Posted by JustinJ: Ultimately, my view is that for the vast majority of methods a potential invader would use to attempt forced entry sufficient time should be available to recover a firearm.
Have you based that view on objective data? How long does it take to break in? How long does it take to get to the weapon?
If not, delaying entry and increasing detection times are the methods i prefer and believe are adequate.
Do you know how much you can delay entry, and can you compare the resultant time with what is "adequate".
I do not want to appear rude, but I have my doubts.
And time is but one aspect.
Should an intruder force his way into my house by entering the living room from the front porch, he has cut off my access to the bedroom unless I am already upstairs.
Should he enter the dining room from the back porch while I am in the kitchen, he has cut off my access to anywhere else in the house.
Should he enter from the back porch while I am in the living room, he has forced me into a footrace to get to my firearm, leaving my wife wherever she may be.
Should he enter though a door or window into the basement and come up the stairs to the first floor, I will again be cut off.
Not good.
So what is it that makes carry at home anything but the preferred solution?
I happened to start carrying about the time I saw an episode of
The Best Defense in which an intruder forcibly breached the door of a modern house (a thousand one) and ran into the hallway (a thousand two).
The resident barely beat him in a footrace to a first floor bedroom, accessed a weapon, and shot him.
The
intended lesson was about where in the safe room (with respect to the door to the room) it was best to assume cover.
I took away a different lesson.