Gunshots.
2, maybe 3 houses away.
No other noises - no car tires squealing, no screams, no nothing.
No sirens. Never any sirens.
Hmmmm.
I’d be tempted to go out and investigate, since any gunshot NOT accompanied by ANY other sound is most certainly just someone letting off some steam (and in this neighborhood, not entirely unheard of), but that would involve going outside. At night. Alone. Not to mention that I’m not really willing to be a Darwin Award recipient anytime soon.
This happens once every 3 or 4 nights, folks. I’m beginning to wonder if my ears are lying to me, and I’m NOT hearing the exact same sound, in rapid succession, that I hear at the range when the larger caliber pistols are brought in.
It’s a wonder I’m not more nervous about living there than I am. It’s amazing, the sort of safety (real or imagined) that you feel when you know that it would take you approximately 10 seconds to obtain and aim your weapon, should someone succeed in getting past the 3 locks on the door.
Ten seconds is a long time. Try standing still and counting if off…
Squeakie, I now officially worry for you.
Keep vigilant and safe, Squeaky.
Carteach - I meant from anywhere in the house. If I’m at my desk, it would take half that time. No worries - I’m the QUEEN of worry about stuff like that, and I don’t feel the need to go into Condition Orange anytime soon…Yellow will suffice for now.
Ace - Doing so. Thanks.
Get a dog. Or two.
They were my best indicator when someone was snooping around the house or garage when I lived in Detroit.
Some nights - in the summer, if we were outside - we could hear the wizzz, snap! as they went by.
You get used to it after a while.
I thought you lived out in the sticks now?
I hear gunshots out here, but it’s usually the guy down the street sighting in his hunting rifle.
My neighbors don’t hear my practicing because I use silencers. They don’t hear me shooting possums or raccoons in the front yard at night either.
Ouch. Squeaky, what worries me is not the gunshots per se, it’s that they are evidence that you live among idiots. –Either that, or one of your neighbors has a serious zombie infestation.
…Barring that, is it even vaguely possible someone nearby has a basement range? My pal Bruce shot .22 (and occasionally, larger-cal pistols) in his basement for years. Unless one has a very well-thought-out setup, this can be middlin’ stupid, too; but it could be.
You’re on my “worry” list, too. While uninvited guests are unlikely (I lived poor for years; the poor do not so much prey on one another — it’s people in the neighborhood with money fom providing extra-legal goods and services that get hit) and shots straight up are not especially dangerous, that still leaves way too much room for badness. :( You do take care, please.
Just when I think that my life is terribly boring, you remind me that my life is wonderfully boring.
Stay safe!
_Jon - I have 3 cats and no income other than student loans right now - I can’t afford the kind of dog that would be needed to scare the less-conscientious members of my neighborhood away. Believe me, though - I’ve thought about it seriously, even to the point of being tempted to go up and claim that pit bull puppy I posted about this past week. And I think I’m already used to it - I think I’m more disturbed by the non-reporting of any murders or injuries on the public crime-reporting site than I am the noise.
Rusty - FAR from it - I live 8 minutes away from CBU, less than 5 minutes from U of M, and right next to the Highland Strip. I’m in a good pocket (3 or 4 streets right behind an elementary school) of a bad-ish part of town. I could walk to get a tattoo. Heh.
Roberta - “they are evidence that you live among idiots” - the other evidence is watching them walk up and down the street at 2am when it’s 20 degrees, and they’re wearing those printed hoodies that look like something George Michael would wear whilst a member of WHAM!, coupled with pants that could REALLY use a functioning belt. Also - we don’t have basements here, because there’s too much clay and sand in the dirt - it’s either too hard to dig into, or it’s too unstable/moist for upkeep of a basement/foundation. I also highly doubt that anyone in my neighborhood would even comprehend the idea of a basement range. This just isn’t that kind of population out here. I worry about “uninvited guests”, but only for Jazz’s sake, since her bedroom’s kind of in a bad spot for that sort of thing, and for my cat’s sake, because if someone gets in and they get out, that’s bad - and also, they could get hurt in any melee that occurs because someone’s being a jackass and trying to steal the approximately $200 worth of stuff I have of any value.
ibex - Hey, don’t get me wrong - my life is actually pretty damned boring, aside from the car alarm that goes off EVERY NIGHT at around 11pm, and the gunshots that go off every few nights from various areas in the neighborhood. Nothing ever happens to ME…lol.
You don’t need a pit bull, besides they eat too much. Any dog that will bark when the door rattles will do just fine.
The big problem with a dog is that you have to take it out for walkies, unless you have a fenced yard.
To confirm it’s actually shooting try to listen for the sonic crack that follows the shot. Not sure how easy it is to hear if you’re at a distance or at an odd angle, but it should be descernable. That’s usually how I tell whether or not I need to worry.
Might be a subsonic bullet, existing, like from .45ACP, or .38Spl, or something. I dunno what’s the most popular cartridge with the local low-life people there.
Whatever. People who let off joy-shots in the city are breaking the law just by discharging the things, not to mention getting on their neighbors’ nerves, which I consider to be a much worse crime.
Actually, small dogs are fantastic for serving as a home alarm system. Some breeds are very protective and don’t take well to strangers snooping around. When I had a chiweenie (a chihuahua-dachshund hybrid), he could hear the mailman two houses down. First, he’d go perch in the window, then as he actually started walking towards the house, he’d start alerting us.
And, walking him wasn’t really required. He would run around the house and get plenty of exercise.