Billy was sitting on his couch in his sweats, watching a game he’d DVRd and eating some buffalo chicken wings when he heard a crash at the front door.
Someone had broken the window next to his door and they were reaching in, grasping for the deadbolt.
Realizing that his chicken wings were a relatively ineffective defensive tool, he made a bee-line for his bedroom safe and put his finger on the fingerprint reader.
Oops…
Fingerprint readers don’t work so well with buffalo sauce.
Billy quickly went from freaking out a little to freaking out A LOT.
10 seconds earlier, he was enjoying the game, thinking about heating up some more wings…now he was in a fight for his life.
By the time he remembered the code and got it entered correctly, two bad guys were in his bedroom, charging him…the front one with a steak knife in his hand. The safe was unlocked, but there was no way he could get it open and get his gun before they got to him.
The front guy swung wildly with a knife…Billy just barely dodged the slice and the guy’s hand went through the sheetrock. He dropped the knife and the guy behind him ran into him.
Billy used the confusion to open the safe.
He grabbed his pistol, aimed, and CLICK! Both the bad guys and Billy started at the gun in shock. The bad guys saw their lives flash before their eyes….Billy was in shock, wondering how his beloved gun had let him down when he needed it.
Billy saw the look on their faces quickly go from shock to sly grins to a growl and he realized they were going to attack again.
So, he racked the slide and fired 3 quick shots…all went wide…even though the attackers were only a few feet away.
Sheetrock and wood splinters flew. The bad guys stopped, turned, and beat feet to get out of the house as quickly as possible.
Billy was relatively unharmed…but only because he got lucky. Very lucky. And in a fight for your life, you don’t want to depend on luck any more than necessary.
As the saying goes,
“The smarter I prepare, the ‘luckier’ I get”
And a few simple tweaks could have given Billy a HUGE advantage and taken luck out of the equation.
We’re going to cover 5 of them today…
1. Have defensive tools near where you spend the most time. Right now, I want you to think about the 3-5 places in your house where you spend the most time. What’s the best defensive tool that you can reach from those places? It might be pepper spray and a loofa on a stout stick in the shower, a stout aluminum flashlight next to your couch & bed, a stealth tactical pen on your kitchen table, a small fire extinguisher almost anywhere, etc.
2. Most fingerprint readers on safes suck. If you have a fingerprint reader on your gun safe, try using it 2-3 times a day over the next week. Use it with dry, clean hands, use it when your hands are dirty from eating, wet from washing your hands, after working out, etc. If it doesn’t perform in the way that you’d expect it to in a home invasion situation, I’d suggest practicing with the “backup” method or switching to a mechanical gun safe.
3. I suggest that people keep 2 things on top of their gun safes…a weapon and a light. And, yes, you can combine the two, but I’m particularly fond of having a stealth tactical pen, pepper spray, or a small fire metal extingusher.
4. Know the condition of your guns in your gun safe. I keep all ARs and semi-auto pistols in “cruiser ready” condition, which means that I’ve got a full mag inserted and an empty chamber. I KNOW that any semi-auto that comes out of my safe has an empty chamber. Why? Because in a house fire, a chambered round can cook off, cycle the gun, and keep cooking off rounds that could shoot me, my family, or first responders. I have one exception…the gun by my bed is in a gun lockbox with hardened steel that’s too small to allow the gun to cycle, so, in the event of a fire, if a round cooks off, the lockbox will absorb most of the kinetic energy of the bullet and no other rounds will be chambered.
5. Practice opening your safe, picking up your gun, turning, and engaging targets This is COMPLETELY different than the practice that most people do at the range, but it’s one of the most likely scenarios…reaching, picking up, and turning 180 degrees before shooting. For most people, most of the time, when you grab a gun out of a safe, you’re going to have a bad shooting grip. You’re also going to have to turn to engage targets. So, what I suggest is that you unload the guns in your safe, remove all ammo from the area, and follow the safety guidelines here https://dryfiretrainingcards.com/blog/safety/ . When you have a safe condition for practicing, see how long it takes you to open your safe, grab your gun (that you’ve made inert), turn and dry fire engage a target (with a safe backstop) across the room…now try to cut that time in half. If it takes more than 2 seconds, it’s not your “Plan A.” When lives are on the line, you won’t have that kind of time in a home invasion.
Your Plan A has got to be whatever you can do with empty hands, what’s in your hands already, or within arm’s reach. Plan A is what you use to create the time and space necessary to get your gun into the fight.
For a lot of people, this can be hard to figure out. You need tools and techniques that will work when you’re exhausted, when your back/joints are acting up, when you get woken up at 3AM, or maybe even after you’ve had a drink or two and aren’t 100%.
You need tools and techniques that don’t depend on your coordination, strength, or years of dedicated practice.
And, that’s why I have Stealth Tactical Pens within arm’s reach of the places where I spend most of my time at home in sweats & PJs.
A Stealth Tactical Pen or the new Super-Stealth Tactical Pen can stop a threat in half the time as a .45ACP (As both I and my son when he was just 8 demonstrate here) and you can take it with you to schools, hospitals, voting booths, and other places where guns aren’t allowed.
But just having any old tactical pen isn’t enough.
Most tactical pens are a joke.
They either have “aggressive” looks/logos that get them confiscated or they’ve got spikes/DNA collectors on the butt of the pen that will absolutely destroy your thumb if you ever use them for real.
And, although it seems like using a pen as a weapon would be pretty simple to use, it’s not… In fact MOST people (even “tactical” people who should know better) make big mistakes in how they hold the pen, how they strike with it, and what they target. The combination takes what could be a great defensive tool and makes it as ineffective as a marshmallow crème pie.
Which is why, if you see the dangers we’re facing and want to keep you and your loved ones safe, you need >THIS TRAINING< which includes a free Stealth Tactical pen OR Super-Stealth Tactical Pen, the Special Forces TacPen Fighting Guide AND TacPen training video for an unbelievably low price. But there’s no time to waste. To get yours immediately, click >HERE< right now.
You’ll see devastatingly effective ways of using the Super-Stealth Tactical Pen or even most ordinary pens, that you won’t find anywhere else…techniques that could tip the scales in your favor if you ever find yourself needing to stop a threat when you don’t already have a gun in your hands.
Learn more now, and see if you can act fast enough to get one by clicking >HERE< now.
And, yes…you’re going to want to get this, regardless of how many tactical pens Stealth Tactical Pens, or Super-Stealth Tactical Pens you already have…it’s that important.
11 Comments
Christopher Harrington
September 7, 2020Great Job!,
We are Security and Firearm Instructors who train civilians as well as Law Enforcement, during all our classes we cover Home and Self Defensive methods and this is awesome in what you all are teaching!
My partner and I are full time Law Enforcement Officers in Illinois and we take every opportunity to gain more training and knowledge to further advance our Knowledge, Skill and Attitude for us and our students.
Thank you for taking the time to educate people and to also show you can never prepare enough for the unknown.
If there’s anything that you can assist us with or visa versa, we are always willing to share the wealth and receive also.
Thank you again for educating our minds.
Have a great and safe Evening.
Ox
September 10, 2020Thanks, Christopher.
A couple of videos that every instructor should watch are these 2:
https://dryfiretrainingcards.easywebinar.live/registration-5
and
https://dryfiretrainingcards.easywebinar.live/registration-vision-on-demand
They’re going to help you structure your own training WAY more efficiently and they’re going to help you structure your instruction in a way that gets more skill into your students’ brains with less effort.
Chuck
September 2, 2020I got some very interesting hits when I searched Katy Bar. However I did find one company that is actually making a door blocking device that looks very interesting. I would suggest investigating their product to see if it fits your needs. Unless you are going to Katy, TX, you probably can ignore all the ads for bars and other attractions in that city.
Chuck
September 2, 2020Your semi-auto won’t keep firing past the round in the chamber unless it is a gas operated as opposed to recoil operated handgun. The recoil operated handgun depends upon the gun not moving with the recoil, otherwise the effect of the recoil is lost. Ever have a gun jam because you limp-waisted the hold on the butt? That’s what happens with a semi-auto that is unrestrained. The first round will exit the barrel. The action may partially work but won’t fully open to eject the case and the next round will jam. Been there and one that and it is a bear to clear sometimes.
As for revolvers, I have never burned up a perfectly good revolver to test that theory, but I would imagine that it would be like getting a chain fire in a blackpowder revolver. I have never read what happens to the other bullets when the powder is ignited but most of the time the shooter drops the revolver when it chain fires. I assume the first round does not hit the intended target but zooms off somewhere else.
If you send me a revolver, I will test it out to see what happens when you burn up a working revolver. Will write a full write-up of the test. Somewhere there must be an article on line about what happens when a black powder revolver chain fires. Probably a U-tube video of it happening.
Ox
September 2, 2020Hey Chuck, if I’m reading your comment correctly, you’re referring strictly to handguns. An AR or other semi-auto rifle or shotgun can definitely cycle another round, but it’s kind of a roll of the dice as to whether a round in the magazine has cooked off and blown up the magazine first.
In any case, if you have any guns pointed up on lower floors, down on upper floors, or sideways on a current floor, one chambered round is all it takes to cause a life-changing or life ending situation.
Chuck
September 2, 2020Ox: The AR is gas operated. As I said in my post, a gas operated firearm MAY continue to operate. A recoil operated firearm will jam as the action is starting to cycle. Now, will a recoil operated shotgun with the buttplate against the floor of the safe continue to operate through a full magazine? That’s an interesting question and the the answer probably is “maybe”. If it is in the safe muzzle down and the butt is not against something, I would posit that it will not fire past the first round. A recoil operated firearm needs the firearm to be braced against something, a firm hand grip or the shoulder in order to operate successfully. A gas operated firearm is independent of any supporting part of the anatomy. As you suggest, probably rounds cooking off in the magazine will render the firearm inoperable.
It is a good thing to be aware of in any case and the original premise of keeping the firearm in the safe with the chamber empty is certainly something to seriously consider as is having pepper spray sitting on top of the safe. The drawback to using pepper spray inside a room is that you are affected almost as much as the recipient of the spray.
I accidentally spritzed my pepper spray in my small printing plant and we had to exit the building for a while and air it out. The effect wasn’t the same as getting a face full of pepper spray, I am sure, but it caused coughing and mucus tissue irritation anyway and it was just the briefest touch of the trigger. I also accidentally sprayed myself with the canister in my pocket. Somehow the safety came off and I accidentally sprayed myself as I leaned over the fender of my car checking something in the engine compartment. I didn’t think anything of it. It was in my pocket after all. In just a few minutes I felt an urgent need to get undressed and get in the shower. I can attest that pepper spray sprayed on the clothing in groin area has a strong distracting effect on the one wearing the clothing.
Right after I posted my comment I found a U-tube video of a black powder revolver allegedly chain firing. It looked as if the revolver in the video was a Colt Walker replica which is a massive pistol. The chamber that chain fired looked as if it might be swelled, but perhaps not as the individual in the video continued to fire the revolver. In a written reply to the video a writer claimed to be present in a different incident where two other chambers chain fired with the chamber in line with the barrel. The gun was ruined as one ball went into the charging rod and broke it off the revolver.
In neither case was the shooter physically harmed by the chain fire, although the writer claimed that the shooter in the second situation that destroyed the gun was somewhat stunned.
I fired a double barrel shotgun once that doubled on firing. No harm to the gun nor the shooter but firing two 12 gauge shot shells simultaneously was what I imagine firing a 10 gauge magnum would feel like.
Robert Bollerman
May 22, 2019There are many great suggestions here. Most of all, thinking about what you’re typically wearing when comfortable at home. I would not rely on pockets or any aspect of clothing. There are times when you may be fresh out of the shower, exercising, engaged in intimate relations, or otherwise in a state of undress. Always have something accessible. A friend of mine who lives in the country, with no small children, has the luxury of being able to keep easily accessible weapons all around the house. I have to be more discreet. Might I suggest always having your man bag nearby when watching TV, playing games, getting a little frisky with your other half. It’s not a bad place to keep your firearm, as long as it’s always within your sphere of control. Thoughts?
Ox
May 24, 2019Good thinking, Robert!
It’s a case where there is no one-size-fits-all solution, but here’s a quick litmus test.
Figure out a place where you might be unarmed when a home invader enters. Let’s say your couch.
Go to the different entrances in your house and see how long it takes you to walk to the couch from each. This is an approximation of how long it would take for a bad guy to get to you with a contact weapon. It would obviously be quicker if they were running or had a gun. But that’s the most time you’d have to realize there was a problem, get to a weapon, and deploy that weapon. With that in mind, I think you might find that the best use for your man bag in most cases is as a shield and that you might want your first instinct to be to grab and use something in your environment if you’re not armed at the time.
Chuck Voigtsberger
December 25, 2018Your suggestion for doors that open outwards is a good one, John, but something easier to accomplish is to install brackets on the doorframe on the inside so that you can slip 2x4s in the brackets. A set of brackets toward the top of the door and a set of brackets toward the bottom of the door makes the door very hard to kick in. Even if the door is destroyed around the lock/knob, it will still be impossible to open. Installing brackets is a much easier task than re-hanging a door. In addition, the layout of many homes precludes an outward opening door because having the door open would impede opening other doors or impede progress up or down a hallway.
Ox
December 26, 2018Great stuff, Chuck. Outward opening doors on residential structures are against code in many places because that allows people to get trapped in their houses easier because of snow, water, or debris pushing against it from the outside. 99% of the time, the solution would be to break a window and use it as a door, but codes are written for base level thinking.
The 2x4s and brackets are called a Katy Bar and I like the version of the story that talks about a king who’s quarters were about to be over-run. There wasn’t enough time to put the wood slat in the bracket, but his maid-servant (I think), named “Katy” loved him so much that she put her arm in the bracket to delay the invaders long enough for him to escape. I doubt there is ANY truth to the story, but I like it none the less 🙂
John Brown
October 26, 2018Having a door that locks that can not be easily breached, for the room with the safe/guns is not a bad idea. Having it open outwards, so, it has to be pried opened vs kicked in will buy you time as not even hollow cored doors are easy to kick in past a door frame, though they are easy to kick open.
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