Are you ready?

Do I react first or respond to this thread first? I didn't hear a dog bark or alarm bleep, my motion lighting is off... false alarm?

Just tried it with a .38 special M&P Revolver. Went to sleep but set the alarm for an odd time as the simulation someone is trying to break in. From bed, to defenseive position, I was able to fire three (lighted with a flashlight) shots of CCI Plastic primer fired bullets into the only door entrance to my place. Took a total of 7 seconds. In the defensive position I also have 3 speed loaders filled with .38spl ammo, dbl barrel shotgun loaded and with extra rounds in a shell holder on the stock, charged cell phone and a ballistic riot shield mounted behind the highboy dressor filled with books, phone books and magazines on edge. The dressor has a standoff from the wall of 38 inches and in a corner that can see down the hall to the door. I think I am ready. The shield can be removed from the mount and used down the hall as a shield from various items.

Does a sandbag emplacement count as hard cover, or do I need to get behind actual hardcover books?

eh... never thought about sandbags in the drawers instead of books, not a bad idea actually. I will look into it tomorrow.

eh... never thought about sandbags in the drawers instead of books, not a bad idea actually. I will look into it tomorrow.

Click to expand...

The sandbags are very effective, but they will make the dresser too heavy to slide. You may have to cut the legs off and replace them with wheels in case you need to roll it in front of the door.

done before just to see, took only a few seconds as I keep guns close.

No, I don't keep firearms at instant readiness. Perhaps if I think that conditions have changed at some time I would make those preparations, but for now I think gun safety out weighs the risk of having my door broken down by violent evil-doers.

I don't have ballistic defensible positions prepared either.

From where I'm seated at this moment (work), it would take me a 15-20 minute drive to get to a loaded firearm. I do have a good knife, pepper spray, and a decent flashlight in my pockets though.

R

Seeing as how I'm sitting at the computer desk it takes me all of mayby 2 seconds to open the drawer and pull the P-11 out. Since I'm in the den I have a brick and morter chimney to take cover behind if need be. By the side on the desk in a little nook is a loaded 32 Winchester Special if some one needs to be hammered hard.

If you'd called about an hour earlier there is a Colt Commander in the nightstand, take a second or two more to wake up and get that ready to go (I'm a lite sleeper).

Not much for hard cover in the bedroom but the BG would have to come down a twenty foot hallway to confront us, suppose I could bushwhack him from the corner of the room.

There is also a loaded 870 within easy reach in the bedroom for really, really serious confrontations.

If you haven't guessed by now, I do live in the country, thank my lucky stars.

Take me a couple of seconds. I carry from the time I get up to I go to bed and then its nearby. In my bedroom my hard point is behind a bookshelf. Should stop anything up to .308 and maybe that. 28 inches of books will stop a lot and I'll have a shotgun.

4 seconds till I looked at my watch again. Locked, loaded, and finger on trigger then in defensive position. Ha ha the cat moved some quick.

It took me 2 seconds to get to the pistol safe, 2 more to open it and retrieve the pistol and flashlight, and a variable number of seconds to reach different defensive positions (about 3 for either a front or back door forced entry). I felt that I moved fairly quickly, but obviously I could improve on 7 seconds by carrying while I'm at home.

[gang of thugs scenario]
All outside lights came on, scaring the cat, who tries to hide under my pillow. A few minutes later I hear tools being unloaded to cut through the steel storm doors on the outside of the house. My wife wakes up, inserts a magazine into her BHP and chambers a round (just in case). then calls 911 and puts on a pot of coffee for the police. I decide that it will be better to use the new Beretta M9, so I insert a magazine, chamber a round (just in case). These guys are pretty determined and have a battery operated sawzall that they use to cut through the frame of the storm door around the dead bolt lock, elapsed time, five minutes. They start trying to batter down the main door, and after realizing that it is also set in a steel frame, they go to work with the sawzall again. The neighbors gather in their yards to see what all the noise is about. A few minutes later, one of the thugs gets the idea to just break a window and gain entry that way. Sirens are heard in the near distance. The bright thug picks up the concrete Buddha from the garden and throws it at the picture window. The security film on the window keeps the window from breaking. The police roll up into the driveway and arrest the thugs that have been trying, and failing, to break into my home and haul them all off. My wife pours coffee for the two officers that stay behind to take the report while one of them admires the new M9. The next morning I call the insurance company to report the damage and head off to work, glad that I spent some money to secure my perimeter.
[/gang of thugs scenario]

As I carry my weapon all the times except when sleeping. Then it's on top of my night stand (it's on my hip right now) and my first defence is a rather large American Pit Bull Terrier. It will be a foot race between him and me to see who gets there first. Odds on?

Well, I'm upstairs on the computer....

My Glock 23 is on my side....

My cell phone is one the desk beside the computer....

All the entrance doors are downstairs....

If these thugs decide to come up after me, well, only one person at a time can fit in the stairwell....

Neighbor's Jack Russell jumped up and bit him on the butt. Don't know which was funnier - the dog jumping up and down, vibrating in place or the BG running down the street with a chunk out of his butt. Real scenario, happened a couple weeks ago. BG arrested after he hit the ER & reported the dog bite. (Neighbor and I had reported the incident to the cops right after it happened.)

Wish I had a trail cam set up for video - probably win money on AFV -

It took me about 7-10 seconds to get to my rifle and flip the safety off. Chambering a live round would've added about 1 more second.

As for "hard cover"... according to my definition, my apartment doesn't really have ANY hard cover. Just standard furniture, drywall, and kitchen cabinets. None of those will stop common rifle rounds.

I live in a townhouse. When the power cuts in and out quickly, which it does from time to time, the doorbell rings. I don't know why, but it does. so this morning at 1 AM, it freaked out the wife when the doorbell rang. I was instructed to investigate. G23 in hand within 10 seconds. I also took my time getting to it since we are on the third floor and I could see that the alarm system was still active. opening our now unlocked bedroom door, i then have the high ground looking down a flight of stairs. No main doors or windows had been opened thus far. I made it down to the second floor, turned off the kitchen light that I intentionally leave on every night so I can see movement downstairs from the third floor. With the 2nd floor light now out, the light outside my front door on the first floor would prevent anyone at the door from seeing my shadow or silhouette as i approached. I approached the front door from the side (no fatal funnel here), flipped open an individual blind about 2 feet off the floor, saw no one outside. back to bed. a townhouse or even 2nd floor provides significant advantages in my opinion.

Every room I go in my house I bring something, usually one of my shotguns or .45s. It would take less than 10 seconds to grab one and get into a defensive position. My home defense weapons are already gassed up and ready to go, I keep them chambered. We have no children.

On the upper two levels, assuming I'm not carrying my gun at the moment, I take about 7 seconds to retrieve a loaded gun and get into a predetermined defensive position. Less than half that time if I'm carrying, which seems to be most of the time. In the basement it takes closer to 15 seconds due to having to open the safe.

I mostly carry in the home, if not it's only seconds to retrieve one. Anyone one entering would have to get through our German Shepard first, by then........It's On.

My Glock 26 stays on my hip or is beside me 99% of the time. The only hard cover in my home would be the concrete walls on the bottom floor. If someone was breaking down my door I would not be headed in that direction. I would take a defensive position in my bedroom and grab my 870 or AK and let my hallway act as a fatal funnel. All in all from the time I recognize the threat till the time I'm where I want to be 10 seconds or less.