Home defense, what do u expect most likely scenario to be?

[bbbass]

I live in a small town on the outskirts of a small town. It is quiet here. Just the occasional car break in. I've accidentally left the overhead garage door open overnight and not had a theft tho.

We now have had a few home invasion burglaries in the valley towns, and yes, they involved known drug houses. We also had our first driveby... WTF?

Since we are retired and almost always home, unless at the doc, the biggest risks are from mentally ill or drunk trying to enter, or from random schits that just want our stuff or looking to do harm. Therefore, we have no yard signs, including the "Protected by S&W" which IMO advertises that there are guns to steal. We also have all doorways and yard lit at night (pizzes the neighbors off), and since Covid we started locking our doors during the day as well. We have a dog that is going deaf, so we might have to get Dog 2.0. *

If we need to for HD, we will utilize one of the 537.5 firearms that we keep handy, loaded, and available. Revolver, semi-auto pistols, AR pistol, shotguns. "Come on down!!"

* My stepdaughter that works for Idaho Parole Board just bought a rural property. She is often alone there, since her mate works the slope, and wanted a guard dog. Bought a German Shepard pup. Shoulda got a Belgian, that GS, 9 mos old now, is as big as a Great Dane but a total baby and coward, not even sure she would bark!!

 

[bbbass]

There is some logic to this. I've told people before, "Just put some multi-colored Big Wheels toys out front, maybe one of the cheapie plastic kids climbing structures." It says you have kids, therefore probably no money or valuables.

Well, this lets juvies know that you have Xbox, Playstation, etc, which are both highly desired and highly merchantable. So I wouldn't say it indicates you have nothing valuable, and many burglaries are done by miscreant younguns...

 

[gmerkt]

Well, this lets juvies know that you have Xbox, Playstation, etc, which are both highly desired and highly merchantable. So I wouldn't say it indicates you have nothing valuable, and many burglaries are done by miscreant younguns...

Good point. My advice was given years ago before electronics took over kids' minds.

 

[SUPER X]

My doors are locked 24 /7 now even if im mowing the lawn .They would be wide open 20 years ago . Unfortunately Those days are over .Older people are Targets for cowardly young wannabe Thugs. With less police They will be emboldened .

 

[revjen45]

"because of your Glock sticker on your car."

"Protected by Smith & Wesson" (and other such tripe) = "Something within worth stealing."
I would much much prefer to have the fact that I am armed come as a complete surprise.

 

[jbett98]

An elderly neighbor down the street has a lot of medical issues and when he didn't take his garbage and recycle bins from the curb on Friday which is the pick up day, so on Sunday morning two thieves thought he was away and decided to break into his house through the garage window and then take a sledge hammer to his locked kitchen door.
My neighbor was sitting on the toilet when he heard a couple of loud booms. He thought some tree limbs were hitting his roof or something like that.
He hurriedly finished his business and when he stepped out into his hallway, he ran into the two thieves coming towards the master bedroom.
He yelled out in surprise and the front thief yelled "He's home, get out of here".
They ran out and took off in their car down his side yard gravel driveway so fast they threw gravel up the side of his house.
He had been in the hospital the week before and had locked up his home defense pistols in a safe and had forgot to bring them back out.
He called 911 and the operator asked him if anyone was injured, after he said there were no injuries, she told them they were to busy to respond and he should file a report online.

 

[Camelfilter]

An elderly neighbor down the street has a lot of medical issues and when he didn't take his garbage and recycle bins from the curb on Friday which is the pick up day, so on Sunday morning two thieves thought he was away and decided to break into his house through the garage window and then take a sledge hammer to his locked kitchen door.
My neighbor was sitting on the toilet when he heard a couple of loud booms. He thought some tree limbs were hitting his roof or something like that.
He hurriedly finished his business and when he stepped out into his hallway, he ran into the two thieves coming towards the master bedroom.
He yelled out in surprise and the front thief yelled "He's home, get out of here".
They ran out and took off in their car down his side yard gravel driveway so fast they threw gravel up the side of his house.
He had been in the hospital the week before and had locked up his home defense pistols in a safe and had forgot to bring them back out.
He called 911 and the operator asked him if anyone was injured, after he said there were no injuries, she told them they were to busy to respond and he should file a report online.

Yup. Non moving trash / recycle bins, stacked up newspapers, non changed parked cars etc all things dirtbags look for...

Glad he didn't get hurt, plus sounds like no loss either. Hopefully lesson learned too...

 

[jbett98]

Other then his broken garage window and smashed kitchen door frame.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

An elderly neighbor down the street has a lot of medical issues and when he didn't take his garbage and recycle bins from the curb on Friday which is the pick up day, so on Sunday morning two thieves thought he was away and decided to break into his house through the garage window and then take a sledge hammer to his locked kitchen door.
My neighbor was sitting on the toilet when he heard a couple of loud booms. He thought some tree limbs were hitting his roof or something like that.
He hurriedly finished his business and when he stepped out into his hallway, he ran into the two thieves coming towards the master bedroom.
He yelled out in surprise and the front thief yelled "He's home, get out of here".
They ran out and took off in their car down his side yard gravel driveway so fast they threw gravel up the side of his house.
He had been in the hospital the week before and had locked up his home defense pistols in a safe and had forgot to bring them back out.
He called 911 and the operator asked him if anyone was injured, after he said there were no injuries, she told them they were to busy to respond and he should file a report online.

Wow that's scary. If the scums were high, mentally ill, or had a violent streak that could have ended differently.

One theme I keep hearing over and over is the time for law enforcement to respond. One event covered by the media a lot here was a man who was in some type of armed conflict (can't remember details) and he waited 1.5 hours for police to arrive. And for every one of those that makes the news I would guess there are probably 50 or more that don't. Myself I called 911 twice last year and after waiting 40 minutes I just gave up. They are so overwhelmed that to get police attention it has to be an armed conflict and there has to be multiple poeple calling 911 (as in more than three based in what I've heard monitoring local police radio before it was encrypted earlier this year). A third 911 call I made last year the police did arrive within 10 min but that was after me and some others cornered the armed (Knife) carjacker in a backyard and multiple poeple (as in 5 or more I would guess) called 911. 911 is good for documentation purposes but can't be depended on at all for action imo (at least around Portland).

 

[WillametteWill]

He called 911 and the operator asked him if anyone was injured, after he said there were no injuries, she told them they were to busy to respond and he should file a report online.

This is unacceptable. You have physical evidence that needs to be collected. That is the primary way burglars are caught...except in jurisdictions like this where they are never caught until a homeowner shoots one. Highly recommend he asks city council members about this if it is in a city or go to THE Sheriff and ask way his department can't function (the answer will be budget of course). Law enforcement is useless if they cannot perform their basic job functions.

As a retired LEO this frustrates me to no end. You have a person who just confronted someone IN THEIR HOME, and you are too busy to send an officer. I understand in rural areas it may take a while, but at least eventually have someone check in with them, collect the evidence and take a report.

 

[jbett98]

The City of Fairview where I live disbanded the police department last year and turned law enforcement over to the Multnomah County Sheriff's office.
They're located in Troutdale, which is a couple of miles away, instead of 10 blocks away like the city police use to be.
The tax payers here just paid off the bond measure that built a new city hall and police station, now the new cop shop is empty.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

The City of Fairview where I live disbanded the police department last year and turned law enforcement over to the Multnomah County Sheriff's office.
They're located in Troutdale, which is a couple of miles away, instead of 10 blocks away like the city police use to be.
The tax payers here just paid off the bond measure that built a new city hall and police station, now the new cop shop is empty.

Unbelievable. I feel ur pain, trust me. So funny how we have made so much progress in creating nice communities to live since the days of the pioneers (not that long ago really) and in such a short time it can all go to He**.

 

[The Heretic]

I may be naive, and I know anything is possible, including break-in/invasions in my neighborhood, but I have never heard of one happening on my private road, from the time these houses were built (late 90s) until now. The most I have heard of is a peeping Tom and they think it was a local who moved away shortly after he was seen (could not identify him though) and the neighbors armed themselves and went looking for the guy.

The only other crime I have seen is somebody dumped a trash bag on a neighbor's property.

At least two neighbor's have Ring cams recording everybody coming and going on our private road - at least that pass their houses (you have to in order to get to most of the houses) and they have signs stating such. I need to put my trail cams back up.

I think the biggest risk was when we had the fires up here and everybody had to evac. There were roadblocks manned by deputies at each end of the public road, so I am guessing that probably was a deterrent to looters. Also, a couple of us were up here off and on during the fire fighting - some hiked in by a trail thru the woods. Otherwise, we keep an eye out for each other.

Now with CV-19, a LOT more people are home round the clock all week long.

So not too worried about it, but I have a shotgun handy

 

[Tony617]

This is a scary scenario. One that would be difficult to defend.

When I go to the range I always practice my head shots with my pistol and my AR because of this situation where armed thugs wearing body armor.

 

[Camelfilter]

When I go to the range I always practice my head shots with my pistol and my AR because of this situation where armed thugs wearing body armor.

Include drills which can simulate acquiring & firing on moving targets. Remember in a real world DGU the BG will almost certainly not be stationary. Most likely neither would you.

Simplest for us are drills on 3 stationary targets a meter or so apart. The trick to getting proficient is to have all shots placed, and a similar "smooth" time apart so as not to sound as though gapped.

The thought being training to acquire & fire on target just far enough apart to simulate movement / multiple aggressors.

All kinds of adjustments can be made to that practice, including long gun use / transition to handgun. Handgun only with magazine swap. One type on pelvic girdle zone, the other on head, torso etc etc.

Also handy is a steel uprite flipper tree. However less likely folks would have them available...

 

[Aero Denezol]

Include drills which can simulate acquiring & firing on moving targets. Remember in a real world DGU the BG will almost certainly not be stationary. Most likely neither would you.

I agree with this ^^^

We live in a new suburban subdivision. Everybody knows everybody else and it's not hard to spot outsiders. Many houses have cameras. We have filmed junkies checking for unlocked doors. They usually ring the doorbell first. The want the quick and easy score. The most fascinating (and troubling) thing to me is these people are mostly in their 20s. Also, we are seeing more and more women, or teams of men and women working together, sometime driving an old car. They usually slow roll through the area late at night, and come back during the day when people are gone.

I would say the most likely scenario for us is stumbling into a burglary in progress, probably a young man or group of young people more than capable of beating my paunchy middle aged arse up pretty good.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

I agree with this ^^^

We live in a new suburban subdivision. Everybody knows everybody else and it's not hard to spot outsiders. Many houses have cameras. We have filmed junkies checking for unlocked doors. They usually ring the doorbell first. The want the quick and easy score. The most fascinating (and troubling) thing to me is these people are mostly in their 20s. Also, we are seeing more and more women, or teams of men and women working together, sometime driving an old car. They usually slow roll through the area late at night, and come back during the day when people are gone.

I would say the most likely scenario for us is stumbling into a burglary in progress, probably a young man or group of young people more than capable of beating my paunchy middle aged arse up pretty good.

In the place I used to live the thieves would put little flyers or sticky notes on door or front window on all houses in the neighborhood. Then they would know if someone was not home if the note wasn't removed. They put a "1-800-junk" sticky note on my window once. There were three break-ins in neighborhood associated with that (that I knew of).

Another scam was for a whole family to drive in a car and park. Then little kids with messenger bags would go door to door and say "I'm lost, can I use your phone?" I mean like 8 year olds. I called the cops after I told the kid to get lost and watched the kid after he left. The kids would fan out, grab what they could when people let them in, then all pile back in the car and move to the next spot. Not dangerous or anything in this case but the lengths some people will go to is just goofy. Those kids are raised that this behavior is "normal", what chance do they have? Crazy.

 

[FourTeeFive]

In all of these cases dogs help. We have two big ones in the house and if anyone gets within 100!ft of the front door they start barking like they want to kill something. To the point where Mr FedEx looks panicked when I open the door (dogs are behind a gate inside). My wife and I happen to love dogs anyway, but it's nice to have an extra couple of hundred pounds of furry help to keep us safe.

 

[American123]

1. Being burglarized while you are at work is more likely than someone kicking down the door while you are asleep in your bed.

2. Impossible to tell the intentions of someone breaking into your home, but we know they aren't lawful, or good, and should be dealt with accordingly.

3. Hardening your home entry points, dog, cameras, lighting, appearing like an undesirable target, etc. my house is the least fancy house on my street. I'd imagine people look at it and don't even give it a second thought compared to the neighbors.

4. Responding to a home intruders could be a fight for your life, bring what you think makes the most sense to that potential fight.

5. As a gracious host, you want to make sure you have enough servings for potentially multiple uninvited guests. Whether it is 1 or many more, being able to make sure they all get some is important.

6. Different types of uninvited guests may need special treatment. Knowing where to focus your response depending on the guest would make a difference.

7. Include any people in the house in the plan. They should either be prepared to respond, or prepare to move to a more strategic location.

8. During any encounter. Act like you're the third chimp going up the ramp to Noah's ark and it's starting to rain.

9. The simpler the better - relying on complicated plans means they will most likely fail during a stressful situation.

 

[HaveGun]

6. Different types of uninvited guests may need special treatment. Knowing where to focus your response depending on the guest would make a difference.

In the college town where I work, just last night on the scanner was a call for a drunk and belligerent college student who wandered into the wrong apartment. That happens fairly frequently in that town.

Cops showed up and escorted "Jason" back to his proper residence.

That sort of thing doesn't happen in my little town 15 miles away. Of course nothing happens in my little town. Still, just ordered one of those doorbell cameras that sends an alert to my phone complete with a picture whenever someone approaches my door.