What will you do if a thief get into your house and you only get 30 minutes to act?

it depends on the situation, but for most cases its going to be ‘D’ or a variation of ‘D’

You could easily do E, A, F, C and then D in fifteen to twenty minutes.

I’m going to do A and D simultaneously. And I think you mean 30 SECONDS… 30 minutes is half of an hour, fyi.

Piss myself laughing at the fact it’s taking this bozo half an hour to open my bedroom door. The next 29 mins 50secs he would spend begging me to phone the cops. He’s way better off in their hands because I won’t be responsible for my actions if any muppet breaks into my house.

My first reaction would be to make as much noise as possible, then call the cops as I head downstairs to confront them. When it comes to my house and family I become VERY brave and strong!

I believe you mean 30 seconds, instead of 30 minutes?

Thieves want your stuff; they want to take things and get away. Turning on lights and making noise will generally will send them scattering, like cockroaches. Thieves are generally not rapists, or killers unless they are armed and threatened. Unless they are looking for something specific, anything that would let them think that they could be seen and identified should send them scattering.

According to our block watch police contact, statistically, you are more likely to be broken into if you are known have guns. If you store guns properly, you are less likely to be able to access the weapon in time to use it. If you don’t store it properly you are more likely to shoot a member of the household than an intruder.

I like a baseball bat, field hockey stick or golf club myself.

I’d cry like a little girl.

@PandoraBoxx
“statistically, you are more likely to be broken into if you are known have guns.”
Really? Why would that be?
And does that mean being known to have guns makes you more likely to be burgled?

@BBSTDfamily and @PandoraBoxx Sorry for that,I meant 30 seconds(I can’t edit my question anymore). Thanks for your answer and correction!.

H:Kill Him & call the Police

I have a rather large baseball bat in my room.

Fun.

dial 911 while I pull my rifle down out of the closet. Assemble the rifle and sit down in my easy chair and wait 29 minutes and 45 seconds for the dumbass SOB.

My first instinct would be ‘F’. I could just run next door to a neighbor and call the police.

Break-ins are generally looking for drugs, guns, and small sellable items. It’s a get in, take, get out crime. If a burglar is going linger, it’s going to be during the day, when you’re at work.

Handguns can be an effective deterrent in rape, but usually the rapist has the element of surprise on their side.

According to our Block Watch program, the best deterrent is locking doors, keeping lights on at night, and barking dogs. Know your neighbors, and have a sense of the “normal” goings on at their homes. If you see someone walking out with a television in the middle of the afternoon, make note of the person and their vehicle. You should not intervene to stop a property theft crime because you could get injured or killed, but act in a manner to assist the capture of the person. Namely, pay attention and note all the details that you can.

As an individual who’s been a military policeman for over 20 years, I’m probably going to act in the following order. This is of course depending on the circumstances and it may or may not unfold the way I’m describing it here but these would be my optimal choices in dealing with this incident.

I’m going to first retrieve my personal firearm which is close by while instructing my wife to call 9–1-1 and report an intruder in the house. Secondly, when I accost the burglar, I’m going to detain him until which time the authorities arrive at my house and I have him placed under arrest for trespassing, breaking and entering, burglary (robbery if he had a weapon while committing his crime), and anything else he might be guilty of.

Sorry, I can’t only choose one option that you listed. It would be multiple steps for me in working through this scenario.

D

Sorry for the inconvenient of this question. I meant 30 SECONDS,NOT 30 MINUTES. (I can’t edit my question anymore)Thanks!.

To proceed with the nagging business: calling the police in 30 seconds? I think you’d be lucky to have anyone to talk to within half a minute, let alone an opportunity to tell them what they need to know.

(I know darn well I’m completely missing the point.)

I would sincerely hope the police would be there BEFORE 30 minutes. a thief is not going to stay in your house for 30 minutes, unless he plans on kidnapping someone. a thief’s objective is not to be detected and take what property he can within the shortest amount of time. as a burglary detective for many years, these are the answers from the burglars themselves.

I’d wake my wife.

The Burglers never have faced any hell on earth like my wife when she is woken in the middle of the night.

@filmfann What would happen then?.

In 30 SECONDS I will choose A(20 seconds),then B(less than 10 seconds).

Well in 30 SECONDS,NOT 30 MINUTES I’ll choose G!,then after he/she finish and leave I’ll choose A!.

If you have a way out you are suppose to choose F.
Not sure what I would do. I know I would not need 30 minutes. More like 30 seconds.

It would probably end up with the thief face down on the ground and/or dead.

Since guns are not allowed in the general public here in Australia, I don’t want one anyway I would choose D without a weapon. The Police often have trouble with reaction times, so they might just give up on me and call Forensics instead. I am confident enough in my abilities that I would be able to ambush any fool to come through my door. It kind of helps that my house is a bit of a maze.

After seven years of hockey, I’ve gotten rather skilled with a hockey stick. All I can say is there would be a groin and face that would be strongly regretting breaking into my house.

D – Mossberg 590 18.5 inch, loaded and with in arms reach of the bed. It won’t take 30 seconds unless he’s slow coming through the door.

I would grab my .38 out of the drawer next to my bed and shoot at the ceiling then if the bedroom door opened I’d shoot the intruder

I’d reccomend a shotgun over the rifle or handgun. The rifle would most likely leave an exit wound and then go into one or more walls, and I don’t want to get into spackling the walls.

@Adirondackwannabe
You recommend a shotgun because you want to keep the house tidy?
If you miss with a rifle, you have one bullet hole to worry about. Missing with a shotgun means you’ll have to face the result of a cloud of lead hail ripping through whatever it hits.
If you’re concerned about the house you’re probably better off with some blunt object, like a short club or baton. That won’t leave blood stains either.
I think my weapons of choice would be a camera and a phone, though. It’s a lot safer.

@Fyrius I don’t miss. I grew up on a farm in upstate NY. This is a little barbaric,but in the fall I spent most of my time walking in the woods with a shotgun looking for squirrels and rabbits. My g/f friend is an animal lover, so I don’t get to hunt anymore, but I’m still good with a gun. (That’s going to get me a lot of grief)

30 minutes? That’s a long time! Depending on who else was in my house (kids for example) I’d either stay and fight or get the hell out of Dodge!

My Cell Phone is on the nightstand and my Gun is in the Top Drawer, crouch by the bed by the window and call the police and if he comes in the door I shoot to gain the advantage and subdue the intruder because it’s MY HOUSE… And when he entered he relinquished everything like the sign says ” Entering this property without permission is subject to control of Owner” Meaning I have Handcuffs, Leg Irons and other BDSM equipment right in the second drawer to secure the intruder in a nice package for the police! Unless they arrive in time to Save Him…

Me:A
SO: D

E then A,
and D if necessary.

Make sure my younger siblings were safely away, call the police and get the big wooden bat from the closet.

If my door can hold them off for 30 minutes then I’m pretty sure our local police/sherrif’s dept. will arrive by then. Just in case though, I’ll be waiting crouched beside the bed with my gun ready to fire because if someone is going to spend 30 minutes to get through a door to me then I fear for life, most definitely. That’s beyond burglaring.

No burglar is going to sneak past the Town Dog and when she starts barking the 2 oldies would wake up and bark too. And let me tell you, if the akita is awake and can get up before the guy makes a quick exit, he is a scary sight!

Does anyone else have the impression this thread is full of internet tough guys who talk big where talk is cheap?

@Fyrius Definitely. An intruder is always scarier when you’re not just typing about it in daylight.

@Fyrius I beg to differ. I feel quite strongly about self-defence. Hesitation is not likely. And besides, it’s night here :P

@daemonelson
Well, if you say sOH SHIT LOOK OUT BEHIND YOU

@Fyrius Exactly the reason I have really loud dogs in the way.

@Fyrius I’m sure there’s some of that, but anyone who knows me well knows I have a terrible temper if provoked, but I’m also good in pressure situations. Plus my Remington 1100 would be more than happy to take care of business. I just can’t spell.

@Fyrius ; I said what I would do and with experience with firearms.

Answer D and dead thief. It would take much longer for the Sherriffs Dept. to respond than 30 minutes where I live. Besides, my cell phone doesn’t work in the cabin and I have no landline.

@stranger_in_a_strange_land ; the criminal would be hanging from your oak tree in front by the time they got there?

@phil196662 No, bleeding on the floor, he has to be inside the house to make it a justifiable shoot.

ok – then there is that hook for your hammock chair…