I went out to get the mail yesterday and my mailbox had been smashed AGAIN. I've lived here almost six years and this is the fifth mailbox that has been bashed. I'm not the only one, others in the neighborhood have had their mailboxes vandalized recently. When I was buying another mailbox the young lady at the lumber yard asked if I was doing OK I said no. She replied oh, they got your mailbox too?
I am tempted to build myself one out of 3/8" steel plate I'd like to hear what they say when they punch that one!
"To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them."
George Mason
Texas and Louisiana CHL Instructor, NRA Pistol, Rifle, Shotgun, Personal Protection and Refuse To Be A Victim Instructor
Had a friend build a brick one around the regular box on a stick, filled in the space with I don't know how many bags of sakrete. He found a bumper and tire marks in front of his house one day-not a scratch on the mailbox, though.
Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the floor each morning the devil says "Oh crap, she's up"
Contact Your Local Postmaster and Report the Vandalism
This is where the United States Postal Service (USPS) gets involved in the vandalized mailbox incident. Since mailboxes and the mail that goes into them are considered to be federal property, the United States Postal Service (USPS) has their own reports that need to be filed. Title 18, United States Code, Section 1705 states, "Whoever willfully or maliciously injures, tears down or destroys any letter box or other receptacle intended or used for the receipt or delivery of mail on any mail route, or breaks open the same, or willfully or maliciously injures, defaces or destroys any mail deposited therein, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years."
Phil
It is the little people who will suffer from QE2. The buying power of my mothers retirement will decrease by 40%
MoJo wrote:I went out to get the mail yesterday and my mailbox had been smashed AGAIN. I've lived here almost six years and this is the fifth mailbox that has been bashed. I'm not the only one, others in the neighborhood have had their mailboxes vandalized recently. When I was buying another mailbox the young lady at the lumber yard asked if I was doing OK I said no. She replied oh, they got your mailbox too?
I am tempted to build myself one out of 3/8" steel plate I'd like to hear what they say when they punch that one!
These punks brag to each other and to non-punks. Why don't you and your neighbors chip in a mailbox cost and and publish/offer a reward for info etc., etc? Somebody will give up somebody for the $$$. Once y'all have name/names, prosecute them to pieces. If this is the 5th mailbox in 6 years, it may be a family tradition being passed down to younger siblings?
Good luck bringing these vandals and their parents to justice. BTW, who has not received the mailbox treatment in your 'hood? Hmmm?
Read the Postal regulations carefully with regards to mailboxes. They have to be a certain height, distance from road, etc.....make sure you meet all requirements and then armor plate the thing........with a game camera fixed on it for evidence later......
Have a welder make one out of 1/4" plate. I would use a 3" or 4" schedule 80 pipe as the base. When you set the pipe the pipe I would actually have him weld rebar coming off the pipe about 8-10" in each direction. I'd set it 3' in the ground and use maximizer concrete (available at Home Depot or Lowes). If someone knocks that over they'll do a ton of damage to their vehicle or themselves in the process.
All this aside we did this exact same thing at the ranch years ago. The mailbox is on a FM road and we were getting a lot of busted mailboxes. After we did this we actually got the thing galvanized set it and then painted it silver. I know over the galvanizing it seems pointless but it seemed like a good idea at the time. ANYway after all that mess nobody will even touch it. Not so much as a ding. So if you build the big heman mailbox don't expect to exact vengeance on prospective vandals. Usually they'll just skip it.
At least that what has happened in our case.
My posts on this website are worth every cent you paid me for them.
While I sympathize with victims of vandalism (BTDT), I'm not big on reinforced mailboxes. I keep picturing some kid - not a vandal, just a neighborhood kid learing to ride - losing control of his bicycle and running into my mailbox. Mine would hurt, but probably not inflict much damage, as it collapsed. There are enough hard things out there already.
A motorcyclist lost it near my neighborhood and wiped out on a brick mailbox a while back. Not pretty.
The sooner I get behind, the more time I have to catch up.
threoh8 wrote:While I sympathize with victims of vandalism (BTDT), I'm not big on reinforced mailboxes. I keep picturing some kid - not a vandal, just a neighborhood kid learing to ride - losing control of his bicycle and running into my mailbox. Mine would hurt, but probably not inflict much damage, as it collapsed. There are enough hard things out there already.
A motorcyclist lost it near my neighborhood and wiped out on a brick mailbox a while back. Not pretty.
EDIT: Revision
Actions have consequences and people are accountable for their actions. Everything is not automatically someone else's fault. There comes a time and an age when we must own up to our deeds as well as our misdeeds.
Last edited by Oldgringo on Fri Sep 17, 2010 6:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Is it an option to attach your mailbox to the house? That's where they are in my neighborhood. My last house had a stand alone, but it was still close to the house away from the street.
I am not and have never been a LEO. My avatar is in honor of my friend, Dallas Police Sargent Michael Smith, who was murdered along with four other officers in Dallas on 7.7.2016. NRA Patriot-Endowment Lifetime Member---------------------------------------------Si vis pacem, para bellum.................................................Patriot Guard Rider
A very popular old lady in our little rural hamlet had problems with people coming around the curve in front of her country road house, and knocking her mailbox down when they cut too close inside. This was solved by building a second mailbox, with a steel post embedded in a milk can filled with concrete. After one or two of the idiots hit that one, they never did again.
Im pretty sure there's a Texas law about having an object that's immovable within so many feet of the roadway. A few years ago, Canadian, TX almost lost all of their trees because TXDOT was going to cut down every tree within 10 feet of the roadway. The trees are a major source of income for the town because it seems the entire panhandle of Texas goes to Canadian to look at the trees in the fall when the leaves change color. The town fought against it. Instead of cutting down the trees, guardrails were mounted along the roadway.
flb_78 wrote:Im pretty sure there's a Texas law about having an object that's immovable within so many feet of the roadway. A few years ago, Canadian, TX almost lost all of their trees because TXDOT was going to cut down every tree within 10 feet of the roadway. The trees are a major source of income for the town because it seems the entire panhandle of Texas goes to Canadian to look at the trees in the fall when the leaves change color. The town fought against it. Instead of cutting down the trees, guardrails were mounted along the roadway.
Given the location of Canadian and Mobeetie, TXDOT must have been looking for something to do. There are more people than trees on the High Plains. The trees should be protected.
threoh8 wrote:While I sympathize with victims of vandalism (BTDT), I'm not big on reinforced mailboxes. I keep picturing some kid - not a vandal, just a neighborhood kid learing to ride - losing control of his bicycle and running into my mailbox. Mine would hurt, but probably not inflict much damage, as it collapsed. There are enough hard things out there already.
A motorcyclist lost it near my neighborhood and wiped out on a brick mailbox a while back. Not pretty.
Perhaps he could mount his reinforced mail box on top of a heavy duty spring. If truck or motorcycle were to hit it, it would simply laydown. I realize there will be some scratches in the paint, but the rider will have a better chance and the truck/ baseball bat wielding hoodlum wouldn't do any real damage. Of course the rest of the mail box would have to be pretty sturdy. I was thinking 1/4 inch plate for the box, schedule 80 pipe for the support, heavy spring welded onto the pipe (about 6 inches), 1ft X 1ft X 2ft deep steel reinforced concrete pad with j bolt stub outs to attach the spring... Just a thought.
I'm not the only one, others in the neighborhood have had their mailboxes vandalized recently. When I was buying another mailbox the young lady at the lumber yard asked if I was doing OK I said no. She replied oh, they got your mailbox too?
