Good points all. Here's the situation. There have been at least 6 break-ins within 5 miles of here over the last 2 weeks. That's only the ones that *I* know of. The news isn't saying anything at all about these break-ins. The sheriff has to cover the entire county from the county seat, located in the center of the county. There is only one small city in the county that has their own police force, and it's tiny. The rest of the county is covered by the sheriff and his handful of deputies. The sheriff seems to be concentrating his deputies in my little community, as you can't go outside for over 20 minutes without seeing a deputy somewhere. It seems that even with good visibility, it's not deterring these thieves.
The houses broken into have ranged from houses on a busy highway only yards from the highway to older houses on dirt roads to housetrailers. ALL have been during the day. At least 3 have been on the same road! Items stole vary, making me wonder if there are at least 2 sets of thieves. Some houses have had air conditioners and lawn mowers stolen, while others (most) have had guns, jewelery, computers, and gaming consoles stolen. I know for sure that 2 of the houses the owners had just left the house and were gone just for an hour or two. All of the houses were visible and have decent traffic going by all the time!
For the first time in my life, I'm in fear of leaving my home for it being broken into when I'm not here. I have a good gun safe and everything I have is well documented off-site (serial numbers and such). I have a 12 gauge and know how to use it well. If I'm here and someone starts kicking in my door, they will be shot. Charlie Ross implemented the "Castle Doctrine" in Mississippi which gives me the right to use DEADLY force to protect me, my home, AND my property including my vehicles down to my lawnmower. No questions asked, no going to court. It's a good law. Mississippi isn't Texas, but we have gotten much better over the last few years.
Just this week a large, full size green van was spotted in our community with Alabama license plates. It was filled with males of various races with a white young girl. The van stopped at several of my neighbors' houses and the girl would get out, claiming to be selling Kirby vacuum cleaners. The law was called out and with a call to Kirby Vacuum Cleaners it was discovered that no one was selling their vacuums in our area. Once again it makes me wonder if their aren't multiple sets of thieves at work here.
I live in a housetrailer with no carport or garage. I'd rather not even say on this forum any more than that. Who knows who reads the posts here? It's that bad. I tell you, I'm about ready to put up a gate on my driveway or at least cut down a cedar tree and drag it across my driveway every time I leave home. My wife wouldn't like that very much though!
These thieves are everywhere and it's getting worse.
