The first time you hear the snap and crack of a bullet flying overhead in your direction is a moment one truly never forgets. For me, it was a night patrol in the city of Al Kut, Iraq. Serving as a Marine Infantryman with Kilo 3/23, it was my first sense of true combat. The pucker factor was a high 10 and yet, as Marines do, we advanced into the direction of enemy fire.
If the first time you hear the snap and crack of a bullet is in your own home please don't think that you will rise to the occasion. No one does. Rather, they fall to the highest level of their training and preparation. If you do not have a home defense plan that you have practiced prior to the invasion then your family will suffer the consequences.
In this article, I'm going to guide you through the process of devising that plan. Modify it as you will as any plan is better than no plan. However, a good plan will turn the tables on the intruder and it won't take them long to realize that you are the hunter and he is the prey. Let's jump right in.
Why You Need a Home Defense Plan Assessing Your Risks & Understanding Your Goals Creating Your Home Defense Plan Fortifying Your Home Practice Your Plan Legal Considerations and Final TouchesTable of Contents
Why You Need a Home Defense Plan
It is a logical conclusion that the homeowner should own all the advantages when it comes to any home invasion. The burglar doesn't likely know the layout of your home and there is no reason why you should be unable to dictate your will upon him IF you have a plan.
Any well defended Marine position will include sectors of fire, avenues of attack, obstacles to funnel the enemy, and phase lines for different actions to take place. At no point do Marines in a defensive position feel as if they are not on the offense. They are imposing their will upon the enemy and that is the philosophy you should adopt when developing a home defense plan.
Assessing Your Risks & Understanding Your Goals
In the Marine Corps, troop welfare comes secondary to mission accomplishment. In the plan for home defense, that order is reversed. The safety of your family is your primary concern. It is not protecting your stuff as stuff can always be replaced. Your primary goal should be that your family is alive and unharmed when this ordeal is over.
This is an important distinction as if your plan involves spraying 7.62 rounds in a house full of drywall to protect your flat screen TV, your family will pay the price for that ignorance. In creating a plan, the likely location of other family members is paramount to consider. Where do your children sleep? What room is your wife likely to be in when home alone and how far is she from a firearm?
If you have a home security system, will it automatically call 911 or does it require a family member to manually call? If it does call 911, how long will it be before help arrives? It is important to ask all of these questions ahead of time as when the SHTF you're not going to have time to think.
Marines have a plan. Law enforcement has a plan. For goodness sake, even the intruder came into your house with a plan. You should have a plan so as to keep decision making minimal during a home invasion. Any good home defense strategy should place you in a better position than the intruder. A bad plan is better than no plan.
Creating Your Home Defense Plan
It would be too easy to simply say call 911 and retreat to your safe room when someone breaks into your home. The reality is that most families don't have unlimited funds and a Presidential style safe room isn't an option.
We're going to approach this article from the vantage point of a single family dwelling. A couple of family rooms, 3 or 4 bedrooms, and your standard doors and windows. Namely, a plan that any family can work with on any budget.
Choosing Your Gear
First let's talk about the first line of defense in self-defense. Namely, yourself. When the alarm goes off in the middle of the night, how prepared are you to encounter the threat? This is going to boil down to two primary considerations. Those are personal protective equipment and firearms.
Without a doubt, body armor is perhaps the best bang for your buck. When the intruder kicks in your door with a crappy Hi-Point firearm, he's not going to be expecting you to be wearing USA made level 4 body armor. It is lightweight and easy to keep beside your bed and the few seconds it takes to throw on will give you more confidence to implement your plan in a calm and collective manner. You'll also need to think about armor for your family.
The next consideration is what kind of firearm you will use to engage the intruder. This is where far too many lovers of all things tactical go into overkill mode. Again, spraying your home with high velocity rounds isn't always the best idea.
Subsonic ammunition and a short barrel rifle are amazing options for home defense. First, the sound of gunfire is lower allowing you to think clearly. Next, the lower velocity lessens the chance that you'll pierce through multiple walls and enter your child's bedroom. Finally, the shorter rifle is great for close quarters combat, which is what you will be doing inside your home.
Home invaders are not coming in armored personnel carriers and with enough ammunition for a protracted fight. Select the gear you need to ensure your family survives the event. Don't get into Rambo mode and grab the largest caliber around. Any firearm that is easy to maneuver within the house and goes pew, pew, pew as quietly as possible is the best approach to home defense.
Source: MIRA Safety
Creating Tasks and Completing Them
The moment the alert goes off and you realize that an unwanted person is trying to enter your home (perhaps you spot them through the security cameras!), it should initiate a series of pre-made decisions. Who is going to run towards the threat and who is going to call the police?
Depending on the size of your home, your firearm could be too far away. Do you engage the intruder with what's available while your wife retrieves the gun? Do your teenage kids with cell phones know to ask for help while mom and dad face the threat together?
Everyone in the household should have a predefined role, even if that is to simply run into a room and barricade the door. Remember, during a burglary, the bad guy likely doesn't know the layout of your home. While they are assessing where to go next your family should already be on the move and conducting their predefined roles like clockwork. Which brings us to the next point.
Designate a Rally Point
It is essential that your family know where to go while you are attempting to defend your home. You are going to want a rally point inside the house as well as outside the home. It may very well be helpful to have a code word that allows your family to know which rally point to hit.
The key to a strong rally point inside the house is that it also offers the ability to exfiltrate when necessary. Let's say the rally point is a bonus room upstairs where the bad guy would have to move up a narrow stairwell in order to approach the room. It makes it great for defense because it funnels the attacker. However, if there is no alternative exit then you have essentially trapped your family should you fall in the line of duty.
A window in the bonus room with an emergency rope ladder would allow your family to exit the home and move to the outside rally point. This could be a trusted neighbor or if you live in a very rural area, a particular location in the woods with easy markers to find. Again, unless you have unlimited funds to purchase the impenetrable safe room, make sure you have a plan to escape the inside rally point.
Fortifying Your Home
Without a doubt, the best method of home defense is to simply present your home as a harder target than the next guy. Bad guys are rarely looking for a fight and they will gravitate towards the weaker targets. Sucks for the next guy, but just make sure that you are not the next guy. Protecting yourself and your family is your number one priority.
Layer 1: How Safe is Your Home From the Street?
Unless the bad guy is coming for you and your family specifically for some reason, chances are they will be on the hunt or an easy target. A show of strength outside the home can deter the invasion before it ever happens.
Highlight the fact that you have a home security system with signage such as an ADT yard sign. Even if you don't have a security system, advertise like you do have one. Get a free trial and keep the signs and stickers when you cancel if you have to do so.
The key is to think like a bad guy in order to make your home as safe as possible. Look around your home and see if there are easy points of entry that are shielded from street view.
Large shrubbery around entryways and windows might be aesthetically pleasing, but if that's how they can hide and gain access to your home it is a liability. The last thing you want is for a criminal to gain access to your kid's bedroom because you thought the large hedges looked nice.
Again, you don't have to make your home look like Fort Knox. You just have to make it look harder to break into than your neighbors house. Sucks for your neighbor, but your family is your responsibility. Your neighbor's home and loved ones are his.
Remember, while it might be a wise idea to invest in secure doors, you also need to prepare for threats that are a bit more complex than a standard invasion. For instance, what if you’re targeted in a chemical or a biological attack?
To protect yourself, don a mask. MIRA Safety’s CM-7M Military Gask Mask offers maximum CBRN protection, protecting you and your family, while also giving you full visibility without obstructing your vision. In case of any high-level emergency, this will ensure that you and your family are always safe.
Source: MIRA Safety
Layer 2: How Safe Is Your Home From Your Property?
Should you not present yourself a harder target to deter them from the street, make them second guess themselves when they enter your property. Motion activated flood lights are a great way to say "I see you" to a bad guy. Bad guys hate the light and oftentimes, it is enough to send them running.
A set of muddy man's work boots on the porch might not please the neighbors, but if it gives the impression that a working man lives there while it is really a single lady it is worth it. Plaster a big NRA sticker in the window even if you don't own a gun.
Your primary goal is to make sure that the criminals decide not to enter your home so that you do not have to enact your home defense plan. The best way to protect your home is to discourage anyone from attacking it in the first place.
Layer 3: How Safe Is Your Home From the Inside?
Let's say the dirt bag trying to harm your family is not dissuaded from the outside. They are at your door or window and they are prepared to make entry. How easy it is for them to make the breach is essential to ensuring you have enough time to react.
Your average home improvement store will sell doors and windows that are not easy to break. It requires a bit of money, but they exist. If you don't have the money, then you can go low-tech by simply placing a stick in the track of a sliding glass door. Your primary objective is to lengthen the time between when they attempt to make the breach and they actually make entry.
A dog is a great way to slow down the bad guy upon initial entry as well as deter them from actually making the breach. Cats are cute, but as far as home defense goes, they're relatively useless. If your pit bull is giving the guy the business while your family gets to safety, all the veterinarian bills will have been worth it.
Practice Your Plan
If you want to take home defense seriously you will practice your plan. We can't emphasize this enough. Just like we said at the start of the article, you will not rise to the occasion. You will fall to the highest level of your training and preparation. Get in the habit of practicing your plan on regular intervals.
Every member of your family should know and understand their roles. Your home protection plan is yours to own. No one is coming to save the day if you don't practice. Know the plan like the back of your hand and you will survive the day.
Legal Considerations and Final Touches
Finally, let's talk about legal considerations. Proportionality of force is a legal concept that could ruin you if you don't understand it. If some 10-year-old unsupervised kid breaks into your home with a stick looking for bubble gum, you can't fire into him at the cyclic rate. Keep your head about you.
If the bad guy realizes he messed up and is running for the door, please don't empty the magazine in his back. Let him flee. The castle doctrine and stand your ground laws give you a great deal of leeway. However, be smart.
Your family's safety is the priority. We said that from the start and if the threat no longer exists, stand down. Be a warrior poet, not a savage. Developing a plan to defend your home is just common sense. Keep your head about you and we hope this has been helpful. Remember, you need a plan and, most importantly, you need to practice. Godspeed and stay safe.