Blackhawk 6
Member
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2003
- Messages
- 439
Recently, there have been a number of threads where an individual asks a question regarding home defense. Inevitably, the discussion turns from answering the question asked to discussing the pro’s and con’s of other posters’ chosen home defense weapon or ammunition. Unfortunately, while valuable information is often provided, it is done without understanding the original poster’s unique circumstances.
Consequently, I felt it important to post my perspectives on the issue. It is important to note that I have a military background and therefore I tend to be slightly more aggressive in my approach to solving problems.
TERMINOLOGY
With Iraq dominating the news, it was inevitable that military terminology would find its way into every day conversation. When you are shooting at an intruder in your home, you are not conducting close-quarters battle or CQB. CQB is not standing in your living room in your underwear at 3:00 a.m. with your shotgun. Since CQB is a term originated by the military, we get to define it. CQB is defined as “sustained combative tactics, techniques and procedures employed by small, highly trained special operations forces using special purpose weapons, munitions and demolitions to recover specified personnel equipment or material.” Unless you are throwing on 70 lbs. of assault gear, calling a few Navy SEALs in to help you move down the hallway to get your daughter and explosively breaching her bedroom, you are not conducting CQB.
Home defense is a more correct term. It may not be as sexy, but it is more accurate in its description of what it is that you are trying to do. Family Defense is probably an even more accurate term, but I digress….
Definitions aside, many of the situations an individual conducting CQB and the homeowner defending their family find themselves in do have similarities. Since CQB is more widely studied and taught, and its successes and failures are dissected, it provides a source for information on equipment, techniques and tactics.
THE “EXPERTS”
To my knowledge there are no professional “home defenders.” There are professional firearms instructors, professional soldiers and law enforcement professionals. But no one makes their living defending houses. The two closest things we have are the military and drug dealers. Neither one’s perspective is very appealing to the average homeowner
Inevitably, at some point in a discussion on home defense someone will say “Clint Smith (substitute other famous firearms instructor) says use a rifle (substitute pistol or shotgun)!” I have had the opportunity to train with some of the more well-known firearms/tactics instructors. I have also trained with a number of lesser-known but none-the-less highly talented and experienced individuals. I have yet to hear any of the say they know “the answer.” At best they are capable of providing one man’s perspective. That is all. The extent that you value that individual’s perspective may be radically different than mine.
The point is that when it comes to home defense we are all on equal footing. Each of us is as qualified as the next to determine what is required in order for us to defend our home and our family. Probably more so. Some people, by virtue of their experience and/or training, are further along the path in terms of finding a solution. But each of us brings a unique perspective to the discussion. If all you do is parrot someone else’s perspective, then you contribute nothing.
There is no single “right answer”. There are many. Some are better than others, some are not.
And there are many wrong answers. Some are better than others, some are not.
DEFINING THE PROBLEM
The most important aspect of selecting equipment for home defense is an understanding of the context for its employment. In my opinion this is frequently where most of the dissension occurs. Everyone has a unique set of circumstances. A family of five living in a condominium is different from a widower living on 40 acres in the country. Parents who may need to venture into the house to recover their children have different needs than two people who have no children. The layout, construction of the home, number of occupants, proximity to neighbors (and the construction of the neighbor’s home), level of training of responsible individuals and the type of firearms available, as well as a number of other factors, all have a role in guiding this selection.
Before any recommendations regarding equipment or tactics can be made, these factors need to be understood.
DEVELOPING A SOLUTION
In the military, we have a fairly detailed process used in operational planning. One of the requirements of this process is that a course of action must be capable of defeating ALL enemy courses of action. In other words, you can plan around what you think the other guy might do, but you better be able to deal with him if he does something else. The enemy gets a vote.
For example, “I will rack my shotgun and he will run away,” is fine for an initial plan (despite my feeling that you are needlessly giving away an advantage), but what is your plan if he does not run away? What if he breaks down your door? What if he shoots through the wall? Problems can not be wished away.
An adequate plan addresses the full spectrum of home defense scenarios, from the intoxicated neighbor mistakenly entering your home in the middle of the night to the armed home invasion team kicking in your door at dinner time.
Equipment selected must fully address these scenarios. Confronting an armed, 4-man home invasion team with a J-frame is not setting oneself up for success.
Inevitably the “wish the problem away” clan responds with “Show me one documented case of…..” They further discount anything other than a civilian shooting. Well, I am not going to provide any documented cases and here is why.
First, there is no central database of civilian shootings with a corresponding detailed analysis of what worked, what did not and why. The closest things we have are Massad Ayoob’s “The Ayoob Files” and the NRA’s Armed Citizen. The Ayoob Files are roughly evenly divided between law enforcement shootings and civilian shootings if we discount articles on Jesse James, etc. Of the articles on civilian shootings, most highlight the importance of having a gun and knowing how to use it. The remaining articles deal with some obscure legal aspect found in the Magna Carta. The Armed Citizen is a compilation of press clippings detailing the successful use of a firearm by ordinary people. The articles never deal with any tactical aspects of the employment of the firearm. They frequently do not mention the caliber used or number of shots fired. The outcomes are always positive. When was the last time you read about the guy who tried to defend himself against a mugging and was killed? Is it because it never happened or because it does not promote the NRA’s agenda?
Regardless, documentation of an occurrence is not required in order for something to be a problem. I can not provide you documentation that a child has ever been electrocuted by sticking its fingers in an electrical outlet, but thousands of parents child-proof them just the same. How many documented cases were there of two violent criminals with body armor and automatic weapons engaging in 45-minute shoot-outs with the police in broad daylight prior to the North Hollywood incident? (Other than gangster-era shoot-outs which have to be dismissed because that was 70+ years ago
) I distinctly remember discussing such a possibility in 1994 and one of the arguments against the possibility was “show me one documented case…”
TO CLEAR OR NOT TO CLEAR
The “experts” frequently tell us that we should not attempt to clear a structure by ourselves. Conventional wisdom is to move to a “safe room” and call the police. On its face, this is good advice.
Human nature being what it is, emotion often overrides common sense and an unidentified noise in the middle of the night frequently results in armed homeowner investigating. Count me among the guilty.
A well-developed home defense plan addresses both options. Again, avoid wishing away the problem. Have a plan to defend your safe room and have a plan to address a bump in the night. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
HANDGUN VS. LONG-GUN
The selection of a dedicated home defense firearm is an area where everyone seems to have a great deal of ego invested. The reality is a handgun, rifle or shotgun is capable of bringing any home defense situation to a successful conclusion. The question becomes whether or not the operator of said weapon has the necessary proficiency to bring the situation to a successful conclusion.
Long-guns deliver the incapacitating potential and increased hit potential we would prefer. This is delivered with an increase in muzzle blast and, in some cases, recoil. They are also generally slower to access and more difficult to negotiate corners, doorways and stairwells with. True the experts use them for CQB, but we are not conducting CQB and two hours in a shoot-house five years ago does not make you an expert. Long-guns also pose a retention problem. Speaking from experience, you have two hands on it, he has two hands on it and unless you know what you are doing, whomever weighs more is probably going to win.
The handgun, while possessing less potential for incapacitation is more accessible. It is probably the weapon that a law enforcement officer or carry-permit holder his most familiar with. It is easier to navigate a house with a handgun and a handgun is more easily employed at the extremely close ranges that are frequently encountered in a house. The handgun allows you to employ a weapon while simultaneously using another hand for some other task such as holding a phone or child, or opening a door. A handgun is much more difficult, though not impossible, to grab and take away from an untrained person.
OVERPENETRATION VS. TERMINAL PERFORMANCE
Frequently concerns about over penetration are brought up and justifiably so. Over penetration should be a concern. However, I believe that the issue is exaggerated to the extent that we loose sight of what we were originally trying to do in the first place. My perspective follows.
Ask yourself this question: “Is the purpose of the projectile(s) fired to incapacitate the bad guy or avoid hitting someone downrange?” Clearly the answer is the former or we would not be firing at all. Therefore, terminal performance should be placed before over penetration as a consideration in selecting a weapon or its ammunition. Normal interior walls are not going to stop any projectile that assures reasonable incapacitation of an adversary. Fortunate is the individual who does not have to be concerned about potential down-range hazard.
Selecting a load that delivers good potential for incapacitation, taking a shot only when you are confident of hitting your target and maintaining an awareness of what is behind your target will do far more to mitigate any risk to innocent people than loading up with frangible ammunition, varmint rounds or birdshot.
LEGAL ISSUES
A lot of people obsess over the potential legal problems that may arise from their choice of a weapon for self-defense. I have heard this referred to as Problem #2; Problem #1 being surviving the encounter. I think they were numbered that way for a reason. #1 comes before #2; hence concerns about Problem #2 are secondary to Problem #1.
Earlier I said there are no home defense experts. There are, however, legal experts. We call them lawyers. Most lawyers seem to think that if the weapon you used is legal and your use of deadly force as justified, the type of weapon used is a non-issue. This makes sense to me.
Some people disagree. They assert that if you use an “assault rifle” you are going to get into trouble. There is probably some truth in this. The AR-15 is a frequently cited example. Again, I contend it is a matter of circumstances.
I live in the South. My personal AR-15 is almost identical to the M-16A2/M-4 which I have used extensively for the last 11 years, including time spent in combat. The Army has qualified me as an “Expert” in its use. I have a few hundred hours of civilain firearms training on the AR-15. If a jury has a hard time understanding why this is the gun I reached for when I needed to defend my family, I need a different lawyer.
Based on your experience and training and the political climate of your community, a different weapon may make more sense for you.
THOUGHTS ON LIGHTS
Several threads have discussed the employment of flashlights and firearms, handheld vs. weapons mounted, etc. I’ll summarize my thoughts briefly.
You need to identify your target before you shoot it. If this can be done with ambient light, wonderful. If not, artificial light will have to be used.
If you turn the lights on, you and the other guy are on equal footing. If you use a flashlight properly, you have an advantage. If you worry that the flashlight makes you a target or you do not know how to use one, seek training or use the light switch.
If you choose to use a flashlight the issue then becomes whether it is handheld or weapons mounted. Having used both types let me state for the record that using a weapons-mounted light is much easier than using a hand-held light. On a long-gun the use of a weapon-mounted light is a no-brainer. With a handgun, it allows the operator to manipulate his weapon in virtually an identical fashion as without the light. The main issue people seem to have with the weapons-mounted light is that you are pointing your weapon at what you are illuminating.
Suppose it turns out to be your teenage son sneaking home? This would be a violation of Rule#2: Never point your firearm at anything you are not willing to destroy.
My view on this issue is that if I have been roused by some commotion in the middle of the night, convinced that the noise I am hearing not only warrants my investigation, but requires me to be armed while doing so, then I am most certainly willing to destroy the individual responsible for making the noise in question until the point I identify him as my son.
If you have a different view point, then by all means use a hand-held flashlight.
SUMMARY
Each of us needs to examine our circumstances, determine our requirements and acquire the necessary skill and equipment to meet those requirements. There is no cookie-cutter approach to developing a home defense plan. There is no single best choice for a weapon or ammunition.
Stay safe.
Consequently, I felt it important to post my perspectives on the issue. It is important to note that I have a military background and therefore I tend to be slightly more aggressive in my approach to solving problems.
TERMINOLOGY
With Iraq dominating the news, it was inevitable that military terminology would find its way into every day conversation. When you are shooting at an intruder in your home, you are not conducting close-quarters battle or CQB. CQB is not standing in your living room in your underwear at 3:00 a.m. with your shotgun. Since CQB is a term originated by the military, we get to define it. CQB is defined as “sustained combative tactics, techniques and procedures employed by small, highly trained special operations forces using special purpose weapons, munitions and demolitions to recover specified personnel equipment or material.” Unless you are throwing on 70 lbs. of assault gear, calling a few Navy SEALs in to help you move down the hallway to get your daughter and explosively breaching her bedroom, you are not conducting CQB.
Home defense is a more correct term. It may not be as sexy, but it is more accurate in its description of what it is that you are trying to do. Family Defense is probably an even more accurate term, but I digress….
Definitions aside, many of the situations an individual conducting CQB and the homeowner defending their family find themselves in do have similarities. Since CQB is more widely studied and taught, and its successes and failures are dissected, it provides a source for information on equipment, techniques and tactics.
THE “EXPERTS”
To my knowledge there are no professional “home defenders.” There are professional firearms instructors, professional soldiers and law enforcement professionals. But no one makes their living defending houses. The two closest things we have are the military and drug dealers. Neither one’s perspective is very appealing to the average homeowner
Inevitably, at some point in a discussion on home defense someone will say “Clint Smith (substitute other famous firearms instructor) says use a rifle (substitute pistol or shotgun)!” I have had the opportunity to train with some of the more well-known firearms/tactics instructors. I have also trained with a number of lesser-known but none-the-less highly talented and experienced individuals. I have yet to hear any of the say they know “the answer.” At best they are capable of providing one man’s perspective. That is all. The extent that you value that individual’s perspective may be radically different than mine.
The point is that when it comes to home defense we are all on equal footing. Each of us is as qualified as the next to determine what is required in order for us to defend our home and our family. Probably more so. Some people, by virtue of their experience and/or training, are further along the path in terms of finding a solution. But each of us brings a unique perspective to the discussion. If all you do is parrot someone else’s perspective, then you contribute nothing.
There is no single “right answer”. There are many. Some are better than others, some are not.
And there are many wrong answers. Some are better than others, some are not.
DEFINING THE PROBLEM
The most important aspect of selecting equipment for home defense is an understanding of the context for its employment. In my opinion this is frequently where most of the dissension occurs. Everyone has a unique set of circumstances. A family of five living in a condominium is different from a widower living on 40 acres in the country. Parents who may need to venture into the house to recover their children have different needs than two people who have no children. The layout, construction of the home, number of occupants, proximity to neighbors (and the construction of the neighbor’s home), level of training of responsible individuals and the type of firearms available, as well as a number of other factors, all have a role in guiding this selection.
Before any recommendations regarding equipment or tactics can be made, these factors need to be understood.
DEVELOPING A SOLUTION
In the military, we have a fairly detailed process used in operational planning. One of the requirements of this process is that a course of action must be capable of defeating ALL enemy courses of action. In other words, you can plan around what you think the other guy might do, but you better be able to deal with him if he does something else. The enemy gets a vote.
For example, “I will rack my shotgun and he will run away,” is fine for an initial plan (despite my feeling that you are needlessly giving away an advantage), but what is your plan if he does not run away? What if he breaks down your door? What if he shoots through the wall? Problems can not be wished away.
An adequate plan addresses the full spectrum of home defense scenarios, from the intoxicated neighbor mistakenly entering your home in the middle of the night to the armed home invasion team kicking in your door at dinner time.
Equipment selected must fully address these scenarios. Confronting an armed, 4-man home invasion team with a J-frame is not setting oneself up for success.
Inevitably the “wish the problem away” clan responds with “Show me one documented case of…..” They further discount anything other than a civilian shooting. Well, I am not going to provide any documented cases and here is why.
First, there is no central database of civilian shootings with a corresponding detailed analysis of what worked, what did not and why. The closest things we have are Massad Ayoob’s “The Ayoob Files” and the NRA’s Armed Citizen. The Ayoob Files are roughly evenly divided between law enforcement shootings and civilian shootings if we discount articles on Jesse James, etc. Of the articles on civilian shootings, most highlight the importance of having a gun and knowing how to use it. The remaining articles deal with some obscure legal aspect found in the Magna Carta. The Armed Citizen is a compilation of press clippings detailing the successful use of a firearm by ordinary people. The articles never deal with any tactical aspects of the employment of the firearm. They frequently do not mention the caliber used or number of shots fired. The outcomes are always positive. When was the last time you read about the guy who tried to defend himself against a mugging and was killed? Is it because it never happened or because it does not promote the NRA’s agenda?
Regardless, documentation of an occurrence is not required in order for something to be a problem. I can not provide you documentation that a child has ever been electrocuted by sticking its fingers in an electrical outlet, but thousands of parents child-proof them just the same. How many documented cases were there of two violent criminals with body armor and automatic weapons engaging in 45-minute shoot-outs with the police in broad daylight prior to the North Hollywood incident? (Other than gangster-era shoot-outs which have to be dismissed because that was 70+ years ago
) I distinctly remember discussing such a possibility in 1994 and one of the arguments against the possibility was “show me one documented case…”TO CLEAR OR NOT TO CLEAR
The “experts” frequently tell us that we should not attempt to clear a structure by ourselves. Conventional wisdom is to move to a “safe room” and call the police. On its face, this is good advice.
Human nature being what it is, emotion often overrides common sense and an unidentified noise in the middle of the night frequently results in armed homeowner investigating. Count me among the guilty.
A well-developed home defense plan addresses both options. Again, avoid wishing away the problem. Have a plan to defend your safe room and have a plan to address a bump in the night. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
HANDGUN VS. LONG-GUN
The selection of a dedicated home defense firearm is an area where everyone seems to have a great deal of ego invested. The reality is a handgun, rifle or shotgun is capable of bringing any home defense situation to a successful conclusion. The question becomes whether or not the operator of said weapon has the necessary proficiency to bring the situation to a successful conclusion.
Long-guns deliver the incapacitating potential and increased hit potential we would prefer. This is delivered with an increase in muzzle blast and, in some cases, recoil. They are also generally slower to access and more difficult to negotiate corners, doorways and stairwells with. True the experts use them for CQB, but we are not conducting CQB and two hours in a shoot-house five years ago does not make you an expert. Long-guns also pose a retention problem. Speaking from experience, you have two hands on it, he has two hands on it and unless you know what you are doing, whomever weighs more is probably going to win.
The handgun, while possessing less potential for incapacitation is more accessible. It is probably the weapon that a law enforcement officer or carry-permit holder his most familiar with. It is easier to navigate a house with a handgun and a handgun is more easily employed at the extremely close ranges that are frequently encountered in a house. The handgun allows you to employ a weapon while simultaneously using another hand for some other task such as holding a phone or child, or opening a door. A handgun is much more difficult, though not impossible, to grab and take away from an untrained person.
OVERPENETRATION VS. TERMINAL PERFORMANCE
Frequently concerns about over penetration are brought up and justifiably so. Over penetration should be a concern. However, I believe that the issue is exaggerated to the extent that we loose sight of what we were originally trying to do in the first place. My perspective follows.
Ask yourself this question: “Is the purpose of the projectile(s) fired to incapacitate the bad guy or avoid hitting someone downrange?” Clearly the answer is the former or we would not be firing at all. Therefore, terminal performance should be placed before over penetration as a consideration in selecting a weapon or its ammunition. Normal interior walls are not going to stop any projectile that assures reasonable incapacitation of an adversary. Fortunate is the individual who does not have to be concerned about potential down-range hazard.
Selecting a load that delivers good potential for incapacitation, taking a shot only when you are confident of hitting your target and maintaining an awareness of what is behind your target will do far more to mitigate any risk to innocent people than loading up with frangible ammunition, varmint rounds or birdshot.
LEGAL ISSUES
A lot of people obsess over the potential legal problems that may arise from their choice of a weapon for self-defense. I have heard this referred to as Problem #2; Problem #1 being surviving the encounter. I think they were numbered that way for a reason. #1 comes before #2; hence concerns about Problem #2 are secondary to Problem #1.
Earlier I said there are no home defense experts. There are, however, legal experts. We call them lawyers. Most lawyers seem to think that if the weapon you used is legal and your use of deadly force as justified, the type of weapon used is a non-issue. This makes sense to me.
Some people disagree. They assert that if you use an “assault rifle” you are going to get into trouble. There is probably some truth in this. The AR-15 is a frequently cited example. Again, I contend it is a matter of circumstances.
I live in the South. My personal AR-15 is almost identical to the M-16A2/M-4 which I have used extensively for the last 11 years, including time spent in combat. The Army has qualified me as an “Expert” in its use. I have a few hundred hours of civilain firearms training on the AR-15. If a jury has a hard time understanding why this is the gun I reached for when I needed to defend my family, I need a different lawyer.
Based on your experience and training and the political climate of your community, a different weapon may make more sense for you.
THOUGHTS ON LIGHTS
Several threads have discussed the employment of flashlights and firearms, handheld vs. weapons mounted, etc. I’ll summarize my thoughts briefly.
You need to identify your target before you shoot it. If this can be done with ambient light, wonderful. If not, artificial light will have to be used.
If you turn the lights on, you and the other guy are on equal footing. If you use a flashlight properly, you have an advantage. If you worry that the flashlight makes you a target or you do not know how to use one, seek training or use the light switch.
If you choose to use a flashlight the issue then becomes whether it is handheld or weapons mounted. Having used both types let me state for the record that using a weapons-mounted light is much easier than using a hand-held light. On a long-gun the use of a weapon-mounted light is a no-brainer. With a handgun, it allows the operator to manipulate his weapon in virtually an identical fashion as without the light. The main issue people seem to have with the weapons-mounted light is that you are pointing your weapon at what you are illuminating.
Suppose it turns out to be your teenage son sneaking home? This would be a violation of Rule#2: Never point your firearm at anything you are not willing to destroy.
My view on this issue is that if I have been roused by some commotion in the middle of the night, convinced that the noise I am hearing not only warrants my investigation, but requires me to be armed while doing so, then I am most certainly willing to destroy the individual responsible for making the noise in question until the point I identify him as my son.
If you have a different view point, then by all means use a hand-held flashlight.
SUMMARY
Each of us needs to examine our circumstances, determine our requirements and acquire the necessary skill and equipment to meet those requirements. There is no cookie-cutter approach to developing a home defense plan. There is no single best choice for a weapon or ammunition.
Stay safe.
