I got woken up one nite, didn't know why, didn't hear anyting. Decided to check the doors and have a look out at the cars before relieving myself and going back to bed. Turn the corner into the kitchen and there's a guy at my sliding back door, who just started trying to get it off the track. Thankfully its a newer one which is alot harder to get off the track. I guess I should be thankful he noticed me and high tailed it while I went for my bat, who knows what could've happened. I do feel safer and more confident walking my halls carrying a 12ga to investigate noises than I did that night carrying a bat though.

A large dog is much better than any alarm, my 80lb pit doesn't like strangers creeping around the house.

my father had a very similar philosophy to much of what's being displayed here. it's very possible that that philosophy led to a very unfortunate turn of events this february. i'm not typically a religious person. be that as it is, may god rest his soul. he was a phenomenal young man with a very bright future if he would have picked something and stuck to it.

instead he got mixed up with an individual who had a dr. jeckel and mr. hyde syndrome and the backing of the community. he and my brother were very good friends and he betrayed their trust. furthermore, his intentions of hurting many others in the community for personal gain became known at the wrong time. chances were the community was going to believe him, back him, support him and let everyone else fall for his actions and it became very evident... again... at the wrong time.

at that time, my brother... with a personal vendetta and being a protector and a caring individual... decided it was better for everyone for this individual not to exist any further. at the same time (obviously) he knew he couldn't face his family and (i'm sure) the legal repercussions that were to follow.

he located our dads 38 magnum, took a friends car and tracked down said individual. he put 2 hollow points in the guys chest and immediately put one in his own head. both men were in their 20's and known in the community as phenomenal individuals. as well they're both gone now and forever.

by all means guys, take every precaution available when dealing with firearms. unlike many other things, one bad decision is indefinite be it yours or someone else's decision that just so happens to be able to access your firearms. this will haunt my fathers, step mothers and my own dreams until the days we all pass, i'm sure.

anyway:
for quite some years now i've had one of these within reaching distance of my pillow...

14" forschner cimeter ... and ... dexter russell sani-safe 12" cooks knife ... for several reasons;

• in a close quarters hand to hand combat situation, the guy with the gun isn't always going to win
• lunging with a bat isn't always going to disarm a would-be shooter
• i don't have to load, reload or release a safety upon awakening
• my children know to stay away from sharp objects, especially without supervision
• my son sees a pistol and for some reason immediately thinks "toy" regardless what he's been taught (and we're strict about it)
• i don't necessarily have to aim, so if the perpetrator is in my home, i more than likely have the upper hand
• i can stop when i feel the job is done sufficiently or continue just the same with no reason to pause at all
• missing is almost undoubtedly a non-issue no matter how groggy i am and under almost any circumstances

it's late and i can't think, but that's enough reason for me already.

i wish the best to all of you and hope this doesn't bring any of you down. considering my experience i'm compelled to share a summery of my story though. sorry if it's a bummer, but i'd hate to wonder if not sharing it would lead to someone not putting that extra bit of thought into something and harm possibly coming to someone due to it.

take it easy guys.

Motion sensitive lights setup around the property makes for a great deterrent ( with cctv too perhaps ) , though I'm wondering if a civilian can buy beanbag rounds for a shotgun, or even load the shells with rock salt- still highly effective at stopping someone in their tracks without killing them unnecessarily...

Neil,
That kind of thinking can get you or you family killed. My friend Rick who is the SWAT officer had a nephew that was murdered 4 years ago. He and his boss came out to his car and saw two guy trying to steal his radio, now Rick's nephew was like rick not a guy that you want to mess with. Both he and the manager began to beat these guys up. Now in Texas this is grounds for killing these guys. At this point if he had a gun with lethal rounds they could have held them at gun point till the police got there, instead they chose to take matters into their own hands. The guy that the manager was beating up managed to get away, and ran to his truck. That punk grabbed a 45 and came back to shoot both of them in the back. If you are in a situation where you have to pull a gun you better not be faking. The only reason to pull a gun is if your life or the life of your family is in danger. In this country if someone is brave enough to try to steal something they most likely are capable of more. If you chose to confront them you don't want to bring a knife to a gun fight. Use lethal force only if you have no other option. It would be horrible to get to that point and then they have the advantage.

About 5 years ago we were camping in a state park - myself, wife, and 12 yr old daughter. Sometime around midnight or so, both my wife and I were woken up by the sound of someone working the door latch on our 5th wheel. I made my way to the door - heart was a pounding, my eyes were still very blurry, and I had no clue what I was going to do. I was standing in front of the door, as this person was fiddling with the latch. All of a sudden I heard it release and as the door swung open I launched a full power kick towards where I thought a guys head would be. About half way through the kick I realized that this would be criminal was much shorter than I anticipated, and that I had missed horribly. However, he didn't seem to have even noticed me as he started to climb the steps into the trailer, very slowly - it was then that I noticed this criminal resembled a petite female - it was our daughter sleep walking - again! Next morning she had no clue what had happened - and i was thanking my lucky stars that I had not connected with her head - I'm 6'5" 240, she was about 80 lbs at that time.

Only issue is that you will get your balls sued off if you shoot someone and do not kill them. Welcome to the USA, make sure you give the guy a cup of coffee to tip on himself, that way he can sue folgers too...

I have never actually pointed a gun at someone (cause you shoot things you point guns at, at least I do) but I did have to "display" a gun at a bum/transient once to get him to stop and turn around... I am sure I could have whooped his ass, but pointing my finger at the gun I was carrying to my truck made him turn and flee. Had he not stopped I would have shot him, end of story.

And shot gun barrel length has nothing to do with capacity... Most "field" shotguns have 28" or longer barrels and typically have a 5rd tube with a plug to limit the capacity to 3 3" shells. A home defense gun will have a longer tube, most allow 7-8 2 3/4" shells, or 1 less 3" shells. 2 3/4" is just fine for home defense, no need to go up to 3" shells, which will kick more.

I currently own 2 firearms: a Ruger Mini-14 Tactical carbine, and a Springfield XDm 9mm pistol. Bought them 90% for plinking and targets, 10% for self defense.

I agree that the shotgun would be a great home defense firearm. It's next on my list.

Might want to consider a laser sight. Usually I am not a big fan of lasers, but for this application it can be very beneficial; getting you on target in low/no light situations and under high stress. Plus, it can serve as an extremely effective deterrent. Any criminal that sees that red dot fly across the wall and land on their chest won't be sticking around to find out where it's coming from.

I don't think depending on a laser is a good option. I think they look cool and when they work it would be a good deterrent, but I think the sound of racking a shotgun is much more effective. I would not want to depend on that laser and have battery malfunction in that critical moment. I think if you are going to fight use the front sight (preferably Tritium). You could have the laser, but don't bet your life on it.

large dogs, especially intimidating ones, are also great for home security. that's why we have a doberman. he is a big, friendly, very loving dog toward family and anybody else. if there is an intruder or a threat against his family...well, he isn't so friendly.
that dog saved me from getting into a fight one night when i took him for a walk at the local park. i let him off the leash and he was just running around, chasing rabbits when a couple dudes came up to me and were looking for a fight and/or my money or something like that. as soon as the dog realized that there was conflict, he came running up to the two guys showing his teeth and growling. keep in mind, he is a full grown doberman and it is very easy tell the difference between a friendly growl and a real (evil sounding) growl. the two dudes took off, as my dog chased them and managed to bite the leg of one of them. i called the dog back as they left the park, and as soon as he heard me, he ran back to me and sat down right next to me with his fur still standing up. after that, i put his leash back on and walked home. i had never seen the 2 guys before that and i haven't seen them since then. this happened over a year ago.
this is why i never go walking at night without my dog :lol:

back on topic:
there are four things i think are essential for proper home security:
1. a good short-range gun (shotgun preferred)
2. a large, family friendly dog that DOES NOT tolerate intruders (dobermans are great for this)
3. motion sensor lights and/or CCTV monitors.
4. a family plan for the event of a break-in

I have a mixed dog, he looks part Rotty and part Shepherd. He's big, but is the biggest wuss EVER! The two small yappers across the street were coming too close to me one evening while I was rolling the trash bins to the curb, so I yelled at them and it was my dog (who was nearby) who got scared and rolled over on his back in supplication. Sheesh, some help he is! I think that if someone broke in, he'd be looking to me for protection instead of the other way around.

I do have a house alarm, but rarely set it when we're home. The wife tends to forget it's on and it goes into alarm when she lets the dog outside in the morning. I do have motion lights outside (which reminds me; I have to replace one of the burned out bulbs). No CCTV though.

As far as a family break-in plan is concerned, it goes like this: 1) someone hears something suspicious, 2) they wake me up to take care of it, 3) end of plan.

So anyway, sometime this weekend I plan on visiting a couple gun shops and seeing what they have. I just didn't want to rely on their advice seeing as how all they want is to sell something. At least now, I have some solid points of interest to go on.

Would you say that about RC shops? It's like any shop, yes there are some who just want to make a quick buck, but there are plenty who are genuinely interested in helping you. Now that you have some background you should be able to decide which is which.

cmac: As far as the laser, I wasn't saying rely solely on it, more along the lines of add it to the system if you want the additional features/benefits. Absolutely be prepared to operate with or without it. Anything can malfunction, the laser, the weapon itself. You always need to have a backup plan.

Are us southerners the only ones that know our NFA stuff? :lol:

As for what kind of loads to use Birdshot is very effective in CCB. Most instances you will be less than 10' away from an attacker and I can tell you for sure that a 1 oz load of birdshot will kill someone just as dead as buckshot. As for over penetration 00 Buck will pass through several walls in a house with ease. I keep my 870 loaded with #7 shot which is what I use for skeet. I also use Glaser's in my .357 Mag and Corbon personal defense loads in my Kel Tec Sub 2000, Although I have a 35 round mag (it's a taurus mag I modified to fit my S&W maged Sub)that is full of FMJ ammo right next to it.

Jeff

99% of the people on this forum would say that they do not trust their LHS for anything at all....nadda....nuttin....

Well said! Criminals don't have guns legally to begin with. Removing guns from law abiding citzens just makes them easier targets.