If you wake up at 2:00am to the sound of a window being smashed and you hear someone entering your house, here’s what you should ideally do: Gather all of your family members together in the same room, lock the door, call the police and have your gun ready in case the intruder should try and enter that room.
However, we don’t live in an ideal world so it’s much more likely that if you hear someone breaking into your home at 2:00am you’ll have to go confront them or at the very least, you’ll have to go to the top of your stairs and make sure the intruder doesn’t make it past you to get to your family members.
So, if the above ever happened to you, should you use a handgun or shotgun for home defense? Well, to tell you the truth, it depends on the situation. For instance, let’s say you’re a prepared homeowner and you’ve already rehearsed a “home invasion” plan with your family. So they know if they hear you shout a special code word they’re supposed to quickly run to your master bedroom.
And let’s pretend…
That one day someone did try to break into your house and since you were prepared you were able to safely get all of your family members into the designated “safe room.” For this particular situation I would want a shotgun. I would want to be able to have my family in the bathroom (out of the line of fire) and I would find a good piece of cover and just sit there with my shotgun pointed at the bedroom door. My shotgun of choice is the trusty Remington 870 and my ammo of choice is 00 buckshot. (But be very careful with 00 buck. If others are in the house – besides the intruder – you’ll want to consider birdshot.)
On the other hand, if I weren’t able to get my family in the “safe room” and I had to go confront the intruder and clear my house, I would definitely want a handgun. Here are a few of the reasons why:
First off, there are a lot of corners in a house.
And the last thing I want to do is have my long shotgun barrel sticking out around a corner so that an intruder can grab it and perhaps take my gun away. Also, if you have to enter other bedrooms on the middle floor or basement floor it’s much easier to open a door and bring a handgun to the “close contact firing position” than to clumsily open a door with the shotgun sticking out for a person to grab.
Let’s not forget, if you’re trying to be “stealth” and sneak around your house so the intruder doesn’t know you’re coming, there’s a much better chance you’re going to knock your shotgun into a wall or hit something, especially if you haven’t practiced clearing your house with a shotgun, which most people haven’t. That’s why my handgun of choice for this situation is my concealed carry gun, the Glock 19.
Of course, the gun you have at the time of a home invasion is the one you use whether it’s a shotgun, rifle, or handgun. But whatever gun you decide to go with I would practice the two scenarios above: Gathering your family in the safe room and clearing your house.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
The Simplest Ways to Avoid Becoming a Victim
Let me tell you an old joke which you may have heard before. Two friends are camping in the woods. They’re relaxing in their campsite when all of the sudden a giant grizzly approaches. One of the friends grabs his tennis shoes from their tent, throws them on and quickly starts tying the laces. The other friend looks at him and says “what are you doing, there is no way you can outrun that bear.” And the one putting on his shoes says, “I don’t have to outrun the bear, I only have to outrun you.”
The above story illustrates how simple it is to avoid becoming a victim in today’s society. You see, the next time you’re walking down the streets look at everyone who has a cell phone attached to their ear, or who is looking down toward the ground while texting. If you’re the one person who has nothing in your hands and you’re looking up and scanning your surroundings, it is not likely a criminal is going to choose you.
The same thing applies to your home defense.
Since I bet the majority of your neighbors leave their garage door open when they’re at home, the fact that you close your garage door at all times will obviously make you less of a target if some thief is looking to steal something out of a garage. (Or some 17 year old kid is looking to steal beer out of someone’s fridge.)
Also, it always amazes me how few people have home alarms. Even if you don’t want to pay for a home alarm at least spend a couple bucks on an alarm sign and stick it in your front yard. If you have an alarm sign and your next door neighbor doesn’t, whose house do you think he’s going to choose? (A fellow instructor I know told me that he has a decal on his windows and that there was a burglary of the three surrounding houses, but his house was skipped over.)
If you carry concealed…
Then you know you’re among the less than 1% of Americans who have a gun on them on a daily basis. There are too many ways to list how this will protect you, but one example is the deadbeat carjacker. When the carjacker tries to get in your car and you draw your gun and the carjacker quickly vanishes (or moves on to another car in line), at least you’re safe.
Or heaven forbid you actually have to use the gun, but again, at least you’ll hopefully be alive while the scumbag criminal won’t. My point is, unfortunately (but fortunately for you and me) society has become pretty lazy and nobody pays attention to their surroundings or seems to value their safety.
And if you and I just take a few more safety precautions than everyone else, then we’re a lot less likely to be targeted by criminals. It doesn’t take much, but if you aren’t doing it now, start paying more attention, start carrying your gun more often, remember to turn on your alarm at night, close your garage door, and never, ever answer the door for someone you don’t know.
The above story illustrates how simple it is to avoid becoming a victim in today’s society. You see, the next time you’re walking down the streets look at everyone who has a cell phone attached to their ear, or who is looking down toward the ground while texting. If you’re the one person who has nothing in your hands and you’re looking up and scanning your surroundings, it is not likely a criminal is going to choose you.
The same thing applies to your home defense.
Since I bet the majority of your neighbors leave their garage door open when they’re at home, the fact that you close your garage door at all times will obviously make you less of a target if some thief is looking to steal something out of a garage. (Or some 17 year old kid is looking to steal beer out of someone’s fridge.)
Also, it always amazes me how few people have home alarms. Even if you don’t want to pay for a home alarm at least spend a couple bucks on an alarm sign and stick it in your front yard. If you have an alarm sign and your next door neighbor doesn’t, whose house do you think he’s going to choose? (A fellow instructor I know told me that he has a decal on his windows and that there was a burglary of the three surrounding houses, but his house was skipped over.)
If you carry concealed…
Then you know you’re among the less than 1% of Americans who have a gun on them on a daily basis. There are too many ways to list how this will protect you, but one example is the deadbeat carjacker. When the carjacker tries to get in your car and you draw your gun and the carjacker quickly vanishes (or moves on to another car in line), at least you’re safe.
Or heaven forbid you actually have to use the gun, but again, at least you’ll hopefully be alive while the scumbag criminal won’t. My point is, unfortunately (but fortunately for you and me) society has become pretty lazy and nobody pays attention to their surroundings or seems to value their safety.
And if you and I just take a few more safety precautions than everyone else, then we’re a lot less likely to be targeted by criminals. It doesn’t take much, but if you aren’t doing it now, start paying more attention, start carrying your gun more often, remember to turn on your alarm at night, close your garage door, and never, ever answer the door for someone you don’t know.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Should You Get Multiple Concealed Carry Permits?
The first thing that every American (who is able to) should do is go get their concealed firearms permit. Even if you never plan to carry, or don’t carry often, at least once you get your permit you have the option to protect yourself. And, if you happen to be one of the poor souls who lives in a state that has unfriendly gun laws and you can’t get your CCW, then move. I’m very serious about that.
One of the blessings we have of living in the USA is that we’re free to live wherever we wish. Of course people make excuses like “my job’s here” or “my wife wants to live here” but at least realize you choose to live in that state and if you truly wanted to move, you could. (Those big green signs above the freeway point the way to gun friendly states, I promise you that.)
I bring this up because my wife’s family lives in California. I have let her know without a doubt we will never be living in that state. I can think of few things worse in life than not having a gun on me to defend my family because I chose to live in California or Maryland or New York.
However, once you’ve got your permit for the state you live in, many people often wonder if they should get additional permits. In short, I believe the answer is yes. Right now in my wallet I have my Virginia permit and my Utah permit, which combined allow me to carry concealed in 33 states.
Why do I have multiple permits and why do I think you should too?
Well, the first and most obvious reason is because different permits provide coverage for different states. For instance, Virginia has reciprocity with Florida and Utah does not. (They don’t have reciprocity for non-resident permits.) I used to travel to Florida often, so I definitely needed a permit which would allow me to carry in Florida. Also, Utah has reciprocity with both Alabama and Georgia and Virginia does not.
Another reason I carry multiple permits is because it’s kind of like insurance. You never know what foolish politicians are going to do even in gun friendly states like Virginia and Utah. So, if something happens where one permit loses coverage on a lot of states, or becomes much more difficult to obtain at least I have my “back up” permit.
Plus…
Not only do you have to worry about the state which issues your permit, you have to worry about all the states that grant it reciprocity. Reciprocity coverage is always changing when new politicians get elected or when states get in a “urinating” contest over something and decide to no longer recognize each other’s permits.
A friend of mine probably put it best when he told me that he carries multiple credit cards such as Visa, American Express and Mastercard to have “back up” cards and various options, which is how he feels about carrying multiple permits- he wants several options, and I couldn’t agree with him more.
So if you’ve been sitting on the fence about getting another permit, or you’ve been too cheap to spend $65 on another permit that will last you for 5 years, then as soon as you finish reading this, take action today and sign up for a local concealed carry class in your area.
(By the way, another great reason to get multiple permits is in case you accidentally let one expire, at least you have your back up and can still carry.)
One of the blessings we have of living in the USA is that we’re free to live wherever we wish. Of course people make excuses like “my job’s here” or “my wife wants to live here” but at least realize you choose to live in that state and if you truly wanted to move, you could. (Those big green signs above the freeway point the way to gun friendly states, I promise you that.)
I bring this up because my wife’s family lives in California. I have let her know without a doubt we will never be living in that state. I can think of few things worse in life than not having a gun on me to defend my family because I chose to live in California or Maryland or New York.
However, once you’ve got your permit for the state you live in, many people often wonder if they should get additional permits. In short, I believe the answer is yes. Right now in my wallet I have my Virginia permit and my Utah permit, which combined allow me to carry concealed in 33 states.
Why do I have multiple permits and why do I think you should too?
Well, the first and most obvious reason is because different permits provide coverage for different states. For instance, Virginia has reciprocity with Florida and Utah does not. (They don’t have reciprocity for non-resident permits.) I used to travel to Florida often, so I definitely needed a permit which would allow me to carry in Florida. Also, Utah has reciprocity with both Alabama and Georgia and Virginia does not.
Another reason I carry multiple permits is because it’s kind of like insurance. You never know what foolish politicians are going to do even in gun friendly states like Virginia and Utah. So, if something happens where one permit loses coverage on a lot of states, or becomes much more difficult to obtain at least I have my “back up” permit.
Plus…
Not only do you have to worry about the state which issues your permit, you have to worry about all the states that grant it reciprocity. Reciprocity coverage is always changing when new politicians get elected or when states get in a “urinating” contest over something and decide to no longer recognize each other’s permits.
A friend of mine probably put it best when he told me that he carries multiple credit cards such as Visa, American Express and Mastercard to have “back up” cards and various options, which is how he feels about carrying multiple permits- he wants several options, and I couldn’t agree with him more.
So if you’ve been sitting on the fence about getting another permit, or you’ve been too cheap to spend $65 on another permit that will last you for 5 years, then as soon as you finish reading this, take action today and sign up for a local concealed carry class in your area.
(By the way, another great reason to get multiple permits is in case you accidentally let one expire, at least you have your back up and can still carry.)
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