From jbauch357:
Kleanbore - I totally agree the safest thing to do is to stay in my room and wait, but honestly I'm dumb/aggressive enough to go investigating noises that may be coming from inside the house. I seriously doubt that more than 1 in 10 here would wait in their room and call the police rather than personally investigate noises in their house...
Because the subject has come up numerous times before, and because may people have taken PD courses and/or read books on the subject, I think those who would do that are in the minority and are probably new to the forum or to personal defense--or maybe not the sharpest knives in the drawer.
It was one of the subjects covered in my state required CCW class. I must confess that that class changed my ways. I have in the past gone around with a gun, oblivious to my extreme tactical disadvantage.
From Todd A:
Holing up in one room and calling the police everytime something goes bump in the night might work for some of you.
Not every time the icemaker rattles, but if you hear what is obviously an intruder...
I have loved ones in the house that I must protect. And we do not have a local PD, so it'll take awhile for the State Troopers to show up. Me behind my bedroom door with my shotgun won't work.
When you have family in the house
your first task is to get them into a safe place. That could put you at risk momentarily but you don't have a choice.
I don't know the response time there, but if it's really long you may have an issue with the strategy usually recommended. But remember that as you walk around looking for someone you are only really safe if the guy is alone, unarmed, and compliant, or if it turns out there's really no one there. How can you have any confidence that you would not walking into an ambush by two or more people with guns in their hands whose locations are unknown to you? And remember,
you have the obligation to make sure it's not a neighbor, etc., before you fire. If they have guns, they can be expected to shoot you on sight--perhaps from more than one direction. I really don't like those odds!
It seems to me that you (or anyone in a suburban area, for that matter) could reduce your risk and add to your peace of mind by putting some inexpensive remote cameras in strategic locations in the house. That way you would know whether there really is someone in the house, and perhaps how many, and where, and maybe have an idea as to whether any are armed. I'm considering that approach.
What you do with the knowledge you gain from the system is up to you. My approach is to go back to bed if I see nothing, and otherwise, to call the police and stay put unless I see someone starting a fire in the house.
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....None of those personal defense instructors , invitation only trained professional instructors,or top-flight LEOs are gonna be in my house to save my loved ones are they?
