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Keep a flashlight by your gun. Always identify the suspect before pointing a weapon at them. If you want a inexpensive but VERY bright and good quality flashlight get a Mag lite xl50, has high, low, and strobe settings (strobe is awesome) and uses LED. It's only $25 at walmart and is brighter than any light I have ever owned.
The majority of other posters seem to think this was OK. I don't.
I think you need to seriously reconsider what you are about. There is no excuse for pointing a gun at a person who comes home like this regularly.
I agree with atctimmy
http://static.fjcdn.com/comments/I+a...00aac48be0.jpg
https://www.dropcam.com/
For $150, you can get a dropcam and have the video linked to your Iphone or Android device. This would give me peace of mind knowing who it was walking through the front door at night.
I agree with Timmy. Your tactical prep sucks. Get it right, before someone gets hurt.Quote:
Originally Posted by atctimmy
don't point your gun at anything you aren't willing to destroy....simple as that....identify your target
First, I think having a loaded, unlocked gun is dumb for this reason. You can't key a combination without having some cognitive skills, but there are a dozen people who have shot someone while asleep. I wouldn't go so far as to have it on the other side of the room, but for gods sake keep it locked, especially with a kid. Second, if I had a kid and I thought someone was breaking in, I'd wake up my girlfriend so she could grab the kid and dial 911. So, as soon as I turned over and she was gone I would know something was amiss. Third, as another poster pointed out, if I saw a shadowy figure I'd point a strobe light before I pointed a gun.
Thank god this didn't turn out badly, now take it as a wake up call and fix your mindset and preparations so it never happens again.
I'm glad everyone is safe. What's done is done, just learn from it.
I met my then girlfriend (now wife) with a gun in hand at the door once. We weren't living together, but she had a key. She lived an hour or so north and was going to go spend the day with her dad south of me so she was just going to drop her car off at my house and then have him drop her off later for the rest of the weekend.
What I didn't know was that she was going to drop the car off at 4-5 am and come in to say "Hi". The dog barking woke me up and she must have fumbled around with her key in the lock for 2 minutes before she opened the door. I just stood at the top of the stairs with the gun behind my back until I knew what was going on.
She never saw it until she came up to give me a hug.
"Uh, didn't expect you this early, Honey!"
Timmy is a little brash in the way he states it but he is essentially correct. For all the talk of night lights, weapon lites, cameras and routines between you and your lady, the fundamental rule is never point a gun at something you are not willing to destroy. That means identify target first and then point gun. Most of us have made stupid mistakes with guns and those who were lucky enough not to negligently shoot someone or something that first time and had their heads screwed on straight learned from their mistakes. I've made one of them myself and learned from it.
Has anyone mentioned using a cell phone?
My wife works nights 3mo every year. She knows to call me if she is to be returning home in the middle of the night. She does the same thing during the day as well. But, it's especially important she do it at night because my dogs are sleeping with my kids & may not alert to her coming home.
The truth is;
Some people are just to jumpy and should take extra precautions with their SD/HD firearms.
(Not bashing you OP, just a word of caution.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by RayBar
^^^THIS sounds like ^^^^^^^
A pretty good game plan.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MadMac
^^^THIS sounds like a prety good plan as well,^^^^^^
Up till the rare occurance she is coming through the door, gets jumped by a thug, and yells that out as the BG's bull rush the door.
Plan still can work though,,,,
I would say with a 1 year old, you will soon need to secure your gun anyway. Consider a quick access safe (Gunvault, etc...) that will keep the kids' hands off, and force the extra thought and cohearence to open it. That will help you wake up be better to evaluate a little more while getting the gun.
Yep.Quote:
Originally Posted by atctimmy
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
Having a gun in hand is MUCH different than having a gun pointed at someone :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Dvorak
1) No it's not stupid to have a loaded weapon readily available at the bedside. A late-night home invasion can result in BG's in your room within seconds. The GF and I have GunVaults on either side of our bed and at night they are OPEN.
2) Situational awareness can not be put on hold just because you're at home and in bed. KNOW where your family members are.
3) Communication is a key component of safe home defense. The GF and I have keywords. One of us enters the house while the other may me occupied in another part of the house, we have a "safe" keyword that we shout as we enter... we also have a "duress" keyword that alerts the other that there is cause for concern.