Don't clear your home, but what about false alarms

[Mannlicher]

any one of us ought to be able to take care of things at home. We seem to be WAY to dependent on mommy, daddy, or the police to make things right.
Might be time to grow up, mature a little...............

 

[possum]

possum got into my garage and is just rummaging around out there,

i don't make it a habit to partake in the above!

no really though!

your question is a tough one and i woudl have to be in asittuation to give you the advice as to what i would do. you cn plan all day but at nytime pvt murphy can throw his kink in there. and you have to totally change the plans.

i cannot give you a straight answer and i wish i could. the only advice that i can give you is to be flexible, have a contigecy plan and be able to adapt to the event and make the best decision you can at the time and go with it. so what if you call the cops out for nothing, better to do that and not need them than vis-versa you know! out of all the bs calls that they get this could be a serious incedent.


standing and defending your ground is a great plan and one that i wish i could do , but because of the layout of the house, i have to go through the entire house to get to the other side where my 3 yr old and my 4 month old are sleeping. i do have a plan for this and though i would like a better house set up there isn't much i can do about that so i have to adapt to the scenario at hand. me and the wife have worked it out and have a plan that we have precticed alot. it would just be so much easier if the babies were closer. though we do hae to go all the way through the house to get to thier rooms, oce we are there and have secured the girls. we will hold up there and the girls room will be the new "fort".

 

[Dihappy]

Heres an interesting story.

One night i was awakened to what i would have SWORN was a loud thump in the living room.

I mean i even felt the vibration and i was sure something heavy had fallen off the wall or was knocked over.

Anyone ever have buck fever? This is what happened and my heart beating so hard made it difficult to listen to anything in the quiet house.

I grabbed the shotgun and told my wife to stay here while i went to go check.

I listened ant tiptoed to the living room and peered around the hallway corner. The moonlight entering through the sliding glass doors in the living room revealed no sign of any trouble. No uninvited guests, nothing fallen over, everything kosher.

I continued into the kitchen/dining room, laundry and 3rd bath. Nothing.

I turned on all the lights and looked EVERYWHERE. Nothing was afoul.

I was scratching my head and couldnt figure it out so i went back to bed and again checked around in the morning.

On the way to work, down the street at the corner, about 5 houses away was a tree branch in the street that had fallel that night

The darn thing hit so hard it i felt it in my home and coulda sworn it came from the living room.

 

[fearless leader]

If I sense that something is not right at my place, my plan goes like this:
1) Never Assume
2) Arm myself, normally with more than 1 gun
3) See who/what my German Sheppard is chewing on or growling at, be prepared to back him up
4)Call police if necessary

I don't subscribe to not clearing my own house, but I can understand why some people would feel that way.
I have had training in this field and it's usually done with a team doing "cover and contact" or similar technique.
My home is difficult to conceal your point of entry and location, as it's small but open enough not to afford much cover or concealment to an intruder.
My dog is my primary alarm, but I live in a remote area that I usally hear strange vehicles on the approach.
I don't understand how it works exactly, but the sound of a normal vehicle doesn't phase me, but a stange vehicle's sound can awaken me from a dead sleep.

 

[Titan6]

I am willing to bet the sound waves rattled your windows and made you think that. Remember sound travels easier at night.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

any one of us ought to be able to take care of things at home. We seem to be WAY to dependent on mommy, daddy, or the police to make things right.
Might be time to grow up, mature a little...............

I don't know that this has anything to do with growing up. It has everything to do with understanding what is going on before calling for help as Ed above noted.

As for taking care of things, sure, we should be able to take care of things, but that isn't always the case. Situations are often not just what we make of them. When we don't take care of them in the manner deemed appropriate, we trash the hell out of folks for not doing it right.
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=300875&highlight=bohemian

If you have a real need, call the cops. If you don't have a real need and call the cops every time something goes bump in the night, they cops are going to start not coming and you will be in the Boy Who Cried Wolf situation.

 

[camslam]

any one of us ought to be able to take care of things at home. We seem to be WAY to dependent on mommy, daddy, or the police to make things right.
Might be time to grow up, mature a little...............

A bit harsh, but true nonetheless. Every person needs to decide for themselves on any situation involving a firearm, that being said...

1. My home and family are my responsibility.

2. There is a reason I have chosen to arm myself, practice, prepare, practice some more, prepare some more, and finally practice some more for different situations.

3. Nobody and I mean absolutely NOBODY that I know has any business being in my house when I am not expecting them, especially late at night when things go bump. All of my friends and family know that there are 3" 00 buck shells and .45 JHP's waiting if they break into my house. That just will never happen, for anybody else that is there and shouldn't be, I choose to be prepared.

3.5. If someone I know violates rule 3, I have tac lights on all of my home defense guns to identify said threat.

4. Clearing a house in the middle of the night is serious, scary business, but having a plan, practicing that plan, and preparing for things the best you can, alleviates much of the anxiety and potential problems.

5. Most criminals don't break into your house and then wait to ambush you at "choke points", they usually have an agenda and get moving on it. Most people know their homes better than criminals and with proper preparation, they should be able to defend their homes, families, and lives.

6. I have "cleared" my house twice when something went bump in the night. I learned from each experience and feel I have bettered myself. Sitting in a room waiting for the police to show up is one option, but for most of us, I think there are better options.

As I stated at the top, those are harsh words, but I believe there is some wisdom in them. Just my $.02.

 

[mossberg]

What are your choices in a small town where the police seem to go to bed before everyone else?

 

[Noxx]

Cameras, cameras, cameras.

Most people who post here, probably have quite a bit of money invested in guns, safes, other "gun stuff".

For a relatively minor investment, a few grand at most, you can cover most of your home with discreet cameras, observe those areas from a monitor in your secured bedroom, and employ a remote system to activate lighting in the home.

I've seen so many discussions here about wandering around your house in the dark with a gun and a flashlight.... when to do it, when not to do it, how to do it, etc. For the cost of a used dirtbike, or comparable "toy" you can render the question moot.

The technology is readily available, and fairly inexpensive. Take advantage of it.