What should I be doing at home for SD?

[wbw]

Hello all, new guy here on Tactics and training. I guess this is the right place for my question. First a little background: I live in the People's republic of Maryland so getting a permit to carry outside of the home is out of the question. I live in a nice neighborhood of single family homes on lots ranging from 1 to 3 or 4 acres. Generally no foot traffic except people walking for exercise. Not a high crime area. But I'm about 8 minutes away from a higher density area that is gradually changing.
I currently keep a .357 next to my bed in a drawer. I'm wondering should I be keeping a gun hidden in the family room on the first floor? Should I be walking around the house with a handgun stuck in my belt? I don't feel unsafe in my house, but just got to wondering, if someone came crashing through my back door or came in through the garage door (which is sometimes left open) I would be unable to defend myself and family.
Do you folks who live in fairly 'safe' areas walk around the house carrying? Or just keep guns spread out throuhout the house? Or just keep the doors locked and don't worry about it?
I would appreciate knowing what some of you folks do in situations like this.
Thanks in advance.

[andrewskaggs]

Do you have children in your home?

[wbw]

Oldest daughter is 22 and lives at home for now. Younger daughter is away at college during the school months and at home for holidays and summer.

[andrewskaggs]

I generally don't like the idea of hiding a gun as there are too many things that can happen. For instance, if you have friends over who have a small child and the child finds the gun bad things can happen. If you are burglarized and the thief finds your gun, what happens? My recommendation would be that if you are concerned for your safety in your home, to make it a habit to carry while you are there.

Whichever route you choose (but especially if you choose to hide a weapon), make sure that everyone in your household knows how to use and/or make safe your weapon.

Kathy Jackson has a good article on carrying at home on her website: http://www.corneredcat.com/Social/home.aspx

[wbw]

So do you walk around the house in the evening carrying a gun on your person so that you're ready at all times?

[dabigguns357]

Wb i do just that.I carry at all times,well except for the 9 hours i'm at work.At home especially.If i'm doing the dishes or cooking or even taking a nap.It has become second nature.It's a Rossi .357

[Dreadnought]

All my guns stay in the vault unless I am taking them to the range or personally carrying one. I do not like leaving guns around the house, loaded or unloaded, just because I don't want a thief to find an easily deployed weapon. I live in a "safe" neighborhood and all previous neighborhoods I have lived in were "safe" but do not think twice about having a gun on or about my person at all times at all locations. I don't turn on my smoke detectors only when I think I am going to have a fire, nor do I leave my spare tire at home unless I think I am going to have a flat.

[KLRANGL]

always have a gun within 5ft of my in norfolk (for obvious reasons)

Yet I always carry at my folks house up in northern virginia... safest place ever, but you just dont know... Makes my mom uncomfortable to no end. Ive compromised with her to where I carry it unloaded with a loaded mag in a separate pocket. Deployment time is down but I can live with it...

[jrothWA]

first on the outside do you have "motion detector" lights, they are the first trip wire to let you know that something it out there, if you have a dog set it so it doesn't trip on the dog's motion.

Are the present lighting set -up high on the house illuminating outward or bacl towards the house.

Are the outside door lights also motion sensing? If they are on, something is at the door.

Any areas that can be used to observe you with out knowing? clear them out if brush, etc.

is the back of out-building providing unknown avenue to approach, put a light up HIGH! set to the dos as above.

All my daughters are in college ( ), but I have a firearm place where they know it and can use it. The wife is not firearms capable.
Its you decision of placing, think it thru.

[ice9_us]

Do you folks who live in fairly 'safe' areas walk around the house carrying? Or just keep guns spread out throuhout the house? Or just keep the doors locked and don't worry about it?
I would appreciate knowing what some of you folks do in situations like this.
Thanks in advance.
-----------------------------------------------------------
I am carrying..
I am tranning on how to handle my firearm with great care but fast accuracy..

I have a new gun.. I am am working on, with gun pulled, shooting a softball about 45 yards away..
golf ball abuot 20 to 30 yards...

I am hitting a small box about 12x12 .. 20 yards.. roughly with gun drawn..
walking left and right... dropping mag and reloading....

i am not just poping rounds..
I am trying to hit a 3x5 card on the 12x12 box area.. while moving...
getting pretty good in my 2 days of pratice...

I am also working on finding my confort zone with carrying..
where do i like my gun? how fast can i get it.. pulled aimed.. with safety off and 1 round...

I am not using bulletts for this just yet...
I am still a little nervous doing the drill.. when i feel like it is close to 2nd nature... and i am not going to kill myself... i will take it to the range.. and continue the same deal..

do it sitting still hitting my targets.. then do it moving...

i figure if i can do that.. then i am not doing to bad..

i also try to imagion where the guy will be with relation to how and when i pull my fire arm...
that way.. i can get a good feel if the guy is on the left or right.. and i will know where i like the guy if i am going to attack..

i forgot to add. i have 3 kids which has lead me to pick the pt140 pro with the key locking system... They are not aware of the gun being in the house just yet... I am trying to figure out the best way to introduce them to this..

[ice9_us]

first on the outside do you have "motion detector" lights, they are the first trip wire to let you know that something it out there, if you have a dog set it so it doesn't trip on the dog's motion.

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I do something close...
at night.. all the lights are on outside.. and off in side...
whoever is out side can't see in so easily... because of how you do the lights..

i have motion lights on all 4 corners of my house... and putting some in the middle.. so any movement outside.. can be followed..

when i had 6ach.. in conyers GA east of atlanta... in the middle of the woods.. before moving here to alabama.. that is how i had my old house setup...


dang deer gave me many nights of no sleep

[Swampghost]

My kids are long gone, also raised so that they knew how to use one. Also not to touch one when they were smaller.

Some are hidden throughout the house and some are VERY close to my usual places (hands reach). I don't carry, maybe if I lived in a different neighborhood..........

[besafe2]

I do not have any hidden guns around the house. My weapon is where I can obtain it very quickly along with my Surefire 6P for night use.

[BillCA]

WBW,

Ask yourself - if you and your spouse were downstairs watching a movie when one or two thugs kicked in your front door, could either of you get to your bedside firearm before being overwhelmed?

Does that sound paranoid to you? It's exactly what happens in a "home invasion" situation and it happened to neighbors of a coworker, in a nice neighborhood on a Saturday afternoon!

For theft protection, consider purchasing a locking handgun box and mounting it securely somewhere out of sight. The gun can be locked away when you and your wife leave home and retreived at night.

Likewise, a 2nd firearm can be secured downstairs in a like manner and locked away at bedtime and when you leave home.

Your best protection comes from always having a firearm within easy reach. On your belt if you move about a lot. Or in a desk drawer if you spend lots of time in a home office or study.

As indicated by jroth, you want to add layers to your security. Motion detector lights are a good start. If you have a long private driveway, adding a wireless photoeye alarm will let you know of visitors and one can be used to secure a rear approach in some cases.

Keeping shrubs around windows cut low removes hiding places. Adding crushed rock or "lava rock" creates noise when someone is near a window.

One of the best things to have, if you can, is a good dog who will alert you to someone's presence. Their barking may be enough to make them abort. Small dogs may work, but larger dogs are usually more of a worry for thugs. Sometimes just a sign can help...

But the dog is still a good investment in security and companionship.

I've had 2 Dobermans. Great dogs. Rated 5th smartest dog and it shows.

None of the above is worthwhile if you don't lock doors and have secure windows. Even inexpensive stick-on window/door alarms (see First-Alert brand) suffice to warn you if a door or window is opened beyond a certain amount.

[Keltyke]

First, get a GOOD alarm and use it. You're looking for a motion detector, monitoring, door and window sensors, and a talk-back speaker.

We have CPI. If a door is opened, or the motion detector is tripped, a piercing alarm sounds. A dispatcher comes on the loudspeaker and asks for a name and password. If the answer isn't correct, the police are sent immediately. There is a panic button on the keypad that dispatches someone immediately.

A loud dog helps, too. Not necessarily a big, trained attack dobie, but anything that barks - a lot and loud.


Guns. Yes, as your last line of defense. Remember, you can NOT shoot in defense of property only. Keep a gun on each floor - within easy reach from most points on the floor. Be willing to use it if necessary.

NEVER go hunting a strange noise. If it sounds strange enough, call the cops and bunker down with your family. Make the intruder come to you where you can shoot in ambush from a protected defense position. Bloodthirsty? Maybe, but your sole job is to stay alive and keep your family alive.

Will you ever need these precautions? Most probably not. BUT - if you DO need them, you'll REALLY need them.

[alloy]

"Exactly what is on your mind?"

[Dwight55]

wbw, several years ago, a story came out of I think Florida, . . . young guy with a couple kids got his CHL, . . . and at the urging of his like minded friends, he began carrying 24/7.

One Saturday, only a few weeks later, two goons kicked in his basement door while he and his two little girls were in the family room watching cartoons. He rolled off the couch, pulled his Bersa .380, and when the first guy came around the corner with an AK look alike, . . . he dropped him. The second guy came in to see what was happening and got a couple rounds too.

It seems the two bg's had a beef with a local drug dealer, . . . but got the addresses mixed up.

Where do you suppose it would have gone had he not been armed?????

No, sitting at my computer this morning, my 1911 is not on my hip. But it is just a few feet from me, . . . will go in its holster before I leave to go outside to my wood shop, . . . and will go with me.

I have lights, alarms, and a very light sleeping wife to alert me ahead of time (as well as a 600 foot open drive way in front of the house) and, yes, I keep a handgun "near" at all times.

Honestly speaking, . . . in all probability of percentages, . . . you may never need it, . . . but if you do, . . . and you don't have it, . . . how many times for the rest of your life will you beat yourself up???

May God bless,
Dwight

[grymster2007]

I've had 2 Dobermans. Great dogs. Rated 5th smartest dog and it shows.

I had a German Shepard (rated third smartest and it showed). But I once had a Doberman/Shepard mix and discovered that the average of 3 and 5 is something like 20.

[Creature]

Home invasions have become what seem to be monthly (or less) occurrences here in the region where I live. Some have ended VERY badly...none have ended well. So, I carry whether I am in my house or out in public. Only the setting dictates my carry weapon:

My "lounging gun" is a 2" pinned barrel S&W Model 36. My CCW is a Sig Sauer P6. My wife, who will not carry, prefers that we keep a G22 within easy reach. My home is a rather compact rancher. We have placed that G22 in a central location and is less than a dozen steps from anywhere in my home.

We keep a dog who is too old to be very menacing anymore...but she is still very territorial and loud at the slightest noise or provocation. My home is also posted with a "NO SOLICITING" notice...so all knocks at the front door are treated with heightened suspicion.

[jbrown50]

Layered security is a good start. We have motion lights, dog and alarm. We have no children.

A Kahr PM9 is always in a pocket holster in my pants whether those pants are on me or folded behind my nightstand. Everything just gets switched over to a fresh pair of pants when I change. I don't like the possibility of having to fumble with stuff in case of an emergency (fire, burglary, etc.).

The PM9 is so light and stealthy that there's no excuse not to always have it close at hand especially when the shotgun is in the safe. Any small gun such as a S&W j-frame, Kel-tec P3AT, Ruger LCP, etc. would present the same low level of effort.

I know.....some people think that carrying a gun all of the time is paranoia, that is until the rare instance of them being burglarized, robbed, carjacked or chased by a feral dog becomes reality.

[geologist]

These two watch over us and I watch over them with a 12ga and a GLOCK17.