RobertNashville

I have to say, I'm a bit surprised at the number of folks (actually, I think everyone who has responded!) who say that they get more accurate ammo/better groups, etc. from loading their own than using even high-end factory ammo...it would seem unlikely given the amount of development, etc that companies like Hornnady and Winchester put into their ammo and (I would assume at least) quality control during the manufacturing process. Don't misunderstand, it's not that I don't believe the statements...it just surprises me!

Well, I don't shoot anything close to 1,000 per week (I don't even have time to go to a range and get that much shooting in with only a week to do it!)...I've never figured it out but I probably only average 100-200 rounds per month in handgun calibers and maybe another 100-200 for skeet shooting in season. Almost all of my shooting is either 12ga for skeet or .45 ACP with some 10 MM, 357 SIG and .38 thrown in so maybe I'd see some cost savings (as well as have the ability to load .357 SIG and 10MM should they ever become hard to get). This is sort of a long-term thing for me...something I'm thinking about getting into sometime this upcoming year.

I have a good friend in the Knoxville are going through a VERY contentious and messy divorce with lot's of assets involved - she is very happy with her attorney so if you still need a recommendation just PM me and I'll get the name and contact info from her and pass it on.

Understood and I agree...I just don't want some stupid business/bar owner trying to make the argument that the old sign was enough to give me a clue about their policy (even though I think most of us agree that it doesn't)...that's why if I was at all concerned (which I assumed you might be) I would ask so I knew for sure. And as I said, if my gun isn't welcome I don't want to spend my money there anyway.

For a while now, I've been thinking about doing my own reloading. I could see it as a real benefit should ammunition or a particular caliber/type of ammo become scarce, out of production ,etc. I suspect there may be some savings ($$$) possible. I also suspect there would be some general satisfaction/feeling of accomplishment in loading your own ammo. That said, I'm not sure if it's something I should pursue or not and I'm wondering why YOU load your own? Are their real benefits (tangible or otherwise) or is it something you've just done because you've almost always done it?

I'm not sure I agree with the theory that asking precipitates posting...stranger things have happened of course. For me, I'd rather know one way or the other 1) so there is no chance I'm carrying where it could cause a legal problem later and 2) because I don't like to give my custom to any business that doesn't welcome my firearm as much as they welcome me and my money!

I doubt they carry any legal weight as they don't really convey whether this particular business establishment does or does not allow firearms in the establishment. That said, if you are concerned about whether that bar does or does not bar firearms, I'd ask.

Maybe I'm just a little more pessimistic than you Fallguy but I'm not completely convinced that my "catch -22" sort of situation might not happen - at the very least, I could see this issue being something that would have to be decided at trial which, even if ultimately good for the person who defended himself, would not be a fun time of life!

Based on the statute, I can't help but wonder if it would be possible to be legally justified to discharge your weapon and kill an intruder because you were "in fear for your life" and still be held liable for civil damages to the intruder/intruder's family if a court later found that the intruder was not actually committing one of the enumerated crimes? For example... 1. 3AM; an intruder is drunk, "breaks" into your home by mistake (he's drunk and thinks your house is actually his house) but he has no actual criminal "intent" and at this point, his only real crime is a simple burglary (if that). 2. You, a responsible homeowner and owner of a 12ga shotgun you purchased specifically for home defense are in bed asleep when your burglar alarm goes off alerting you to the "break-in". 3. You grab your shotgun, aim it at your bedroom door while your spouse is calling 911 4. The drunk intruder lumbers down the hallway and opens your bedroom door and you shoot and kill him In that situation, I would say you (the homeowner) has every logical reason to be in fear for your life yet the intruder, hasn't actually committed any felonies that I'm aware of. Maybe this is far-fetched but it seems like it could happen and if it did, I wonder what the eventual outcome would be???

Unfortunately, a sign being easy or not easy to see probably won't stop you from being charged with carrying in a prohibited (posted) location - whether the sign(s) are truly visible/easy to find would likely become a matter for a jury or judge to decide. The other day when I went to see a Dr; his office is on hospital grounds (although separate from the hospital itself)...I didn't see any signs anywhere turning into the complex or anywhere in the parking lot and I was carrying...even so, I left my firearm in a portable safe in my vehicle...sure enough, on the entry door to the office facility was a big sign saying all firearms were prohibited anywhere in the facility OR on the grounds. Made me wonder if I was actually breaking the law at that point. I probably was...makes me wonder, realistically, what they (owners) expect people to do when their signage isn't visible until you get the door.

It's great that this company seems to be doing both the right and the sensible thing! While I do believe that employers ought to be able to decided if firearms will be allowed withing their physical facilities, I think parking lots ought to be a very different matter - I hope that we can get action this year on legislation that will allow us to carry and be able to leave our firearms in our locked vehicles while parked in "company" parking lots...as it stands right now, many of us are forced to go to/from work unarmed despite our HCPs.

I appreciate all the responses to this thread! I think on my short list of things I can do fairly easily and with relatively low costs is... 1. I'm going to replace all my deadbolt door locks with those that require a key to enter or exit (I don't have multiple family/children to worry about). Of course I'll be replacing the doorknob locks too so they are all keyed alike. 2. Add reinforced strike plates to the front and rear doors - I'm going to look into the glass film that has been mentioned as well. Moving forward, I'm going to add at least three IP cameras, one to cover the front of the house/front door and one to cover the back and one to cover the majority of the interior. Beyond that I have ideas but I suspect they'll be fairly expensive to implement so I'll move forward on those fairly slowly.

The "reasonable man" standard isn't a one-size-fits-all and the situation must take into account all factors. What a 65 year old mobility impaired "reasonable man" would consider life threatening is ENTIRELY different than a 20-something linebacker for a the Titans (or any 20-something in decent physical shape for that matter). And in any case, while I hope I never have to kill someone I'd rather be alive to face a jury and possible jail time than dead.

One-half of a statistic does not a convincing argument make nor a good foundation for an opinion. Maybe a search of the same web-based gun sale forums did yield a "plethora of unhidden serial numbers but how does that compare to the total number of listings? A search of the same sites might yield a "double-plethora", of hidden serial numbers if one were looking for them and a search of many, many more sites might yield data that contradicts your view. In any case, how many people do or don't do something (like hide serial numbers on pics of firearms) is irrelevant to whether hiding serial numbers is or isn't a good idea.

A bloody nose isn't but if someone is coming at you to, apparently, beat you up how do you know it will end at that??? Plus, what is a mere "ass whipping" to a 20-something in good shape could be a life or death issue for a senior citizen; even a senior in fair shape for his/her age. In other words, if you are truly in fear for your life then you are in fear for your life...whether someone else would have been in the same situation is somewhat immaterial.

It's been a number of years ago but I once lived in a house with bars on the windows...they are actually quite attractive and the did make me feel more secure in the house (the fact that the house was all brick and had been standing since 1865 didn't hurt my feelings of security either!). In the case of a fire the primary exits would either be the front door, the back door or, if one was in a bedroom, a bedroom window...those bars were actually hinged and could be released (and only be released) from a mechanism on the inside...you pushed in this rod and the bars would open much like a door. In other words, you can have bars on the windows and still have adequate fire escape routes.

At one time or another I've shot most every caliber of handgun out there (well, at least the popular calibers and many of the less popular ones)...a .45 especially out of a 1911 is nothing to worry about in terms of recoil...I suspect you'll likely find that the felt recoil in a 1911 in .45 trim is not only far less of an issue than you imagine but less than you've already experienced in other handguns if you've done much shooting at all. I'm a "1911" guy...I carried one in the service and have own several and although I've got a two or three non-1911's the 1911 will always be my handgun of choice both for the fun of shooting as well as for carry. I live in Murfreesboro so if you are ever over this way, just let me know; I'd be happy to let you shoot any of mine that you want and "On Target" shooting range rents many guns at their range.

Yeah...I think the strikeplate is a given and is on my short list...I'm also going to change all my deadbolts to "key only" both in or out. I like the idea of a second deadbolt lower on the door although given that my front and garage doors are steel, I'd probably have to have help installing those (as I'd probably screw it up if I start drilling into my doors!).

I think a good alarm company could probably help you out with that...of course, you don't want you motion sensor setting off your alarm at every stray motion detected and everyone who comes to your front door isn't necessarily a bad guy.

Does anyone have any experience/advice about the devices that are propped up against the door, usually at the doorknob) and are braced against the floor? I'm just wondering how effective they might actually be. This product (link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mQ1ACpLxwg ) looks interesting but I'm always wary or "sales videos" and can't help but wonder if there was something more done to the secured door than is apparent in the video.

While I don't disagree in general; the real problem is that waiting until the general election is FAR too late to start worrying about it. If you want a truly good candidate to vote for then the time to make that happen is months (at least) before the general election...once the primary has happened then you have no real choice of who to vote for except the one's chosen in the primary...as I said above, I didn't like voting for Corker but I sure as hell wasn't going to vote for his opponent and I don't think anyone can make a reasonable argument that Corker wasn't the better choice; not a great choice to be sure, but clearly the better of the two; at least in my opinion.

No argument there and a look in my gun safe would show that I tend to like "big" caliber weapons over small caliber ones but at the end of the day, I wouldn't overlook a 20ga and assume I had to have a 12 for HD purposes.

I understand that you don't like answering general questions but, in your "general" opinion, does Tennessee law protect a justified shooter from civil liability if a stray bullet injures or kills an innocent bystander? For example, a person is defending himself from a violent home invasion, shoots and kills one or more of the bad guys but during the fight, a bullet kills a neighbor child sleeping in her room in her own home one house over...I understand that the bad guy's aren't entitled to damages if the shooting was justified but what about the family of the innocent child? I guess where I'm coming from is that one thing drilled into me almost my whole life is that when you fire a weapon YOU are responsible for every bullet that leaves the barrel (hence one of the reasons why you must be sure of your target AND what's behind it!.

Well; these come to mind (and these are general; I'm sure there are specific exceptions)... 1. less expensive ammo 2. slightly lighter weight of the gun/maybe a little easier to handle 3. 20ga still makes a heck of hole and the difference is negligible (especially to someone on the receiving end!) 4. slightly less felt recoil Now...as i mentioned above I have a 12ga pump (a Benelli Super Nova Tactical) precisely for home defense use but if I had already had a 20ga I doubt I'd have gone out a bought a 12ga because at the end of the day, I think a 20ga will do the same job quite nicely.

My front door and door from the garage into the house are both steel but I worry about the frame and what I should do the strengthen it. My back door is another matter; it's steel but also has a large glass area and someone could break the glass and then easily unlock the door. My "storm doors" on both the front and back are also "glass doors"; they do open outward but getting by them would again be a simple matter of breaking the glass. Of course, making any entry at any of the doors or windows would instantly set off the alarm system but it wouldn't stop them from gaining entry. As you can tell, my "doors" are my primary concern at this point but I"m unsure of what the best course of action is to make them more secure as well as how much of a headache/cost it's going to be!