Friday, October 23, 2015

Bachelorhood, Day One

Things went smoothly.  Both Kubota and I take comfort in routine.  With Mrs ERJ in Miami, both of us find our routines off kilter.

The first thing that Kubota told me when he entered the car after school was that there had been three shootings in Eaton Rapids in the last 24 hours.  That is odd because we have not had a homicide in the last 15 years.

Two of the shootings were a husband and wife.  The husband is dead.  The wife is seriously wounded.  The firearm was recovered.    The husband-wife live(d) about two miles from us. I told Kubota that most husband-wife shootings are murder-suicides.  The fact that the firearm was recovered so quickly supports this possibility.

From Wikipedia
Though there is no national tracking system for murder–suicides in the United States, medical studies into the phenomenon estimate between 1,000 to 1,500 deaths per year in the US,[4] with the majority occurring between spouses or intimate partners and the vast majority of the perpetrators being male. Depression, marital or/and financial problems, and other problems are generally motivators.

Regarding suicides
In 2012, the latest year for which data is available, 64 percent of deaths from gun violence were suicides, compared with 57 percent in 2006.

The other shooting


The other shooting was a driveby shooting right in town.  One of the paramedics was standing by the EMS garage when somebody in an SUV popped a shot off at him/her.

Kubota wanted to sleep with his shotgun.  I refused.  I pointed out our multi-layered "passive security system".  We have:
  • Two German Shepherds.  Dogs are still the best early warning system.
  • A squeaky-clean reputation with regard to undocumented pharmaceuticals.
  • No artifacts that have any value at a pawn shop.  We visibly live within our means.
  • Steel exterior doors
  • Striker plates and hinges connected to the frame with deck screws
  • Steel interior doors, ditto with the screws
  • Slide stops on the windows
  • Security film on many of the exterior windows
  • Some of the interior doors have additional deterrents to breaching 
  • Additionally, we have active security measures that I will not not elaborate upon in a public forum.
This is not unusual for folks living in the country.  It would crumble under a trained breaching team...i.e. SWAT with tear gas and there is no defense against full auto fire through the walls. 

Kubota saw the wisdom in the ERJ, multi-layered approach and slept well last night.

3 comments:

  1. The steel doors sold at home centers are crap. They have wood frames and jambs anyway.
    Buy a commercial flat steel door and jamb set from a supplier. These are the dull gray doors seen on the side entrances to every movie theatre or mall business. The frames come in a "knock-down" version designed to fit around existing studs, in a U shape. These door are a much thicker welded steel construction, come in flat or "paneled" look, can be painted for looks,and if you want to put the labor in, can be veneered to look just like a very fancy solid wood door. To buy a new one, probably around $600. I suspect a used door from an architectural salvage place is much less expensive. The downside is you may not be able to get exactly what you want- on a new door, they can order up the jambs in any thickness to span the studs, drywall,sheathing etc. You can also order them with fully welded perimeters, or even armor $teel.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are absolutely right. The "economy" steel doors we purchased are a sandwich of steel sheet, particle board, sheet steel.

      Based on testing the first thing to fail is the door frame at the striker. The second thing likely to fail is the door delaminating at the striker. The hinges are "relatively" stout as there are three of them with four screws, albeit wimpy ones, per screw. Deck screws through the hinge into the studs behind the door frame are prudent.

      But you are right. Commonly available, big-box steel door are *fire* doors, not security doors.

      Thanks for commenting. Your observations are always spot-on.

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