...after a travel day, but all good. Snowing at the Secret Hidden Bunker; Alf the Wonder Beagle is beside herself, as she is crazy about snow. I'm glad at least one member of the household is. As we say up near The Wall, "Winter is coming..."
I've been following several Internet threads on various home defense subjects, and I think the thing that jumps out at me is we need to remember ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL! I remember the first time we did a house-clearing type episode of SHOOTING GALLERY, we went to great lengths to explain that, ideally, you lock yourself in a safe room, aim ye olde blunderbuss at the safe room door, call 911 and wait. However, we explained that in the Real World, where we all more or less live, there were legitimate reasons for ignoring that advice, such as kids, visitors, etc. Sometimes you gotta walk down that hallway, and we've tried to show you how to get it done. Still, we got dis'sed all over the place for being "unrealistic."
Ditto on the fact that I am an unrepentant fan of lights and lasers. I've heard the "give your position away" argument many, many...MANY...times. Here's a hint...in your home, the bad person already has a pretty good idea of where you are. This ain't the jungles of Vietnam...if you break into a house at night, the homeowners are likely to be in bed, generally in the bedroom as opposed to, say, the kitchen. Yes, homes are different, but talk to some people who break into homes and you'll quickly come to understand that homes are not THAT different.
I have advocated (and taught) flickering the laser as both a warning to the miscreant that the homeowner is armed AND in possession of a tool to facilitate his or her ventilating said miscreant. The bullet where go wherever the red dot is, whether the person holding the gun is John Wayne or a small person of the female persuasion. This eliminates the, "I don't think you can hit me with that thing" argument for the bad guy.
As to whether a light needs to be on or just intermittent, the answer is, "Depends on your situation." Lots of kids, pets, rats, whatever, leaving lots of crap all over the place, better to burn the light than fall on your face. We saw that working the outdoor simulators at GUNSITE, where the footing can be very dicey. Falling may well be a greater risk that being targeted because of the light. Use enough light to guarantee you remain standing! Also, our much-repeated caveat on gun-mounted lights deserves another mention...for civilians, a firearm-mounted light should always be considered a SECONDARY light source to a handheld light, so you don't point the gun at someone or something you might not want to kill or destroy (sound familiar?)
3 comments:
Whilst I am contemplating letting the kids and wifey fend for themselves at the end of the hallway, I remember the tenement I grew up in. The old buildings all had fire escapes. To those not familiar, those are the steel ladders and platforms on the outside of the house that you see in old movies (you know, those movies from before Lindsay Lohan and Ben Affleck). The rule of thumb as a kid was if bad guys come in the front door, out ya go on the fire escape. If they come in from the fire escape, then its out the door. Simple.
MB did you happen to catch the finale of Top Shot? Just a quick observation. I'm impressed that the three winners of the show all have been exemplary types for the gun community. Good, clean, solid, good Americans (even if one has a funny accent), great folks to represent us.
regarding nj larry's comment about top shot.
your 100% right. all were great competitors. all showed adaptability & resilience through out the competition. bravo to Dustin a class act all the way through, and jeers to jake, a loser in the truest sense of the word. i was thrilled to see him leave.
I read with no little amusement the derision you got about house clearing and whether to do or not to do.
You have hit the head on the nail on the answer being 'depends on the situation'.
The occupant of the house, again depending on the situation, once the decision is made, will have a distinct advantage over the invader.
The occupant knows the lay of the land. Couple that with a little common sense and the mindset to defend his/her turf and family, then let the chips fall where they may.
I have done many clearing operations in a past career field and having a plan and knowledge of the target area was always a plus. And though most of the time I had backup there were a few times when I didn't.
Post a Comment