Home Protection

[Spiff]

I keep my pistol with me anywhere I go in the house during the day, and the AR by the bed and pistol on the night stand when I go to bed. I don't want any guns anywhere in the house but beside me when I go to bed.

This is me.

 

[Pstmstr]

off body carry is a good way to get a dead body, your own.

 

[Oleg Tolmachev]

I have been renting a house for a month or so in a not so good area of OKC because all the apartments we found wouldnt accept my 85lb german shepard. A couple nights ago my wife woke up and looked out the bathroom window and there was a truck on fire in the street beside our house. Disconcerting to say the least. Security is , every lock is utilized. I have a habit of carrying my little J frame around the house, and if im working on a gun or cleaning, I have another loaded near enough to get to without having to traverse the room. The biggest problem I see in some peoples ideas is leaving a gun in a room. what if you arent in that room. What do you do? Well putting a gun in every room, not always practical, but I do think, as troy mentioned, most people underestimate the possibility of this type of thing happening and fail to train or prepare. Thats the number one way to ensure that if this does happen, you ARE the victim, not the defender. The military drills it into you, Fail to train, Train to fail...

That 85 lbs GS dog is a good security measure in its own right. I have a 90 lbs GS and we all know if someone is approaching the house. The dog is very well aware of the difference between a houseguest and someone who wasn't invited and he is awesome with kids. We were once staying in a relo housing for a few weeks and the cleaning lady showed up unannounced and worse yet, unlocked the door with her key. I am so glad the poor woman had the agility to jump back and shut the door! So they dog can repel/deter and give enough time to grab a shotgun loaded with slugs, or any of the three handguns.

 

[KeithCross]

yep, and a long time to sit in your house with a dead body lying in your kitchen or hallway...just saying...bloods hard to get out of the carpet...

Not really... (shameless plug - see my signature line... )

Seriously though...
Much rather it be theirs than mine.

I can't keep a gun in every room. I have six kids and as much as I try to teach them firearm safety and to familiarize them with the weapons in the house (to remove the curiosity factor) I think that would be too much to handle. It would be my worst nightmare waiting to happen.

 

[Aab]

+1 on the dogs, they can be a serious deterrent to any would be thug. As far as a firearm in every room I can't match that, but I do have a loaded firearm on every floor. GLOCKs of course!!!!

I think a weapon in every room is the most realistic approach to home security when you are actually there. When something goes bad you never know which room you will be in. Failing to plan is planning to fail baby.

 

[shootingbuff]

Dogs can be great. A for instance my daughters dog did 70,000 worth of damage to her and he likes her! She had to be medevac and is awaiting plastic surgery. We both still love dogs - even that one which a friend now has. Appears she ran in on him in a darkened room and he was startled from sleep. He just put her down and basically kept her there until I threw him on the bed. Thank God he was not trying to maul her.

A gun needs to be within quick and easy reach. Start at any outer door and run to various parts of the house. Then see how fast it takes you to get to the stashed firearm with reaction figured in and then add some shock and then to a position you can actually defend from.

One needs things like alarms and dogs for early warning as well as light sensors etc and then the firearm at hand with a good idea of what to do if stuff happens and you are in any part of the house.

I know peaching to the choir for the most part, but my sig line pretty much states my views.

 

[Biggsly]

I don't know if you guys have kids at home like I do, but we have drills and have a game plan. After my home invasion I changed alot of the way I look at people and myself. I have 3 teens in my house. 19, 16, 15. All 3 have guns in their rooms and know how to use them. We also have escape routes, a meet up place, and "codes" to prove who we are. They know if they have to go into their "safe" places, we know what to do, before we enter. I have some family that thinks I am crazy for teaching my wife and kids this stuff, but none of them have been what I have been through. Plus I have never been one to give a **** what someone else thinks. lol When we come home from being gone all day, everyone waits in the Suburban while I walk the house. It only takes about 5 minutes and it does not bother them. I check my whole house everynight before bed. I have me kids trained on how to do the same.

 

[Fireman96]

Go to the local hardware store and get some 3 or 4 inch deck screws to replace the 1/2 screws that hold the strike plates(both door knob and deadbolt)on the door jamb. Make sure the screws are long enough to penetrate the 2X4 or 2X6 behind the door frame. This little modification works extremely well against multiple kicks. Also a locking glass storm door is a nice addition. The sound of breaking glass draws unwanted attention.

 

[Adam Striegel]

Since we started having a problem with some dude trying to get into our house I started keeping my .40 Sig p226 with me everywhere I go in the house. If my CCW permit ever comes back, I'll be carrying my Glock 26 outside.

My wife also has a little pocket holster for her PPK .380 and has been carrying it around all over the house too. We're planning on buying a good Mossberg 500 for keeping by the bed.

 

[McGuire]

I have the 870 by the bed at all times, my German Shepard sleeps in the room with us and I have a security system, I carry a gun around the house almost religiously. But I still dont feel "safe". Maybe its paranoia, but ill do things like putting cups on top of doorknobs at night when we go to bed, and little ornaments in front of blinds on the windows, or wind chimes from the dollar store. I want as much warning as possible that there is someone in the house. If Im not there ,as long as my dogs arent harmed, I could care less, material possesions can be replaced, my wife and my dogs cant. I know one thing though, I have some training to do with my wife, I have done some self defense training with her, how to lock in a triangle choke, how to lure an attacker in and gouge his eyes out, rip his ears off and chew on his face if she has to. But she doesnt see it as reality, its sort of a game to her, shes never been mugged or had anything of that nature happen to her, and like most people she assumes it must not really happen that much. Im trying to teach her good discipline and security, but its a slow road.

 

[Iggie]

My wife is full of that doesn't happen around here. Or the infamous that will never happen to me. Or the I can take care of myself.(without training or practice...) so I get a lot of why do you feel you have to have it stuck to your hip every where you go. or Oh you got that thing. Or just, I don't see why you need it. But none the les s I try to explaine with out an argument. Her idea of home protection is basicly like a child hiding under the blankets.

 

[Jefpainthorse]

My wife is full of that doesn't happen around here. Or the infamous that will never happen to me. Or the I can take care of myself.(without training or practice...) so I get a lot of why do you feel you have to have it stuck to your hip every where you go. or Oh you got that thing. Or just, I don't see why you need it. But none the les s I try to explaine with out an argument. Her idea of home protection is basicly like a child hiding under the blankets.

All it takes is once... I hope she survives her chance. You don't get to choose the time or the place.

 

[Iggie]

All it takes is once... I hope she survives her chance. You don't get to choose the time or the place.

I don't look forward to it. I pray that nothing bad comes of it. Money and things I can replace my daughter and her mother I cannot. It really gets to me that she just blows me off like I'm paronoid.

 

[McGuire]

People dont want to believe it could happen to them. I just dont want to have to say I told you so...

 

[Adam Striegel]

We used to feel like we were untouchable too. Lived this this house for 10 years, surrounded by great neighbors and even have a deputy living across the street that I used to go to school with.

Then we had 3 break-in attempts within a month and I almost shot the guy the last time. Hoping he took our last meeting as a sign to stay away, but now I carry around the house.

 

[TroyF]

Just read this entire thread again. Lots of good information in here. You guys can be my neighbors anytime.

 

[Brandon Bennigsohn]

Front door, nightstand, typically my carry piece on the table and the safe. Of course I rely heavily on my pitbull and boxer alarm systems! Hopefully nobody ever learns that they have a better chance of being licked to death than my mean looking dogs actually biting them.

 

[yousa]

I never understood this. I mean, practically everyone is luging around 20 lbs of fat, most people its more like 50 lbs, and they just "cant" find a way to carry a 1 lb .38, 9mm or 380 around the house? What's with this loaded guns laying everywhere? some of them will get stolen/misused, without a doubt.