Home Security On my mind again

[pennwalk]

According to our local Police a FBI team was in town yesterday including a profiler. So it isn't just on TV there really is such a thing. The local Police are interviewing people at the High School. As you can imagine that is causing quite a stir. They are building a victimology profile on the son.

We have had painters working on the outside for the last 10 days. For some reason they removed the triple track storm windows so we have had one less layer if screen and glass. I will be glad to be done with that if for no other reason than it is a pain to have painters at the window of what ever room I want to use. As a side note they fixed a cracked window pane and had to break the glass and I was surprised that it didn't make as much of a racket as I thought. We were assuming that we would hear it if someone broke a window at night. We are still leaving outside lights on at night but I think we need to automate the system.

My wife really would like things to go back to the way things were in the good old days. We both grew up on homes that were never locked. Looks like we are living in a new world and it ain't that great.

I noticed Invisible fence working on a house on the other side of the street. There are little orange flags all around the perimeter so it looks like there is a dog in their future.

Chris

 

[skent]

A favorite of mine is the Mossberg 500, comes in as a very reliable ane inexpensive firearm.

If you have children, get them involved in skeet shooting. A nice afternoon, a few boxes of ammo, and a box of clay birds. It really helped my daughters get familar with the shotgun.

From left to right, Alex with the 12 Ga 870, Sophie with the Remington 1100 20 Ga, Samm with the High Standard 12 Ga Pump Action, and Nina with the Mossberg 500 12 Ga. (Alex is the sharp shooter, having dropped back to using a Mossberg 500 .410 gage to make it more of a challange.)

 

[pennwalk]

Steve,
That is a nice looking group of girls. Are they all yours. It made me smile just to see their picture. My 2 girls are playing soccer this afternoon. District semifinal. I'm a little nervous and I'm not even playing

Chris

 

[MossRoad]

A favorite of mine is the Mossberg 500, comes in as a very reliable ane inexpensive firearm.

If you have children, get them involved in skeet shooting. A nice afternoon, a few boxes of ammo, and a box of clay birds. It really helped my daughters get familar with the shotgun.

From left to right, Alex with the 12 Ga 870, Sophie with the Remington 1100 20 Ga, Samm with the High Standard 12 Ga Pump Action, and Nina with the Mossberg 500 12 Ga. (Alex is the sharp shooter, having dropped back to using a Mossberg 500 .410 gage to make it more of a challange.)

YIKES! Usually its the daddy with the shotgun chasing the boys away.

(Nice to see kids involved in the shooting sports. Good job! )

 

[RoyJackson]

A favorite of mine is the Mossberg 500, comes in as a very reliable ane inexpensive firearm.

If you have children, get them involved in skeet shooting. A nice afternoon, a few boxes of ammo, and a box of clay birds. It really helped my daughters get familar with the shotgun.

From left to right, Alex with the 12 Ga 870, Sophie with the Remington 1100 20 Ga, Samm with the High Standard 12 Ga Pump Action, and Nina with the Mossberg 500 12 Ga. (Alex is the sharp shooter, having dropped back to using a Mossberg 500 .410 gage to make it more of a challange.)

Cool pic, Skent...nice to see the kids involved with shooting. Can any of 'em outshoot you?

 

[pennwalk]

I talked to the alarm guy today would you be surprised to hear that they are very busy?

Some points of interest.

He said that about 80% of break ins come through a door.
A conventional door is childs play to get through and it wouldn't necessarily make much noise.
The guy I talked to didn't like outside equipment which he thought gives too many false alarms and breaks down in the elements and is subject to tampering by bad guys I had thought the ideal thing would be to catch bad guys while they were in the yard.
He was doubtful of the value of outside lighting.
I guess I wasn't too surprised to learn that the existing system is totally obsolete and would need to be replaced except possibly the wires.
He didn't think too much of surveillance cameras but of course he would be happy to install them if thats what I really want.
He also thought there was too great a chance of most people shooting somebody they didn't intend to so he wasn't a big fan of guns.

Looks like everybody has their own ideas about how to best defend the home.

Chris

 

[dmccarty]

Pennwalk,

I'm glad to see that you are taking this seriously. I would take what the alarm guy says/thinks with a big block of salt. Lights should be effective. What thief/thug wants to be seen breaking into a house? It increases the thugs chance of getting caught. If your house has lights on and the neighbors does not, who do you think the thug will target?

Alarm Guy does not like lights because they are cheap, effective and cost him a sale.

Regarding the flash and bang of the firearm if you use it. You most likely won't even notice the noise. Shooting under a roof REALLY amplifies the noise. But if you are in a self defense situation your blood pressure, adrenaln, and focus will be at such a level that you very likely will not even hear the weapon go off. The flash is not a big deal. Its not going to cause you to loose your night vision. Shooting in pitch dark is often done by LEOs as part of their firearm qualifications. The first flash is used to adjust the aim for the second round. Not a big deal.

Shotguns are a real good defense weapon. A pump is very reliable even when not kept clean. The problem with them is that they are somewhat complicated to use. On an 870, which if I bought a pump shotgun it would be an 870, you have a safety, the slide and the slide release. Its not hard operate but I have seen LEOs who have been shooting 870's for decades mess it up. Just a bit of stress can cause a brain malfunction and the gun don't go boom. But all it takes is some a few boxes of ammo to get used to the manual of arms. The biggest DUH with an 870 is if you try to load the weapon via the chamber as a combat reload. You can get the weapon super jamed and at that point in a firefight you have a major problem since the gun has to be broken down to clear the problem. So just practice with the thing. And I doubt you will need to do combat reloads.

If four rounds don't get it done.... Run.

Pepper spray has been mentioned. Pepper or any other spray is problematic. Like anything else it has its pro and cons. A spray of 5-6% is adequate. Anything more does not really do much but prolong the pain. 5-6% will cause a great deal of pain for about an hour. Its not fun. But pepper may or may not stop an attacker. I have known people to fight and fight and fight with almost entire cans used on them. Even after getting whacked with maglights they kept going until eventually just getting worn out.

With spray's YOU the user are also very likely to get some. So be prepared for that. Pepper in the eyes will shut the eyes. Not much that can be done to stop the eyes closing. That makes an attack harder but does not always stop the attack. The spray will cause the sprayed person to have difficuliting breathing if the stuff gets into their throat/lungs. Again that might not stop them but it makes it harder if they keep on attacking.

Spray comes in a stream and fog application. The stream allows more standoff space but you have to be more accurate in aiming. Fogging does not require the accuracy but the bad guy is closer which is badness and you are more likely to get some pepper as well.

Pepper also has two type of carriers, plain old water and alchohol. The problem is that Capsacium is an oil. Oil and water don't mix so to get proper application you the can has to be shaken which takes time. The alchohol carrier does not have this problem. The down side with alchohol?

Years and years ago when pepper first came out the NYPD had a barricaded mental suspect in a bathroom. He would not come out. They tossed in pepper spray munitions. He did not come out. They tossed in pepper spray munitions. He did not come out. Repeat this loop a few more times and they decided to go get him so they tossed in a flash bang. Well he flashed since he was covered in the spray/alchohol. So your attacker has a lit cigerette...... Be careful.

I have given out cans of pepper spray to women friends for years so dont think I'm against it. Just know the pros and cons. Also spray the spray every few months and make sure it still works.

Later,
Dan

 

[RoyJackson]

Nice post, Dan!

I definitely agree with your comments concern using a pump action shottie. I can't count the number of times I racked one in the breech, pulled the trigger and...

Which is why I leave the breech empty and the safety off. In the case of an emergency, I'd just pump and go.
No kids here...if there were, I'd probably use a different method of stashing the shottie.

 

[WhyNot]

Nice post, Dan!

I definitely agree with your comments concern using a pump action shottie. I can't count the number of times I racked one in the breech, pulled the trigger and...

Which is why I leave the breech empty and the safety off. In the case of an emergency, I'd just pump and go.
No kids here...if there were, I'd probably use a different method of stashing the shottie.

Well as of right now and for the first time ever my 870 is laying under my bed ready to go. Seems as though a man was shot and killed in his home about 3/4 of a mile from here (S.J.) around 9 pm. According to the news two suspects entered this man's home and shot him in the head. More than likely, this was not some random crime but, it's still to close to home. Now no to go off on guns but, I realized that I have some fairly old shells(3-4 years). Are they any good and if not, how do I get rid of them?
Ok pennwalk you can have your thread back now

 

[RoyJackson]

Well as of right now and for the first time ever my 870 is laying under my bed ready to go. Seems as though a man was shot and killed in his home about 3/4 of a mile from here (S.J.) around 9 pm. According to the news two suspects entered this man's home and shot him in the head. More than likely, this was not some random crime but, it's still to close to home. Now no to go off on guns but, I realized that I have some fairly old shells(3-4 years). Are they any good and if not, how do I get rid of them?

By S.J., I guess you mean South Jersey? I'd guess a gang related hit there...

As far as the shells, they're probably still good. I'd shoot a couple off.
However, I'd like fresh ammo for a self defense gun, so run down your local Walmart and pick up a box or two of some low recoil 00 buck ( bought Federal...just what was available)