When was the last time you cleared your house?

[Guest JLowe]

Gabe Suarez has a DVD (tactical something or other) that does this from a non-LEO standpoint. If you learn nothing else it will get you thinking about buying a home with all the bedrooms on the same floor and same end. Watching this DVD really convinced my dad of the wisdom of forting up, calling the police, and waiting 12ga in hand.

LEO's have different ideas, equipment, and (usually) help.

True, when clearing somebody else's home I usually have help. But when responding to a threat at my home, I'm not waiting on the local dept. to send somebody. My wife (also a officer) and I know how to clear our home without speaking to each other. We have trained together and in different schools apart. When we get home from a school, we share what we learned and what will work best for us. We have also planned the layout of our home as to give no one a hiding spot.

I suggest the following tools to clear your home.

1. Handgun with light attached. It will help you quickly ID friend or foe. It will also momentarily blind your opposition. It allows you to have a free hand during your search.

2. Shotgun with light attached. I recommend a 12 ga with #4 buck in the house. For smaller guys or women who have problems handling a full sized 12 ga, I would recommend a 20 ga youth model with 00 buck. It has less recoil and lets you get back on target quicker, also has less chance of over penetration through a sheet rock wall. The shotgun should be kept with the "fort defender". If you have not been trained in clearing with a shotgun, don't go through you house with it as it is not easy to clear with a 18.5 inch shotgun inside a home. The light has the same effect as with the handgun.

3. Cell phone that has service beside the bed. For obvious reasons.

4. A powerful flash light not attached to a weapon. It can illuminate outside the "fort" by reflecting off of the walls and ceiling. Just point it towards the door of the "fort" and let it work on its own.

5. Spare ammo for all guns planned on being used. Obvious reasons, and besides, you never know how long it will take the Police/Sheriff's Dept. to get there.

6. If you can legally obtain body armor, I suggest that you do so. Its always nice to have on hand when someone starts shooting in your direction.

Plan your work and work your plan.

[DaveTN]

I look at it a different way.

If you don’t have a partner or a dog, stay inside the room you are in with a weapon and call the Police. Stay on the line with the dispatcher until Officers arrive. If there is someone in your home you want to make them come to you; not you to them.

If you go “hunting†in your home and there is an unarmed intruder you may possibly be able to capture him. However if he is armed and willing to shoot you; you will without a doubt get shot. Lighting yourself up like the 4th of July and walking around is not smart.

However…. That’s why there are classes on this. You can be presented all of the scenarios and then decide what will work for you at the time you need it.

[Guest JLowe]

I look at it a different way.

If you don’t have a partner or a dog, stay inside the room you are in with a weapon and call the Police. Stay on the line with the dispatcher until Officers arrive. If there is someone in your home you want to make them come to you; not you to them.

If you go “hunting†in your home and there is an unarmed intruder you may possibly be able to capture him. However if he is armed and willing to shoot you; you will without a doubt get shot. Lighting yourself up like the 4th of July and walking around is not smart.

However…. That’s why there are classes on this. You can be presented all of the scenarios and then decide what will work for you at the time you need it.

That is a good point of view. You are right to stay in place if alone and want them to come to you.

As far as "going hunting" in my home. I do know my home better than anyone, especially intruders. And I do not light my self up like the 4th of July. I know how to deploy and utilize my weapon lights properly. I have been through several SWAT and lowlight schools, so I have some extra knowledge and training in that aspect.

My reasons for using lights are for those who must leave their room and go and retrieve their children. If they come across the intruder in between, then any advantage they can use is for the better. If they see them in the dark, they can light them up and temporarily blind them, move off the "x" and take appropriate action to defend their family and home. Also if the child is small it gives them a hand to carry the child with and still be able to defend themselves.

BTW, if there is someone in my home, I'm not going to attempt to capture them. They have already shown their intent by coming into my home.

[Punisher84]

This is one of the reasons I prefer to train and shoot in less-than-optimal conditions. I have pretty good night vision, and like Jlowe said, I know my home better than anyone.

I have no kids though, and unless I have to, I'm hunkered down waiting for someone to decide how bad they wanna come into the bedroom.

[Guest Phantom6]

I look at it a different way.

If you don’t have a partner or a dog, stay inside the room you are in with a weapon and call the Police. Stay on the line with the dispatcher until Officers arrive. If there is someone in your home you want to make them come to you; not you to them.

If you go “hunting†in your home and there is an unarmed intruder you may possibly be able to capture him. However if he is armed and willing to shoot you; you will without a doubt get shot. Lighting yourself up like the 4th of July and walking around is not smart.

However…. That’s why there are classes on this. You can be presented all of the scenarios and then decide what will work for you at the time you need it.

+1

The NRA's Personal Protection Inside the Home course which, by the way is a handgun course, trains folks to barricade up and wait on back-up (the Po Po). Most LEO's that I know will not clear a building without a partner because it is a good way to get killed. There are times however when forced by circumstance that you may have to move throughout your home in order to retrieve a loved one. Our Defensive Shotgun for the Home class (not an NRA course) is where we teach folks to move through a home, working in hallways, negotiating "T" intersections, clearing rooms as they go (so as not to leave an unchecked room behind them), "slice the pie" and retrieve or aid an innocent. Yeah, without a doubt you are better off barricading up and letting them come to you but if you gotta go out, you gotta go out. It takes practice though and your family should know exactly what to do in case of emergency. You practice fire drills with your family don't you? Why shouldn't you practice dirt bag threat drills with them as well?

BTW, we are of the opinion that the absolute best firearm for use in defense of your home is a shotgun, complete with a mounted light that can be turned on and off when needed or not, and loaded with either 0 or 00 buck shot. At 12 ft, the distance across most bedrooms or about 1/2 to 3/4 the distance of the average hallway you will strike your target with a mass of lead that is roughly the size of a large grapefruit. Like JLowe said, you shouldn't be looking to capture anyone unless they see that shotgun coming, pitch their weapon away and prone out right there in front of you. You should shoot to terminate the threat to you and your family members. Nothing more but certainly nothing less.