Originally Posted by Sous

I have to agree with Mark, nothing will be done by the police, even if you provide them the approximate location of the stolen items.

If you go and hunt them down, well be ready to defend yourself in court. GA has very strong castle and self defense laws, but with the tide changing in this nation you being the "hunter" or "aggressor" in that situation, you will need A LOT of money for a good defense attorney.

Play that scenario out in your head a moment...

You: Found location to be in the suspected neighborhood of the thief.
You: Decide to drive to neighborhood with another firearm that was not stolen and demand your items back.
Thief: FU, come and get it.
You: Option 1 - Call police with little to no response.
Option 2 - or go and get it.
You: If second option is chosen, prepare to be on the news and hauled off to jail shortly after you reclaimed (or not) your stolen items.

I saw a headline the other night where an active duty soldier in ACU's was being arrested on charges of harassment and assault because he tried to remove a couple of "thugs" from his neighborhood. The soldier only used words and followed the "thugs" until they approached him and the solider pushed one of them. A push that was not even severe enough to knock the "thug" down. Just moved him back a couple of steps.

Now, that soldier's career and lifestyle is in jeopardy and the he is being called a racist and assaulting "people" that were doing nothing wrong except "walking while black". I don't know what nationality the solider is, but I can take a guess...

Imagine if you went to the home or the hang out of the thief looking for your items...

Come on, let's be smart about this.

The best deterrent against thieves is good insurance. Claim your items as a loss, get new cards and ID's and go on. I am not condoning that what they did was/is right, but you have to play this thing smart.

Years ago we had a couple of "thugs" try to steal my motorcycle out of the garage in the middle of the night. I held the one left that didn't run when the lights came on at gun point until the deputy arrived 45 minutes later. I told the would be thief I would not shoot him in the back, but if he tried to run I would let my doberman out to "pee" and she runs a lot faster than he does. I also told him that if he tried anything stupid, I will kill him dead and sleep in my own bed. My military/deployment hostile environment training was of great use that night, at my home.

Turns out the guy had several priors including assault on a police officer. He was out on probation for another breaking and entering charge and he got 20 years in prison with a minimum of 10 to serve.

That is why when I read about people talking about "go ballistic" I shake my head because it is very obvious they have never been in a life threatening situation with a firearm. They think it is a joke and "fun". If a firearm is involved, decisions have to be made, split decisions at times otherwise the defending party becomes the criminal very quickly. Training and "tactical" training are good and I am in full support of that as you MUST be comfortable with your firearms, but you must also know the legal side and lawful side of the right and ability to own, posses and use a firearm.

The military has laws and rules as well, it is not a "free fire zone" and you can believe you will be held accountable for your actions if you break those laws or deviate from those rules.

Also, when the target is something other than a piece of steel or paper, that changes everything. Regardless if the target is a POS thief or not, they are still a human being and have a family that may or may not come after you in a civil suit. Know the law, know your skill and cut your losses if you are not 100% sure.

That is my .02... Do with it what you like.

Originally Posted by Studawg

I have a Console Vault in my Ex

www.consolevault.com

Originally Posted by PriusLover

The solution that will yield the most success and peace of mind in any environment is "Generally, don't leave anything in the truck that you aren't prepared to lose". Regardless of one's political inclinations and world view, misguided or justified as they are, this line of thinking will serve you well. Any thought or circumstance that has you worrying about a potential loss isn't worth the time, stress, or expense.