No, I’m not talking about ED pills, I’m talking about ways to keep you and your home safe.
Much like the Dark Arts, the threats you face are many, varied, ever-changing, and eternal. Fighting them is like fighting a many-headed monster, which, each time a neck is severed, sprouts a head even fiercer and cleverer than before. You are fighting that which is unfixed, mutating, indestructible. (Sorry, I just watched Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.)
That said, there are some basic things you can do to make yourself and your home a “hard target” and things you can do to fight back when it becomes necessary. We’ll be covering some of them today.
Situational Awareness
Be aware of what’s going on around you. I know this sounds overly simplistic, but it isn’t. Situational awareness is a complex process, and requires a bit of practice. Get in the habit of scanning your surroundings, learn how to identify potential threats and build an OODA loop. Yah, I know a lot of you don’t know what OODA stands for, but rest assured, there’s an explaination coming.
Observe, Orient, Decide, Act. Everyone completes multiple OODA loops every day, you just didn’t know what it was called. Every time you get behind the wheel, look in the fridge or walk down the hall you are completing an OODA loop. The difference between the daily, unthinking OODA loops and the OODA loop you’ll use for situational awareness and threat assesment is you will be deliberately thinking in terms of the loop instead of it being habitual or reflexive. If any of you have seen Men in Black, there is a scene near the beginning that shows Edwards/J completing a threat assesment/OODA loop. Skip to 3:30 to see the loop in action.
Now, you can practice all the loop development and threat assesment you want, however it doesn’t mean anything if you aren’t observing your surroundings. Keep your head up, don’t walk around with your head down, staring at your phone. Scan your surroundings, keep an eye out for things that don’t belong, odd behaviors and anything out of the ordinary. That guy standing in the dark at the corner may just be waiting for a ride, then again he may be waiting for his next victim.
Walk Away
This point is a simple one. Walk away. Or run. Seriously, if you ever find yourself in a situation not of your making that seems to be spiralling out of control, remove yourself as expeditiously as possible.
If it means losing some stuff, so be it. Material posessions can be replaced. Your well-being or life cannot.
While you may have trained in one of the martial arts, or you may be armed, discretion is the better part of valor. And let’s be perfectly honest here, if you do fight back, win, lose or draw, you are likely to face charges.
Defend Yourself
There are a wide variety of options to defend yourself if leaving isn’t an option. (Getting away should always be your priority.) Martial arts, less lethal options, edged weapons and firearms all work to some degree.
Before I go any further on this subject I need to say something. Self defense weapons, firearms in particular, are not magical talismans, simply carrying one does not confer some special protection. If you don’t know how to use the weapon, it is less than useless, it is dangerous to YOU.
Whatever method of defense you choose, practice with it. If you decide a martial art is the way to go, get thee to the facility and practice. If you decide on a less lethal, and that includes pepper spray, tasers and stun guns, make sure you can effectively deploy them in a high stress situation.
As far as firearms go, and here we’re talking about handguns, go take a bunch of training classes. Take a Use of force class as well. Here in my home state they’re called part or article 35 classes because article 35 of the penal law covers use of force. They will be called something else if you live outside of NY. Because of the legal ramifications, I am loath to give advice on this subject. I am not a bloodsucking leach lawyer, and I am not an expert on the use of force in a legal sense. There are too many jurisdictions and varying laws and statutes regarding the use of force.
Suffice to say, if you ever find yourself in a situation that required you to use any weapon in self defense, expect to deal with the cops. On that subject I have a little advice: Shut Up and lawyer up.
Securing Your Home
There are hundreds if not thousands of articles out there on how to make your home more secure. I’m going to touch on just a few items here.
First, get some motion lights for the exterior. The brighter the better. Make sure the sensors have good coverage, and that there aren’t any blind spots. I might invest in some of the motion activated security cameras like those from Nest or Simpli Safe. Most of that kind of camera is internet enabled and will send alerts to your phone if someone is prowling about. While you’re at it, upgrade your door locks. Get a high quality knob and deadbolt set for all of your entry doors. I personally use steel cored and framed doors for all my entry doors, but I’m a borderline paranoiac.
If you have the time and space, consider a dog. Yes, time is a consideration, dogs need training and socialization. And many of the most popular dogs used for “security” purposes are highly intelligent, highly active critters that require a lot of time and training or they’ll become monsters, destroying things and being generally uncontrollable. So think long and hard before you go get a Malinois or Cane Corso. To be totally honest, the best dog I ever had, for almost everything, was a mutt I found on the side of the road. She was a lab/shepard/rott mix if I had to guess, and she always let me know when someone came in the yard.
Firearms For Home Defense
I am going to caveat everything in this next section with this: Opinions on firearms are like @ssholes, everyone has one and they all stink. Much of what you are about to read is MY opinion and has been colored by my specific experience and training. What works for me may not work for you, but it should give you a baseline for what to look for.
I am also going to tell you to go practice with whichever firearm you choose. Any time you feel threatened enough to go to guns is a high stress situation. The human body has a specific reaction to stress, increased pulse rate and blood pressure, loss of fine motor control, tunnel vision and more. Training, realistic training, can help you overcome the gross stress reaction.
Unless you have specific training, I generally don’t suggest a rifle for home defense. While the AR platform is the most popular rifle style in the country, it is not particularly well suited for a home defense role. The most common round chambered in AR platform rifles is the 5.56×45 NATO. It fires a relatively light bullet at a fairly high velocity. That makes it more prone to over penetrate, meaning it shoots through walls. That is a consideration if you have neighbors.
Am I saying that the AR, or any other rifle, won’t be effective for home defense? No I am not. What I am saying is that there are things you need to take into consideration if that is the route you want to take.
Pistols are a good choice for home defense, light, compact, easy to store safely and relatively easy to use. They do have their drawbacks though. Depending on where you live there may be some sort of permitting scheme in place. Here in the PRNY a pistol permit is required for ownership, and it is up to the county judge whether or not you get one.
As most of you know, I sell firearms for a living. The weapon I usually recommend for people looking for a home defense firearm is a pump shotgun. There are a ton of them out there, they are relatively inexpensive, ammo is cheap-ish, and they are very easy to use. Just the sound of someone running a pump shotgun will deter most rational people.
Keep in mind, these are just the bare bones basics. If you think you need to harden up, read more about the subjects I introduced here, watch some videos, go take some classes.