Home Defense (Philosophy)

Anyone who would forcibly enter your home while you are there isn't coming for your DVD player. Or, they have possibly made the most serious mistake of their life. The line between burglary and robbery is your life. It would be smart to take precautions to prevent it from being (YOUR) life.

Consideration will be given to those who IMMEDIATELY retreat at my request.

bruss01 writes:

Would I carefully check out my home if I came home and suspected someone *might* be there? YES

Call the police and wait. You don't know who or how many may be in your home. They will have the element of surprise over you.


Would I carefully check out my home if I heard a noise at night and suspected it *might* be an intruder? YES

Would I hole up in the bedroom and call 911 if I heard voices or had other evidence that an intruder was already in my home? YES

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The above two are very similiar. If I heard a noise or voices and suspected an intruder, I would hold up in a room if it were possible to get the entire family in there without exposing them to danger. If not, have a plan B according to how your house is laid out. One story, two story, etc.

If they are in my house, they are a threat. I am not about to ask "are you here for stuff or not?" I will not clear the house, I will not abandon my house but the intruder will know I am there and if they do not leave, NO quarter will be given. I do not believe in a fair fight.

Why is it that when someone puts themselves in harm's way and is willing to fight for or die for their country even when they have the chance to escape, they are considered heroes, but when they put themselves in harm's way and are willing to fight for or die for their home even when they have the chance to escape, many people see them as recklessly endangering themselves and others?

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Same mentality that says personally hunting Bambi is bad, but paying a stranger to slaughter a cow to stock a super market meat section is acceptable.

Pilgrim

Two times my father protected his house from intruders, both times he stood at the top of the stairs leading up to the bedrooms and yelled down something along the lines of "Take what you want down there, I have a gun so don't come up the stairs. I already called the cops so be quick about it".

When I was in a similar situation I did the same thing, stationed my self in between the compromised section of the house, where it was just things and the bad guy, and the section of the house where my loved ones were and yelled "take what you want, come down this hall and all you will see is the shotgun I am holding".

My house is my castle, yes, but my TV is easily replaceable.

Would I kill to defend 'stuff?'

Thieves are basically cowards, if you let them have your 'stuff' you give them the idea they can also rape without resistance. Maybe they just want the laptop and maybe they want to molest myself or my daughter. At two in the morning in my own house I'm not about to try and second guess some scum's intentions. I will take my the advice my Dad was given by his commanding officer long ago. 'If you must err, err on the side of violence.'

Selena

bruss01 writes:

Would I carefully check out my home if I came home and suspected someone *might* be there? YES

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Bad idea. Call the local PD. Let them go in and do the search with dogs. You alone could be walking into an ambush. You have no idea what you might be up against.

Would I kill to protect 'stuff'? No. However, a person who has entered my home, either by violence or by stealth, with the intent to commit a felony has put ME in the position to discern what his intentions may or may not be. He could be a scared kid goofing off with his friends. He could be a meth-head with a three-day jones who doesn't care about anything as long as he gets his next fix before the cops catch him. When he is between me and my family, MY FAMILY GETS THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT, WITHOUT EXCEPTION. It is not upon ME to know what his intentions are. It is upon HIM for putting me in the position to decide. If he is face-down on the floor, hands behind his head, motionless, before I can shoot him, I won't fire. If he makes me think he's trying to get up, it's back on again.

My response would depend completely on how the situation was unfolding. For me there is a very very thin line between fight or flight.

There is no material possession in my home worth killing or dieing for. And while I would be extremely upset to have things taken by some lazy thief that I earned, it's not worth taking their life or risking the life of my family members.

That said, if you put my wife and / or daughter's life in danger, your chances of surviving the encounter are grave at best. In a perfect world, there would be a way to get my wife and child to safety and avoid a conflict without increasing their risk of harm, but in the real world there are far too many variables to consider. My family's lives are infinately more valuable to me than anyone unlawfully entering my home.

To summarize: I pray daily that I am never put in this situation.

If he has Gramma's jewels and my DVD but is walking away from me he lives. If I can see his eyes and he is coming towards me or has a weapon in his hand he isn't going to have a good day.

I would only shoot someone in protection of my family and myself. I do not intend on sitting in jail trying to justify shooting some crack head that is leaving out the door with my vcr.

If I can see his eyes and he is coming towards me or has a weapon in his hand he isn't going to have a good day.

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May God have mercy on his soul.

Let me be more specific.

He might well just want your VCR. But if he has had the audacity to do so while you are home, (or the stupidity to assume you weren't when you were,) YOU HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO WAY OF KNOWING THAT HE JUST WANTS YOUR VCR. Most burglary is fueled by drug use. He might just want $40. But if he wants the $40 for a hit of meth, it's an entirely different situation. The homeowner cannot reasonably be expected to know the difference. This is why (under Utah law at least,) if they enter with the INTENT to commit a felony, (Burglary is itself a felony,) deadly force is allowed.

I had a co-worker a few years ago who decided to call in sick with her husband one day. At about 9:30, they heard someone else in the house. Her husband ran into the living room quite unexpectedly, and caught a guy in burglaris interruptus, and chased him out. When the sheriff came, he looked around the house and saw that they had an AK in the corner of the bedroom. He told the husband; "You should have shot him. I have no idea why you didn't. YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED IF SHE HAD BEEN HERE ALONE." They caught the guy, trying to unload a bunch of goods at a pawn shop before they caught up with him.

If someone breaks into my home while I'm here they have sufficiently demonstrated their violent capability and intent. If I can I will shoot them forthwith.

I won't ask them if they broke down my door to get to my wife's Osterizer and I won't warn them before firing. Those would only risk my losing the advantage I may have.--krs

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Now that there is a good philosophy. You betcha.

This is a very interesting thread comparing people defending their homes and our military personnel. I’ve never been in the military though many family members have; and I have several close friends currently serving our country. However, I will only comment based on my own experience. I don’t completely think that mere possessions are worth risking my life but for me it is a touchy subject, and I will try to explain my thoughts and reasoning.

I was seriously injured this past April. I broke 2 vertebrae, my right arm, and did some “damage” to my right hip. I say damage because with everything else, the hip sort of slipped by unnoticed for the first 2 months. I spent close to a month in the hospital (basically all May). I spent June flat on my back doing home based rehab, essentially learning how to walk; and July and August at physical therapy trying to regain range of motion and strength. So because of this situation, my outlook was forced to change.
For instance, I’m a pretty big guy, 6 foot, used to be above 300 lbs and extremely strong (now down to 265). You know, pick up and carry around couches, refrigerators, transmissions, stuff like that. Was no boxer/fighter but wasn’t ever scared about holding my own. Now since my accident it’s a struggle to get out of bed, walk to the street for the paper/mail, or even pick up a gallon of milk. I can honestly say that today there’s no way I could physically defend myself or my family; and there’s also no way that I could run away from a robber/burglar/other criminal. I could possibly sneak out but I never know how much pain I will have until I start to walk. Essentially if anyone breaks in while I’m here, then I’m here for the duration.

So it may appear that I would be defending my possessions, but in all actuality I would be defending myself. With the past trend of home invasions vs. burglaries, if someone breaks in and I’m here I must assume that they mean to cause grave harm to me and/or my family.

Anyone who breaks into your home at anytime during the day or night, does not really know if someone is home or not. That being said, the burglar is prepared to do anything to get out if confronted by a reasonable threat. The last thing he wants is to get caught.
The fact that he is in your home illegally, you must assume the worst and act accordingly. If you can't protect yourself, or your family and friends in your own home, or any one else's home for that matter, then where can you protect them. Your home is your castle, it is supposed to be your safe haven from the ills of outside. We put alarms and locks on our doors and windows to keep unwanted people out. If they breach that security, they have now placed THEIR lives in jeopardy.

GIs and Veterans know what I am going to say and this differs vastly than defending your castle.
As far as defending your country you are placed in situations far beyond your control. You are placed under someone else's control who controls your life while you are in the service. You are controlled and hence you are expendable at his responsible decision.
That sucks and a lots of thoughts that are not pretty and are not glorious can go through your head. It is not a bed of roses.

Your home is what you control. You have the choice for a larger part of either leaving or neutralizing. I will leave if laws put me in jail especially where I live. I will not be a hero for a low life in a liberal state that grants liberty to a criminal.
No one is there to control you against your will. If it does happen it is not done by friendly forces for the sake of higher purpose.
I will put my life in the defence of yours. I will not put my life in jail by killing for the sake of thinking I can get away with killing in split second decision thinking.
Voilent crime is still rare in homes in this country but I believe firmly in defending life if life is threatened.
Common sense prevails.

The OP mentioned philosophy. Interesting.

My favorite philosopher of self defense is Skip Gochenour. Here's some philosophy:

http://www.teddytactical.com/archive/MonthlyStudy/2007/02_StudyDay.htm

And a good dose of legality to go with it:

http://www.teddytactical.com/archive/MonthlyStudy/2006/02_StudyDay.htm

hth,

lpl

U.S. SFC. RET. Writes:

Voilent crime is still rare in homes in this country but I believe firmly in defending life if life is threatened.

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What do you consider rare? In my 20 years in LE in NYC, most of the homicides I investigated were the results of domestic disputes in the home (house/apartment) either by shootings, stabbings, beatings to death, chokings, hangings, set on fire, drownings in tubs, or thrown out windows. There were other methods but I'll stop there. Just about all of them involved alcohol.

Unit cohesion and esprit de corps are what primarily motivates soldiers to continue in battle, to face extreme danger, and to risk their lives in accomplishing the mission.

Loftier concerns such as fighting for abstract notions of freedom, democracy, and liberty are probably rather low on the totem pole of motivations to brave the rigors of combat.

I don't see any direct correlation between this and actions taken by a person to prevent another person from causing harm to one's self, one's property or one's home.

yokel writes:

Unit cohesion and esprit de corps, are what primarily motivates soldiers to continue in battle, to face extreme danger, and to risk their lives in accomplishing the mission.

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You forgot the most important factors: fear of dying and the will to live.
Vietnam Vet 67'-68', Infantry/Chopper Door Gunner.

Joe, since justifiable homicides are up. I think this is less of a problem then you think.

tpaw:

What do you consider rare? In my 20 years in LE in NYC, most of the homicides I investigated were the results of domestic disputes in the home (house/apartment) either by shootings, stabbings, beatings to death, chokings, hangings, set on fire, drownings in tubs, or thrown out windows. There were other methods but I'll stop there. Just about all of them involved alcohol.

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I will back up and tighten my shot group and clarify. Large pockets of civilizations outside inner cities.
New York, Baltimore, Chicago, New Orleans, Atlanta, Houston, Oakland, Washington DC ect are examples of inner cities. if we had none of these types of inner city problems I guarantee you this country would be one of the safer ones to live in.