Clearing a house on your own is foolish. That's not my opinion. That's a stone cold fact known by almost everyone (I'd say everyone, but exceptions prove the rule) who's been trained to do clearings - on a team - for a paycheck.
BG could have been anywhere in your garage. Behind a car, crouched in the corner, by the workbench, under the car, in the car, 10 feet to the right of his buddy, over by the ladder, etc. He has to do one thing - shoot you. You have to do the following: 1) locate source, 2) determine threat level (is it a neighbor borrowing a saw?), 3) aim, 4) shoot, 5) scan for another (are home invasions EVER a one-man deal?). You have an OODA loop, he has a job - shoot anybody who comes through THAT ONE DOOR!
If I hear a noise that's suspicious enough to send the wife and kids to the upstairs master bedroom, then it's suspicious enough for 5-0.
Here's my two choices: 1) huddle-up behind the bed with my family and wait for a BG to come through THAT ONE DOOR, or 2) enter the garage with weapon at low ready, get shot in the guts, blow my shot cuz the shock took me off my game, get disarmed, listen to two BG's party with my wife for the next hour while I bleed out, then explain things to St. Peter. I'll take door #1 thanks.
That lays it out succinctly--but not everyone starts out thinking like that.
I mentioned taking a gun and going after real danger in the house twice; fortunately I came out in one piece both times. In one instance I had to do that, in the other I did not.
I have not mentioned the couple of times I have taken a gun and gone to investigate a noise that turned out to be benign. Yes, I have done it--before I really thought about it. And frankly, I had to learn from the experts before I really tried to figure out for myself that it was a very poor tactic indeed. Why, I do not know.
But I
could have figured out for myself, had I really tried.
As someone comes down the stairs in my house, he or she is exposed from the side, and then from the back and side. He or she is a ready target for anyone who might happen to be in any of a number of places.
As he or she comes into the foyer, the number of places a potential burglar or two might be waiting is multiplied several fold. It is highly unlikely that he or she could spot a person before that person could shoot, much less positively identify the target and fire effectively. Worse if there were two.
Then, depending upon which route is chosen, opportunities for ambush become even more abundant.
But I did that a couple of times over the years. It seemed to me to be the right thing at the time. What makes us do that? A false sense of invulnerability? Too much television? Lack of training? Lack of having thought it it through?
Fortunately, there was never anyone there. Never anyone to put me in danger, and never anyone for me to shoot by mistake.
What made me stop and think about it and change my tactics? Things like this--this from someone who used to teach the subject.
does it not matter that you know your own house, while a BG does not?
Not in the dark with your heart racing your vision tunneled your hands sweating and the BG crouched behind the comfy chair that isn't out of place.
I've been at professional SWAT competitions where a team of pros clears a house on a timer and they get gunned up because they make simple mistakes like not looking closely enough behind furniture and doors.
Everyone thinks they have the home field advantage in their house. They're wrong. Home field advantages are for games, not life and death. You want all the advantages on your side, not just some. All the advantages exist when you're barricaded with the lights shining down a clear line of fire and only one approach to you that is straight down that line of fire and not half asleep walking through your house "checking things out" with a gun in your hand.
When I used to help teach this we walked everyone through the shoot house and around every piece of furniture in every room talking about clearing and shooting in the office or home. We did this after a couple of hours just going over shooting in the office or home in the class room.
We showed them "how" to do it in theory and while we walked through. We started their first scenario with the lights on and then only after they completed it did we drop the lights to low light and after that to dark. They all got shot on the first, second and third runs before they could "kill" me (Ok, one guy "killed" me before I could get a shot off because he out-patienced me. I moved thinking he had gone out of the scenario and he put two in the chest and one in the head like he'd been doing it all his life.{I was so proud of him!}).
....
until you take a course with Simunition or with Airsoft and try to clear your house you can't appreciate how suicidal it is. Or you could just take our word for it.
Now,
would I do it if I had to get to Michaela? With Gwen or Paul backing me up, sure. Paul and I have done it at his old house when he insisted on going in when he was robbed for the second time in 2 months. Gwen and I have practiced it, but I wouldn't put much stock in it. With Dan Mounger I'd be as comfortable as with the guy I used to teach this with. By myself? Yeah, but I'd try like hell to be wearing my vest and carrying the AR and the P14 with the +2 mag and Jackalope going ahead of me.
I'd still be doing it as a dead man intent upon taking the threat to the grave with me to save her. Did you hear that part? I'd consider myself already dead if I had to do it without a partner I trusted and knew as much as I do about the techinique. That's how bad I consider doing this to be. You'll never find me clearing my house outside of that particular circumstance.
As you can see, this has come up before. There are plenty more like this.
A former police SWAT team lead (now a police lieutenant and tactics instructor) I know says, stay put. When they did have to clear buildings, they used trained teams, body armor, shotguns, carbines, H&K machine pistols, and stun grenades--and they really, really did not like to have to do it at all.
