gaillardia Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 This isn't about gun rights or safety. It's about my heart jumping into my throat and me holding my breath. No, wait, it isn't about that either. I was sitting here typing up a cover letter and BLAM! I can't tell how far away it was, a mile, a half mile, down the lane....? Murder is not uncommon within a 12 mile radius of my home. Forced entry, rape, child abduction isn't unheard of either :( Oh, yeah, it could have been someone shooting a raccoon or coyotes, or an intruder, or family member. What do you do when you hear a gunshot? Mind you, it was 1:17 a.m. when I heard it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 Here, I don't do anything if I hear a gunshot - normally it's not actually a gun but an automatic deer-scarer, keeping the deer off crops. I don't know what I would do if I lived in a high crime area. What could the police do, as you don't know whence the shot came? L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 Here, I don't do anything if I hear a gunshot - normally it's not actually a gun but an automatic deer-scarer, keeping the deer off crops. I don't know what I would do if I lived in a high crime area. What could the police do, as you don't know whence the shot came? L Gosh, really? Give me a shishi-odoshi any day. Here, listen. Isn't that nicer than a gunshot in the middle of the night? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 Gosh, really? Give me a shishi-odoshi any day. Here, listen. Isn't that nicer than a gunshot in the middle of the night? In fact, the farmers usually have the scarers on a timer - it only occasionally goes haywire. Love the Japanese version - bit hard to set up over enormous fields though. L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 It was guy faulkes this week. I had some idiot letting of deafening things at 1.30 am this morning. Not impressed but at least I knew it wasn't a gun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 Hmmm . . . I've lived in the country, and right now we live just barely within the city limits. It's pretty rural just a mile or so from us. I can't say that the sound of a gunshot registers much with me at all. They're pretty common. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 I live rural. It is not uncommon to hear a gunshot at night. It will be either a farmer shooting kangaroos, or people out hunting foxes , wild dogs or deer. Sometimes it will be my sons out shooing foxes on the neighboring farm. They have permission form the farmer and there is a bounty on both foxes and wild dogs. If the gunshot is during the day then it would be my neighbour shooting a snake. During duck season there is a huge amount of guns going off right on dawn every day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 When I hear a gunshot (day or night)? I tend to take a glance at the time - just because - then hope whoever it was got whatever they were after (assuming it was a fox at night and some sort of game - geese, deer, etc) during the day. We are definitely not in a high crime district. I suspect that would color one's thoughts. About a week or so ago we saw a man walking down one of our more main roads openly carrying a rifle and mused about what would happen if he weren't in an area like ours. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 I live in the middle of town (not high crime at all), and sometimes hear what sounds like a gun shot. I never hear reports of any violence, so I have no idea what those explosive sounds are from. Now when I hear them, I don't think much of it. Though I, too, tend to glance at the clock, in case a witness report is needed I guess. I don't know what I'd do in your situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lailasmum Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 Mostly I ignore it because it's uncommon but when it happens there tends to be several at a time and it's hunters in the fields. There's also an animal scarer that goes off too but only at certain times of year. I'm not sure a gun shot would register unless it felt very close. Like I felt it was in my street or the surrounding ones. To be honest I'd assume it was hunting related or a farmer shooting something predatory since I am in the UK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madteaparty Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 It's hunting season? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cera Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 I rarely even notice gunshots anymore because we live in the woods and all of our neighbors hunt (it's deer season). If we were in a high crime area I think I would probably lock myself in the bedroom with my kids and a cell phone if I heard a gunshot late at night (or at all). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plink Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 I never think twice about a gunshot. I am sorry it scared you though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saddlemomma Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 Hmmm . . . I've lived in the country, and right now we live just barely within the city limits. It's pretty rural just a mile or so from us. I can't say that the sound of a gunshot registers much with me at all. They're pretty common. Same here. We live in the country and hearing gun shots is a normal occurrence. It's not constant, but it's not unusual to hear shots in the night. Usually it's someone scaring coyotes, skunks, or raccoons away from chickens, livestock, compost piles, or something like that. No one is allowed to discharge firearm, or have a projectile pass, within 100 yards of a dwelling other than your own. People are quite respectful of that ordinance. Thankfully, we don't have the same types or volume of crime issues as most other places. Plus, most folks around here own several varied firearms, so you rarely hear of home burglaries or rapes. Right now it's deer, goose, duck, partridge, and rabbit season. During coyote season, we'll hear shooting at night because that's when most people hunt them. We also have several gravel pits in the area that are also used as shooting ranges. Hopefully, what you hear is just someone scaring an animal away from trash or such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicksMama-Zack's Mama Too Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 I live near a marine corp base artillery range, so random gunshots don't phase me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 I am sorry that you have that kind of crime so close. I am sure that gunshots would be very frightening under those circumstances. Around here, it's pretty rare to even wake up from nightly gunshots even though they are common. This area is very rural and agricultural with an overpopulation of coyotes so something coming after the stock, particularly the sheep and goat farms or something going after the hens, is common...super common. It is perfectly normal for someone to be dispensing with coyote, coon, possum ( boy do I hate those things for what they did to my show ducks), or skunk who will also do terrible things to hens and ducks. We also have had two rabid coons and nine rabid skunks this year in our county so farmers are getting extra cautious about what comes up into the barnyard. Deer hunting is huge here. People eat a LOT of venison, and also donate venison to food pantries so shots just after dawn or just before sun down are also quite normal. This is a very low crime area. Violent crime is almost nil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto10blessings Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 My husband would be the shooter late at night. Most likely shooting an animal breaking into the chicken coop. One gunshot would be rare though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Girls' Mom Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 Here? It wouldn't even phase me. It would be a 95% chance of someone shooting at coyotes or some other critter. The other 5% would be some bubba up too late, drinking too much and deciding to have a little target practice...lol. When we lived in Fort Worth? I would lay there listening for the sirens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 We live in the country as well and I lived on a farm growing up. I wouldn't think much about it or do anything but go back to sleep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiguirre Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 You know, I've occasionally hear gun shots in my suburban town. I've always assumed someone was shooting wild hogs (we have them), coyotes (ditto) or deer (illegally). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitten18 Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 I would think someone was shooting a coyote or raccoon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cricket Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 When we lived out in the country, I didn't think much of it. Now that we are in town, I usually check a local news website the next morning to see what happened. Gunshots aren't all that uncommon in our neighborhood but rarely is it someone actually being shot. One night we thought for sure we heard a shotgun blast very close. Dh and I went outside to see what was going on (why would we do that?!) Turns out it was fireworks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairfarmhand Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 I'd think, "I hope they got the stupid coyote or the raccoon that was raiding the henhouse." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 I'm with fairfarmhouse....hope they got the critter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomtoCandJ Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 Usually around here it would be someone shooting a coon or possum out of the trash can, unless someone hit a deer them it would be to put the deer out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erin Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 I live in the boonies of a very low crime region. (And I've never heard of automatic deer-alarms. What a neat idea! I need to mention this to a girlfriend who is always fighting deer out of her 2 acre garden!) If I heard a gun-shot at 1:17AM, I would lock my vehicles and house doors (something we never do out here) and make sure I had shells handy for the shotgun in the hall closet. I don't have neighbors close enough to hear gunshots for things like shooting coyotes out of the front yard, or coons out of the trash. This time of year I would probably chalk it up to deer poachers, but nonetheless it would give me the willies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 When I lived in the country, shots fired in the night would bother me. Most likely it would be someone jacking deer, and that's not good. During the day it would have been no biggie. I hate hunting season, which starts soon. When I was out of town it meant I could not go walking outside the house b/c we were renters and the landlord didn't post the land. That meant there were hunters on the property, and it just wasn't safe to go out. My good friend does post her land but hunters ignore the signs and she often finds her posted signs pulled down or melted with a lighter, defaced in other ways. She keeps putting them back up though. They bought the land so her kids could have lots of space to run around, build forts etc. But, man, once hunting season opens the woods just ring with shots. We keep the kids and pets inside. Here in the city, where I live now, it is the opposite. I hear lots of things that sound like shots in the night, but rarely pay attention. Well, my ears perk up, but as long as it is just one I ignore it. If I heard a series then I might call the cops. In the summer we get lots of fireworks at night. Why? I have no idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 I live in a city. I think I've heard gun shots before. I can't ever be 100% certain because there are a lot of loud noises that sound similar. When you live in a city you hear noise. Well actually, after awhile you don't hear it anymore really. I wouldn't do anything unless I thought it was coming from next door or on the street or something. Then I'd probably call the police. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 In the summer we get lots of fireworks at night. Why? I have no idea. We do too and I hate it. Maybe not a popular thing to say, but I absolutely hate fireworks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoJosMom Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 What would I do? Ask "Did you get the coyote?" when DH got back into bed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truscifi Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 At that time of night and in a high crime area it would bother me too. I think I would probably just make sure my doors were locked and my gun handy, note the time, and watch the news the next day to see if anything was reported. If so I would probably call the police to tell them about hearing the shot. If not I would assume someone shot a racoon or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in TN Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 What do I do? I pretend it is fireworks being set off for some unfamiliar holiday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaillardia Posted November 7, 2014 Author Share Posted November 7, 2014 Thanks for not being alarmists! I know it seems weird to say it is a high crime area, but people tell me it is like this everywhere. We are in a one lane neighborhood, and there are other nearby one lane neighborhoods with 30 or more homes on each lane, each home on an acre or more, nothing too fancy, from brick houses to single wide mobile homes. This was a high crime area for meth production! Add alcohol. Add poverty. There is a great mix of levels of income, living situations (pretend farmers, actual ranchers, horse owners, etc.). I am pretty sure most of the folks on our street have guns. This is Texas after all. I just never imagined someone up that late with a gun in hand, eyeing up the chicken coop to kill a coyote. Yes, there are a couple of coops on the lane here, almost every home has at least one dog. We also have two cops on our lane. My husband has next to his side of the bed: a baseball bat, a sword, a big knife, and somewhere around there is a gun. My sons are like that too, in the same house. What the? After all, I am the one who reads the news stories to them about the crime. Back to the wildlife. I'll go with thinking it was a coyote shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 When I lived in the inner city in the area most known for gang activity, we heard lots of gunfire, not daily or anything but enough that it wasn't shocking. I started out calling 9-1-1 but since it was impossible to know exactly where it came from that was a bust. So unless I could see something out my window, I would ignore it. Then I'd make sure I would look at the news in the morning to see what had happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaillardia Posted November 7, 2014 Author Share Posted November 7, 2014 I'd assume it was one of my idiot redneck neighbors up the hill shooting a stray dog or cat that had the nerve to cross their posted signs and step foot in their trash filled yard. Yes, there are a couple of those too in the area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paige Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 They always make me jump. I look at the time in case something's up so I can later tell the police. I've never needed to but I watch Law and Order! If it sounds close, I peek out my window. I don't call because we live in a farming community and it's most likely someone protecting their animals or crops. It's not unusual but I grew up in the suburbs and never heard a gunshot at my house before moving to a farming area. We used to live in a very woodsy but not farming area and I never heard gunshots there either even though we had bears and stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwoEdgedSword Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 Also skunks have been known to meet an early demise for messing with a chicken coop in the middle of the night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefgazer Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 I live in an urban inner city; gunshots no longer register much with me, either, sadly. Hmmm . . . I've lived in the country, and right now we live just barely within the city limits. It's pretty rural just a mile or so from us. I can't say that the sound of a gunshot registers much with me at all. They're pretty common. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lllll Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linders Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 Well, apparently I over-react. It is semi-rural where we live (think a very small development of 1-acre lots surrounded by woods and cow pastures). Last year, about 10 pm, I heard a gunshot. Very close. As in it seemed to be out in front of our house. I called DH to come down (he had heard nothing), he looked skeptical, but I was absolutely positive a gun had been discharged within 100 feet of our house. We glanced around from the porch, saw nothing (in the pitch dark). So I called the sheriff' office, and a patrol car headed our way. Meanwhile, DH went to the neighbor directly across the street, woke them, they had heard nothing. Then, against my wishes, he went to the neighbor kitty-corner from us (a crazy neighbor who has done odd things in the past). And came back laughing. Crazy neighbor did indeed shoot off a gun - to kill an armadillo who has been terrorizing (his words, not mine) his immaculate garden. And would I like him to keep the carcass for my boys to dissect. (Thanks, no.) Note: When you call back the sheriff's office to say, Thanks, but it was just my crazy neighbor shooting an armadillo, they still need to come, in case crazy neighbor is holding a gun to your head. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dory Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 If I heard a shot in the middle of the night I'd be calling the cops or fish and wildlife. We don't have anything wild that happens around here, but we have a LOT of hunters that come up here when hunting season starts. I get sick of them and their attitude. They act like they own the area and have very little common sense when using a gun or a respect for the laws. There has been one too many hunter spotlight hunting around here and if I hear a shot in the dark, I will sick the cops or fish and wildlife on them and hope like crazy that they get caught. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 6.24 tonight. Either a shot or a backfire. I can't see anything out there in the dark so I'm going with backfire. What's funny is that this is the first sound like that I've heard in years here - ever since the "frat boys" that used to get drunk and shoot guns off of their deck, moved. I think someone did it in honor of this thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 Crazy neighbor did indeed shoot off a gun - to kill an armadillo who has been terrorizing (his words, not mine) his immaculate garden. And would I like him to keep the carcass for my boys to dissect. (Thanks, no.) Good choice. Armadillos can carry leprosy/Hansen's Disease. http://articles.latimes.com/2011/apr/27/health/la-he-leprosy-armadillos-20110428 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaillardia Posted November 8, 2014 Author Share Posted November 8, 2014 Good choice. Armadillos can carry leprosy/Hansen's Disease. http://articles.latimes.com/2011/apr/27/health/la-he-leprosy-armadillos-20110428 But armadillos are evvvvvvveryyyyyywhere here and you never see them, just signs of them. Unless, of course, you are staying up until 1:17 a.m. waiting for ME to go to bed so you can shoot at them, because they are nocturnal. They snorkel my yard. They eat grubs. I don't have leprosy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 I wasn't suggesting you did. I was just saying they can carry it, so dissecting them isn't a wise choice. It's not mentioned in the article I linked, but I remember reading other news articles that some people have contracted leprosy through gardening where the armadillos had dug, even though they had no direct contact with the animals. I wouldn't want my neighbor shooting at them in the night, but I can certainly understand not wanting them in the garden. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaillardia Posted November 9, 2014 Author Share Posted November 9, 2014 I wasn't suggesting you did. I was just saying they can carry it, so dissecting them isn't a wise choice. It's not mentioned in the article I linked, but I remember reading other news articles that some people have contracted leprosy through gardening where the armadillos had dug, even though they had no direct contact with the animals. I wouldn't want my neighbor shooting at them in the night, but I can certainly understand not wanting them in the garden. I know you weren't suggesting I had leprosy. I understood, just making a little wisecracking humor. I have heard/read that about them as well, really creepy. It's all good! No harm! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flowing Brook Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 A single gunshot would not phase me. A few years ago we lived in a area where it was tradition for the people in the area to all fire their guns at midnight on new years(a tradition we did not join in on). Just before that they would drive around shouting happy new year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaillardia Posted November 9, 2014 Author Share Posted November 9, 2014 A single gunshot would not phase me. A few years ago we lived in a area where it was tradition for the people in the area to all fire their guns at midnight on new years(a tradition we did not join in on). Just before that they would drive around shouting happy new year. That is a loud and obnoxious tradition, but you expect it. I've heard guns before, but this one sounded so different, and so much closer than what I am used to hearing. Sound travels differently here than where I've lived before. In any case, the issue is bound to repeat itself, but hopefully it will not phase me next time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flowing Brook Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 That is a loud and obnoxious tradition, but you expect it. I've heard guns before, but this one sounded so different, and so much closer than what I am used to hearing. Sound travels differently here than where I've lived before. In any case, the issue is bound to repeat itself, but hopefully it will not phase me next time. I'm sorry I did not mean that the way it sounded. I can understand in your situation why it startled you. I just meant that in my area with hunters and such gunshots are normal. Sorry I am not wording what I mean very well lately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaillardia Posted November 9, 2014 Author Share Posted November 9, 2014 I'm sorry I did not mean that the way it sounded. I can understand in your situation why it startled you. I just meant that in my area with hunters and such gunshots are normal. Sorry I am not wording what I mean very well lately. Nah, you're fine. I sound like a big baby. I am not doing too well with my words lately either! People suggested I check the news which really cracked me up because after all, how often do people call the police around here when they hear a gun? People target shoot, hunt, protect chickens, etc. About 5 miles from here and almost 2 years ago, there was a gruesome murder. A week or so later I found out that the victim was the adult son of a new friend. Different story, about same distance away, time frame: a young woman was tired of having the crap beat out of her and when her boyfriend of 7 months went at her she warned him that she would shoot if he didn't stop. He kept coming toward her, she fired a warning shot. He still didn't stop. She shot and killed him. There are other stories, all within the last couple of years. So, you see, I get a little wimpy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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