True story. Had a client (female) whose new boyfriend lent her a Berretta 9 with extra capacity clip because she was afraid of her old boyfriend, a nut job cop. Sure enough the ex-bf paid her an unwanted visit.

When he wouldn't leave she pulled out the pistol and he made the mistake of say sarcastically "What are ya gonna do...shoot me?"

She raised the pistol and he made a move towards her at which point she pulled the trigger. Chased him thru the house until he ran outside. Hit him once in the right bttocks and the bullet rattled around and ended up in his gut. He drove himself to the hospital.

When I asked her what happened she said "I kept pulling the trigger until it stopped making noise."

Grand jury refused to indict her and the cop was fired from the PD. Later he was busrted fo selling steroids and heroin.

well, that is what i get for believing the sales guy when he was trying to sell me on the MP15....

for your viewing pleasure:
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AR-25 Carbine
S&W M&P 9mm w/ extra 17rd mags
12g semi-auto w/ extended magazine tube.
Knife in case they manage to evade the list above (yeah right)

Our dog "Buddy" is the early warning system and would scare off 95% of would be intruders with his bark and his lunging at the door obviously not in a cage or on a lead. The other 5% of intruders are looking for trouble in the form of personal assaults on the house occupants and won't be dissuaded by a 60 lb dog. I have a loaded 870 12 gauge along with a 9mm for me and a Springfield .45 ACP for my wife......anything starts up the stairs without clearly identifying themselves would be a bleeding pile of meat in mere seconds.

Remember, aim small, miss small. (don't aim for the head, and miss by an inch)

This thread is timely. I've been thinking for a while about getting a couple of weapons. I'm zeroing in on a Mossberg 500 or Remington 870 for basic home defense, and an AR for if things get really bad.

My question: I understand the expert's guidance on home defense regarding getting the family to a safe central location with standoff distance and a door that you can secure. Does anyone actually do that? Do you drill on getting to "the safe room?" Have you brainstormed other possible avenues of entry and prepared backup plans? Just curious.

Dan

One thing I notice is people's houses aren't terribly secure to begin with, even expensive houses. Instead of spending a few hundred to make their house secure, they somehow feel safer with a firearm. I feel safer knowing my house is very difficult to break into AND I have a firearm.

Doors and door jams need to be reinforced. Our windows are all residential mirror tinted. This serves two purposes. It prevents people from seeing in or seeing if anyone is home. Second, it makes smashing the window more difficult because the tint holds the window together which means the criminal must completely and thoroughly break out the entire window before entering. This takes much more time and makes plenty of noise.

On the inside, our bedroom door is reinforced and is our safe room. Depending on where you live, the police might still charge you for shooting an intruder. They are less likely to do so if the intruder breaks in the house AND comes through a reinforced door. Even though it's your house, the best way to stay out of trouble is not to go looking for it. It's possible there could be multiple intruders who are armed more heavily than you. In such a situation, you could be on the losing end of a confrontation regardless of how well armed you are.

We have practiced our drill and it's simple:

If we hear a noise that leads us to believe a break in has occurred, we immediately lock the door. Our firearm is readied and we assume a defensive position on the side of our bed. The police are called and are kept on the line so they can hear what's going on. If the intruders reach the door and try to get in, in a firm voice tell them the police are on the way and your are armed and prepared to defend yourself. You can repeat the last part more than once so there is no confusion about what your intentions are if they breach the door. Why warn them? If you are waiting in a ready position with a firearm, hiding quietly, an overzealous prosecutor might say a shooting on your part was premeditated. Of course laws vary from state to state, so it's up to you to decide whether this applies to you.

My bedroom has double doors that wouldn't withstand a moderate kick. However, I keep them locked when I sleep. I sleep very lightly and the slighest noise would wake me up. The locked door would just give an extra heads up as soon as someone tried to open it, in case I didn't hear them enter the house.