General Discussion

Dad tried to choke out mom, 14 yr old sister broke a coffee mug across the back of his head to get him off her, dad then attacked my sister. My sister and 13 yr old brother ran to hide in our parent's bedroom, which I was near when the attack began. I grabbed a rifle from the bedroom closet and loaded it when I heard my mom screaming. Dad kicked the door in to get at us, I pointed my gun at him, and he turned and ran out of the house before I could get off a shot.

Cops arrived 45 minutes later. Threatened to arrest my mom as well if she pressed charges because my dad said she gave him the lump on his head from the coffee mug. Cops refused to listen to us kids about what really happened. They have us 15 MINUTES to collect our shit and stay at Grandma's. We were using garbage bags to pack clothes and essentials. It was the day before my senior year of high school. Then, my mom's car wouldn't start. Turns out my dad had pulled a spark plug while we waited for the cops. Took my dad's car instead.

A month later we move back home. He never touched her again while I was living there, but within 3 months of leaving for college, he beat her again, and she and my siblings moved out for good.

It took years of counseling to deal with the trauma.

Oh, also: my cousin's fiance shot himself while duck hunting and took off half his head with a shotgun. Trigger snagged on a hook inside the duck boat while the safety was off.

My daughter's elementary school went on lockdown and SWAT was called when she was in 1st grade, because people reported a man with a gun. Turns out it was an elderly man who lived next to the school, shooting squirrels in his bird feeder with a pellet gun, so false (but terrifying) alarm.