Do you keep your doors locked when in the house?

[JVL1018]

DH is a fanatic about keeping the doors locked at all times. The only time a door is left unlocked is when we open the sliding glass door in the living room. DH also won't leave any windows open during the night. I lock the door when I go out but when I am home I leave it unlocked.

I won't either-I'm paranoid about that- all windows are closed and locked at night except for one in my bedroom that no one could get to without using a chainsaw to get rid of some vegetation..

 

[GeorgeG]

I don't lock the doors when I'm home, but my wife does. We're in a very safe neighborhood, but there are occasional break-ins, mostly crimes of opportunity. I was told many years ago that locks are made for honest people and if someone really wants to get in they will. Fortunately, the neighbors all pay attention to anyone who doesn't look like they belong. Besides, when I'm home entering my house with criminal intent would be a huge mistake.

 

[StarLight StarBright]

Yes, doors always locked! DH gets aggravated cause if he is outside doing something he routinely gets locked out by me( out of habit of making sure the doors are locked)
We live in a very rural area. We even have a prison within about 5 miles from us, and I never worried about locking up. In the last two years everyone in our neighborhood has been touched by some type of vandalism/theft. We had our garage paintballed\things stolen from our cars. My sister who lives down the street had guns,laptop, camera stolen. Everyone who has a utility building has been broken into.
Almost everyone bought security systems, including us. If you saw our neighborhood, you would think it looks like a really nice ,quiet ,safe place to live. It used to feel like that....it's really sad.

 

[Poppinsme]

WOW this has certainly turned out to be an interesting thread.

Last night I showed DH this thread and he looked at me and said "You don't lock the doors when your in the barn/workshop"?

So I guess I will now lock the doors.

I feel bad that so many of you have to live like an armed fort.

 

[jimmalru80]

No. Only when we go to sleep.

 

[mjkacmom]

We're the same way, except we don't live in the country, we live a few minutes outside of NYC.

Any nice weather and my front door is usually not only unlocked but wide open so I get a nice breeze from the front door through the living room and kitchen to the back sliding glass door(also open). Sometimes I will lock the screen door, but usually not.

Today I took the kids out to run errands and when we got back the door was wide open. I was annoyed, not because the door was unlocked, but because I had the a/c on. That actually happends pretty often, my son is the main culprit. *I* always lock the door when we leave.

If the front door is closed, it's usually locked, but I'd say from April-October I have it open at least part of the day.
My back patio doors are almost always unlocked all spring and summer because we're all going in and to the deck or pool or backyard.

That's during the day, at night everything is locked up tight.

My garage door(the regular person sized one, not the big ones) is always closed, but I have a bad habit of leaving the key sitting in the lock. I really try to remember to take that in at night though.

We do have a big dog who will bark her head off if anyone comes near and an alarm that is on every night.

LOL - 8 miles from NYC, and I'm always coming home to an open back door (driveway is in back). I do lock up at night, but if the a/c isn't on, my back and front doors are open when I'm home, to catch a breeze. We have a large front porch with several windows, so it's a very easy home to break into. Fortunately, I have nothing worth stealing!

 

[Tinkermommy]

I used to leave my doors unlocked when home. But I heard a security expert talking once and he made the point that if you lock your doors when you aren't home then your stuff can get stolen/damaged etc. If they come in when you and your family are home then a lot worse things can happen.

I also read about one serial killer (can't remember which one) that would just test people's locks and the first one he found house he found that was unlocked was how he chose his victims!

So now I lock my doors when I am home.

 

[sacall]

Front door is always locked and even when I have it open, I lock the screen door.

All windows are locked (unless they are open in Spring/Fall for a breeze), but are locked at night.

Backdoor is locked only at night, but our backyard is somewhat enclosed, so it is not easy to get in and out of our backyard.

We usually come in and out of the garage. We have a keypad on our garage door, so if the kids need to come in the front, they use the keypad.

Why I always keep my front door locked. In college, when I lived in a house (it was a college town), I had someone walk in my unlocked front door. Scared the daylights out of me. I was lucky, he was only looking to rob the place and quickly ran out the door. Plus, he was about my size and I had a knife in my hand (working in the kitchen).

Stacy

 

[momof1princess]

when DH and DD are both gone to work and school during the day, i lock the doors. when DH is home, the door is unlocked during the day, because he runs in and out a lot. we live in the country, pretty much in the middle of nowhere.

 

[DebbieB]

I started keeping them locked all the time. My neighbor across the street had an unfortunate incident. A guy robbed the gas station a couple of blocks away and he ran into her house and into her basement to hide! She was upstairs, she heard the door but she thought it was her son. The police banged on her door and at first accused her of harboring him! By then he had run out a side door.

 

[mhsjax]

Of course not... if a person has a gun and is that crazy..do you really think a locked door will stop them??

No, but some people will move on to a house that isn't locked or where a person doesn't answer the door. They don't want to get caught.

Really and truly if they want to get in bad enough nothing will stop them, but to leave your unlocked is just inviting trouble.

 

[mhsjax]

WOW this has certainly turned out to be an interesting thread.

Last night I showed DH this thread and he looked at me and said "You don't lock the doors when your in the barn/workshop"?

So I guess I will now lock the doors.

I feel bad that so many of you have to live like an armed fort.

why do you feel bad, it takes on flick of my wrist to lock the door. If that is sad, then I hate to think what happens to you when something really sad does occur. It is a simple act of common sense as far as I am concerned. It may not stop someone who wants to get in bad enough, but most criminals will go on to an easier target, like a door that is wide open. So feel free, that way someone else whose door is locked will get to keep their stuff and maybe their life, while they move on to some like you who thinks it is silly to lock their doors/

 

[Luvchefmic]

I think mostly its where you live & how long you've lived there that determines whether you lock or don't. For me being a native NYer it took me 2yrs here to get comfortable not locking the doors. Now I only lock up when going to be gone for a while (major food shop will take a few hrs with travel of about 45 mins) If I'm running "into town" I don't bother. It also took me the past 2 yrs to train myself that I could park the car without locking it too.

I will admit if there's a prisoner that is on the news that escaped I am locking everything...would it really help though ? I have 8 4 legged alarms so that's something I guess.

 

[Poppinsme]

why do you feel bad, it takes on flick of my wrist to lock the door. If that is sad, then I hate to think what happens to you when something really sad does occur. It is a simple act of common sense as far as I am concerned. It may not stop someone who wants to get in bad enough, but most criminals will go on to an easier target, like a door that is wide open. So feel free, that way someone else whose door is locked will get to keep their stuff and maybe their life, while they move on to some like you who thinks it is silly to lock their doors/

Whoa angry much? YOU are the kind of person I would be very afraid of.
Have a nice Disney day!

 

[mhsjax]

Whoa angry much? YOU are the kind of person I would be very afraid of.
Have a nice Disney day!

And why would you be afraid of me?

YOu are the one that said it was sad that so many of us lived in an armed fort, so why is it ok for you to express how you feel but not me. I am tired of people telling those of us that lock our doors that we are silly and paranoid. I don't have a violent bone in my body and I have never even taken a piece of bubble gum as a kid. So no, I don't think I am the one you should be afraid of, it is the person looking for unlocked doors that you should be afraid of.

 

[charming23]

I always keep our doors locked at all times. We have had a few break-ins in the area lately and I am not taking any chance with anything.

Then there is my grandmother who never locks her door because according to her nothing bad happens.

 

[AustinTink]

I feel bad that so many of you have to live like an armed fort.

It's not the Leave it to Beaver 50's anymore. Gotta do what you gotta do. Not a big deal.

 

[CowboyCO]

Never

 

[FireDancer]

I feel bad that so many of you have to live like an armed fort.

I was thinking the same thing. If I felt like I had to lock the doors during the day while home and live with a gun next to the bed I would not live in that neighborhood. I am often surprised how afraid of their own neighborhood people are. On another thread I posted that because of the heat I go running at night after dark and people were surprised I felt safe running alone at night. It never crossed my mind that I shouldn't feel safe in my neighborhood, that was one of the reasons I chose it.

 

[Poppinsme]

And why would you be afraid of me?

YOu are the one that said it was sad that so many of us lived in an armed fort, so why is it ok for you to express how you feel but not me. I am tired of people telling those of us that lock our doors that we are silly and paranoid. I don't have a violent bone in my body and I have never even taken a piece of bubble gum as a kid. So no, I don't think I am the one you should be afraid of, it is the person looking for unlocked doors that you should be afraid of.

WOW! Hey lady. Who said YOU were silly and paranoid? My goodness maybe you are.

I am talking about people that have 3-4 deadbolts on there doors. And keep guns at the bedside etc. Thats all.

How about a hug and a piece of bubble gum.