Home defense should not be taken lightly in these uncertain times. To be adequately prepared, you must have a comprehensive home defense plan that includes training, planning, and gear.
In today’s article, we will provide you with the information you need to improve your home and be certain your home defense plan is not faulty.
Recommendations to improve your home defense plan
1. Training
Consider having to face the following scenario. A man breaks into your home, holding a handgun and shaking like a leaf; his words and actions are irrational. Or this, a man with a black powder rifle breaks into your home, and he acts and looks like he’s about to kill you.
Of course, neither scenario is likely, but in either case, you must be mentally and physically prepared to deal with the situation. Training will boost our confidence level, and it will also teach us a set of skills that we can use in the above-mentioned scenarios.
Training will include those skills in our very core so that if we can control our emotions, we will be able to combine our training and practice and be effective at defending ourselves.
In most cases, a show of force (such as wielding a firearm) is sufficient to end the conflict and send an intruder fleeing, but we don’t want to rely solely on that. It’s best to ensure that we can back up our actions if necessary.
A good training course and regular practice at the local range, in addition to the investment in a firearm and ammunition, would be well worth it.
2. Attitude
Your attitude says a lot about you, regardless of where you are. The way you talk and act creates a certain image of your persona, and it lets others know the type of person you are.
“There are three types of people in this world: sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs. Some people prefer to believe that evil doesn’t exist in the world, and if it ever darkened their doorstep, they wouldn’t know how to protect themselves. Those are the sheep.”
This quote from the movie American Sniper holds a lot of truth, and a lot of people out there live in a bubble. They believe that they are safe from the evil in this world and that nothing bad will happen to them…until it does.
You should never look like a victim, and you need to learn how to act in certain scenarios and environments. Watch your body language because there are certain subtle nonverbal cues that will make you seem weak. Actions that lack organized movement and flowing motion signal fear or physical vulnerability.
Be alert and look at your surroundings no matter where you are because not paying attention can get you killed.
In case of a home invasion, your actions should be decisive, and you need to be in control. You know the layout of your home, and you need to use it to your advantage. If you confront a threat, do so with no hesitation if you believe your life is in danger.
If you manage to apprehend the intruder or hold them at gunpoint, you should always be in control of the situation since being hesitant leads to mistakes. An attacker, even a captured one, will not hesitate to make a move against you if they notice weakness and insecurity.
3. The home defense plan itself
A home invasion can involve a variety of scenarios, including an invasion that can occur during the day, at night while the family is watching TV, or late at night when everyone is asleep.
The first thing to do in case of a home invasion is to secure your family. Choose a location in the house where all family members will congregate.
I understand that in some cases, this may not be possible, but we must have a working goal. The purpose of having a meeting place is to get our family out of harm’s way.
Following that, we know that any actions we take against the intruders are only putting the intruders at risk, and our family members will be safe.
In the event of a late-night break-in, for example, getting all members to the master bedroom gives us a number of options.
We could all gather and barricade ourselves inside the room. Next, if we choose to confront the intruders, we know that a stray bullet will not hit a family member because we know where they are.
Most importantly, we’ll know it’s an intruder because everyone is present, and we’re not about to shoot your teenager for sneaking into the house after hours.
4. Your home, your kingdom
You are more familiar with the layout of your home than the intruder. So, before anything happens, examine the points of entry to your home and locate the best place to stand that provides you with cover and a clear line of sight to those points.
When making your home defense plan, you need to identify all the weak and strong points in your home. You need to do so not only because you could use these points to your advantage but also because the intruder can do the same.
Walk around the house in the dark to get used to walking in the dark. You may recognize your house in the light, but some people never walk around in the dark. It’s an excellent practice.
Take note of the minor details. If you step just right of the fridge in my house, the air duct beneath the floor makes a noise. You now know where the intruder is if you know where your family is and hear that familiar noise.
5. The gear
Let’s move on to firearm options. The Remington 870 is a tried-and-true classic and is one of my options for home defense because it is a basic, solid, and dependable pump-action shotgun.
It is available in 12 and 20 gauge, giving us the flexibility to have a firearm that is suitable for a variety of people in the house of varying strengths and sizes. Choose the gauge that best suits your needs.
In addition, the 870 can be outfitted with a variety of aftermarket accessories to make it an excellent home defense weapon. I upgraded my 870 with a number of ATI aftermarket parts that allow for a light, ammo storage, and adjustability.
People believe that using a shotgun gives them a better chance of hitting their intended target. I can tell you that the pattern doesn’t disperse much at 21 feet, so you’ll still need to practice.
I recommend using #4 shot because it has good dispersal and is less likely to exit your house and travel to your neighbors.
The Benelli Super Nova (SBR) comes in second on my home defense plan gear list. The model I own has a 14-inch barrel and a collapsible stock. The platform is completely adjustable to fit the length of the pull and makes for a compact system to move around your house with.
It comes in 12- and 20-gauge sizes and digests anything you can throw at it. It has the same pump action as the 870. Pump actions are ideal for these situations because you have more control over your rate of fire.
With a semi-automatic, all you have to do is pull the trigger, and you’ll be emptying your firearm in no time. With a pump action, there’s a little more to focus on, which can be advantageous because it forces you to make your shots count in a stressful situation.
The Beretta CX4 is my third option. The CX4 is a pistol caliber carbine that is available in .40S&W, 9×19 Parabellum, and 9×21 IWI. This firearm has the same magazines as the Beretta 90 series pistols and the PX4, and that, in my opinion, is an added bonus.
You won’t have to worry about having different magazines for your rifle and pistol when defending your home. In the case of a family, one parent could stay back with the children while the other secured a perimeter, and you wouldn’t have to worry about magazines.
A carbine format that uses pistol ammo reduces penetration while still providing the stability of a large shoulder weapon. Beretta’s CX4 platform can accommodate accessories such as a light, vertical grips, and a laser sight.
The carbine also has a picatinny rail for mounting your favorite red dot for close-range shooting. The CX4 has a magazine capacity of 10 for the.40 S&W and 10 or 15 for the other calibers.
The fourth option is any dependable 9mm pistol you can get. If the pistol is for home defense, your life depends on it, so invest wisely.
I recommend the Glock 19, FMK9C1, Springfield XD 4-inch Compact Service model, and Smith and Wesson M&P 9mm (4.25-inch barrel). All of these are reliable 9mm weapons. They’re not too big, allowing smaller hands to gain control.
However, you must spend some time testing various models and selecting the one that best suits you. If shooting feels good, you’ll do it more often and get the practice you’ll need if something goes wrong.
The 9mm is an excellent combination of stopping power and penetration. With the right ammunition, you can rest assured that the fight will take place inside your home.
Finally, a good revolver closes the list. I prefer revolvers chambered in.357 Magnum and would use 38 special ammunition. That way, I get a two-in-one firearm, leaving the.357 Magnum for other activities like woods trekking or hunting.
If you were dealing with someone who needed a smaller frame to hold the firearm better, you could opt for a.38 Special revolver.
Revolvers are excellent firearms for long-term storage because they can be covered in dust and clogged with pocket lint and still function.
There are several revolver manufacturers I would recommend, the best of which is Smith and Wesson, which has long been known for dependability and craftsmanship, so you can’t go wrong if you pick one of their products.
I’d also consider the Chiappa Rhino because of its design. The Rhino has a distinct feature in that the barrel is fired from the bottom position. As a result, instead of the barrel being on top and the traditional counterweight being below, the order is reversed.
Reversing the barrel position also lowers the muzzle to a lower level closer to the pistol’s center axis, reducing muzzle rise. Controlled muzzle rise allows you to quickly return to target and line up your next shot.
6. Ammunition
Ammunition requirements can vary depending on the situation. Do you live in a densely packed subdivision or an apartment building?
Then you should consider frangible ammunition, which reduces the likelihood that your shot will penetrate the walls of your home and injure an innocent bystander.
Even hollow-point ammunition can penetrate more than people expect, but if you believe you have a good, safe perimeter around your house, the stopping power of hollow-point ammunition can be advantageous.
Full metal jacket ammunition is the least expensive to shoot and performs well in a firearm, but the trade-off is that it can easily penetrate interior walls and even exit your home, especially if you use a rifle caliber.
7. Reloading drills and skills
Reloading is a skill that everyone should learn, so incorporate it into your drills. You will notice that among the firearms mentioned here, a couple of different methods of reloading must be mastered.
The use of magazines in semiautomatics simplifies reloading and has a low learning curve. The speed loaders are a little more difficult to master with revolvers (at least for some). After a lot of practice, you’ll get the hang of it.
The shotgun is the easiest of the group to practice “rolling” reloading: like the revolver and pistols, you can reload the firearm with almost no downtime if you keep feeding it.
A shotgun can be fed through the bottom tube, so you can literally top off your magazine between shots, with the only downtime being while inserting the shell. The magazine must be dropped, or the cylinder must be opened with the other two.
When compared to large caliber pistols that take about the same number of rounds as a shotgun with an extended magazine, the ability to do a rolling reload gives the shotgun a significant advantage in a home defense situation.
Concluding
These key elements are important if you want to make a proper home defense plan. You should incorporate all of these elements in your home of defense plan because you never know when evil may knock at your door.
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