HD scenario

[TarDevil]

Doubtless this has been covered previously, but I'm lousy with this search thing...

Scenario... single mom with 13 month child. Fearful from a spate of home invasions in the area (several fatal) she wants to arm herself.

All door entries are on one end of the house, the first bedroom down the hall is accessible through windows. The rear two bedrooms are inaccessible from outside due to window height.

Part one - Arms
I've explained to her that one-shot stops are largely myth or luck, with the possible exception of a shotgun. I've gone through the pros and cons of pump/semi-auto/DB. I'm leaning a bit toward a Stoeger coach gun because I'm concerned about her working the actions under stress, but would love other opinions.

However, there's a more than likely chance that if worse come to worse, this young mother may need to navigate to the safety of the rear bedrooms with child in hand, so perhaps the shotgun is too cumbersome to wield. If so, then I'm inclined toward a simple .38 spcl revolver for the same reasons as my choice in shotgun... simplicity of function under stress. Opinions?

Part two - Defensive posture
I had one invasion attempt in a similarly configured house. I put the women in the rearmost bedroom and stationed myself on the floor where I could see the front bedroom window and down the hall, which covered the only two entry points. Fortunately, a warning of being armed deterred the invader and all ended well. However, I'm not sure how to advise this young lady about the kid. We certainly want the child completely out of harms way if gunfire is exchanged, but what is her best choice with the child? Put him in one of the bedrooms and her stand guard just outside, or the two of them barricade together in one room? I'm a little skeptical of both being together should shots be necessary, but I also don't like the idea of not having the child close enough to control.

What think ye?

As always, your wise counsel is appreciated!

 

[signalzero]

Real life scenario here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/05/okla-mom-shoots-intruder-no-charges_n_1186096.html

 

[TarDevil]

Believe it or not, I actually started composing this thread before I knew about McKinley.

Still... nothing in that story addresses the planning side of home defense... what to do with the kids.

The shotgun worked excellent for her, but what's the best plan for accessing a shotgun?

I don't want to wait for luck to deal the hand.. What is the best plan?

 

[signalzero]

True, the planning wasn't really there. It was a reaction to a threat. I'm not in LE, but I would guess this scenario is more likely to happen than being able to plan for home defense. That being said, there's nothing wrong with having some kind of plan. I'm guessing though if SHTF, the plan either goes out the window or is adapted on the fly to address the specific threat.

I think the first thing with home defense is making the home as secure as possible. Here are some sample ideas:

• Strong windows with good locks where appropriate
• Steel reinforced doors with deadbolts always locked as these are harder to knock down
• An alarm if deemed worth it (in my experience an audible alarm can be a good deterrent, as often times police response to alarm calls can be extremely slow)
• Bright motion-activated exterior lights at all door and window entrances (or alternatively at all corners of the house and above the garage)
• A metal gate surrounding the premises
• A big dog

There are other things you can do. As far as a scenario you described once inside the home, I will attempt to provide my opinion.

Part One: I think in this scenario it would be best if there was a pistol with decent stopping power (a .38 special revolver would be a good choice here), and a long gun of some kind, probably a shotgun as you suggested.

Part Two: I think it's paramount that the child be placed in the least dangerous space. If this is a room that has a bathroom, lock the child in the bathroom, then lock the bedroom and stand guard. This assumes the threat is opposite this location. If not, there has to be a place of safety for the child in such an event. I'd wager that it's likely best to never leave the child out of sight. In that case barricade wherever possible, call 911, and be armed and ready to defend.

This is as best as I can do with the information you provided. A lot of things depend on the layout of the house and property, and a lot of other variables.

 

[HDCamel]

I'd say that standing guard outside the child's room would be a bad idea, since you also have to be wary of overpenetration of the intruder's bullets, not just your own. Standing in the same general direction as the child puts the child at greater risk of getting hit by errant fire by the intruder.

Ideally, you'd want all fire to be perpendicular to the child's position.