Thursday, March 25, 2010

Security for airsoft and other things in life

We all can't have a super hero hanging around the house, so we need to watch out for ourselves.


I have been perusing the internet the past few days, reading lots of forums for real steel guns and have noticed some things I wanted to talk about.

It seems like we all (airsoft and RS) love to show off our collections online.
Over the last couple days I have viewed some incredible collections of Firearms, High end collectible knives and airsoft guns. They are all on open forums, hooked to a screen name.
That screen name nine times out of ten has a profile connected to it with the hometown of the poster.
Sometimes even the persons real name is also available.
Now lets say you post up a collection of Vrosapale pistols, you are very proud that you have scoured the world to find all models of this unique piece.
A few weeks later you post that you are on your way to the Vrosapale collectors convention half way across the county and you will be off the forums for 5 days. You revel in your Twitter updates about you most recent find at the show, or what a jerk that last guy you dealt with was.
What have you just done?
Have you just told someone that you have valuable items and you will be gone from .to.?
What do you think?

I know you have a gun safe, but don't you think in two days time someone can't get into it, most of the time using tools from your own shop?
What about the other things showing in the pictures, computer systems, flat screens and all the cool movie collectibles in your "man room"?
Do you think bad people don't read Glocktalk, AR15.com or ASR?

I bring this up because years (way too many) ago I was doing the gun show circuit in FL, 51 weekends a year, driving from one end of the state to another, setting up on on Fri, break down and home Sun night.
We had a time when a small group would come to the show on sun, tag a dealer that had a nice display then wait around till close down and loadout and follow him home. Sometimes they hit as soon as the dealer  got home or to his shop, sometimes waiting till the next day if it was a collector who worked during the week.
One dealer got killed and a few got hurt and they didn't stop until they screwed up and  got caught.

Now it's 2010, we have Google maps, Google name search, find anyone for 8 dollars and tons of other neat ways to locate an address.
Am I too paranoid? (can you be today?)
I learned to keep every thing collectible or rare at an off-site storage location. That and insurance keeps it away from my self and loved ones
.
It does suck that we can no longer have the "Trophy" rooms of yesteryear.
(even if you never have posted a picture, how about the bug guy, meter reader, the guy who trims your trees.
Do you think they might have looked in the window and passed on how cool your cave was?)

From AOL article, 
 Some insurance companies are catching on. Legal & General Insurance in New England says Facebook and Twitter users could be hit with higher homeowner's insurance premiums. Why? All that blabbing about activities away from home means they face a higher risk of burglary.

The company thinks burglars are actually "shopping" for victims on social media sites, looking not only for an indication you're not at home, but also photos of your home and valuables. That cute picture of your son hugging the dog? A burglar is looking in the background, eyeing your big-screen TV and new stereo system.

And it's not just adults. Teenagers are even more likely to post personal information, so Legal & General has warned that parents who aren't even online themselves could face higher homeowner's insurance premiums if their children are online.

So, a month after I post, others catch on, welcome to the party, Pal


Even though I have a overlapping video system with my next door neighbors, a alarm system, Two big dogs and a neighbor on one side who's a Reserve police officer and has a home office where he works that overlooks my house and on the other side is a just retired Navy DEVGRP 20 year man who has nothing better to do than sit on his back porch and shoot guns most of the day (and night, for the past damn week!) I still want to keep the good stuff locked up.
I hate that when I want to review a gun or get ready to go to a gun match or a airsoft game that I have to lay in another 40 mins to go by and pick up what I need, but I would hate to have a shootout at my house or even worse  to come home and find what I had worked 40 years for ransacked and off at some pawn shop.
My stuff is pretty safe and yes, I have gone overboard but it gives me piece of mind that I have done all I can, if I get hit now, that's what insurance is for.

Just some random thoughts that came into my head and I wanted to share them, and because I am old and it's my Blog, I did, Nah nah neey po po

I am losing it
Please share your thoughts on this in the comments, I think I got them fixed.
Review soon, I know you heard that before, but this time my fingers are not crossed.
Till then, Check 6




1 comment:

  1. You're absolutely right on the security issues! Maybe we should all be a little bit paranoid concerning our safety and well-being...
    Also you write "I had worked 40 years for ransacked and off at some pawn shop.".
    Consider the possibility not going to a pawn shop but out on the street used for criminal activities... I think that's worse.
    I, too, have to do a 30 min drive to get my gear to an event. The place is accesible only by me and when I'm "presenting" a new piece I organize a photo shoot on the field and not where I store them!
    It's nice that I finally read a piece of advice on home safety NOT concerning gun safes!!!

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