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mine’s a blue (32 lb stumpy tail QBH) and my neighbors who just moved down from the States brought their ACD with them, so we have two in the hood now. nothing moves, flies, creeps, slithers, breathes, or rustles without my dog charging for the door ready to do damage. i’m his job and he is very serious about it all. but he’s definitely a Lithium candidate. woe be to the ladron who dares to try and enter my house. he’ll be sorry!!
I think a lot of people are not aware of some basic security items that they should have in the house to keep them safe. Since I have worked in the U.S. Embassy and have had to follow the rules of the DoS for security items before moving into a home I have learned a lot. At first when I had to abide by them I thought they were crazy but I know that the safety items do work. One item is creating a safe haven, it is very simple but works incredible. All you have to do is put a hard wood door with bolt locks on the inside with a peep hole.
In our case our rottie and black lab helps too!:)
Wow Maravilla, there are so many things I want to respond too in your posts about guns and about security in general but in the end it won’t change your mind so I’ll bite my tongue. (Or my typing fingers?)
I will say this however; you need to be able to take care of yourself and have the tools necessary to do so. Whether or not that includes a firearm is up to you.
Relying on your neighbors to wake up, have their wits about them and to come running in the middle of the night to save your microwave against possible armed criminals is absurd.
Did you not read about what happened when a gringo stood up against ladrones just last month? One word… CIMA
Security is about multiple and overlapping layers. My advice is to talk to a security expert about reasonable ways to protect yourself sans firearms and to implement those stratagies for both you and your neighbors.
Letting the criminals come in and “dealing with the consequences” are fine when they just want your toaster. But [i]you are a single woman living alone[/i]. Think of the implications of that statement for a moment.
The consequences can be more devastating than you think.
i have nothing they want to steal. the only thing they got out of my house last time was 20 lbs of rice and beans and pasta i had stashed, plus my CD’s (i was sorry to lose those) and a non-functioning $50 stereo (i was actually glad they stole it), and i replaced it with an even cheaper item ($28 at Wal-Mart). i refuse to live with this paranoia. by the time they would get into my house there would be so much noise from the dogs in my house and my hood that surely someone would respond. nobody in my neighborhood has a gun except for the guard. i didn’t own a gun in NYC (where i’d been robbed at gunpoint), and i didn’t own a gun in NJ (where my house was also burgled). the local police patrol our hood several times a night, the guard strolls around, and nothing has happened here in 18 months, and nothing had happened here in the previous 4 years except for some petty theft by construction guys. my neighbors houses are all less than 25 meters away. except for my laptop, i don’t own any appliances they are going to run off with, and they sure aren’t going to steal the Waterford. i didn’t move here to live in fear. call me naive, but that is how i choose to live my life. my neighbors are a better target than me — they have multiple computers, multiple flat-screens, every manner of appliance. and even if i could own a gun, i wouldn’t, no matter where i lived, and i’ve lived in more crime-ridden areas (such as the Bahamas) than the campo of costa rica.
The problems is that the [i]ladrones[/i] could be from out of your area, and not know that ‘you have nothing worth stealing’ but think you may have your ‘valuables’ hidden…
The other problem is they might not just be ladrones and my point about you being a single woman living alone seems to be lost in translation…
Like I said, I could dissect your posts one by one and address the falsehoods by why bother. You keep reiterating the same ‘stuff’ over and over and there is no changing your mind.
Good luck to you and Pura Vida.
BTW – Having knowledge, awareness, prior planning and taking precautions is not paranoia.
Likewise walking around with blinders on, making excuses and using deference is not paranoia either.
However, I’d gladly take the former over the latter.
/so what do you suggest i do? i could have a steel door installed in the hallway to the bedrooms; that way i would be barricaded in. i also have bedroom doors with latches on the insid, but i don’t sleep with the doors closed. i have lived in enough places in the world to be very aware of my surroundings. there is only one road in and out of our hood, so even if they were traveling on foot, they wouldn’t get very far before the guard shot them (his guard house is 25 meters from my house). i have inside dogs. one would cause so much noise that anyone trying to get in would be deterred. short of getting a gun, which i won’t do, how would i protect myself? call me the old hippie that i am, but i believe if you live in fear you attract that which you fear, and i’m not going there. as for hidden valuables, they didn’t find them the last time because of all the hiding places i had built in. crime happens everywhere. i would be more fearful living in Denver!
Obviously, having the guard house near will offer protection, over night, but robberies are often done during daylight hours…
Keep safe.Weapons, especially firearms, will always be a source of contention within all communities (with the exception of survivalists perhaps). I have been on both sides of this fence and conclude that although I can voice my beliefs, I cannot force them upon others. I observe passion on both sides and the many valid concerns of each. I learned very early about weapons, their uses, and the multilevel damage that can be inflicted, especially in the wrong hands. I have also learned that they can be extremely useful and often don’t need to be fired to achieve that purpose. That said; should an individual choose to own/keep a firearm, they should also own the responsibility/accountability attached.
Life and living is never simply about one individual. It’s about the individual and ALL living things that live in proximity and/or are impacted by the “space” he/she occupies at any given moment. That should be considered, to some extent, in nearly every decision we make(IMHO).
Personally, I have no problem with friends who choose/choose not to possess or be around firearms. I let them know I do and we can respect each others boundaries. Interestingly, I have had some of those friends ask for “help”, which included my firearm (or at least the presence of it)and which after-the-fact did not change their “no guns” stance. That’s OK, glad I could help.
What I would like to see is anyone “operating” a firearm, any weapon, tool, vehicle, etc., had at least an adequate knowledge of how to use it, maintain it, and keep both item and operator in good working order. Although, I wouldn’t mind seeing a mandatory skills test, background check, and psych eval for anyone anywhere buying any kind firearm. But, even that guarantees nothing.
I certainly don’t know what the answer is to achieve “world peace” or even close to it. I simply walk my path and deal with the obstructions on a case-by-case basis as best I can.[quote=”maravilla”]yes, we had an armed guard when i got robbed. they waited until he went off duty at the first light of dawn then hit my house. another incident happened while the guard was on duty. i refuse to live in fear or barricade myself inside my house — i ditched the alarm system which went off when they entered the house but they buried the console under a couple of pillows so nobody heard it. i do place dowels in my sliding doors and windows so they would have a hard time getting past that. and then i have two dogs — one is useless and the other is loco, so i don’t have a clue what good they might be. all of these measures only provide a modicum of protection. if they want in, they will get in, guard or not, alarm system or not, etc.[/quote]
maybe you should try living in a tico neighborhood , get to know your neighbors, make friends,learn spanish, try to live like a tico and not a rich american locked behind a gate…get the target off your back…
I’m very disappointed to learn of these changes in the gun laws. I’ve been researching moving to CR for a couple of years and this site has been a tremendous resource. I have to say that one of the attractions had been a reasonable approach to gun ownership.
As a gun owner and military veteran, I can assure you I not only know how to use all the weapons at my disposal, but just as importantly, [b]WHEN![/b][i][/i]
I’ve never been in an armed confrontation, but a gun is never very far out of reach. I just try to mind my own business and not go where the trouble is.Scott, your quotes are great, but unfortunately such wisdom is wasted on someone whose mind is already made up. For the truth surrounding the gun-control issue I recommend “More Guns, Less Crime” by John Lott.
“Quemadmoeum gladis nemeinum occidit, occidentis telum est”. (“A sword is never a killer, it’s a tool in the killer’s hands.”) Lucius Annaeus Seneca “the younger” ca. 4 BC – 65 AD
“Si vis pacem, para bellum.”
maybe you should try living in a tico neighborhood , get to know your neighbors, make friends,learn spanish, try to live like a tico and not a rich american locked behind a gate…get the target off your back…[/quote]
i am fluent in spanish, have tico neighbors (who were also robbed in that crime spree), am friends with all the ticos who live near me, we don’t have a gated community per se, and none of us here is rich by american standards. it’s a cluster of houses with all sorts of people living here, many not american at all. and if we were the only targets, then the ticos wouldn’t have been robbed.
[quote=”moonbanks”][quote=”maravilla”]yes, we had an armed guard when i got robbed. they waited until he went off duty at the first light of dawn then hit my house. another incident happened while the guard was on duty. i refuse to live in fear or barricade myself inside my house — i ditched the alarm system which went off when they entered the house but they buried the console under a couple of pillows so nobody heard it. i do place dowels in my sliding doors and windows so they would have a hard time getting past that. and then i have two dogs — one is useless and the other is loco, so i don’t have a clue what good they might be. all of these measures only provide a modicum of protection. if they want in, they will get in, guard or not, alarm system or not, etc.[/quote]
maybe you should try living in a tico neighborhood , get to know your neighbors, make friends,learn spanish, try to live like a tico and not a rich american locked behind a gate…get the target off your back…[/quote]
Ticos get robbed just as much unfortunately. We gringos just don’t hear about it as much.
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