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This goes to show you're never really safe.Two days ago I came home from work and my two roommates Julius and Claire were sitting on the couch and Julius goes "we need to talk" so I'm thinking I did something wrong. Well what happened was at around 7:00pm Claire had come home and was down by the garage when a man approached her and introduced himself. Well Claire thought it was another tenant just saying "hi". The next thing that happens is the man ended up robbing Claire at gunpoint and he took her bag and keys. Then a woman (his accomplice) comes out and they both hop into Julius' car and take off.Claire immediately notified the police and she called the bank, DMV, Verizon wireless, etc to let them know that her credit cards were stolen.Word got out around the complex of the incident and it even made it into the local newspaper the next day.Well for the past two days Julius and Claire have been on the phone trying to track down their car. According to the bank, the robbers attempted to use the credit cards but because Claire took immediate action they weren't able to use them. It helped the police find out what area of CA they were in. Yesterday they got a call from the insurance company saying the car has been recovered in Oceanside (which is north of San Diego) and pretty much all of Julius' belongings were gone including a $5,000 stereo/sound system and another $3,000 worth of tools. Claire's bag was nowhere to be found.So for the past two days my roommates have been staying at Claire's parents house because they are scared to be at the apartment since the robbers have our address. Now I'm wondering if I should even be staying there! Who's to say they won't break into the apartment next?Julius is going to get the firearms he has in storage and start keeping them in the apartment and he said that we might want to get a gun for protection. I'm not really one who favors guns in the house. I think I'll stick to mace and start carrying a knife in my bag. I would have never thought something like this would happen to us since we live in a nicer (not to mention higher priced) area of San Diego. We even have roving security but obviously they weren't doing their job. Now I'm really careful about going anywhere around the complex alone. I just want everyone out there to be more vigilant about your surroundings and to be careful!

Well thinking like a robber... if I was to rob someone, try and use their cards and find out those were already canceled, and then I ditched the car, stripped it and took off knowing by now the police were looking for me (you mentioned it was on the news) the LAST place I would return to would be the scene of the crime. But thats just me and I'm not a criminal so I can't think anything but logic I doubt they would make a comeback tour even if they have the keys. All you need to do though is simply get the locks changed.

Im really sorry to hear about that!! how terribly scarry !!!PLEASE CHANGE YOUR LOCKS!!! ASAP!!! even if they dont come back they could give the keys off to someone who could come back!!!

that's what i like about VA. you don't need a special permit to carry a gun in plain sight. it's not difficult to get a conseal weapon's permit neither. i don't advocate violence, but if i'm going down, i'm bring the a-hole down with me.

mcgusto-- how hard is it to get a concealed weapons permit in VA?? especially for military?? i know here in NC all i have to do is get my Commanding Officers signature on a piece of paper and bam i have one but i just can't carry concealed on post.

Mavrik and zionzr2 thanks for your input on changing the door locks!I'm sitting here going "oh my gosh I didn't even think of that!" I've never been robbed myself so I wasn't even thinking about it. Will definitely let my roommates know when I get home!

Quote, originally posted by joholste »mcgusto-- how hard is it to get a concealed weapons permit in VA?? especially for military?? i know here in NC all i have to do is get my Commanding Officers signature on a piece of paper and bam i have one but i just can't carry concealed on post. not going thru the militaryas i'm not in anymore. take a class, fill a form with proper id. i think that's it. in VA ther's a old law. as long as you bought the gun legaly, you can carry a gun in a holster. as long as it's in plain view.

uh oh watch out i'm gonna be packing some pop gun heat;) no really though i am considering buying that .45 desert eagle i would like that greatly

i'll make sure when i'm in SC, and i see a white two tone vibe, to mind my own business.

Quote, originally posted by mcgusto82 »i'll make sure when i'm in SC, and i see a white two tone vibe, to mind my own business. You might want to be careful in VA starting Jan 2006 ... that is when joholste moves to the DC area!http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=19471

ha ha ha... naw you'll get good treatment, any vibe will as long as they don't cut me off if they do that they might just get a CRASH course on how to drive with a flat *pun intended* honestly though don't worry i haven't shot an american yet

i agree on the changing the locks. Might be cheaper to get a locksmith to rekey them, or just replace them.Quote, originally posted by Jaycie685 » I think I'll stick to mace and start carrying a knife in my bag. If you are going to carry a weapon for self defense, then you need to know how to use it well and also have the commitment to use it on a human.

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »If you are going to carry a weapon for self defense, then you need to know how to use it well and also have the commitment to use it on a human.I totally agree.. a knife is a much more personable kill and being a natural human being like i'm sure you are jaycie, it is not easy to kill another human being... a knife is even harder to do because of 2 reasons one it is very difficult to kill someone with a knife mainly because our main and most important organs are protected by our rib cage. and two when us normal human beings see blood we most likely will stop. If you are going to use a knife you need to know where the kill or true stopping points to hit are, such as the femoral artery, or take a shot at trying to stab from the shoulder down into the heart... if you don't stop your attacker a knife stab will just (removed) him off.... don't get a dinky-little knife either it needs to have atleast 6 inch blade if not 8. when i deploy i carry a 10 inch knife that i strapt to my calf. but i would rather have a pistol or revolver. I don't know how much gun you could probably handle, but i would seriously suggest a .38 or .40 as i said it's a whole lot easier to pull a trigger than it is to stab some one.

On the same subject though - you need to recognize when you're in a losing situation and just give the bad guy the car keys and purse.As for home defense - anything goes.Glad Claire is okay - sucks she's afraid to return home.

Quote, originally posted by joholste »uh oh watch out i'm gonna be packing some pop gun heat;) no really though i am considering buying that .45 desert eagle i would like that greatlyIf you are looking to "carry" the weapon you would be best going with a single stack magazine style. They are more slender than a double stack and much easier to conceal. I am 6'4" and 220 LBS and with my shoulder holster on i need a heavy coat to hide the fact I am carrying my S&W model 910 9mm. On the other hand if a holster my buddy's 1911 it has a much smaller footprint.

seeing that the topic has turn to gun self defense. we forgot to point out a very important factor. PRACTICE. GOOD gun control comes with shooting practice. hitting the range once a month to keep your skills sharp is a must. 1. you'd look like a fool if you still get robbed carrying a gun.2. you don't want to hurt someone because you missed.3. i don't know about all states, but if you shoot and don't kill, the robber can turn and sue for malicious wounding (depending where you shoot them). if you're going to shoot, shoot to kill.

for more home safety tipsIt takes a Theif! TV show on discovery channel. VERY educational!!

Quote, originally posted by Toolman »If you are looking to "carry" the weapon you would be best going with a single stack magazine style. They are more slender than a double stack and much easier to conceal. I am 6'4" and 220 LBS and with my shoulder holster on i need a heavy coat to hide the fact I am carrying my S&W model 910 9mm. On the other hand if a holster my buddy's 1911 it has a much smaller footprint.another point that can be made is to use a revolver instead of a pistol because on a slide action pistol it will not fire if pressed into someone and the slide is just slightly back. a revolver will always fire. this really has almost turned into a self defense 1 oh 1 hasn't it mcgusto?

Jaycie, glad to hear everyone was safe. What part of San Diego do you live in? I'm seriously considering moving out there next summer, but am really debating it. The biggest factors will be what kind of job I am offered out there and where I will be finding a place to live in relation to the job.