How do you deal with the fear of having your gear stolen?

[gsgary]

Using a gun is a bad idea. There is a 50/50 they have one also, and if you're getting jumped then your assailant already has the upper hand.

Unlike many of the guys here who play rambo in their suburban daydreams at the rifle range, I actually do live in a not so great neighborhood - not the worst neighborhood, but not the best either.


At first I really worried about getting jumped, not so much the camera but I really don't like getting beaten. But after a while, you just have to deal with it and realize that there is no point in owning a nice camera if you don't ever use it. I've found myself in a couple situations, and it really sucks to feel like you're being preyed upon, but you just deal with it, stay conscious of what's going on and always have an escape plan when you're in an isolated urban location. People are by far your best defense - way better than a handgun - and if you're in a sticky situation it's best to just move into a more public area.

Instead of using a gun, which is a TERRIBLE idea - the liability alone is tremendous - I'd suggest owning pepper spray or a taser. You could even attach a mace canister to your camera strap if you know you're going to be in a less public area.

Obviously unless you're doing a documentary on the subject, there is no reason to flounce your camera around in a neighborhood which you might not be welcome. Just use common sense, stay around people and if you find yourself in an isolated location always have some way to get back into the public.

Can't use anything over here, you can even get in trouble for beating someone up robbing your home from experience, but the police said he must have fallen down the stairs and broke his arm because they didn't see me stamp on it, my partner was in a panic because she works for the police

 

[jamesbjenkins]

i would be interested to know how many of you gun toting chest thumpers HAVE actually KILLED another human being?

it's all great to go to the range and practice to your hearts content.
it's all great to have your ccw permit.
it's all great to know you have the right to defend yourself and your property.
it's all great to know that when the need arises you will faithful pull your sidearm, and stop the assailant, killing him with your first shot that will be placed firmly between the eyes and the second shot that will be placed firmly in the center of the heart..


now.... how many of you HAVE been in this position.

how many of you HAVE taken a human life?


i am not anti-gun or anti-gun laws. i am pro gun, pro choice, blah blah bliggity blah...

i have my faithful m1911a1
i have my faithful m4gery (reconfigured ar-15)

i HAVE killed people. and it's not something i boast about or thump my chest about. and it is certainly not something i take lightly.

nor is it something that is my first thought when thinking about defense of myself or my property.

i value human life. but i also believe some people just deserve to die. when they choose to put themselves in certain situations.

however, as someone who has taken life, i know what it does to you, so it's not my first course of thought.


i do find the urban rambos to be quite humorous though.

While I'd never refer to myself as a chest-thumper, I have been forced to draw my concealed weapon once. I don't think there's anything glamorous or cool about looking someone in the eyes with your gun pointed at him, knowing that you can end his life with 3.1 lbs of pressure from your index finger.

Now, am I bragging on my great state of Texas that we have a bunch of laws here that protect victims and concealed weapon carriers from bad guys, lawyers and liberals? You betcha. Do you think that may have something to do with why Texas issues more than 22,000 new CCW permits every month, and why better than 1 in 20 adults have a permit? Yeah, me too.

Now, how about we get back to the thread and talk about photography...

 

[Netskimmer]

Now, how about we get back to the thread and talk about photography...

Good luck with that, I tried too get this thread back on it's rails about 5 pages ago.

 

[Flyer]

Simply because states with higher gun control have higher murder rates does not indicate a causal relationship to homicide rate. Find me the statistic that indicates that gun violence increased after gun laws were enacted. These laws are in response to problems, no matter how misguided a solution.

I watch the Shreveport news because that's how close I live to the state line. They announced just last week that the murder rate was the lowest in 2011 than many years past, a notable amount as memory serves, but I try not to rely much on my memory.

i'm glad i don't live in Texas. There is no way that this situation meets any measure of self defense, of one's property or otherwise.

Snipping quotes takes out the part about the Joe fella that shot his neighboors robber while they were out of town ...

How is that not a situation of defending ones property? His neighboors belongings were in this robbers poessesion when he got shot. It doesn't get any more clear as theft than that.

The issue wasn't rather or not it was a legal shoot or not, but rather or not he had the authority to be shooting someone on behalf of his neighboor (again relying on my memory).

Joe Horn was his name I believe.

@naptime: I have never had to draw my weapon on a 2 legged foe and I pray that I never ever have to. I don't pretend to be big and bad and I don't carry myself as such. I do everything in my ability to avoid situations like such, but I am very pleased that the laws of my great state of TX allow me to defend myself when and if needed.

 

[Sw1tchFX]

I carry. Stealing my stuff will cause lead poisoning. Problem solved.

God that's just retarded.

YES. GREAT IDEA. LET'S ESCALATE A BAD SITUATION INTO A CATASTROPHIC SITUATION.

 

[naptime]

i would be interested to know how many of you gun toting chest thumpers HAVE actually KILLED another human being?
........

I would like to know how many anti-gun chest thumpers have been shot at.

i have. in war, and here stateside.


i would like to know how many here have been shot..

i'll go ahead and raise my hand now too.

 

[480sparky]

........i'll go ahead and raise my hand now too.

I'll raise mine next.

 

[naptime]

@naptime: I have never had to draw my weapon on a 2 legged foe and I pray that I never ever have to. I don't pretend to be big and bad and I don't carry myself as such. I do everything in my ability to avoid situations like such, but I am very pleased that the laws of my great state of TX allow me to defend myself when and if needed.

that's what i am getting at.

i believe in one's right to protect themselves, and i am pro-weapon.

but i makes me laugh when someone says "how to i protect my camera gear when out and about" and the answer is pages of guys showing off their handguns, and boasting how the would be robbers would never see the light of day again because they would shoot and kill them dead in their tracks.

i have never had to shoot anyone here in the u.s. and i hope i never have to.

but, if presented with choice, i know what choice i would make.

and i feel qualified to make the choice to take a human life, because i have done so in the past.

though, even with that experience... to take a life because someone is trying to steal your camera......

that's a far cry from someone invading my home, or an enemy shooting back at me in war torn streets.

 

[Netskimmer]

I think the first gun post wast mostly in jest. Your analogy assumes we know that all the mugger wants is our gear and not our lives. If the mugger just jumps me and I find myself under physical attack then he wants more that my gear. If he approaches me with a gun and tells me to hand over my camera I will do so without hesitation and let him go. If he grabs it purse snatcher style and is in retreat before I have time to respond I wouldn't go running after him guns blazing. If he walked up to me with a knife or bat and demanded my gear I *might* pull on him if he's far enough away or I might not, there are just too many variables to say what we would or wounldn't do or whether or not those actions would be justified.

 

[unpopular]

Joe Horn was his name I believe.

Horn absolutely had the right to bear arms in defense of his or his neighbor's property. He would have had the right to fire a warning shot. If the robber had charged at him, he would have had the right to shoot to kill. In this case the robber was fleeing and were unarmed. They posed no threat to anyone's life or property, and certainly not his own.

I'm not even sure that would be legal in wartime.

 

[xj0hnx]

Joe Horn was his name I believe.

Horn absolutely had the right to bear arms in defense of his or his neighbor's property. He would have had the right to fire a warning shot. If the robber had charged at him, he would have had the right to shoot to kill. In this case the robber was fleeing and were unarmed. They posed no threat to anyone's life or property, and certainly not his own.

I'm not even sure that would be legal in wartime.

Sec. 9.32. DEADLY FORCE IN DEFENSE OF PERSON. (a) A person is justified in using deadly force against another:
(1) if the actor [he] would be justified in using force against the other under Section 9.31; and
(2) [if a reasonable person in the actor's situation would not have retreated; and
[(3)] when and to the degree the actor [he] reasonably believes the deadly force is immediately necessary:
(A) to protect the actor [himself] against the other’s use or attempted use of unlawful deadly force; or
(B) to prevent the other’s imminent commission of aggravated kidnapping, murder, sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, robbery, or aggravated robbery.

It's actually written into the law here. On another note, I hadn't even heard this part ...

A plain clothes police detective responding to the 9-1-1 call arrived at the scene before the shooting, and witnessed the escalation and shootings while remaining in his car.[SUP][3][/SUP] His report on the incident indicated that the men who were killed "received gunfire from the rear".[SUP][1][/SUP] Police Capt. A.H. Corbett stated the two men ignored Mr. Horn's order to freeze and that one of the suspects ran towards Joe Horn before angling away from Horn toward the street when the suspect was shot in the back. The medical examiner's report could not specify whether they were shot in the back due to the ballistics of the shotgun wound.[SUP][7][/SUP] Pasadena police confirmed that the two men were shot after they ventured into Horn's front yard. The detective did not arrest Horn.

He was cleared by a Grand Jury, but I don't really agree with how he handled it. If there was a cop there, he should have let them go, and they would have been immediately arrested. Then again, both of them were illegals with careers as criminals, so I don't feel sad they are gone. I am very curious why the cop just sat in his car and watched as this situation escalated.

 

[unpopular]

Ok. well, then I stand corrected. It seems this is yet another incident where the media has warped the facts to make a more compelling story.

 

[RebeccaAPhotography]

Yet there's plenty of doped-up scumbags out there who are more than willing to kill me for a camera.

Doesn't mean it's right.

 

[o hey tyler]

I haven't read the firt 4 pages (at a 30 post per page view).

I first noticed that this thread started yesterday... And that there were 5 pages to the thread already. Before clicking on page 5, I briefly pondered what issue could be plaguing this thread, that had probably also derailed it to the point where a lock is imminent.

The reason that I only briefly pondered, was because it popped into my head... "Must be a gun issue."

I was right.

 

[480sparky]

Yet there's plenty of doped-up scumbags out there who are more than willing to kill me for a camera.

Doesn't mean it's right.

Never said it was. But if I'm forced to make the choice, you can bet your sweet bippy who I'm gonna root for.