The one facet of training that most people skip when it comes to training to defend their home, is planning. They take the time to think through the alarm system, locks, and probably go to the range to train here and their if they own a firearm, but they don't take the time to plan and train themselves on what do do if they are actually assaulted in their home. The problem is, most people have more than one person living with them, and therefore, defending themselves with a firearm becomes increasingly complicated. Where are the other people in the house going to go and what are they going to do when a window breaks or an alarm goes off in the middle of the night? Everyone must be on the same page, especially if the home defense plan involves a firearm. Could you live with yourself if you made the fateful mistake of firing on an intruder only to find that the intruder was your 10 year old child?
Training Thoughts Include EVERYONE in your plan. If you have children or other live in members in your home, they need to know the plan as well as you do. Rehearse it often, in the same conditions that a home assault may occur. Learn to recognize the different types of assaults, a home invasion may look completely different than a break in focused on theft of items. USSA teaches a program called SECURE family that focuses on attack recognition, and will show you how to recognize a potential problem. Have a primary and secondary plan, as with all good plans, they sometimes fail. Have a backup! Makes sure you identify weapons of opportunity around your home just in case your plan fails, and you have to fight your way out.
Firearms Planning and Training for Home Defense If you incoororate a firearm in your home defense plan, here are some thoughts on training. Make sure you focus on threat identification, in normal light and low light. You MUST be able to identify before you pull the trigger. This can be accomplished by purchasing the targets commonly used by law enforcement that look like real people, and some of these people are armed and some aren't. Teach yourself a method of scanning the hands of a person as well as the entire person, which will teach you to identify someone faster. Identify the positions in your home that may be used as cover, and also those areas that are just concealment. In your visualiztion and training, make sure you realize and train yourself to shoot through obstacles if necessary. I have seen more than one trained person fail to realize they can shoot a threat through a couch or chair. Most of your training should be focused on low light situations, as it is likely you won't have full light when someone breaks in. Identify areas where handgun (or rifle if that is what you have) bullets may travel through walls and hit someone you don't want to hit. Take the time to research ballistics, so you know what calibre and type of ammunition you should have in your home defense firearm.
Cheryl Seeklander
This is a good example of using a portable phone to call the police....and having a backup plan. Obviously, she would be barricaded in her "safe" room if she had time to get there. Have you practiced your plan lately???
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