Home Invasion
Your home is your castle and you have a right to defend it and your family.
So you’ve got a firearm and a safe and you keep it in your room in case of a home invasion. Now what? What happens if somebody breaks in your home? Are you ready? Have you trained? Can you get to your firearm in time? Can you operate your firearm? Let’s assume for a moment that you have trained with your firearm and you know how to operate it and you know that you can get to your firearm in time. Does your family know what you are going to do?
Communicating and training are two very vital ingredients to a successful home protection plan. Have you looked at all the possible scenarios? Do you know safe firing lines in your house. If you have children or other people in your house are they adequately protected if you set off your firearm?
Creating a Plan
The first things you want to cover are being able to access and operate your firearm in a quick an efficient manner. You would be surprised just how much quicker you can access your firearm with just a little practice. Can you do the same in pitch darkness? Many break-ins occur really early in the morning. Practice getting to your gun quickly both in daylight and in the dark.
The second thing you want to cover are where are the safe firing lanes in your house after you have acquired your firearm. Look at the way your house is laid out and where people are sleeping. Is your wife on your left or right? If you were to take a shot would anybody be in your firing lane? Communication is key here. If both of you know the plan ahead of time you can make better and quicker decisions. For instance, if your wife sleeps on your right and is in between you and the bedroom door you know you need to move to the left before you can acquire your target and fire. Is there a place to take cover? The best way to know you are prepared is to walk through a mock scenario.
Consider all possibilities. What do you do if there are multiple attackers. Do you and your spouse each have weapons? If so, who takes which target. A few minutes of conversation could turn a bad situation into a happy ending.
The third thing to consider is your exit strategy. Can you leave the home with your loved ones and avoid the situation? Do you have a cell phone with you and do you have the authorities phone number. Keeping your family safe comes down to three things; avoid, evade, and elude. Only as a last resort do you want to face the perpetrator.
Home invasion topics to discuss with your family:
- Plan
- Prepare
- Equip
- Escape
