Practical Home Defense Discussion Thread.

[Richmond10mm]

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Man-Tied-Up-Beaten-During-Home-Invasion-Robbery-in-Milpitas-375931991.html?_osource=taboola-recirc

That's the thing to really think about......how careful are you that no one knows you own guns......targeted.....alone......they got the jump on dude in his own house......

[blasterp7]

Off the top of my head:

1. Harden you home.
All you have to do is be a more inconvenient target than the next home.
Security doors, ADT stickers, etc.
A simple dog dish by the front/rear door (even if you don't have a dog) is a good (cheap) first step. Maybe a "I love Dobermans" sticker by the back door.

2. Get a dog.
Serious. Great deterrent and early warning detection. Doesn't have to be a big dog, just one that barks.

3. Get a good flashlight.
Rule #4 of firearms calls for "Know your target and what is beyond it." I would rather get got shot myself than shoot the wrong person.

4. Keep a phone by your bed.

5. Have a plan
This one is #5, but it not because it is lower priority. Know what you are going to do in the event of a home invasion. Train your family what to do. Treat it just like a fire drill.

6. Firearms (If applicable)
If you are going to have a firearm for this purpose, get training. If you are not the person that could bring themselves to USE a firearm on another person (that's fine) then don't count on one. Use something else (bat, pepper spray, dog, golf club, taser, etc).

7. Non Firearm
Get training. If a bat is your primary tool, know its limitations and how to swing/jab with it.

8. Draw the line.
Know when and how you are going to act.
It will be different for everyone.
Define, as best you can, what the limits are. Maybe somebody rummaging through the garage is a 'call the police and wait' moment (other action not required). Where as a kicked in door is a 'direct action required' moment.
I, personally, will announce my presence and issue a warning to an intruder. Maybe its my dopey neighbor or someone I know that needs at some weird hour of the night.
Examples:
(After issued warning) He steps through the window, I act.
He kicks open the door and charges in, I act.
I hear someone in the garage, I call the cops, prepare for encounter (should one arise), then wait.


There is probably lots I left out.
Looking forward to reading the responses on this thread.

I have always been a more 'practical, less tactical' kinda guy.

Thank You! A breath of fresh air, and some good advice

[Mayor McRifle]

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local...taboola-recirc

That's the thing to really think about......how careful are you that no one knows you own guns......targeted.....alone......they got the jump on dude in his own house......

Not careful at all. Where I live, it's assumed that most houses have guns in them.

[AAShooter]

Probably the most useful thing for protecting life in your home is: 1) Good fire extinguishers, 2) good smoke detectors and 3) good CO detectors appropriately placed.

[ChuckDizzle]

With the addition of our first child weeks away, I've been thinking about the transition from my bedroom to the nursery in a situation where someone has breached the house. The intruder will most likely be in our living room area after getting in. I'm assuming I'd pump lead while I cross the hall with my wife behind me, have her grab baby and hit the deck (while armed) and I'll continue fire if needed using the doorway as cover. Thoughts?

Let's leave the commando fantasies out of the practical home defense threads.

#1, be sure of your target and what is behind it. Pumping lead while moving around in your dwelling is ridiculous. Might as well add a ninja roll in there for extra cool points. Be sure to show off your visible abs too.

#2, a doorway isn't cover. 99% of common cartridges and calibers will easily pass through interior walls, doorjambs, and furniture. Try to think about preventative measures, then think about utilizing the basics of marksmanship and tilting the home court to your advantage if those measures fail.

You should leave the baby where the baby is. In a life and death scenario another well armed and prepared shooter is too valuable to waste laying on the ground clutching a baby while you conform to gender stereotypes. In addition if an intruder was armed with a firearm the last thing I would want to do is put my child near me as I'm about to EXCHANGE gunfire with someone.

[BennyAdeline]

Let's leave the commando fantasies out of the practical home defense threads.

#1, be sure of your target and what is behind it. Pumping lead while moving around in your dwelling is ridiculous. Might as well add a ninja roll in there for extra cool points. Be sure to show off your visible abs too.

#2, a doorway isn't cover. 99% of common cartridges and calibers will easily pass through interior walls, doorjambs, and furniture. Try to think about preventative measures, then think about utilizing the basics of marksmanship and tilting the home court to your advantage if those measures fail.

You should leave the baby where the baby is. In a life and death scenario another well armed and prepared shooter is too valuable to waste laying on the ground clutching a baby while you conform to gender stereotypes. In addition if an intruder was armed with a firearm the last thing I would want to do is put my child near me as I'm about to EXCHANGE gunfire with someone.

Thanks for the comments. Sound advice. It was a question I was wondering about since my view of home protection is about to change. I think you may have injected a little more mall ninja into my question than was really there. If I'm firing at something, I'm sure of the target and what's behind it. No rolling on the ground or abs here. You should see my home defense shot gun...it has wooden furniture instead of black!

[curtru]

Not sure if already said yet and there is lots of good info here but my add it have door/window alarms. Also learning some type of hand to hand fighting in case you loose your weapon. Last is we have roses and cactus around the windows and fence and it works nice.

Sent from my SM-T230NU using Tapatalk

[accel]

I was just thinking of similar scenario, where the bad guy(s) were gotten under control.
While I have the gun on him, I'd ask wife to get 3 rolls of heavy duty duct tape, and the first aid kit. Get him to sit in a chair or next to a sofa, and tape him down to it, hands first then feet/legs. Then after he's totally secured & immobilized, would offer to give him first aid (wound seal, tourniquet, whatever).

And what if after all that the guy would claim that you first handcuffed/ductaped him, and then shot?

[Mayor McRifle]

And what if after all that the guy would claim that you first handcuffed/ductaped him, and then shot?

So the claim would be that you overpowered him without using your gun -- despite your reasonable fear of imminent death or great bodily injury -- and then duct taped him up, then decided to use your gun to shoot him . . . and then, after all that, you began administering first aid to save his life? I guess it would be your word against his. Who would you believe?

[ryno066]

I would belive the criminal. He was just about to turn his life around. He was robbing you place to get money for college and a suit to have interviews in.

[Mayor McRifle]

I would belive the criminal.

Well, I guess we'll have to put the duct tape on over the bullet holes then.

[Soginator]

Just like with this hobby, you can go bankrupt going overboard with security. Only you can decide what the appropriate level is.

If you have firearms positioned around the house, remember to lock them up when people come over. I went over to pick up a friend from someones house (I knew none of the people that actually lived there), and there was a loaded 1911 just sitting on the table. I consider that irresponsible if people can just walk in your door and gain access to a firearm.

Know your laws, local, state, and federal.

Training is your ally.

Security system is probably the best choice, as it works as a deterrent so no one even goes into your house to begin with.

[Cali-Shooter]

Should say 5 days a week

I want to reinforce my walls with kevlar.

There are a lot of materials that are less costly than kevlar and can do similar ballistic protection. For example, do you know why a lot of militaries use sandbags? They do work in stopping bullets, to an extent. If I could custom design a house, I would have the walls of the house be composed of old tires stacked horizontally in a brick pattern with sand poured into them. Then comes the wood and drywall.

[Cali-Shooter]

Someone else said it, I want to highlight it.

Make your home one that doesn't look like a target. You don't need Fort Knox, you need to be the toughest nut to crack. Let them go elsewhere.

LIGHTS. Porch lights at all doors. Leave them on all night, mine are on timers that replace the switches. On at dusk, off at dawn. If you're worried about cost, replace incandescent with led.

Yard lights to eliminate dark areas to hide. Cut back bushes for the same reason. You cannot stand in any hiding place in front of my house at night. Every time I speak to cops in my yard, granted, only a couple times, they glanced around and said, guess whose house isn't going to be broken into. My neighbor's cooperate by turning out all of their lights when they go to bed. My house looks like a German POW camp during an escape. All night, every night.

A light on my flagpole. I fly old glory because I love her, but I also read that criminals know that houses flying the flag likely contain an armed owner.

Put a couple interior lights on random timers.

FENCES/GATES. Hang a "beware of dog" sign on them, visible from front, and LOCK THE GATES. Will they jump the fence anyway? Maybe, but again, my neighbor's don't lock theirs, so they don't have to.

DOG. Get one that barks.

Door locks, invest in good ones.

Alarm. Alarms will pay for themselves with a 10% discount on your homeowners policy, they give you signs to put up, and will give you more if you ask. I have signs near every door and at the property line in back. I paid extra, but my entire house is hard wired, no window or door can be opened without tripping a sensor. When I'm away on a business trip, I don't worry about my family.

Plan. Plan ahead. Talk about it, fire, earthquake, intruder, etc. figure out what you'll do in various situations before they happen. Play what if with yourself. Play what if with your family, get them thinking.

As an example, we have a code word that means grab some floor, whatever is happening, lay down, daddy's getting ready to lay down some fire. My daughter thinks it's hysterical when I yell it, but she gets down. I'll never have to use it, but that's what I said about my life insurance policy, too.

Excellent points here.

Prevention and deterrence is the #1 best solution. Make your home a difficult target. Firearm(s) are only part of the solution.

1. Firstly, lights. Have motion detection lights installed on the front porch, backyard, and driveway. Most burglaries and home invasions happen at night.

2. Camera systems. Have one or a few installed at common ports of entry like the front porch, backyard, and driveway. Run them 24/7, especially if you aren't able to be home for extended periods. If you have good lighting installed in the areas where the cameras are going to be, then they might not even need to be nightvision capable, which are costlier.

3. Have an alarm system. No explanation needed for this.

4. Have a dog. All you really need is a dog that will detect and bark if strangers trespass onto the property. If you have one that does this and more, even better.

5. Now firearms. Usually, a shotgun and handgun are sufficient. Have weaponlights mounted on each one, because target identification is an absolute MUST. If you are in a densely populated area, consider using frangible ammunition for the handgun. Same thing if you decide to use a rifle/carbine as well for HD, use frangibles to minimize potential collateral damage to property and over-penetrating.

6. MISC steps. Have good locks on your door. If you own a large property, and you have sheds or gates locked with padlocks, get the special padlocks that can't be opened using a boltcutter. Like CitadelGrad mentioned, minimize/eliminate shrubbery and hiding spots for intruders on your property. Use solar-powered passive patio lights in the backyard and front where porch lights are not illuminating. If you are really paranoid, you can also make tripwires that will set off a loud noise when triggered using fishing line and a contraption like a mousetrap and a cartridge primer (check local legalities).

To alert against indoor intrusions, you can also do things like hang wind chimes from the ceiling behind doors that open in, and get door alarms that will trigger if someone opens a door that's meant to stay closed with those devices active.

[holt7153]

Practical Home Defense Discussion Thread.

Good thread. Although I've been doing some of these things already, I've discovered other areas where I need improvement. I've got some work to do.