Belgian Malinois indoors at night.
Belgian Malinois indoors at night.
#RESIST
I have to admit, ever since adopting this technique we have had zero family members murdered in their sleep. Clearly, the dog is working.Originally Posted by LittleLebowski
I guess I was not very clear in my original post.........my apologies.
My not locking the door is the burglary scenario. They can take whatever they want when I am not home, so long as it is not the items in the safe. Or the safe itself either for that matter.
You can get much more of what you want with a kind word and a gun, than with a kind word alone.
It really does seem like there isn't much you can reasonably do to to a normal house to stop a burglary. An alarm system *might* help, but it also might just send the local cops to your house at annoying times. I know our cats would probably set off most motion/noise detectors.
I'm sure that reinforced doors and bars on all the windows might make a difference... but most of us don't want to live like that...
I know my dad was happy he left his car unlocked a while ago. Someone robbed the neighbors, then went around breaking car windows and stealing the change out of them... his car was the only one on the street that wasn't damaged, and all he lost was $5 in quarters.
To me, the lock on the door and the big dog are just to buy enough time to wake up and grab some reloads.
After his house was broken into, my father became somewhat obsessed with reinforced door frames and the like.
Given that there's an 8 foot wide bay window 10 feet to the right of the door that got kicked in, I never understood the point.
In a nutshell, you want to deter potential intruders by making your home a less attractive target, detect them if they do try to break in, and delay their entry as long as possible. Those layers greatly improve the odds of successfully defending yourself.
Deterrence can be ensuring the appearance of occupancy, not flaunting high-value items, outside lighting, varied schedules, etc. Detection can be animals, alarms, cameras/peepholes, etc. Delaying tactics are good locks/doors/jambs and impact-resistant glazing.
I'd probably start with doors and jambs that would take more than a kick to breach.
I honestly don't care if the house is broken in to while it's unoccupied. In my experience that's the way the vast majority of home intrusions occur and if someone gets by my good locks and alarm, they're going to find that virtually anything of value is in a safe that will require some perseverance to breach. Anything else they steal will be covered by homeowners insurance.
Of greater concern is the very small percentage of invaders who are looking to enter occupied homes. These people tend to be pretty high on the danger meter and while it's rare, if it happens it's likely to be ugly. I had an email conversation back and forth with a couple of friends not too long ago about the issue of being armed at home. I decide several years ago that the gun would come off when it's time for bed, which means I lounge around the house armed all the time. Occasionally it might be a j frame in the pocket of my shorts, but more likely the 226 I wear every day in a shaggy, but if someone kicks the door I'm not going to be in a position where I have to go running for my gun.
Those of us in the Northeast watched the recent trial in Connecticut of the two pieces of trash who crashed the back door of a doctors house, beat him, raped his daughters, and set the house on fire ultimately killing the wife and both daughters.
I can't imagine having the training and owning the tools to fight off that attack and having the tool locked where I can't access it.
my girlfriend bugs me about why i carry in the house. i tell her similar stories like the one just mentioned. be it my jframe or glock i have something not too far away all times in the house. for the times when no one is home, if someone wants what you have bad enough they will get it regardless of things you do to slow them down.
The best book I've found on this topic is the Jim Grover/Kelly McCann's Street Smarts, Firearms, and Personal Security.
I feel the same way, and consider my weapon a part of the wardrobe...it goes on and off with my pants.
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