Interesting event that happened this morning

[Tennessee Gentleman]

We have a security system that I set every evening once we are "in" for the night. In the "at home" mode it basically covers the perimeter doors. This morning about 3:30 am it went off. As it turns out, no one was probably trying to get in, rather I had not shut the porch door all the way and I think it was pulled open by the A/C. Anyway, I could find no evidence of any attempted entry and so my best guess is that it was a false alarm. The Security service called just like in the Brinks commerical and so forth. No police came. I live in a pretty nice suburb.

However, here is my critique of my and my wifes' reactions after the alarm went off. First, I was in a very deep sleep and woke up very disoriented. I retrieved my weapon very quickly (S&W 642 w/Speer Gold Dots 135gr.) but left my flashlight (Surefire G2) in the drawer, went back and retrieved it too! While this is going on my wife walks out into the living room to turn off the alarm but says to me "Is somebody in here?" By this time (about a minute after the alarm goes) I am very awake and begin to go looking thru the house, 642 in hand with G2 like I was trained in my advanced handgun class. My 17 year old son is dead asleep (dynamite wouldn't get him up) downstairs and when I ask him if he is all right and tell him the alarm went off he just says Huhhh? but gets up and grabs his old baseball bat and followed me around. My house has several doors that lead outside on two different floors.
Once I saw nobody was at any of the doors I told the alarm company that we were fine and cancelled the alarm. Then I went back to bed. Lying there I thought, "What if the guy came in and is now hiding in the closet or upstairs?" So, I get up again and then look some more about the upstairs. No one was there and I could not get back to sleep until it was time to go do a church project. I'll sleep I hope better tonight.
The interesting thing I observed about myself was how disoritned I was and how hard it was to "get in gear". This came totally out of the blue and I think I was vulnerable.
After it was over my wife asked: "What should I do if you're not here and that thing goes off?" I am thinking thru those answers now and am ashamed to admit I have no plan for that. Also, my wife will have no part of firearms or training. No lectures about that one as I have been married to this lass for 21 years and it ain't gonna change. My son has had some training but the attacker would have to pop smoke and flares to get him up. Anyway, any ideas for a plan?
PS Am retired military but don't feel like the well oiled machine I once was.

[Capt Charlie]

Sounds very normal to me. Some folks can wake up and be alert in a split second, while others take awhile to get it together. You can only do so much in the way of preparedness, and there's never any guarantees that'll be enough. As to the wife not liking guns, the only alternative I can think of is a "safe room". Install a solid door with two deadbolt locks on the bedroom entrance and put 911 on speedial on the bedroom phone. Having a speaker phone is good also so that 911 operators can hear what's going on (911 operators are supposed to keep the caller on the line during burglaries, but they don't always do it.), and get the wife a canister of Fox Labs OC spray. Don't know what to tell you about a son that won't wake up; maybe a bucket of cold water poised over his head that'll tip when the alarm goes off?? :eek: :D

[Limeyfellow]

Hehe, I can be woke up by any car driving down the road at night (which is highly unusual here) but I sleep straight through my mother in law firing off a 12 gauge shotgun next door, 20 minutes after I had fallen asleep. I can wake up and be active and alert anytime in the night before about 6am. After that I struggle to get up. I did frighten off a burgular and someone messing with the car before. Usually noise going on around here though is animals and there is a bobcat, a black bear, coyotes and alsorts hunting in this area.

[Capt Charlie]

Now THAT is positively, absolutely, the most frightening scenario I can think of.... a mother in law with a shotgun!!!!! :eek: :eek: :D :D

[JohnKSa]

After it was over my wife asked: "What should I do if you're not here and that thing goes off?" I am thinking thru those answers now and am ashamed to admit I have no plan for that. Also, my wife will have no part of firearms or training.Given the situation, I'd just tell her to call the cops, find someplace to hide and hope that the cops get there before the criminals work their way through the kid to her.

Or you could mention firearms training again, and when she nixes it, tell her you're open to suggestions from her.

[Dwight55]

I would say your reaction is in broad general terms, fairly common and since you have been through it, . . . use it for a starting point to set up "home security - 101".

My family and I have never had (thank God!) strangers in the night that wanted to bust in or anything. But in case it happens, . . . I am basically going to defend the bedroom, . . . my wife is on the cell phone in an adjoining bathroom to the police (it is turned on and the "lock" taken off before we go to bed, . . . stays on all night, . . . is not plugged in to the charger).

I will be crouched down behind the bed if bg decides to come into the bedroom and I'll meet him with a 1911 and a light.

My 26 year old son is upstairs with his 870 in his bedroom, . . . he will shoot anything that comes in his door that isn't Mom or Dad.

On the other hand, . . . if all the dude wants is my 5 year old tv, 8 year old vcr, or assorted other material goods, . . . he can just help himself. I would probably be really unhappy if he took the last piece of chocolate cake my wife baked, . . . or the apple pie I baked, . . . but I could get over that. :D

While it is possible to "clear" my house myself, . . . there are too many "what iff's" for me to feel really good about doing it. I would have done it a few years back, . . . but physical conditions preclude me from rassling anyone for anything. I can shoot, . . . but ain't doing the close quarters combat thing with someone one half or one third my age.

Long and short, . . . get a plan together, . . . practice the plan, . . . make sure every family member knows the plan, . . . then get a backup plan.

May God bless,
Dwight

[kirkcdl]

You need a smaller house...with less doors and floors...and hiding places... ;)

[Tennessee Gentleman]

My wife will need to approve the smaller house. Me, I would take a bunker :D

[Garand Illusion]

Sounds like you did fine -- or at least as well as most non-ninjas would.

For myself ... I woudln't have cleared the house either. If I thought there was a chance someone was in the house I would have hustled my family together (I know that your son was downstairs -- makes it hard for a simple plan like they talk about in the NRA course) and then made sure the police came and checked things out.

Although my assumption would be that anyone who tried to break into the house probably split when the alarm went off (as I'm sure 99% would) I'd still let a LEO clear it out. And from what I've seen of the local cops they woudln't mind going in and looking around.

Hopefully the experience you learned in your "dry run" will never have to be put to use.

[22-rimfire]

I had a break in or at least an intruder once when I lived in Texas at 3:00 AM. I was asleep. No alarm system. Had two dogs and they reacted very very quickly. What always suprises me is just how unfriendly dogs can be when the visitor is not on the "approved list". Anyway, to make a long story short, I either left a door unlocked or they had a key as there was no forced entry. I had lost a set of keys and my suspicion is that this person or one of his cohorts picked them up in my driveway for a rainy day. They had cased the place pretty well and were in and out in less than a minute. Stole all of my photography gear. I didn't even know there was a problem until the morning when I found stuff missing.

I heard the dogs "vigorously" barking and growling. I woke up all disoriented. Never occured to me at the time to pick up a gun. It was over before I was even aware of what was going on.

So, now I ALWAYS check my exterior doors before going to bed. So, if there is an intruder, I know automatically that they got in by other means. Gun is always ready, but the dogs are much better at running people off unless they are pros.

I think about scenarios and my reaction. I really don't know how I would do in a real situation. But once your house is violated, you do not feel totally secure in your house ever again.

I believe your reaction was typical. Much like me. I'm no Rambo nor do I want to be.

[BillCA]

Basic Plan:
You get armed, defend the homestead from bedroom door or top of stairs.
Wife calls 911 and stays on the phone in bedroom.
Son sleeps in his room with door locked.
SHTF - everyone exit via best method and meet up at the end of the driveway or behind the shed (Your choice).

As a critique of your incident, the first thing I would do is to tell my wife that she should never leave the bedroom if you're there and especially if you are armed. The only reason for leaving is that the BG is in the room too.

While this is going on my wife walks out into the living room to turn off the alarm but says to me "Is somebody in here?"
Ask her if she realizes that the answer might have been an actual BG appearing from the kitchen or another room pointing a knife or gun in her face. Or she could be taken "hostage" so the BG could force you to drop your weapon (then what happens?).

Tactically, her role, since she refuses to learn armed self defense, is to call the police and stay in the bedroom. Do not let her follow you out of the room, not even with a "10 foot space" as you may need to retreat very fast into the bedroom.

Since you have a two story (implied from the use of "downstairs") the stairwell should be your maximum stopping distance. Consider installing a few night-lights in sockets near the foot of the stairs and maybe the darker areas you can see from the top of the stairs.

If your son likes his downstairs room he should lock his door at night. Like most 17 year olds, he'll sleep through a collision of worlds and there's not much you can change about that.

[CyberSEAL]

"What if the guy came in and is now hiding in the closet or upstairs?"


Always clear your home after an event like that...

[roger-ruger]

Me? I would stay in the same room where I woke up (with the wfie) holding onto the handgun, call 911 or the alarm co. from the room; cellphone or landline and explain. Wouldn't budge until I hear some assuring knock or see the blinkers outside. No fone, I would have probably done the same. :)

[Dre_sa]

i seen to have two different types of wake ups. one is the normal disoriented stumble arround type, the kind you described. the other is a fully alert wide awake, lets find out whats going on, after a strange noise or alarm.
while reading through, i thought of a good plan IMO.
get a second alarm clock, and have your wife set it once a week (so you dont know what time it will go off) and when you hear that specific alarm try you hardest to be awake and functional.
i will try this myself over the next few weeks, see if it works.

[azspyder]

Get at least one small, loud dog that will bark when a sparrow passes gas two doors away. Male dachshunds are great! Wake up, grab your 870 with the Surefire attached and cover the bedroom door. Let the dog do the searching. If someone's in the house and you can't see him, the dog will lead you to him.

That's how we do it, anyhow.

[XDoctor]

Living on the bottom floor of an apartment building, I hear bizarre noises every night. Usually its the neighbor doing whatever it is he does up there. I bet that in the last six years there have been 50 times when I felt the need to get out of bed and clear my house. After you do it enough times, you know where all the best hiding spots are. You plan out a route, and I've found that little decorative mirrors in strategic locations can let you know what's around every corner before you turn it.

[k9lwt]

I have a male German Shepherd that is always very alert (sometimes too alert...). He does a good deal of the worrying around here, so we don't have to. If he's going nuts, and I'm confident there's someone in the house I am going to call 911. We were camping in NH last weekend and around 930 pm the dog started looking behind our tent and growling. There were a bunch of us at the site and several parents were trying to get their kids to sleep. I was ****** that the dog kept alerting, and told him to stop. He's generally extremely obedient and very well trained, but he kept on growling. About 3 minutes later a bear was caught in a trap about 50-75 feet from our tent. We never suspected a thing even though we were told the night before that there was a sighting near our tent. Boy did I feel like a jerk...

I am a former Marine Infantryman, current police officer/firearms instructor, baton instructor, and on, and on, but I am no fool. I am going to let several officers do the job instead of just me. I have a spare vest in the house, but my wife and son don't. They are my priority and I'm going to let several people with vests search the house for me or along with me (if I can get the family to a safe place). I would be ready in the bedroom with the M-4, 870, and plenty of other weapons if need be, but I'm probably not going looking for trouble.

[progunner1957]

Ask her if she realizes that the answer might have been an actual BG appearing from the kitchen or another room pointing a knife or gun in her face. Or she could be taken "hostage" so the BG could force you to drop your weapon (then what happens?).

In a hostage situation, NEVER give up your weapon!! At "across the room" distances - 10 to 20 feet - anyone who is reasonably competent with a handgun should be able to make a head shot on the BG.

Giving up your weapon GUARANTEES rape and murder in such a scenario. Go for the head shot without hesitation; you have a firearm and therefore still have the advantage.

"Give a hostage taker your weapon" is no different from the age old advice "Don't resist the attacker - do what he says." Both are one-way tickets to a place you DO NOT want to go.

If you don't think you accomplish the head shot, practice head shots until you can!!!! If your gun and ammunition are not capable of that kind of accuracy, get a gun and ammo that are and practice relentlessly.

Think about what is at stake here - your life and the lives of your family hang in the balance. It is your responsibility to be ready, willing and able to defend them from home invaders. A head shot may well be necessary.

If you are not ready, get ready while you still have the chance to do so. Dealing with home invaders is not a game; there are no time outs, no do-overs and no rules except this one:
Win by any and all means necessary!

[Hello123]

second the small dog. distantly remember my parents chiuahua that would start its barking monstrousity the moment I tried to sneak into the house as a teen. Nothing got past that dogs ears.

[TangoTracker]

We have a less than optimal house from the standpoint of intruders. Kids bedrooms are all upstairs and the master is down. (Good thing to think of before buying a house)

However the lab/german shepard mix we have is an amazing animal. When we go to be she comes in and stays with us for about 15 minutes, then leaves. Having watched her over time it's very cool what she does. When she leaves our room, she goes upstairs and goes into each of the kids rooms, clearly to check on them. Finding them all asleep where they should be she moves to the top of the stairs, lays down, and sleeps the night there.

On the rare occassion that she moves from that spot she will go the very center of the downstairs and sleep, which curiously enough has visibility to the front door, the back door, the master bedroom, and the stairs.

There is no doubt in my mind that she is positioning herself to best watch over the family.

About a year ago my wife and kids had gone to visit my in-laws and taken the dog with them. In the middle of the night my wife's brother showed up from out of town, using his key he opened the door, only to met by the dog. She woke the entire house. Further she stood her ground by the front door and would not let my brother-in-law enter the home.

Dogs are amazing... and little dogs just don't get you there the same way.

[dave_in_delaware]

I sleep like the original poster's son: dead to the world. It seems that the only thing that wakes me up is my annoying alarm clock. Not even my girlfriend coughing or sneezing next to me or getting out of bed disturbs me.

That's NOT a good thing for being the protector of my homestead. I'm in an apartment (for now), top floor, and we can't install alarms, etc. I'm still learning accuracy with my firearm, although I do keep a mag loaded w/ JHP's and the weapon in the bedroom "just in case".

Once I move to my house (the one I own now - long story), it has an alarm system (always wakes me up fast) and will be more easily defended, with all the bedrooms upstairs, etc.

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but does anyone have any suggestions for us very heavy sleepers out there?

[SomeKid]

As a fellow heavy sleeper, the best way to get me up, I have found to all involve a good woman.

1. Have her cook something.

2. Have her start whispering certain things that will...arouse any man.

Now, those are the best. Other tricks include a horde of loud dogs. Sometimes I get up, open the window, begin shouting for the animals to shut up, then realize it is my own inside the house animals making the noise. The neighbors love me for that.

But, in all seriousness, the best way is to have a woman who is a light sleeper. Second best is the dog bit. For me, a house alarm is garbage. I will just throw a shoe at the pad to try to hit the 'snooze' button. (Funny story, I actually did that to the fire alarm once. Used a steel toed boot to. Made a horrible mess, but I shut THAT alarm up!)

[blackmind]

After it was over my wife asked: "What should I do if you're not here and that thing goes off?" I am thinking thru those answers now and am ashamed to admit I have no plan for that. Also, my wife will have no part of firearms or training. No lectures about that one as I have been married to this lass for 21 years and it ain't gonna change.


Well, I sympathize, because my girlfriend is very anti-gun, gets squicked-out just seeing them, just knowing mine is around, etc. She did stretch herself and go with me to the range while I shot, but steadfastly refused to touch a gun, herself, and later told me she felt sick to her stomach the whole time and almost told me she had to get out of there. :rolleyes: (I really am a thousand miles from understanding this reaction, as I believe it is irrational.)

Well, your wife has herself in quite a spot: She realizes that this may happen some time when you are not around, and it may be an actual home invader next time, and she's looking to YOU for the solution, "What should I do?"

If she herself refuses to have anything to do with firearms, then she herself is responsible for the helplessness that she is forcing on herself. If she ends up taking up your son's baseball bat but then finds herself facing two burly guys, she may be wishing she had your handgun, and wishing she had had you teach her how to use it. Her obstinance could theoretically cost her her life some day.

Turn it around on her. When she asks you, "What should I do if you're not here and that thing goes off?" ASK HER what she should do. Ask her what she PLANS to do. Ask her why what SHE will do is to be decided by YOU. Ask her how she expects you to help her survive such a situation safely when she refuses to avail herself of the best, most effective tool she could have to defend herself.

This is not your burden, if she wants solutions from you but then won't take your advice (which I'm sure would be, "Learn how to use my gun(s)," if you knew she was willing.)

Maybe she's changed her mind? I would check, if I were you.

Good luck.

-blackmind

[blackmind]

+1 to Johnksa, for post #5.

That's a great way to drive home the point of what her obstinate refusal to learn about guns leaves her and her son exposed to. It makes clear just what she is gambling about, and reminds her that the police may be "busy" and unable to get to her before the bad guys do.

It reminds me of something someone posted on this board recently, about handing a woman a cellular phone and sending her some distance off, and then he says, "Okay, and I'll take this big rock and come at you from here while you dial 911, and we'll see if the police get here to defend you before I bash your head in." <words to that effect> I thought it was masterful! :D

-blackmind

[IZinterrogator]

get the wife a canister of Fox Labs OC sprayBad idea to fire that stuff off indoors. Don't ask me how I know, but I know, okay? ;)

[BatmanX]

That's NOT a good thing for being the protector of my homestead. I'm in an apartment (for now), top floor, and we can't install alarms, etc. I'm still learning accuracy with my firearm, although I do keep a mag loaded w/ JHP's and the weapon in the bedroom "just in case".

Once I move to my house (the one I own now - long story), it has an alarm system (always wakes me up fast) and will be more easily defended, with all the bedrooms upstairs, etc.

You asked for tips?
Get a door bar, door jam, or whatever you want to call it.

No way a person can enter your house through the door.
If they climb up the side of the building, then you keep patio door closed with a a door bar also.

Google em.