Home Defense: The Plan

[IronButt]

I've seen numerous threads on preferences of weapons for home defense, but I think more importantly, you need a plan & everybody in the household needs to know the plan (Or two).

Your "plan" needs to be custom tailored for your situation, but the basis of ours is the "Safe Room."

In the event of a break-in, someone yells, "Safe room." Everybody goes to safe room without question immediately.

The safe room contains a phone, flashlight & weapon of choice. First person in the room will dial 911 & stay on the line, so you can keep the operator abreast of what's going on. The operator will also be able to hear your commands to the intruder(s) to leave the house. (May be used in court, so be careful what you say.) You'll inform the operator of your location, so when the PSP arrive in a half hr, they won't storm the room with guns blazing.

Our safe room is an upstairs bedroom with a view of the back of anyone coming up the stairs, which gives a good tactical advantage. In the event of a break-in from either the front or back door, occupants can safely reach the safe room.

There's a plan "B" that I won't go into, but the jist of this is to have a plan & everybody needs to follow it without wasting precious time asking questions or collecting needed supplies.

[LittleRedToyota]

words of wisdom.

[jshwak]

Definitely some words of wisdom here.
A wise man, in times of peace, prepares for war!

[shooker8]

That sounds very though out and I agree with the comments above. I just have a plan to get to my weapon since I live alone right now. May I ask a question about if you familiarized the "weapon of choice" with the family and what you thought was a good weapon for them to use?

[IronButt]

That sounds very though out and I agree with the comments above. I just have a plan to get to my weapon since I live alone right now. May I ask a question about if you familiarized the "weapon of choice" with the family and what you thought was a good weapon for them to use?

Certainly. We own "a few" firearms that would be good for HD, but chose the AK74. My personal choice would've been different, but the AK is a gun that my wife shoots well & she's comfortable with the controls, clearing malfunctions, changing mags, etc.

[shooker8]

That's good. I hope she never has to use it!

[Shawn.L]

good post.

"You will not rise to the occasion, you will default to your level of training"

also

"If you dont know what to do...... you wont do anything."

both come to mind.

[Mad Scientist]

Do you have kids?
How do they fit in and help in your plan?

[IronButt]

Do you have kids?
How do they fit in and help in your plan?

Yes, four. The youngest is 35 & they all have their own homes. You bring up a good point, though.

Obviously, if there are kids in the house, the gun will have to be in a safe place at your chosen gathering point. Going to the safe room at the first sign of trouble should give you time to access a locked weapon. The more doors between you & the intruder, the better.

Everyone in the family needs to be aware of the plan, the signal to activate the plan & proceed to the gathering point without fooling around asking why. You can even run drills. Younger kids might even like that.

[MaDuece]

One thing everyone seems to forget? Give the police a way to get into your home!

Say a BG breaks a window and climbs in, you and the family head for your "safe room", police arrive, BG is in the house!

1. police stay outside and leave you and the family inside with the BG.

2. police kick your front door in doing more damage you get to deal with later and maybe sending the BG running in your direction!

3. keep a spare door key attached to a "glow stick" in your safe room. Stay on the phone with 911, open a window when police arrive, crack the glow stick and inform 911 operator its going out the window for the police to recover and gain access to your home to grab the BG!

It's the "little things" that matter in a bad situation!