also been killed.

LS

Besides everything? :?

We don't have a Star Trek teleporter to get where we are going to boondock. We often stay in truck stops and Walmart parking lots and drive through sketchy areas of cities.

Actually, where we live now, we used to boondock before we built the house. It's near a river that illegals and drug smugglers use to "handhold" as they enter the country after crossing the border 14 miles away. Calling 911 does no good here, then or now.

LS

pianotuna wrote:
The USA has a problem with guns. I don't know the solution--but what is being done now certainly is NOT working.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/14/upshot/compare-these-gun-death-rates-the-us-is-in-a-different-world.html

A scatter graph of the over 45,000 incidents (so far in 2017) including over 11000 deaths.



Something to take away from the graph is that the farther you are from a high population density--the safer it appears to be. That's what boondocking is all about, yes?

I would guess 95% involves illegal guns and drugs.