Home Defense... My thoughts... Very Long

[CZShooter]

cz,I'm thinking of setting up a safe room do you have any "do or don'ts" ?

Shooter32, I am no expert on the subject, as I just learned about them myself when I took the NRA's Personal Protection Inside the Home class last year. But, I don't mind sharing what little I know...because there are lots of others with more knowledge than I on this forum that will chime in (without making me feel like an idiot). That's why this is such a great place to hang out. 

Your safe room should be centrally located (like a master bedroom) so that you can get your family to it without exposing them to a threat that may be in the other end of the house. For example...my safe room is my bedroom, which is located between the 2 kid's rooms, connected with a short hallway. If someone comes in the front or back door...I can provide cover at the entrance of the hallway while the kids evacuate to the safe room...I can then retreat to the safe room myself. As my safe room is my bedroom (with a walk-in closet), my gun safes are located in the closet.

The safe room should have an escape route (like a window) in case the BG desides to set the house on fire. If you are on a second story...make sure to have a rope ladder. Make sure everyone knows where to go if evacuation is required. As mentioned before...it should have solid doors with a deadbolt.

Here are a few items I keep in the safe room: cell phone - even an old phone, with no service, can still call 911; flashlight w/ spare batteries; first-aid kit - you may have to deal with an injury in these situations; 12 gauge pump shotgun - if a BG is outside you door, and you work the action of a pump shotgun...it's an unmistakable sound that declares your intention to defend your family (and buckshot is not as likely to make it through several walls and over to the neighbor's house); car remote - if your car has an alarm, and you can activate it from the safe room...use it; house key - make sure there's something highly visible on the key ring (I have a flourescent streamer tied on mine) so the police can find it in the dark.

Once you've retreated to the safe room...CALL 911! Stay on the line with them until the situation is over (even if you have to put the phone down). Everything is recorded. Once the police arrive...chuck the house key out the window and tell the 911 operator where the officer can find the key (so they don't have to kick in the door). Do not come out of the safe room until the 911 operator tells you the officer has cleared the house and is outside the door to the safe room...you don't want the officer to mistake you for the BG, and you don't want the BG to get the jump on you (if they're still inside the house).

[Rastus]

Tremendous thread....excellent posts.  Any one or two of these ideas can save lives and endanger BG's.  The "Code Red" annoucement...super info...as simple as it gets it and beyond price...I've never thought of that.  Train, train, train, eh?  JJ...I like the comment about Koresh and Weaver, very insightful.

These scenarios, as I read them are for someone slipping in as in a conventional burglary.

What about a home invasion where they kick in the door and 2 or more BG's stream in shouting & screaming?  My thought on this is I can't wake up, roll over and with any slumbering motor skills at all and get to my gun and be effective.  But, I know I can jump from bed and retreat/advance to a gun stored where I have concealment...a few steps across the room and I'm more awake, have improved motor skills and I'm a moving target with a plan.  From years of sick children, I know I can jump and move and become aware far more quickly than rolling over and fumbling for a gun.  Something about standing and moving happens more quickly than sitting and searching.

My thinking here is that it will occur and the BG's know people have guns by the bed or in a desk of a home office so they will be headed to the bedroom to preclude acquisition of defensive armament.  So, my thought is to not be where they are focused but adjacent so I can defend the family by ambushing them after they enter.  I'm somewhat counting on the BG's to be focused on the bed and the nightstands in their minds.  The way my house is arranged, if the nearest door is breached they'll have to make two right turns as well as traverse a short distance....with their lack of knowledge of the home that should be more than enough time for me to be in the adjacent room.  With all the noise and calamity of them running down the hallway I doubt they would know I'd exited the bedroom unless they actually see me at the bed leaving.

[shooter32]

Shooter32, I am no expert on the subject, as I just learned about them myself when I took the NRA's Personal Protection Inside the Home class last year. But, I don't mind sharing what little I know...because there are lots of others with more knowledge than I on this forum that will chime in (without making me feel like an idiot). That's why this is such a great place to hang out. 

Your safe room should be centrally located (like a master bedroom) so that you can get your family to it without exposing them to a threat that may be in the other end of the house. For example...my safe room is my bedroom, which is located between the 2 kid's rooms, connected with a short hallway. If someone comes in the front or back door...I can provide cover at the entrance of the hallway while the kids evacuate to the safe room...I can then retreat to the safe room myself. As my safe room is my bedroom (with a walk-in closet), my gun safes are located in the closet.

The safe room should have an escape route (like a window) in case the BG desides to set the house on fire. If you are on a second story...make sure to have a rope ladder. Make sure everyone knows where to go if evacuation is required. As mentioned before...it should have solid doors with a deadbolt.

Here are a few items I keep in the safe room: cell phone - even an old phone, with no service, can still call 911; flashlight w/ spare batteries; first-aid kit - you may have to deal with an injury in these situations; 12 gauge pump shotgun - if a BG is outside you door, and you work the action of a pump shotgun...it's an unmistakable sound that declares your intention to defend your family (and buckshot is not as likely to make it through several walls and over to the neighbor's house); car remote - if your car has an alarm, and you can activate it from the safe room...use it; house key - make sure there's something highly visible on the key ring (I have a flourescent streamer tied on mine) so the police can find it in the dark.

Once you've retreated to the safe room...CALL 911! Stay on the line with them until the situation is over (even if you have to put the phone down). Everything is recorded. Once the police arrive...chuck the house key out the window and tell the 911 operator where the officer can find the key (so they don't have to kick in the door). Do not come out of the safe room until the 911 operator tells you the officer has cleared the house and is outside the door to the safe room...you don't want the officer to mistake you for the BG, and you don't want the BG to get the jump on you (if they're still inside the house).

Thanks CZ for the great info..