Dead Serious.
Where I was residing, the threat of VCAs was real.
I have since moved.
My concerns have always been, entering and exiting a structure and answering the door.
From the time I was born, I have spent time in a hi-risk environment.
The Models of Criminals I concerned myself with, are those many of you will not be.
No offense, just you do not offer them the return in investment I do.
You don't have anything they want. You have been around them, and never knew these models of criminals were present.
I did not have a duty to retreat, where I resided, in any of the structures I spend the night in.
Often times, I slept in a recliner, dressed, including wearing my shoes.
I had time invested in practicing plans, including front door, back entrance being literally busted in, and VCA inside.
How well do you shoot from a recliner?
Not only with a handgun, a shotgun as well?
I like being flexible, and mobile.
This is one reason I was mentored with handguns first, instead of a .22 rifle like most kids.
Yep, even as a kid, I had a loaded revolver and it was not often in a nightstand, instead where I could access in a manner consistent with how one sleeps, and wakes up, and how one wakes up "startled".
Not many kids I suspect had lessons actually shooting from a real bed, with linens, covers, and pillows on a private range/ in a shoot house but I did.
Another "tool" was da switch.
No, not "that" switch.
Light switch that turned on a light behind, maybe even a radio, to not only illuminate them, also distract with light and noise.
Distance is your friend, and distance is not only measured in feet, and yards, also time.
Maybe a switch turned on a light, on the roof of the house. This too was a pre-planned signal that evil had shown up.
Youth Single Shot 20 ga shotgun as been part of my toolbox for decades.
My load of choice, slugs. I prefer slugs.
Total length is 36". The plain barrel is 22" with a fixed modified choke.
I want choke in a shotgun.
Mine has the factory recoil pad.
I have added recoil pads to other 20 bore single shots .
Other than that, these are kept bone stock, not even sling swivels.
I might add a elastic shell carrier to the butt stock.
First Responders are going to see a "kids" or "youth" shotgun. So will a grand jury, or a jury of my peers.
Because that is exactly what that shotgun is.
Go grab a yard stick, and see how maneuverable it is in a structure.
That is how maneuverable my youth single shot shotgun is.
Clint Smith I understand keeps a single shot shotgun in 20 ga at /near his bedside as well.
I accessed my environments where I was residing.
Now I have moved, and honest to goodness I could not sleep for a few days after moving.
Sometimes I still cannot sleep through the night.
There are no gunshots, sirens, flashing lights, through the night. No slamming car doors, and nobody ringing the doorbell, and/or beating fists against my first door in the wee hours.
The most serious "surprise" I have had after dark, since moving has been:
-a water main broke somewhere and I had no water until the next day.
-bathroom sink sprung a leak somewhere around midnight the other night.
Daytime:
-Squirrels stole the nuts I had gathered and left on the front porch.
-Dawgs stole a pack of smokes I left on the front porch railing.
- I overslept and a friend of mine was banging on the door just as I stepped out of the shower one morning.
-Having a new box of Bisquick "jump" off the counter and "tumping" some of itself into the sausage I was frying and then into my coffee I had in hand as I tried to catch it.
If I ever figure out this recipe for Pancakes that have maple syrup, sausage and black coffee flavoring, I think I have a winner and might become a millionaire after all...
Access, Investigate, Verify.
How would you gain access to you, how fast can it be done, and how would be able to defeat plans most folks share on Internet.
If I were a criminal-
I do not fear the fella with a hi round count semi auto , or with a heavily accessorized shotgun, as much as I do some lady with a snub nose dedicated .38spl and Garrity disposable flashlight.
I know what a gal can do with a snub nosed revolver she sleeps with.
My mentors included ladies well seasoned with this, and passed forward to others, including other ladies, and guys like me.
Hence the reason I pass this forward to ladies and gents that ask me.
Including having a real bed, with linens, covers, pillows, and having set ups for both day and night sleepers.
Live fire, from a real bed, on a range and/or shoot house.
Some folks work night shifts and sleep during the day.
I do as I was mentored.
NO start buzzer. There is no start buzzer in the real world. Not once when I have had shots fired at me, did a Pact Timer signal the start.
So the starts used vary.
One I have used has been the recording of a child screaming out, crying, "he is hurting me", he is touching me there"...
Ah...this will throw you off your loop.
This is not glass breaking, or dawg barking, or alarm beeping in the bedroom signaling a breached zone.
Now whatcha gonna do?