Home as part of your "Home Defense"

[Ed Ames]

I've been reading some threads here, specifically the "The perfect home self defense weapon?" thread but a few others as well, and a thought struck me... people put a lot of thought into home defense weapons... how much do they put into making the home defendable? Or setting their home up to be less likely to need defending? What really got me thinking about this was someone mentioning a full auto shotgun... now, I don't know about you, but personally I wouldn't want ANY shotgun fired in my house... I like my plaster, I like the artworks I have hanging on my walls, I paid good money for my wood floors... I just don't see risking them except as an absolute last resort.

So anyway, it seems as though for the price of a decent tactical 1911 and a few days at the range a person could make some serious security improvements in the average home...video intercoms, a "strong" foyer with high qualitiy self-locking doors inside and out, alarm service for a year or two... push the perimeter out towards the street and make the house harder for invaders, burglers, and so on to just stroll through once they are inside.

Personally, I have a locking gate across my driveway and a wall around my yard (so anyone in my yard is already B&E), and automatic lights that will shine on anyone approaching the house. Some inside doors are stronger than normal (they aren't hollow core doors) and have fingerprint locks which are a bit inconvenient (it takes 5 seconds or more to go through those doors) but they lock automatically and you can't lose the keys. I have video surveillance of a few areas. That's not a complete list but shows some of the seemingly unusual defensive features of my place.

That said, the house itself isn't all that good for defense... the floor plan is very open, there are lots of outside doors... the perimeter is pushed towards the street because the house itself isn't very strong.

What do the guys 'n gals on this forum do about that? Wish you did but haven't gotten around to or don't have the money for? Think is a good idea? How do you evaluate a place you live, or are considering living, to decide whether it is basically secure? And how do you actually make security improvements...do the work yourself so you know the quality and don't have to worry about people casing your house as they work on it, or hire someone to do the work for you?

I'm interested to hear everyone's opinions, and the question is only partially idle... I've been seriously thinking about how to improve the basic security of the place, whether it is removing one of the guns from a safe and rigging some sort of quick-access mount for it, reenforcing some of the walls to form "safe cover" areas, or installing automatic gates and an intercom box near the street so the UPS guy can buzz me when he has a package instead of just dropping it over my gate and driving off. I'm especially interested in setting up a secure inner room as a gun room/panic room.... not sure how I'll do that. I also want to set up more cameras, especially facing up and down the street in front of my house to catch license plate numbers of people cruising past.

So, what thinks The High Road crowd?

 

[shooter503]

We recently had a minor break-in to my workshop while the wife and I were away for the day. Hand tools stolen. Strangely the nearby house not touched.

Our drive is quite long and it curves up a slope making it impossible to see traffic coming up the drive. There is a high bank on one side of the drive and a drop on the other side. I am thinking of using this layout to build a tactical bottle neck. The baddies will have to commit themselves to entering a box canyon. Gate in front, high bank left, drop-off to the right. I will add security lights and possibly a video camera. I figure if I make the camera obvious this will be another deterrent.

 

[Fred Fuller]

Ed,

Didn't read far enough into that thread to get to the 'full auto shotgun' part. I think someone is letting their fantasies run away with them, or maybe suffering from incipient mallninjaitis. I wouldn't take that too seriously were I you.

I'm happy to see that you do have firearms in the home and are willing to admit that hardening your residence is not the only approach you're willing to take. I would suggest that, along with logocal and reasonable steps to further improve the security of your home, you consider some training in the defensive use of some of the firearms you already own.

You seem a little overly concerned to me about potential collateral damage from being forced to discharge a firearm in self defense inside your home. I think your primary concern should be stopping an intruder who makes it past your cameras and gates and fences and doors and locks in the event (very unlikely for most of us, of course) and threatens the safety of you or your family, more than worrying about what might happen to any physical property. Your best bet IMHO is to develop a family security plan that provides you with a prepared course of action and pre-positioned resources in the event of a break-in or home invasion. The NRA basic courses are offered in many areas, and the home firearm safety.personal protection classes are good starting points. Also, Louis Awerbuck's _Safe At Home_ video is a good introduction as well. Look here for NRA classes- http://www.nrahq.org/education/training/find.asp and here for info on the video- http://www.paladin-press.com/detail.aspx?ID=753 .

And don't be too quick to dismiss a shotgun as your primary defensive firearm. A long gun is easier to hit with under pressure, and a shotgun delivers more power to its target at close range than any other individual weapon. Note I made no mention of the widely held myths that 'you can't miss with a shotgun' (you can) or 'the sound of a pump shotgun being racked will make a burglar have a heart attack on the spot' (it won't). If you arrange your safe area properly, any overpenetration or misses will be absorbed by the bookshelves, decorative (heavy) furniture, brick or rock interior walls etc. that you have put in place as a backstop for the 'fatal funnel' you've established along with your safe area.

Remember that the most valuable thing in your home is you and your family. There is no guarantee someone won't come for the express purpose of getting a family member and not just your physical possessions. Don't focus over much on the jewelry or the electronics or the safe or the artwork or whatever - any of that can be replaced, repaired, recovered or substituted for.

Certainly you should harden you home to the degree that makes you comfortable. But don't overlook hardening yourself and all members of your family who are old enough and responsible enough to help provide for family security inside your home as well. You need to have training and practice to hone the skills you need to defend yourselves, and you need to have plans and resources in place to turn every possible advantage in your favor in the event someone does try to get in.

Oh yeah- and get a dog, if you don't have one. Preferably a protective one, but anything that will bark at strangers will do.

Stay safe,

lpl/nc

 

[Ed Ames]

Lee, good reply.

I'm a handgun guy myself... I'm pretty confident I could hit a man-sized target out to 100 yards with any of the handguns I practice regularly with but I doubt I could hit the broad side of a barn with a shotgun. Especially since I don't own a shotgun. I've dealt with a few emergencies in the air, on the ocean, and just walking around... enough to believe I won't frazzle enough to worry about tension-induced inaccuracy, so I'll probably stick with handguns for practical shooting. I would like a shotgun for shooting clays though... I was watching some shotgunners a few weeks ago and it looked like a lot of fun. And I have a dog... 130lbs of fairly well trained mut.

Not so worried about property damage as you might think... it's more like a milligram of prevention is worth 230 grains of cure...

You are correct that family may be the target. You are also correct that family protection is the highest priority. However... I'm not really looking at it from a "highest harm" perspective. I'm looking at it from the "highest threat" direction. What I mean is.... I drive a car, I fly an airplane, I go sailing... I am accepting the risk of great bodily harm. I ride a motorcycle and some would argue I'm courting risk in that case. I do those things despite the high harm (including death) that is possible because I consider the likelihood (the threat, as I'm putting it) relatively low compared to the reward (going to a grocery store or seeing the desert from 2500 feet AGL). When I do those things, I take steps to mitigate not the harm (any of them can kill me and I can't remove the chance that they will) but the likely threats (as in I make sure my boat's mast is properly stepped, the rigging is sound and tensioned, and the engine runs and has sufficient fuel, because failures in those areas are threats to my safety) I face. As I eliminate individual threats I reduce the chances of harm coming to myself or those around me.

That's what I'm looking at here... how can I address the specific threats before they combine to have me going room to room clearing my house after a burglary (which I view as far more likely than being invaded by armed agressors while at home). How do I prepare to clear the property with minimum risk -- as in, should I have cameras in the house that can somehow be viewed (maybe via a wireless internet connection) from outside the house, should I have an external lock box with a gun in it so that when I come home and my door is swinging open I can get a gun before I go inside, etc..

And, even more specifically, how can those threats be addressed not so much with an armed response but by preventing the problem in the first place. Hiding what should be hidden, securing what should be secured, recording what could be useful, and... you tell me what else I can do...

Just curious what people think is reasonable, and what ideas anyone has for making the home a safer place.

 

[Technosavant]

I'm with you in that, before obsessing over "what gun to use?" a better question is "what locks to install?" There was one thread asking about what gun to keep in the shower. At some point, it starts getting ridiculous- yes, it is a potential problem, but sometimes some better security beats a gun in every room. I know that good burglars can penetrate good security, but quite honestly, there just aren't teams of pro burglars out there who are willing to take the time and effort to breach good security.

Quality locks, solid doors (with good frames), inhospitable shrubbery (thorns), motion-activated lights, etc. are all worth the trouble. So is the mindset of "if we aren't going through the door, it's locked." I might recommend watching "It Takes a Thief" on Discovery Channel (or was that TLC?) for some pointers.

Layered defense is the answer. Make sure your home doesn't look attractive to thieves. Make it a hard nut to crack. Invest in a decent security system. None of these are foolproof, but enough can make your neighbor's home a more attractive target.

If the intruder makes it past all those defenses, THEN it's time to repel boarders. But better to dissuade them.

 

[Geronimo45]

Locking doors on the inside would be very handy. Something on the windows - bars, or metal storm-proof shutters would be an added deterrent. If they can't get through the windows, they'll have to go for the door. Double deadbolts, like a lot of apartments have (where one can't be accessed from outside) are very useful. Careful of glass in the doors.

Lots of inexpensive cameras you can get - hook them up to a cheap TV or to a computer.

 

[hso]

...for the price of a decent tactical 1911 and a few days at the range a person could make some serious security improvements in the average home...

Give that man a cigar!

Nothing "sexy" for the gun nut about locks, lights and lines of sight, but I'd rather the BG not get on the property or in the house. Doesn't mean you shouldn't have the means to stop them should they get through, but if you spend $2,000 on guns and gun stuff and $200 on security you've got your head and your money in the wrong place. Either that or you're just rationalizing your toy budget.

I spent money building the house on security before I ever bought my second gun. Helps keep the subsequent gun purchases secure as well as the family.

 

[ravencon]

The overall point of this post is spot on. Most gun guys I know are far more interested in their gun collections than the security of their homes.

Though there may be some danger in becoming too conspicuous with security measures. In my area of New England high fences and driveway security gates are extraordinarily rare. Such an installation would make you the subject of lots of community speculation--Is that guy a drug dealer?
I suspect it might attract the attention of the goblins rather than deflect it.

 

[up_onus]

I was reading ballistic reports by a member....

You talked about a "panic" room....I was thinking bout the same thing a few days back. I found that 3 things will work, cement in between the walls, 1/4" or 1/2" steel plates (depending on how much protection you want), or finally putting up kevlar (the same product they use in bullet proof vests). Expense and how this gets done IS the issue, as concrete in your walls could damage them if not properly done, steel hanging on your walls may not look good and has more expense, and finally kevlar being the most expensive and still having to be done correctly....
Good luck, and remember, like a CCW, if your gun is too much of a hassle to take with you everywhere, its not worth having. If your house is too much of a hassle to deal with (because of your "security" issues) and you wont use it to defend yourself properly, its not worth having....

 

[pete f]

As a contractor, let me start by saying if I want in, I am getting in. I have had tenants to all sorts of things to keep landlords and cops out. nothing will keep me out for good if I want in. somethings will slow me down, but most won't. you put fancy locks on the door and then leave without giving us the keys, I can pull the whole door frame out in a couple of minutes. Door, jamb, locks, screws everything. Any window with covered with stickey shelf paper then smacked with an elbow is now open to me.
bars on windows will come off with a big pinch bar or a chain on the truck

Fast and easy is cordless sawzall a foot way from locked door, only vinyl siding, sheet rock and insulation I can be thru in less than minute.

Dogs, bright lights that ring a bell in the house when they are turned on by motion detectors, motion detectors that ring door bell and keep lights off to give you a silent alarm in The house are easy to do. trip wires disguised as plant supports or garden borders tied to lights or sound are easy too.

No matter where you live, if i want in, i am getting in. You can not stop me with barriers short of a moat with dragons.

Your objective is to simply make your house less attractive to BG's than the house next door. Your house is all bright and lit up and neighbors all dark and easy, who are they going to pick....

 

[No_Brakes23]

Some of the first shotgun threads I read here actually had lin depth comments about prepping your house as one of the necessary steps of HD. Odd little things that may not seem obvious, but make perfectly good sense, (Like having noisemakers and things like endtables that channel traffic or cause a home intruder to fall/make noise.)

I also discovered this at the last apartment I lived at. The layout of the apartment made it necessary to "clear" the apt, because my kids room was closer to the points of entry than my room. I could not afford a weapon light, so I bought a whole bunch of LED night lights, ($5 from Target, and they are aimable.) I also mounted reflective framed pictures on the wall that would afford me a view of the living room, but would not expose me to anyone in the living room, (I had to move the pics around a bit to do this.) I aimed the LED lights so they would create areas of darkness, (Where I would be coming from,) illuminate likely avenues of approach, and backlight anyone in the kitchen, thus casting a shadow to give a slight clue as to who was here in the house.

Unfortunately I could not upgrade the locks since it was a rental, but that should definitely be a consideration for the home owner. Likewise a dog was out of the question.

I was probably overthinking my situtation, and who knows how clearly I would be thinking in the dead of night, (Probably not too clearly,) but I felt more prepared than if I did nothing.

 

[Tokugawa]

Having been awakened by four drunks with clubs standing over my bed, I am somewhat sensitive to home security. Although I make absolutely no claims to expertise, here are a few suggestions.
A solid, deadbolted bedroom door is a must. Around the doors, the screws for the hinges, strike and jambs must be long, and a layer of 3/4" plywood under the drywall in good, it will slow down punching a hole thru the wall and will help to prevent spreading of the jamb. (especially if it is fit between the studs, not nailed over them.)
Door location is a consideration- ,both to make it harder to break thru and easier to defend.
Commercial steel doors and jambs are way better than any wood door.
And concrete construction rules! My next house is going to have a concrete first floor with commercial rollup steel doors, and all the living spaces on the second floor with a choke point/defendable gate for access.
Make the windows high so it is a bit more difficult to climb in over the broken glass.
Know where the choke points in your home are, and the safe fields of fire.
And finally, for ideas, look to the past- the peacefull age we live in now is an anomoly-most residences in the past had features to discourage invaders.

 

[TallPine]

You can not stop me with barriers short of a moat with dragons.

I'd like something like that for my "next house" (anyone know where I can find a good used dragon...?)

One of those round Irish towers would make a nice cottage... either no windows and doors on the ground floor and a ladder that you pull up after you, or a vertically sliding steel door in stone slots with a pulley arrangement to open. The whole thing would be pretty fire safe, too

 

[meef]

Having been awakened by four drunks with clubs standing over my bed, I am somewhat sensitive to home security.

Uhh.... what?

Friends of yours or something?

Must not have been too bad, seeing as how you are here and posting about it.

 

[No_Brakes23]

My next house is going to have a concrete first floor with commercial rollup steel doors, and all the living spaces on the second floor with a choke point/defendable gate for access.

Women love that look. My wife would be ultra-thrilled if I remodeled the house in "Industrial Compound".

Does sound secure, though.

 

[cassandrasdaddy]

a door

at the top of the stairs, particularly a steel door on steel frame that opens towrds the stairs is harder to defeat should allow a family to group together and prepare a welcome while they wait for cops

 

[Ed Ames]

Some interesting replies.

Personally, I think if the house itself needs to be a bunker (no windows on first floor, roll up steel doors, and so on) you've picked the wrong location or the wrong lifestyle. A moat is better.... well, not a your filled-with-water sharks-with-lasers moat, but an outer perimeter that stops the casual attacks and slows down the less casual. Today that can be done with decent fence with an alarm system and visible cameras ... the really casual intruders (missionaries) will stop at the locked gate, the moderately casual intruders (opportunistic burglers, vandals, and boys seeking daughters) will be stopped by the security cameras, the serious people will just drive through (just as they dropped logs across moats to make bridges) but at least you'll know they are coming and will have time to identify them and choose a response.

Clearing the house after an event is something I've really been thinking about. Years ago I had some lengthy talks with a local PD about setting up wifi or internet-accessible cameras in banks to be accessible from patrol cars. Basically, they were tired of having to go into a potentially hostile situation blind, and I can't blame them. A similar thought applies to homes, but introduces the question of do you really want cameras in the bedrooms/bathrooms/everwhere else... or is it good enough to have cameras on the doors/windows and a way of going back through the recording... so you can count people going in, count them going out, and say "three in, three out, the house is empty" ... or isn't empty if the numbers don't balance.

There is no question that someone wanting in will get in. The goal is more to keep them from wanting in, and if they enter to minimize the damage they do and the danger they represent. It is also to be able to leave the house, perhaps for a few weeks at a time, without having to take all the valuables with me.....

All interesting points though, and good food for thought....

 

[TallPine]

The moat and dragons were a fun thought, but seriously if I were setting up a rural home from scratch, I would build a dog fence enclosing an acre or two around the house and run a couple of Malinois or German Shepards in there. Unexpected visitors would have to stop outside the gate and wait for us to corral the dogs (suppose I would also need a "dropbox" at the gate for UPS and Fedex packages) and if I was expecting guests I would just tie up the dogs and open the gate.

That's not a perfect solution because someone could of course just shoot the dogs

But our house is on a fairly rough hillside so that it would be difficult to build a dog fence around it, unless it just enclosed a small yard and that would play havoc with mowing and snow removal.

I never thought about all that when we were looking for a place to buy - I guess I just wasn't that suspicious and paranoid yet But then we started having problems with a weird neighbor, and even though he has sold his plcae and moved away (to prison, for a while) I just can't get over the "castle mentality"

 

[roo_ster]

Fields of Fire (uh, "Observation")

I just helped a neighbor who has had a security scare.

First, we cut back vision-blocking vegetation. Now, no veg blocks vision form the street or alley through his property (with the exception of big tree trunks) and no veg blocks vision from his windows. We had to remove two big old bushes (20' tall x 6' wide x 6' deep each) and cut back another neighbor's encroaching/overhanging veg back to the fenceline.

Second, we installed new, better quality deadbolts with 3" deckscrews into the door frame. Voids were taken up with Gorilla Glue. Doors also get pivoting lock bars that prevent the door opening more than 2" without first closing hte door and then removing the lock bar. To get through a door, something is going to have to be broken unless the B&E-er is a pro lockpicker.

Third, we installed/repaired lighting all 'round the house. All is motion sensitive save the front & foyer and a single spot in back. Three sides have 500W/180deg motion sensitve lamps. The front is two 150W equivalent bulbs. Good observation/lighting out past his property line encompassing the alley and the side sidewalk. The front is a bit lacking & needs another 500W/180deg light. Motion sensing is limited to his property plus the back alley & sidewalks, but not the streets. I wish I could set up a similar lighting scheme, but my circuit breaker box is already overwhelmed (original from 1959). Any more load and I expect serious problems.

Fourth, we installed window clamp/locks that pretty much force someone to bust glass to get through a window.

Fifth, I got him some 12ga low-recoil 00 buckshot. He had previously stoked his Mossy with birdshot. I pointed out to him that he would be unable to effectively engage out to his property line with birdshot, were he to be menaced by folks on his property but not in his house. An absolute extreme shot would be 25-30 yards. If his property were larger, I would have recommended low-recoil slugs. We will pattern different loads in his weapon when we get time.

Sixth, we will get him a handgun. He is on a budget and most of his experience is with a 1911 in the service. He has issues with recoil, so we are planning to get him a CZ75: ~$450 OTD, 9mm, all steel, Condition One capable.

Seventh, we locked down all gates/sheds with padlocks. Sure, someone could hop the fence, but it is one more impediment to a goblin.

Eighth, we walked through his house and gave some serious thought to how he would defend it from external and internal threats. We insured that no security lights were directed inside and installed blinds over all windows without covering. We blacked out one window near to where he reads at night.

Ninth, we are going over mutual-support plans in case either one of us needs help. These have not yet gelled, but we have both each others' home/cell phone numbers. I will likely support with a 1892 clone .44mag lever gun stoked with very mild handloads (.44spl velocity, 240gr LSWC) that produce no muzzle flash I can discern by twilight. I will be outside the house and very well may have to engage at 25+ yards. I struggled with the handload vs factory issue, but came to the conclusion that milder/downloaded ammo suits my needs best (mild recoil, little muzzle flash). My sidearm will be a 1911 .45ACP.

Tenth, we have temporarily loaned him our most sensitive dog to keep him company at night. She will hear and either growl or sing out when folks are near our property & I expect she will do the same for him. We have plans for him to get a dog of his own. Maybe a rescue Greyhound? Anybody have a good idea for an alarm dog? He likes big dogs, especially.