Basic Home Defense

[ZVP]

Home invasions are becoming more frequent Nationwide and the need to prepare to defend house and family being paramount.i made a decision to buy some firearms specifically geared toward defense of the aforementioned.
I already owned probablly a premiere fighting gun in my .357Ruger Vaquero thou a fighting gun by old standards, it is nonetheless a solid choice given my history using Single Action Revolvers all my life! I am totally comfortable with a S/A and pretty quick with it. Even so I still chose to buy two more solid choices for self/Home Defense.
I purchased a nice .38 Special Chief's Special and a 12ga Pump which I chopped to 19 1/2" and added a recoil pad to
I figgure the .38 could easilly be handled by the Wife and it packs easilly in a holster or Purse. for myself I purchased a couple hip holsters and the Wife has plenty of purses....
When I started working with the 12 ga I realised that it's too much gun for the Wife since her sholder surgery and I decided to buy a 20 ga SxS for her to use. It's recoil is low and power is still within a reasonable range of self defense to make it a viable choice. besides the SxS is fail proof in it's function so it could not be more straightforward for her.
If and when all else has failed and one must fight, I feel these 3 guns are a good bet!
My pet S/A would be OK for me but she dosen't have the familiarity and Ifear that it might be a bit heavy for her to use. The Chief is lighter and faster to shoot.
Seriously discussing a Home defense situation with your spouse is a hard thing to do! Most women don't want to discuss or act out such things.
I want to discuss tactics with her but being typical of the gender, she dosen't want to train here in the house.
I would make James Kahn (movie: Thief) would be proud of me the way I have praticed house clearing with the pistol and Shotgun! With her it's going to be much harder! I have pointed out good techniques in movies, hoping that some will "stick" with her plus my discussions with her. I think the main savior is that she likes to shoot and owns her own air rifle and rimfire rifle. Getting ovet the threshold of just plain shooting isn't that hard for me on this point. Still, getting her to think about home defense as atonal scenerio is hard.
I suppose the best you can do is provide the tools, not push too much on the training and point out all the good points you can.
ZVP

 

[Fred Fuller]

I suppose the best you can do is provide the tools, not push too much on the training and point out all the good points you can.

Ouch...

 

[Kleanbore]

Start here.

Worry less about the tools and more about knowing how to use them.

Figure out how to make it less likely for someone to break in before you start on the shooting aspect.

Do not assume that you will be in your bedroom when someone threatens you.

Don't even think about clearing your house.

Regarding the .357 SA:

• Do not confuse the donder and blitzen at the muzzle with wounding efffectiveness; you should be able to get several shots into each fast moving target in a second or two regardless of what kind of handgun you use.
• A heavy .357 Magnum load fired indoors not only entails the risk of permanent hearing loss, the temporary effects may keep you from hearing a perp's accomplices, your wife, or arriving first reponders, and any of those could be fatal.
• A long trigger pull is usually recommended due to the risk of an unintentional discharge.

Get some training.

Have a plan.

 

[holdencm9]

I would make James Kahn (movie: Thief) would be proud of me the way I have praticed house clearing with the pistol and Shotgun! With her it's going to be much harder! I have pointed out good techniques in movies, hoping that some will "stick" with her plus my discussions with her.

Yeah, clearing the house is generally not advisable, especially using methods taken from the movies.

 

[JPG19]

I have some guns that I will use if our home is ever invaded also!

 

[RBid]

Basic HD:

1. Brighter outside lights than inside.

2. Keep covering foliage at a minimum outside

3. Yappy dogs

4. Alarm stickers

5. Fortify doors

6. If someone gets in, dig in. Pick a safe room to rally in. Call police, cover the door.

 

[Leanwolf]

ZVP, as others have said, don't think about clearing your house. Hunker down in whatever room you're located, or where your wife is located when the bad guy(s) break in and hold that position until the police arrive and clear your house. That is what they are paid to do and are trained to do.

If a bad guy(s) does invade your hunkered down position, then that is what your self defense gun is for.

As far as any kind of self defense or firearms related subjects, do not ever depend on anything you see in the flicks or on teevee for the "proper" way to handle a dire self defense situation. That is mainly all Hollywood nonsense.

Best of luck, although hope you never need it.

L.W.

 

[Deltaboy1984]

Reinforce your doors , get a dog and keep the outside well light. Get what ever gun you like.

 

[LeonCarr]

Lots of good tips in this thread on hardening the home.

Sheltering in place in case of home invasion/burglary is a good tactic to employ. Let the home invader come to you, not the other way around. The only time you should have to clear a house/maneuver in the home is to retrieve children to get them to the safe room. This tactic will also pay off if it ever goes to trial. You can show that you got to your safe room, called 911, and the home invader came to you and you had to shoot in self defense as an absolute last resort.

Also, make sure when calling 911 to tell them what you are wearing and where in the house you are located. This will greatly reduce the chance of you getting shot by first responders.

In a shelter in place home defense situation the shotgun loaded with buckshot is the king, and a quality weaponlight is the first and usually only modification you will need to make.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

 

[Averageman]

I often traveled while in the Military. I had a very young Wife and infant Son at home, so I was a bit nervous with a 20-30 minute responce time.
Being a Military Guy, I built a defence in layers with fall back positions, communications (both land line and wireless) a large very protective doberman and the Alamo was the walk in closet with hardened door.
If I'm not there I can't fight, but if I plan I can fight for time.
The last resort was a firearm. That was 4 door and and angry dog later. If the juice isnt worth the squeeze all but the insane will leave and pursue a softer target.
I taught her to shoot, but I also taught her to fall back and stay on the phone with the LEO's. If the LEO's are still on the way and you are locked in the walk in closet, jam the shotgun under the doorknob and pull the trigger when the knob turns.
Luckily we never had an incident.

 

[hso]

There's so much classically wrong with the OP that others who have read threads on home defense and house clearing can readily point out, there's not any great need for me to go into those details.

The mindset that defending the house instead of protecting the house is one we see here frequently. The same ideas are dragged out over and over again and the same answers to prevent home invasion are presented. As bad as it is that people focus on dealing with the invader after they're inside instead of keeping them out, most people don't consider gathering their family and escaping to a safe place either in a specific protected room or offsite to a neighbor's or other safer location. Most people here don't get that preventing the home invasion and escaping it are infinitely safer alternatives that fighting for their lives.

Try looking at this article. http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_5/615497_STRATFOR_Threat_Assessment__Home_Invasion_Robberies.html
Here's an important excerpt that you can generalize to your situation if you make an honest attempt. Remember that wealth and associations are the key elements.

Recommendations for Minimizing Risks

Strategies for reducing the risk of an HIR involve enhancing physical security, protecting personal information and vetting household staff. Visible signs of enhanced physical security at the residence or around high-profile individuals will discourage potential attackers and could send them looking for softer targets. High-profile individuals should take steps to keep personal information private to avoid drawing the attention of potential attackers, making it difficult for them to gather information that could be used to plan an HIR. Thorough vetting of household staff -- including their acquaintances -- reduces the likelihood of an "inside job" being planned and carried out.

The measures to reduce vulnerability to HIRs include:

# Use of protective details, especially around the residence

# A countersurveillance component, which is more effective than traditional protection to thwart home invasions; perpetrators conducting pre-operational surveillance are at risk of being spotted by a skilled countersurveillance detail, thwarting the invasion

# Restrictions on the publication or distribution of any potentially sensitive information, such as income, donations, daily routines, security arrangements and home layout

# Restrictions on other personal information regarding the family, including pictures and details of residents' schedules

# Thorough background checks of household staff:

1. Particularly of nannies, contractors, handymen and any other staff members with access to the premises
2. Background checks should extend to spouses or boyfriends/girlfriends, as well as to immediate family
3. Anyone with a criminal record should be monitored and made known to the security team
4. Periodic updates on household staff and their close acquaintances should be conducted
# Consideration of technological security measures -- such as home alarms and multiple "panic" buttons, both hardwired and portable -- to alert authorities deployed in a discreet fashion to prevent potential assailants from neutralizing them

# Vetting and escorting of vendors or service personnel with access to the estate; all contractors should be screened for criminal backgrounds and monitored, as should any laborers or employees with access to the home

# Careful protection of security alarm codes and keys to the home

# Confidentiality measures for all travel arrangements, arrival and departure dates, length of absences, etc.


Home security systems, especially those that include audible alarms and enhanced emergency lighting, are a critical but often underutilized security asset. In fact, the most glaring security flaws are in home security systems. Wealthy people often spend tens of thousands of dollars or more on electronic home security systems, but because the systems are sometimes complicated to use, often broken or too prone to false alarms, many simply leave them off.

In addition to a home security system, a safe room can offer protection once a home invasion has started. A safe room is a small windowless space designed and installed by a professional that can be completely secured from the rest of the house. Safe rooms can be discreetly installed in walk-in closets or bathrooms. Family members, including children, should practice using safe rooms as a matter of routine. A "panic" alarm -- with a cellular backup -- that has a different signal from those of other alarms in the house also should be part of the safe room's equipment in order to alert authorities and let first responders know the family has gone to the safe room. Having a stand-alone backup power source is advisable in case the primary power source is cut. It might also be prudent to keep a weapon, such as a shotgun, in the safe room as a last line of defense. In most cases, using these rooms is preferable to attempting to run from the residence in the event of a break-in, as running could further expose the residents to the intruders.

Survival Once an Attack Begins

Unlike abductions, in which the kidnappers have a stake in keeping the victim alive -- at least until a ransom is received -- the perpetrators of HIRs are often career criminals who give little thought to the consequences of their actions. They can be just as likely -- and even more likely -- to kill their victims as to allow them to live.

The initial phase of the home invasion -- during which the robbers take control by use of overwhelming force and shock -- affords the best chance for victims to resist or escape. Unlike crimes perpetrated away from home, because a home invasion occurs at the victim's house, the idea of running away or escaping might not occur to the victim. If resistance is not possible during the initial stage of an HIR, a good course of action is to simulate compliance until or unless physical attacks begin. Once attacks begin, and once it appears that no other options remain, every effort should be made to resist and escape. Victims should be willing to trade wounds for certain death.

In some cases, the victims might outnumber the robbers. If this is so, victims should seriously consider rushing their attackers. In the Wichita Massacre, one of the assailants left the other assailant alone with four of the victims while the former took one of the female victims to an automated teller machine to withdraw cash. The three male victims thus apparently missed an opportunity to rush the other assailant while the first was occupied with one of the female victims. Even if shots are fired, most criminals are poor marksmen, and at the very least the noise could alert neighbors to the crime. In any case, the robbers are unlikely to remain in the house after such noise is made. As a final warning of victims' need to flee or resist, it should be remembered that despite the Wichita Massacre victims' efforts to cooperate and humanize themselves to their attackers, they were all shot in the head, run over and left for dead.

 

[GBExpat]

ZVP, there was a recent Thread that you may find to be of interest.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=717626

 

[bdickens]

True and viable home defense starts waaaayyyyy before the bad guys get inside the house.

Furthermore, the plan DOES NOT include copying action movies. Movies are fake. Action scenes in movies are even more fake. They are designed to be exciting and entertaining. They are not designed to depict reality.

Find the nearest and soonest NRA Basics of Personal Protection In the Home class and take it.

 

[Hanzo581]

Unless you live in a house where you are on one side and your children are all the way on the other there is no way I am going around clearing the house after a break in. You can do whatever you want in the house until the police come. But should you pick the wrong door that my family and I are behind...well....

 

[tuj]

If you want to practice what might be real shots inside your house, check out the LaserLyte system. You can put the laser cartridge in your real pistol and fire at the reactive laser targets.

I use them all the time for familiarizing people with firearms without the recoil and the bang.

The system is great for practicing your reaction times too.

 

[ZVP]

Thanks

You have been a great help in bringing to light the basic aspects of home security, those done before trouble starts! I will implement many of these too make the basic home security program better.
Far as tha movie Theif goes, experts have reviewed the footage and consider Kahnn's preformance to be the best ever! His actions are choir graphed from actual training films and he actually does it correctlly! Check it out.
I think the guns we have are adequate but you guys are right defend the safe room put everyone in there and call the Police.
Thanks to everyone for the help and time spent answering me!
BPDave

 

[theblakester]

Just something else to ponder... In recent years, "thugs" are invading homes more often in groups of more than 2 perpetrators. A good side by side shotgun works well, but something that can spit out more than 2 rounds without having to reload may be necessary... Very probably not, but maybe.

 

[PabloJ]

I feel VERY comfortable having G20 with Trijicon HD sights.

 

[holdencm9]

Home invasions are becoming more frequent Nationwide

Just something else to ponder... In recent years, "thugs" are invading homes more often in groups of more than 2 perpetrators.

Just curious. I've heard both of these statements repeated frequently lately. I am looking for help on finding the relevant stats. It seems to come up a lot in the "why do you need more than x-number of rounds?" debates.

 

[alsaqr]

The mindset that defending the house instead of protecting the house is one we see here frequently.

Bingo!!

Keeping the perp/s out of the house should be the first concern. If the perp/s can't get into the the house there is no home invasion and no shootout.

Homeowners can protect ground floor windows with thorny, sticky shrubs. Cotonester pyracantha (firethorn) is covered with pretty flowers and nasty sharp stickers. It will tear a person up.

 

[ZVP]

Last Night I had to apply my home defense skills.
The Dogs were going off in the garage where they sleep at nite.
I awoke, shook the sleep off and got dresed.
2 weeks ago an attempt to steal my truck failed leaving me with a mangaled steering colum. The Insurance replaced that.
Back to last nite:
I grabbed the .38 and noisilly (on purpose) olened the front door and went outside.
Damn, I was so sleepy I forgot a flashlight but have a good porch light and a streetlight right across the street.
I cautiouslly went down the wlk and checked the Garage door andlooked the vehicles over.
Luckilly it was either nothing or they split!
Jeese I gotta wake up faster and be more on "code Red"
Getting ready is going to take some "Dry Runs" at night...
I won't be a victum!
ZVP

 

[Kleanbore]

Posted by ZVP: Last Night I had to apply my home defense skills.
The Dogs were going off in the garage where they sleep at nite.
I awoke, shook the sleep off and got dresed.
.....
I grabbed the .38 and noisilly (on purpose) olened the front door and went outside.

Everyone, please!

Going outside is the last thing that one should do.

It is dangerous, and it may negate your defense of justification in the event that you encounter trouble.

 

[Hanzo581]

I was going to say something, but it would have come off as judging the guy. Going outside to investigate a disturbance at night is a recipe for disaster.

 

[besafe2]

ZVP:
Why did you go outside ? As another poster stated that's the last thing you want to do.

 

[AKElroy]

I won't be a victum

I get it. Getting shot would make you one, though. No way to know if you were facing multiple assailants, whether or not they were armed, and you were illuminated but the light directly above you while they enjoyed the advantage of darkness. Glad nothing came of it, but I agree with everyone else. Stuff outside is not worth taking reckless chances like that.