Do You Need To Carry A Gun Around In Your House To Feel Safe?

I'm not judging. I'm just asking.

I was at an Open House last weekend when someone from San Francisco asked if living in Oakland was as bad as everyone says. I live a couple blocks away in the low hills of Oakland and I said, no. I felt safe, it was a great neighborhood. I didn't mention the body of a 31-year-old Stockton man found dumped a quarter-mile from my house on a Friday in January when there were four shootings in the city.

I was thinking of the two years I have lived in Oakland since I've been back, and how much I enjoy the daily pleasures of a good-sized city with nice neighborhoods, clean streets and positive vibes. Oakland is this city, but it's also a place where, sadly, in other neighborhoods, people have resorted to fight crime with their own street patrols because they feel they cannot rely on police to help stem a wave of burglaries in their homes.

A television news team recently followed a half dozen residents in the East Oakland neighborhood of Arcadia Park, about eight miles from where I live, who are fighting crime with their own street patrols rather than calling on police.

They've been hit with 25 burglaries in the past two months, and a KPIX news team found neighbors taking matters into their own hands. "You have to walk around your house with a gun to feel safe here," is how Alaska Tarvins of the Arcadia Park Board of Directors described his situation.

It's an esoteric reference...but if you've seen the movie, you'll see where I'm going with this.

One home had been burglarized twice in 24 hours, and "wanted posters" of photographs of young men have appeared on lamp posts in connection with the robberies.

Citywide, Oakland burglaries are up 40 percent - roughly 33 every single day in 2012, according to a KGO news story. I still love this city, and I admire the guts of neighbors who will take steps to make their neighborhoods safer, like they are in Arcadia Park.

I'm not the sort of person who wants to have a gun around the house, nor am I of the opinion that if I had a gun, I (or anyone around me) would be much safer than they are now. I'm not against responsible people owning guns, but...having lots of guns hanging around gives me the willies. It's just not for me. That said - I'm starting to wonder how living here, or how living in Arcadia Park, might changes one's viewpoints on gun ownership. They certainly seem to think it's in their best interest.

What do you think?

Do you keep or carry a gun? Is it a necessary accoutrement (how's that for a big word?) for living safely in the city these days?