Are you prepared for a home invasion? Part 1

According to FBI reports, every 12 seconds a home is invaded by going right through the front or back door. The question is, are you prepared to deal with a home invasion? Would you know what to do if one night you hear the glass break and someone enters your home? Have you made the preparations to survive one? Do you ever give it thought? A break in can produce a sense of panic even for those prepared but if one is not prepared it can be many times worse.

What should you do if you can’t wait for law enforcement to arrive? What if the threat is more imminent, or more violent? Sometimes you have to take action to defend yourself and the ones you love. Today I want to look at a few things that you need to think and do now before you are faced with a home invasion.

1. I encourage you to begin thinking about self-defense in the home before you need to defend yourself. More and more people are carrying handguns and use them as both their daily carry firearm as well as use it at night for their home defense weapon. This can be good and it can be bad. If you can only afford one firearm then you will have to decide if what you own is comfortable enough to carry all day.

2. A step up from handguns are carbines, which are chambered in both rifle and handgun calibers. Their size makes them more maneuverable than a rifle and many come with hi capacity magazines making them optimal for home defense. I would consider carbines that are chambered for handgun calibers rather than traditional rifle calibers to reduce the danger of shooting through walls. Be warned however that carbines will take two hands to operate so using a tactical light can be tricky. You can however us a rail mounted light which leaves both hands free.

Many people choose a short barreled tactical shotgun like the Mossberg 500 with a pistol grip. This makes an excellent choice for a home defense weapon in my opinion.

Shorter barreled shotguns produce wide patterns with birdshot or buckshot. While shotgun rounds are larger than handgun rounds, their projectiles are less likely to shoot through walls (slugs being the obvious exception).The downside is the recoil. Many small- statured shooters have difficulty managing the recoil.

3. Choosing a firearm is just one consideration. Ammunition now has to be considered. We typically know our homes fairly well. But there are other pressing concerns. If there is any possibility, however remote, that you might use a firearm inside of your home, you must know where the bullets might go. If you live in an apartment with adjoining apartments one either side then it is even more important to know where those rounds could go. Shotguns are the better choice here in my opinion.

Are there people behind the wall of your apartment? How close are the neighbors? Are there family members in the home who may be in the line of fire should a situation arise?

For handguns hollow point ammunition is the best choice. Hollow point bullets are designed to deform on impact making them less likely to travel through walls. Yet they will. You could also consider frangible ammunition. Frangible projectiles break apart on impact and the small particles that remain lose their energy fast.

Frangible Cartridge

Buckshot is the go-to defensive load for shotguns. Some people prefer the slower birdshot loads to minimize over- penetration but I do not. Regardless of what you choose, consider keeping an extra magazine with the gun, or extra shells with a shotgun. If your shotgun has a butt stock consider adding a shell saddle to it.

Personally, depending on which firearm you choose, I suggest you consider a weapon mounted light.These allow for one hand to be free, or for both to remain on the gun. Some lights offer a momentary-on feature, and/or a strobe effect. These are good ideas, especially for a light mounted on a gun. The bright flash can disorient an attacker and provide a distinct tactical advantage.

You should also consider having a second light, one that is hand-held. Many experts have enveloped strategies that use hand held lights held away from the body. If an assailant is going to return fire, they will likely shoot at the light (which will be the only thing they can see). If a light is away from your body, you are less likely to be hit. Still, opinions differ on the light debate. Having a light is better than not having a light, so be sure to keep the battery charged if it is a chargeable type or keep fresh batteries in the light if not the rechargeable type.

4. Practice Getting to Your Gun

Weapon With Light

Let’s assume for a moment that you’ve adequately prepared, but a break-in still occurs. What then? How long will it take you to get to your gun? It is best to practice Not all breaks-ins occur at night, but some do. How easy will it be to access a firearm in the dark? Will there be enough ambient light for you to open a safe? Will you need to use a flashlight? Run drills just as you would for a fire. If you use a safe I suggest getting your home defense firearm out at night or at least leaving the safe door open when retiring for the night. That pistol or shotgun will be useless if you cannot access it quickly and easily.

5. Immediately after you’ve armed yourself, call for help.
Unless you are confident that talking won’t put you in any greater danger I recommend that you set the phone down without hanging it up. This will signal the need for an immediate response, and the operator will at least be able to hear some of what might be happening.

Next time we will look at your options after you have made the 911 call.