If you heard gunshots close to your home would you call the police?

I'd probably not call the policy because I would think it was a car that backfired.

Probably.
The only gunshots I have ever heard near my home were from a police firing-range. I used to hear them where I grew up, and I've heard them once or twice where I live now as well.

I don't think I would. I would look out of the window. If I could see something then I would but if not then I wouldn't.

We hear them sometimes, usually during hunting season. We assume it's hunters, but who knows...

I would call right away! I don't live in the country were this thing would be normal.

I would call the police if I knew they where gunshots, however I so seldom hear gunshots that I might not be able to distinguish them from a car backfiring. As far as I know, there have been no gunshots in my neighborhood since I moved here in November.

Of course I'd call the police! That's the kind of problem that brings a neighborhood down very quickly!

we hear gunshots from the gun club on a pretty regular basis....i think the cops do training there to....sometimes you hear some rather large calibures going off

I wouldn't know one if I head one.

I hear gunshots from time to time. Every time I hear them I call the police. This happened just the other night. I watched out the window until I saw police scanning the neighborhood. Then I felt safe. I do not live in a bad neighborhood just too close to the city line. Mostly I hear this during warmer months. Aparently gun carrying thugs hibernate in the winter *shrugs* I was very happy that the police arrived within 2 minutes of my call. It is my hope that more police presence in the neighborhood will deter this sort of thing.

Where I currently live, I would call the cops, and no I haven't heard any gun shots.

When I lived in Georgia, I heard gunshots frequently due to the men hunting deer. My sister called the police when my parents died.

Of course, because I don't live anywhere near a gun range, shooting gallery, or hunting grounds.

Just curious--did your own experience with this move you to create this survey?

yup

Thought so.

No, let them all kill each other off...stupid bastards!

no way
living here in the woods i hear them all the time, and its just people shooting guns, no big deal.
when i lived in certain cities (mainly tucson) i would hear guns all the time and its just gangs, and the cops won't do anything anyway.

you should hear the amount of guns on new years eve in tucson, az. machine guns, shotguns, rifles, its crazy. most other cities i have lived in don't do that, in practice.

the hunters??
yeah, guess you got a point.

I don't know if I would know a gunshot if I heard one because I've never heard one. Well, except on tv. Or at least I don't think I've ever heard one except on tv. Maybe I did and I just wasn't smart enough to recognize the sound. Or maybe I was spacing out at the time.
If I knew for certain that someone had just shot off a gun around here - yeah, I probably would call the police. But if I was at all uncertain that it really was a gunshot, almost certainly I would not call the police. (The police have better things to do than check out figments of my paranoia.)

If it sounded very close, like in my yard or an immediate neighbor's home I would definitely call the police. I've heard more distant gunshots before and not bothered to call the police since I couldn't really tell where it was coming from.

It was within a few blocks of my house. What would you do if it was within a few blocks?

Where I live I probably wouldn't call because it's more likely to be someone shooting to scare off a coyote or something than shooting at a person. If I lived in a more residential area rather than out at the edge of town, then I'd be more likely to call the police. In other words, if I were you, I would have done what you did.

Last summer I witnessed some thugs shooting at eachother about a block and a half from my house. We have a two story home and it sits up on a hill. I had a perfect view of what was happening. Ever since then I call EVERY time I hear gunshots or shouting. There are a lot of low income apartments about 3 blocks from me in the city. (I don't live in the city) They have a lot of drug problems down there. I don't like it trickling into my neighborhood. So I call every time!!!

Not unless they seemed to be right outside our house. People hunt near where we live, it's not uncommon to hear gunshots.

I would, too! I'm all for neighborhood watch. If the losers know they're not going to get away with that sort of thing in your neighborhood, they'll most likely go somewhere else!

Thats the plan and I have great ears. I hear everything and can tell police about how far away and which direction it was comming from.

If I was sure it was a gunshot then without a doubt.

If it sounded really close, like right outside or my neighbors house, yes. If it was distant, then no.

this has never happened to me, but, yes, i think i would call the police

I called the police department when I heard what I thought might be a gunshot, but I wasn't sure. She told me to call 911 when that happens *even if I'm not sure it's a gunshot or not.* Since then, I've heard what I thought sounded like gunshots, and not called, even though I probably should have.

Fudgein' right I would!

we hear gun shots quite often

My friends and I are the only ones shooting on my property.

It would depend on how sure I was that the sound was gunshots. If I was really sure, then I guess I would...
...but it would have to be an anonymous tip, or they would have to assure me that I wouldn't be identified as the caller...
...I hear loud sudden sounds every once in a while, but I rationalize that the sound is something else.

The police station is four blocks from here. I would hope that if I could hear it, they could too. I'm not sure I would recognise gunshots if I heard them. If I thought I heard gunshots, I might look out the window. I'm on the fifth floor, so I think that would be reasonably safe. If I saw someone with a gun I would call the police because I could provide substantial information. Just hearing something that sounds like gunshots wouldn't be enough for them to do anything with.

I live in Canada, so there isn't a lot of guns around, even here in the big city...in the BAD part of town!

No, but then I don't live in the best neighborhoods.

we hear them all the time. I would not know where to send the cops if I did. But it helps that the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center is here in my hometown and we have undercover folks all over town and a few live in my neighborhood, they aren't undercover (they drive those DHS vehicles)

i think it would really depend most on who shot off the gun. if i could see who it was, and i knew them, then probably not, but if i didn't then i probably would. if i couldnt see anyone, then i probably would dismiss it as power tools or something.

I dunno.
I didn't call the police when I heard the thieves breaking in in the jewelery shop. I wasn't sure it was that, and I was afraid the police might have tell me "fudge off, we have something else to think about!", I'm slightly paranoid.
If I heard gun shots...I dunno. I might be too confused over it. I also have a strange fear of police...even if I'm not a criminal. Probably it would be much more natural for me to call an ambulance, if someone got shot, than the police.

Cotton pickin' right I'd call the police- after I came out from under the bed.My Mama didn't raise me to be a fool!