Things that go bump in the night

We all have a responsibility to protect our loved ones. With the uncertain economy, record setting joblessness, and violent crime on the rise, it is our due diligence to take every precaution that we can to keep our families safe. This week I will bring up some ideas for you to think about that can keep you safe in the one place we “should” feel safe: our own homes. I am a man, and my home is my castle. Truthfully, it isn’t; my home is a well built dwelling made from standard building materials. My house does not have a moat, it isn’t fortified with twelve foot thick ramparts and it doesn’t have a drawbridge. Luckily we do not live in the middle ages and technology has advanced enough that we do not have to resort to dumping boiling oil onto our would-be intruders.

I have mentioned earlier that we have to take precautions and do everything we can to stay safe in our homes. The easiest thing that we can do when we are at home is to keep your doors locked. This could be enough of a deterrent to thwart an invader. Make sure that you use your dead bolt, and it is a good idea to have back up device to prevent a door breach. They make several different varieties of these items from simple chain latches to the crossbars that you see on the doors in most hotel rooms. Your salesperson at you local hardware store will be able to point you in the right direction.

I highly recommend having a security system installed by professionals and that you use it. Modern security systems do not require you to have a home phone line; they alert their call centers via a dedicated cellular connection. You can set your alarm when you leave the house to protect your valuables and when you are home I advise utilizing their “stay” feature that will sound the alarm and alert proper authorities should a door open, if a fire breaks out, or if a window is broken, yet allows you to walk around your home with no fear of triggering the motion detectors. In my case, I know that it would take a nuclear holocaust to wake me from my sleep, or my home alarm sounding. An early warning such as the security alarms screeching high pitched chaos could be enough to send a thief or worse running into the night, and if it doesn’t it will at least be enough of a warning to jolt me into a more conscious state to take measures into my own hands until the authorities arrive.

I work at one of the largest privately owned retailers of guns in the county and I have noticed that more and more people are becoming first time gun buyers because of the rise in home invasions and they want to be able to protect themselves and their loved ones. I am not a radical gun nut with three months of MRE’s in my basement getting ready for some unforeseen revolution. I am merely an avid hunter and I have a love for shooting sports. If you do not like guns or the ideas of having guns in your home I understand, please take all of the precautions you can to be safe in your home. You have less lethal options; pepper spray, tasers, and stun guns are available to you.  I hope that you are never faced with a scenario where you would need to use a firearm to save your life or the life of a loved one. I hope that I am never faced with that scenario either. However, I would like to believe that the precautions that I have taken, my firearms training, and my equipment would sway the outcome in my favor.

For all of you that are still reading, thank you.  There are many different choices for homeowners to choose from when thinking about what firearms they should use to protect their homes. The best choice for you is what you feel most comfortable with and something that you will be willing to train with. If you do not train, you are as much of a risk to yourself and your loved ones as you are to the person invading your home. Talk to the fine men and women at your local gun store to get a better idea of what is available to you in your area.

If you are currently using a firearm to protect your home, please identify your target. If something goes bump in the night it is probably dark. Get a good flashlight! A flashlight has the ability to not only illuminate what you are looking at but also disorient someone whose vision is accustomed to darkness. If you cannot see who you are pointing your gun at, that is bad. Weapon mounted lights scare me. Think about it; if you are using a light mounted to your gun you will have to point your gun at what ever you want to look at. If you are woke up in the middle of the night and you have to check your house for bad guys, when you go into your child’s room and you want to see if your son or daughter is sleeping safely in their bed, you guessed it, you have to point your gun at your baby. That doesn’t sit well with me.

I am not here to tell you what gun to buy, that you need to buy a gun or to scare you. The truth is that there are bad people out there that will do bad things to get what they want. I want you to have every advantage that you could possibly have, to wake up tomorrow with everybody that you love safe and sound. Be safe and thank you for reading.

Barry