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Hillman
02-13-2003, 10:56 PM
Bad dream come true ... in the middle of the night, you are awakened by the sound of intruder(s) in your home.

Here's my plan - I'd like your opinions on where I could do better.

My wife and I have designated our oldest son's bedroom as the 'safe room'. His room is the farthest from ours, and the 2 other bedrooms are between our room and his. So it would take less time for us to pick up the other boys and head to his room, rather than do the round trip back to our room.

When we decide we need to make that journey, we call 911 on the cell phone or cordless. Cordless phone can be traced to the address quicker, but phone line could be cut rendering it useless. We stay on the line until help arrives.

Along with the phones and the boys, we also take firearms. Door to the saferoom is blocked by a chest and we sit and wait. Warnings not to enter shouted when they try the door. If they continue to force their way in it's time to unleash hell. Oops, I mean shoot to stop the threat. I recognize I have no duty to retreat in my home, but bullets used to neutralize a threat could cost thousands of dollars each (factoring in lawsuits), and I'm not that rich.

Here's a question I go back and forth on: should I turn the lights on or leave them off? I'm not concerned with defending property, that's why it's insured. My priority is protecting my family, I'd rather not see that insurance money.

45 acp
02-13-2003, 11:19 PM
A night lite in the room will give you enough light to see when the door is breached but not enough light to for the intruder to find you quickly.
The wife and kids in the closet if the wife is trained she should be armed incase the badguy gets you.
You are positioned behind cover with the lights off except for the night lite so you can see the door.
Now you have been yelling something like go away I am armed and I will shoot.
The second that the door is breached you use your firestar flash light to make sure the intruder is not your drunk brother in law playing a prank to scare the ***** out of you.
Then open fire and drop him in his tracks and hope that 911 operator has an audio recording of ever thing that happened in the last 3 minutes.

PhotoTom
02-14-2003, 08:23 AM
Leave the lights in your safe room off! Use the fatal funnel to YOUR advantage!

Just make sure your FAMILY is BEHIND you...NOT in the line of fire or trying to peek out of the door....

Kimber45
02-14-2003, 02:59 PM
Leave the lights in your safe room off! Use the fatal funnel to YOUR advantage!

Just make sure your FAMILY is BEHIND you...NOT in the line of fire or trying to peek out of the door....

Uhmm, behind him is in the line of fire should the bg's shoot.

You need to define fields of fire from the position you will be in to the door and from the door into the room. As the bg's are at the door what can they see? There will be areas of the room that are outside of their field of vision and therefore outside of their field of fire. That is where you want your family preferably concealed.

Toxie
02-14-2003, 04:21 PM
Are there windows to escape from? Is it a second story room? Is there a light in the hallway? If so, flick it on as you go past, to shadow your room but illiuminate your attacker. How old are the kids?

If its a second story room, you may wish to install an escape ladder- also useful incase of a fire.

Hillman
02-14-2003, 05:53 PM
Thanks for the advice so far! All bedrooms are 2nd floor, kids are 5, 8, and 12. The window out of that room leads to the roof, so I imagine we could hang out up there. And the ladder is a fantastic idea.

PhotoTom
02-14-2003, 08:35 PM
Leave the lights in your safe room off! Use the fatal funnel to YOUR advantage!

Just make sure your FAMILY is BEHIND you...NOT in the line of fire or trying to peek out of the door....

Uhmm, behind him is in the line of fire should the bg's shoot.

You need to define fields of fire from the position you will be in to the door and from the door into the room. As the bg's are at the door what can they see? There will be areas of the room that are outside of their field of vision and therefore outside of their field of fire. That is where you want your family preferably concealed.

Point well taken. I'm glad you spelled it out so that others wouldn't misunderstand! Once again, with these scenarios, the circumstances make all the difference! The way I envisioned the scenario, I would want my family BEHIND me. My point, in any case, is they should be made aware that going in FRONT of the protecter/gunhandler...checking the door...or for ANY reason.....in the dark....is NOT acceptalbe in ANY case!

As you said, think it out in advance and have a plan!

J 92 Brigadier
02-15-2003, 12:57 PM
You may want to consider keeping a good sized Maglight either near your guns or in your saferoom as I do.

johnyee1029
02-15-2003, 02:08 PM
You may want to consider keeping a good sized Maglight either near your guns or in your saferoom as I do.
Or both! :)

Kouger
02-15-2003, 03:05 PM
this may not sound right.......however I am not planning on retreating.......its my home..I dont have too......I plan on stopping the threat.....however.....If I have to have my family in a safe room.....only one way to find out where.....and how I set it up....."IF" you want to find out.....it wont be a pretty sight :twisted: :shock: :D

Quaamik
03-19-2003, 10:50 PM
I may be wrong here, and if any of the lawyers / police / instructors know I am please correct me.

I think you wouds lose a couple of valuble tactical advantages if you and your family fled.

First: In a fixed position, especially if properly prepared, you have concealment, possibly cover, a good shooting position, and the ability to be using heavy (relativly) weapons such as a shotgun or rifle. If you attempt to flree, you lose all these advantages.

Second: You aren't required to retreat in your home. However, if you do retreat to outside your home, and the badguy follows, you may find yourself in a position where you have trouble justifying shooting. Mcuh better to resist in the house than to be forced to turn at bay after being chased down.

If you are seriously worried about such a scenario, you might want to consider bulletproofing a piece of furniture in the safe room. A real wood dresser, mounted on casters, with a 1/4" steel plate bolted to the back will provide pretty good cover for you and / or the family if bullets start flying both ways.

RSF
03-19-2003, 11:34 PM
i have a lock s on the safe room door! (deadbolts) and the door has 1/4 plating on the back side painted nicely i might add! and it is a soild wood door!(had to add heavier 4 inch hinges to support the weight 4 of them! would rather let them take what they want than mess up my carpet! another thing to consider is a set of ear muffs in the safe room for the kids or wife ! to protect them! i have 2 sets of muff in my room both are pro ears electronics

jr-vass
03-19-2003, 11:50 PM
A gun dealer I know in Kentucky set up his safe (bed) room at the end of a "corridor of halogen light". He had a foot switch in his bedroom that would activate a bunch of these bright lights in the hallway and down the steps.

Basically giving him the upper hand by temporarily blinding any night-time attackers. He cautioned me and others that just having a single light on your gun or free hand might lead to disaster.

The lights also would be helpful in a fire.

YMMV. Every home is different but the principle still applies.

James

Wesley w/Glock
03-21-2003, 01:42 PM
As far as lighting, the SureFire is of course the best bet. Mag lights are much more common, though and cheaper. One hint that Massad Ayoob says concerning these is to use maglites that utilize "C" cells rather than "D" cells. The reasoning he gives is simply maneuverability and use as a weapon.

Wesley w/Glock
03-21-2003, 01:45 PM
With the information given, do not leave the home. This would introduce way too many problems to try to talk about.

What you describe shows you already have a good handle on the situation. Just the fact that you know not to traverse the house to engage the crooks shows knowledge.

HK USP
03-22-2003, 11:43 PM
The wife has the Cell phone she calls, They have to come past me to get in the house, I have a 1,000,000 candle power spot by the bed to light their life up, and my .45 with night sights within easy reach. Plus I sleep light, I wake up when the cat walks in the room. I will be up and armed before they have compromised the second door.

papabear
03-29-2003, 11:40 PM
I figure anybody that gets by the dogs(Rot and Boxer) is fair game

HK USP
03-29-2003, 11:51 PM
I figure anybody that gets by the dogs(Rot and Boxer) is fair game

Can you say free doggie chow :wink: