The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post

Dave R · November 22, 2000, 04:45 PM

My belief--statistically, your risk at home is 1/2 a bell-shaped curve. (Single-tail? Help me out, statisticians). It only takes a little effort to move pretty far down the curve (i.e. remove most of your risk). Its takes a lot of effort to remove the last 5% of total risk. I think reasonable efforts include:

1) Getting a dog. That reduces your risk substantially, right there. Prepared amateurs will case your place, note the dog and look elsewhere. Stupid crooks or druggies may not catch the dog, but probably won't get past the first attempt to open a door/window before the dog scares them away.

2) Improving security of most likely points of access. Removing bushes that provide good hide/access points for BG/s. Installing floodlights with motion detectors in most likely access points. Upgrading locks.

3) Getting a cell phone and keeping it handy, with 1-button access to 911, so if the "cut your lines" you can still communicate.

4) Having a plan. Probably should've put this first. A fire plan, a break-in plan, and a "home invasion" plan. Fire plan probably has more value than break-in plan. If you're in CA, an earthquake plan. In southern coasts, a hurricane plan. In Portland/Seattle, a volcano plan.

5) Keep your CCW weapon on you in the house. I saw a TV special on home invasion. Most folks disarms their alarm system and lock up their firearms at home. Keeping your weapon on you and your alarm system activated seems like a reasonable precaution. Again, the Dog is probably the best first step.

6) This may sound stupid, but let your neighbors know you're a shooter. Show off some good targets or brag about your skeet score. Throw out used targets etc. in the trash. If someone is casing you, they'll likely prefer a non-shooter.

7) Chill out and enjoy life. If you've done some/all of the above, you've removed most of the risk. Odds are the house next door/over the hill will now look like a better target than your home.

I can't get into barbed wire/claymore type living. At some point, that stuff increases legal liability to more than offset the additional security.

IMHO.

November 22, 2000, 04:45 PM	#6
Dave R Senior Member Join Date: January 7, 2000 Location: Idaho Posts: 6,073	Keep it reasonable My belief--statistically, your risk at home is 1/2 a bell-shaped curve. (Single-tail? Help me out, statisticians). It only takes a little effort to move pretty far down the curve (i.e. remove most of your risk). Its takes a lot of effort to remove the last 5% of total risk. I think reasonable efforts include: 1) Getting a dog. That reduces your risk substantially, right there. Prepared amateurs will case your place, note the dog and look elsewhere. Stupid crooks or druggies may not catch the dog, but probably won't get past the first attempt to open a door/window before the dog scares them away. 2) Improving security of most likely points of access. Removing bushes that provide good hide/access points for BG/s. Installing floodlights with motion detectors in most likely access points. Upgrading locks. 3) Getting a cell phone and keeping it handy, with 1-button access to 911, so if the "cut your lines" you can still communicate. 4) Having a plan. Probably should've put this first. A fire plan, a break-in plan, and a "home invasion" plan. Fire plan probably has more value than break-in plan. If you're in CA, an earthquake plan. In southern coasts, a hurricane plan. In Portland/Seattle, a volcano plan. 5) Keep your CCW weapon on you in the house. I saw a TV special on home invasion. Most folks disarms their alarm system and lock up their firearms at home. Keeping your weapon on you and your alarm system activated seems like a reasonable precaution. Again, the Dog is probably the best first step. 6) This may sound stupid, but let your neighbors know you're a shooter. Show off some good targets or brag about your skeet score. Throw out used targets etc. in the trash. If someone is casing you, they'll likely prefer a non-shooter. 7) Chill out and enjoy life. If you've done some/all of the above, you've removed most of the risk. Odds are the house next door/over the hill will now look like a better target than your home. I can't get into barbed wire/claymore type living. At some point, that stuff increases legal liability to more than offset the additional security. IMHO.