Home Invasion Defense Questions (outsiders, community, best, cheapest)
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Even a handgun in reality is insufficient against an attacker. While handguns do a decent job, there's a reason why we carry rifles in combat.
You appear to not have an adequate grasp on the situation, or weapons choices that vary with the combat conditions, or even how to effectively choose and use a pistol.
The situation the OP is describing involves close-quarters combat in an urban environment. A rifle is a long-range weapon and difficult to employ in the scenario that the OP describes- a long-arm cannot be aimed & re-aimed as quickly as a smaller weapon and one has to consider interference from doorways and furniture. Additionally, one has to consider that, in this type of urban environment, a rifle round could easily depart the immediate combat area through a wall, door, or window and retain enough velocity and ballistic energy to wound or kill an innocent non-combatant...which would leave the OP liable for civil and criminal charges.
With appropriate training, a pistol is an extremely effective weapon, especially in larger calibers (in this case, size *does* matter, and bigger is better). I can assure you that a double-tap to the chest from my Sig P220 (.45 Auto) at close range will stop*** just about anyone, unless the assailant is wearing body armor...in which case it will pause him long enough for a 3rd round to the head. Although my S&W .44mag snubby might have an edge in raw ballistic energy, using full-house mag rounds in a 3" bbl makes it difficult to control well enough for a quick 2nd shot, .44 Special cartridges (or my own custom handloads) would be a better choice. For myself, my preferred weapon would be my Cobray M11/9 "room-broom", but it doesn't sound as though the OP would be able to adequately employ a weapon of this type.
In my opinion, given the situation he describes, the OP's best choice would be a large-caliber handgun loaded with frangible rounds (such as the Glaser Safety Slug), which would reduce the liability of a stray round penetrating beyond the immediate combat area to injure non-combatants in other rooms or buildings while still providing adequate stopping power.
***(Outside of the military, and *especially* in a civilian defense situation, one should never, ever use the phrase "shoot to kill"- use the phrase "shoot to STOP" instead. In the event that one should find himself in court, defending his use of a lethal weapon in self-defense, using the phrase "shoot to kill" may have a negative connotation which could result in a jury conviction on a criminal charge where the prosecutor argues that there was an *intent* to kill (murder). This is NOT a groundless concern- it HAS happened. The appropriate attitude in this situation is that your only intent was to STOP your attacker from continuing to attempt to do you harm...the fact that the *best* way to stop his attack is to kill him is a fact that is better left unsaid...especially in areas such as NYC and other urban settings where the use of lethal weapons by civilians tends to be discouraged.)
Joe from Dayton makes a good point. I am very happy with Guardian. Their installer was polite with suggestions as to where the motion detectors should go and why, and their price quotes are no nonsense. They installed a smoke alarm, two motion detectors and ten window alarms. They also install a control center with cellular communication. My son accidentally burned the toast setting off the fire alarm. The person monitoring my alarm was on in a flash. You must punch in your code and give the password. The system also has two modes night mode and away mode. Night mode allows you to move around your house at night by arming only the window and door alarms. Away mode arms the motion detectors additionally.
They don't advertise because they don't have to.
Last edited by Tonyafd; 11-30-2014 at 06:09 AM..
Reason: new info
I was raised with a rifle in my hands and believe in armed self-defense.
But, I knew this woman in Washington DC who had a row house in a nice neighborhood, and after a few break-ins, she got a security system and a hand gun.
4th break-in. She came down stairs with her pistol and the usual crew were stealing her TV again. They saw her gun and just laughed at her.
Would you kill someone over a TV? They were in and out in seconds, long before the police showed up.
We are looking for strategies and any necessary equipment which may be helpful for defending against a home invasion, we have determined two types of adversary:
1) Burglar
No. of Adversaries: 1-6
Skill Set: Amateur, Noisy, No Knowledge of Floorplan.
2) Ulterior
No. of Adversaries: 2-9
Skill Set: Professional, Quiet, Knowledge of Floorplan, Armed.
Just forget about #2. You have no reasonable chance to defend against a trained assault team unless you build a fortress and staff it with an trained and armed security team of your own.
For #1, it's about making yourself a target that is more trouble than it's worth. A noisy dog, whether it can actually do damage or not, is an effective deterrent. Same thing with a loud alarm and bright lights on motion detectors. The last thing amateurs want is a bunch of commotion.
I am normally very laxed, but I've had numerous friends tell me that I should be more cautious and concerned about defense protection.
My friend in Illinois had their dog poisoned, and it is assumed that whoever paid for that to happen is the same person who incessantly harasses me.
When it comes to safety, it's better to be safe than sorry. I'd rather be paranoid than absent-minded.
So to get to YOU, they found your friend hundreds of miles away and poisoned THEIR dog. And they didn't explicitly SAY anything about you, but you are ASSUMING you were the indirect target of this action? Seems like a longshot, but yeah, people get home alarms for less reason than that I guess.
yeah, they have premises permits. Take a lot of paperwork and time. Then u have to keep the weapon unloaded in a secure box or gun safe separate from the ammo. Nobody has that much time when they need to defend their home.
Motion sensor lights on all sides of the home and at all entrances.
Game cameras at choke points to identify (or attempt to) would be intruders.
A good security system.
Steel reinforced exterior doors.
A fall back position or safe room.
Shotguns.
A home security audit done by a reputable firm and follow their advice..
People jumping gates into your backyard? Piles of broken glass or big honey locust thorns (or maybe mounds of dog poo) at the landing point are good deterrents but prepare to be sued.
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