When buying a weapon for defense, people tend to consider how comfortable it is to carry and how they may use it to avoid a carjacking or mugging while around town. You may think of your home as your castle, but maintaining a defense plan there is just as important, as a home invasion can be terrifying and more of a threat to the entire family and all of your personal items.
There are several steps to take toward protecting your home, and they start long before pulling a weapon.
Practical Home Setup: Prevention
As with any use of a gun for self defense, the first tactic is to utilize prevention and hopefully avoid the scenario which ends with firing the weapon. Decorative bars on windows provide an extra level of safety, although most people don’t really want to do that for reason both cosmetic and practical. Modern windows do, however, have available security options which prevent them from being jimmied open from outside, and make the glass harder to break.
Additionally, proper shrubbery outside can impede access, and thoughtful furniture placement inside can make it difficult to come into the home through the window. Along with such prevention methods, finding an appropriate place to keep guns where they can’t be accessed by guests but are convenient for the homeowner in an emergency is a meaningful preparation.
Understanding What It Means to Use a Gun for Defense
Beyond basic home preparation, there are a few other ideas to consider. Think about how a gun might be used, and how the house’s floor plan can be utilized defensively. Whether doors are left or right handed, and which room they open into or away from can change your emergency plans for home defense. Likewise, the direction of hallways and the layout of different rooms can change your plan. Typically, a right handed shooter is going to want to make left turns in order to place their gun ahead of them while keeping their body concealed.
Practice Makes Perfect
Practice is an absolute final necessity toward home defense. Practicing at the range keeps you familiar with your weapon and able to shoot efficiently, but also practice walking through the layout of the house. Imagine where and how an intruder might enter, and how you would negotiate your way through the house to effectively stop them. You may well realize you need to learn how to shoot with your off hand, or you might realize a better furniture layout will provide a distinct advantage.
The fact is, depending on your perspective, it can be argued that either the homeowner or the intruder has better odds of coming out ahead. On the one hand, the intruder may have the advantage of surprise as the homeowner isn’t expecting an invasion. The homeowner, however, has the advantage of familiarity with the space. That advantage increases with forethought and planning to make the invasion more difficult and uncomfortable for the criminal.
~ Firearm Daily