Massad Ayoob on Two Aspects of Home Defense

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I carry when dressed, all the time without fail, even if I'm not leaving the house that day. I get dressed when I wake up and get undressed at bedtime, while I'm dressed, I'm carrying. I also have a spare located nearby, as does my wife. She will not carry due to back problems and she hasn't found a comfortable way to carry her Ruger SR9C yet. She keeps it within reach which is all I ask of her as I always have one on me and another within reach. We do have younger kids in the house, but they have been raised with them as belonging where they are and they have shot them and been taught how to handle them since they were 4 or 5. We almost never have company, and when we do it is adults we trust and no felons, drug addicts, or idiots we wouldn't trust with our bank cards. Our circle is small for a reason.
 
i have a lively prostate and carry my glock 19 from under my pillow to the bathroom and back at least twice a night. it is good "half awake" gun handling practice.

murf

p.s. sometimes i just take my pants that are laying beside the bed on my nightly forays. my lcp II is in the left front pocket (also good practice).
 
I always carry a S&W Model 642 around the house in my stylish buffalo check PJ pants, lol. My plan if I hear someone actually trying to break in is to sprint to my AR-15 upstairs in a quick access safe, but it would at least give me a fighting chance if I'm not fast enough.
 
Wear a gun on your person until you go to bed. Then have one readily accessible.

That's the message I got from the video and I have been doing that exact thing for years already.

I feel like this topic is one that has been covered ad nauseum, nevertheless its a good video for noobs and I'm a fan of Mass.
 
Kleanbore, thanks for sharing! I had thought about the scenario of someone breaching my door and mistakingly thought I'd have time to get upstairs to my pistol. After seeing Massad's film I now doubt that I could do what I'd previously thought. So, when I'm home I will be packing.
 
Wear a gun on your person until you go to bed. Then have one readily accessible..,

ditto on Good Ol’ Boy’s post.

The reason I carry at home has nothing to do with the neighborhood I live in, but is for another of the reasons Massad Ayoob mentions - security of and personal control of access to firearms. Except for locations where I must go where carrying a firearm is illegal, a firearm is in my direct control on my person (or accessible within reach while I sleep). I do not have to wonder where a loaded firearm is or who has it - it’s on me and I have it. Any others are unloaded and locked away.
 
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ditto on Good Ol’ Boy’s post.

The reason I carry at home has nothing to do with the neighborhood I live in, but is for another of the reasons Massad Ayoob mentions - security of and personal control of access to firearms. Except for locations where I must go where carrying a firearm is illegal, a firearm is in my direct control on my person (or accessible within reach while I sleep). I do not have to wonder where a loaded firearm is or who has it - it’s on me and I have it. Any others are unloaded and locked away.



I will expand just a tad on the first part.

It doesn't matter if you live in a "neighborhood" or in the boonies (as I do). Statistically yes, suburban or worse yet city neighborhoods are more likely to see crime than folks out in BFE, but it can happen anywhere just the same.

We're on the same page I just wanted to point that out because some people that live as far out as I do tend to be care free about this topic because of their location.
 
This is good stuff. I would also get one’s family involved also if you have anyone living w you. Where to go, what do, who will call 911 etc.. Same as fire drills and extreme weather.
 
I agree that having a pln, involving the family, and rehearsing the event are excellent thoughts.

The plan in the link, however, does not appeal to me at all. The guy says that he will "secure his pistol". Massad speaks of having it on one's body, secure.

He plans to go to some place in the bedroom. Realistic rehearsal using a realistic timeline would likely show that to be unlikely.

Putting on body armor? Uh....
 
Mas and Eric are buddies. I know Eric and have shot with him, esp. in his short range matches. I don't know his position on always carrying, though. I think it means that in the bedroom, he gets the gun. I don't carry in bed. The handguns are nearby. The body armor assumes enough warning time for such, as being in your bedroom when the alarms go off.
 
Makes sense--not sure about the armor, though--but I would not rely on being in the bedroom when someone kicks in a door.
 
Very good point I’ve never thought of- That’s a Life saving post. Thank you for pointing that out.
The nature of criminality has changed, which makes the idea of being armed at more sensible.
For example, there have been reports of people impersonating USPS, UPS, and FedEx delivery staff.

A criminal could "hide in plain sight" wearing a tool belt, a reflective vest, and a yellow hard hat.
That same criminal could talk his way (or strong arm) his way into a home. Passersby wouldn't even notice.

Those kinds of dynamics are why a firearm "upstairs behind the bedroom door" is not close enough.
If home watching a movie at night on my sofa, a firearm is on the end table immediately next to me.

I got served by a constable dressed as a UPS guy for a traffic ticket up state. LOL
He had a brown shirt, brown pants, holding a clip board and a small package. I said oh cool a package, then asked if I was plainsdrifter, I said yes, and got served.
Told him that was a good trick, he laughed.
Fooled me once.....
 
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Let's say that one is living in an area where robberies and home invasions are not rare. So, one wishes (or is forced) to carry all the time while home. What to do?

I think of a small handgun as only something that buys me time to get to my primary home defense weapon (a shotgun). I do not think of the little thing as being some sort of "do all, end all".

I often carry a NAA .22 mag mini-revolver in my pocket, or a .32 revolver loaded with Buffalo Bore wadcutters, or a polymer chopped 9mm auto. Though I myself don't have one, a little .32 auto would also be an idea.

Whatever one carries, one MUST practice with it, else it is totally worthless, could be dangerous. Men are really bad about handing their wives a small revolver or pistol and saying, "Here, use this." Such is royally thoughtless. You hear some guy at work say that he did this, then correct him and tell him to get her out to the range. Many women love shooting and going out to the range to just plink. Novice revolver or pistol shooters should begin with a .22 LR. Plinking ice bottles with a .22 is super fun.

Be sure to clean-up the range before you leave.
 
I live in a wooded suburb just north of Houston. Home invasions have been skyrocketing in the Houston area, especially in more affluent areas of which I guess my neighborhood qualifies. Given that:
I don't carry in my house. I do always keep my doors locked and have sleigh bells on each of my 6 exterior doors to alert me if someone is trying to open the door. Each sleigh bell emits a distinct tone so I know which door it is. I have about a dozen loaded guns hidden and staged throughout my house so that I am never more than a second or two away from a loaded firearms if needed. I live alone except for my cat roommates. That system works pretty well for me because even if I'm in the bathroom I have swift access to a firearm.
I like this system because if the firearms I currently have becomes inoperable or out of ammo I am only steps away from another firearms or more loaded mags. I may be a little paranoid, but I've been in the Houston cesspool for almost 20 years and plan on living through it until I retire in a few years.

Sorry to hear about your area. I used to go on business trips to Houston. I did NOT go out to the bars at night. Traffic even back in the 1990s was horrible.

I understand the concept of having firearms stashed away for use should an invasion occur. Not to insult and not to come across as some idiot lecturer, however it concerns me that you have a dozen firearms hither-thither in your home. I'll make the assumption that children are never in your home.

You have yet to retire. Do you work from home or do you leave your home to go to work? If you do leave for work, I hope you put your firearms in a gun safe. If not and you get a break-in, you will have supplied the black market with your firearms. If you come home during the burglary, you will be in deep trouble. Please, please, please don't let that happen. Plus, we're talking a dozen weapons. These trashy felons must never be given power nor the freedom to go on with their criminal trade. I have two gun safes (I like rifles; handguns are only a "make-do until Mr. Shotgun" or they are just plinkers; I'm heading to the rifle range today). When I come home, I get-out the evening's toys (the BANG-BANG variety).

Burglars know all of the hiding places. If they find one firearm, they will tear your house to smithereens in only a matter of 5 or 10 minutes most. You will come home to an apocalypse and at least 8 of your dozen firearms will be gone and out on the street. The burglars will sell these before the week is out and armed robberies will be committed with them before two weeks pass. I may sound like some nut-case alarmist. Unfortunately, such are the sick days in which we live. I wish I were wrong. But, I'm right. Ask a cop ... or maybe you shouldn't.

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When I'm in my home I'm there to relax. If I feel so vulnerable as to feel the need to carry a pistol while sitting around in my pjs eating ice cream and watching my show then I haven't done a very good job with my exterior security system.

People forget that most home invasions have a motive that never makes the news. Someone is mad, jealous, or there to collect. This is true in every economic bracket. If you don't have anyone in your life with those motivations your chances of being attacked in your home are much smaller than statistics would suggest. If you have solid doors that are kept locked and secured windows and an alarm/camera system then you're gonna have time to get a gun if someone tries to enter.

The biggest threat inside the home for most people is the refridgerator.
 
We gave a lot of thought to the new mountain community in which we bought property after I retired. We were lucky that our realtor grew up in that community, and his parents still lived next door to the house we bought. I don't wear a gun in the house, although if I've just returned home from something and am armed, I may not remove the weapon right away. Especially if it's pocket-holstered. I usually wear lightweight sweats around the house.
 
Home invasions happen in all neighborhoods. Not just bad ones. So I carry a lcpII. When at home. Nothing has happened in my hood yet. But it can. So I’m prepared.
 
good advice.
I would also suggest finding a reputable instructor that can help you to organize your defense plans and work out the threat models, while in your home. These knowledgeable folks can suggest you how to plan, how to train, with the specific to your home environment.

Things like: do you turn the light on or not, what instructions and signs to learn to communicate with your family members, making sure that you do not put your neighbors in danger, and so on.
 
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