Had to raise my weapon the other night. Story and lessons to follow.

[Fallguy]

it seems very odd to me that a kid would run to a neighbors house for protection over a simple spanking.

Maybe simple spankings at her house are a little more than a hand smacking her butt.

Oh I don't know....

My dad used to spank me and my brothers....nothing out of line, but nothing you'd want every day either.

I ran once, don't even really remember why....ran to the back yard, neighbor came over and everything. Was sort of big production for a few minutes...

So at least IMO (and experience) a child may might run from a "normal" spanking.

[eapking]

Good for you, assessing the threat and not dropping her.

Oh, and +1 on locking the door. I'm totally OCD about this myself.

[inspecting1]

Good job on the taget identification!!!!! As far as locking the doors I guess if I lived in some of the rougher communities that some of these guys live in I woud keep my doors locked too but I very seldom even worry about it my wife locks up the house I just keep a round chambered . I believe that you should never pull the trigger until you have identified whether the target is a threat. I guess its all about your experiences. I mean you have the advantage of know the lay of the house. The other side of it is at least with me I grew up hunting in front of dogs and jump shooting deer where you have very little time to determine whether or not to shoot and it was driven into my head over and aver again DO NOT SHOOT IF YOU ARE UNSURE OF YOUR TARGET!

[vontar]

I bet OP becomes a bit more OCD on checking his door locks now.

[Guest tnxdshooter]

Just out of curiosity have you looked to see if her dad is on the sex offender registry in your area? Maybe that is what is wrong and she had enough.

[Guest TargetShooter84]

Thanks for sharing and lock the doors.

[Guest aaron_wil]

So how old was this girl and what rationale did she give for busting into your house?

Early teens. What little she was able to say before the Dad came over, it correlated with what the son told me.

I have to say, what sort of spanking would cause a young girl to run like that???

Also, what would you have done if she wasn't wearing polka dots and was wearing a hoodie?

One of my siblings was diagnosed with ADD when he was about her age. He did crazy stuff like that, so from my experience, that could be more normal than one would think.

As far as to what I would have done, I really can only speculate. I would like to think that I would just have stayed in my drawn/crouched position until I determined a real threat, but I can't say for certain.

I bet OP becomes a bit more OCD on checking his door locks now.

Absolutely!

[Guest chaplain tom]

Oh I don't know....

My dad used to spank me and my brothers....nothing out of line, but nothing you'd want every day either.

I ran once, don't even really remember why....ran to the back yard, neighbor came over and everything. Was sort of big production for a few minutes...

So at least IMO (and experience) a child may might run from a "normal" spanking.

Just out of curiosity have you looked to see if her dad is on the sex offender registry in your area? Maybe that is what is wrong and she had enough.

My thoughts exactly. I ran ONCE at about her age. Dad didn't chase me, he just waited for me to come home and then he whupped me appropriately for the crime with a very wide leather belt. Nothing abusive or anything, 7 or 8 good licks. Next morning you couldn't even tell I had got spanked. Kids that age do some pretty stupid things sometimes just to see if it will work. As far as checking the local registered sex offender's list...that's a bit over the top don't ya think?

Oh, and good job verifying your target BEFORE SHOOTING. Under those conditions, that's a tough thing to do sometimes. Not to get religious here but maybe you had somebody working security with you that night?

Edited October 26, 2010 by chaplain tom

[ttocswob]

As far as checking the local registered sex offender's list...that's a bit over the top don't ya think?

Absolutely not...things are not always what they seem...welcome to 2010 (and TGO btw.)

And if I were home alone, and a scared young girl showed up; I probably would have dialed 911 (or at least a neighbor) immediately. This situation could easily have turned into, "What have you done to my little girl!?!"

And here's the Easy Button for checking the TBI SOL...

How many live in your neighborhood?

[Guest chaplain tom]

How many live in your neighborhood?

Several... as in your and everone else's neighborhood. This just didn't seem like a "Daddy's been feelin' me up" situation. As for this turning into a "What have you done to my little girl?" thing...What's that got to do with checking the SOL in that area? Daddy was the one she was supposedly running from, and the son/brother was right there. It just didn't spell out to be a molestation scenario IMHO. And thanks, I'm enjoying being here on TGO. Good discussions here for the most part. More GOOD stuff here than on some other forums I've been on. You so called "Dumb Tennessee Hillibillies" are smarter than most of the "sophisitcated" gun "elitists" I've had the displeasure of talking with.

Take care my friend.

[ttocswob]

...As for this turning into a "What have you done to my little girl?" thing...What's that got to do with checking the SOL in that area?...

Nothing, except as a continuation of the "What would you have done?" theme, implied in the OP. As a minister, former scout leader, etc, I observe "two deep leadership" i.e. never be alone with an unrelated minor, or any unrelated female.

I personally know two people whom I've worked with in churches in years past, who are now in prison for such offenses. Both probably guilty - yet it was their word against the victims. One I knew several years before the event, and never suspected a thing. The other I met while his case was in appeal; he maintained his claim of innocence throughout.