Clearing a house with a pistol/flashlight

If you hear a noise at night, there is a good chance that there is another BG somewhere else who sees you coming......I would stay put if I could.
 
JohnH1963 does make a few interesting points, but as I said before you have to get you and your loved ones to the safe room and sit tight. The only time you should consider leaving the safe room before help arrives is if you have no other way to keep living. If the badguys come and go and whatever that's fine. But the only time I'm coming out of the safe room is if;

1). It is the only way to stay alive (A fire etc.).

2). The Police on the other end of the line give the all clear.

Now on to JohnH1963's comments about training. I would beg to disagree with the comment about training. To train in CQB with house clearing means a dedicated tasking of training to clear a flippin' house. A few hours at the range shooting targets does not a CQB fighter make, no sirree. When I did the training we were at it for eight weeks, that's two months of running up and down stairs, climbing up to floors where the stairs had been removed, sweeping rooms, cross streeting, weapons retention, sighting cues, visual, auditory and scent cues. Detection of the enemy in the CQB environment, Communication in the CQB environment, checking doors/windows, entering a room (Dynamic, Convergence and Un-conventional), Identifier Friend or Foe methods, Shoot-no-shoot scenarios, Hardened position access, Cover/concealment determination and the use of cover/concealment offensively & defensively, Cover fire in a CQB environment... the list goes on. Of big note, it wasn't until I had actually participated in clearing an actual house during an actual confrontation that I knew I could do it. Going through a doorway/window when you figure there's a guy in that room hunkered down ready to shoot you is not easy.

The only advantage you have over any perpetrators is that you have a better idea of the floor plan of your house. The rest of the advantages stack up in the bad-guy's column pretty damned quick.

So if you have to, HAVE TO, clear a path to safety, then do it, but remember that when you clear a path it can always be intersected by enemy activity. When you are moving you are more vulnerable. Things are always dynamic, even when they appear to be remaining static.
 
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In fact, I would argue that a man from a rural part of the midwest might be better trained and equipped then a SWAT team member from certain cities. Just go into an NRA members house in the midwest or a place like Texas and you will find they are well armed and practice with those arms quite frequently.
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Better equipped, maybe. Better trained, very doubtful unless the person was trained previously in military or LE setttings. Sure, someone that has gone through Thunder Ranch several times, and made multliple trips to Gunsite, or so on might have the advantage, but other than that, no, I just don't see it. Even the average cop, not SWAT, will regularly clear buildings and homes for real. SWAT in particular will have lots of practice if nothing else doing that specific task. Lots more to clearing a house/engaging a BG than jsut shooting skills.
 
OK guys, here goes: true story of the first time I ever "cleared" my house. About 25 years ago, I heard something fall over? Drop? Whatever, downstairs. Thinking the cat, of course, I got up and went to see, and cry over what he broke. I was horrified to see him staring at the door to the basement. Another sound, this time a rustling before something else dropped. Silence. Beads of sweat started on my forehead as I quickly opened the door, armed with my RST-6. (Don't laugh; it was all I had) As the door opened, another sound, this time indescribable, emanated from the dank recesses below. I started barking orders to the unseen predatory creature that had invaded my humble abode. Another rustling sound from a different area of the cellar. Another command, another sound. Wait a minute, I turned the lights on and another rustling, then a crashing sound. OK, so this is a real dumbass if it's a person, so I ventured down the steps and started checking for some moron that had somehow gotten himself so tangled up in my basement, he was going to welcome me just to set him free enough to go to jail. The cowardly cat stayed up on the landing steps, peering around the corner. One side clear from the steps, so I hit the bottom and spun to the other just in time to see a huge Pterodactyl coming straight for my face. I screamed in horror.

Well, OK so it wasn't exactly a Pterodactyl. But Grackles look a lot bigger when they're in your house.:D
 
I believe that SWAT teams use flashbangs in addition to bulletproof gear to clear rooms.

A Marine told me they clear rooms by throwing in grenades and then follow by shooting any survivors.

The average homeowner can do neither.
 
Is there some kind of computer program you can feed your floorplan and location of windows, doors, children etc. into which will then generate probabilities for different scenarios?
 
TLR2

My gun is equipped with a laser light combo so i can clear anything with one hand free at all times i love it also used by the marines and attaches to any universal rail bar and easily comes off and on
 
I would avoid clearing if possible. I have clearing hundreds if not thousands of building over the years. Even when able to use grenades, flash bangs, various breaching methods, you still take causalities. We were allot more skilled than they guys we were going after, but in going into a room with someone wanting you dead, skill is only a part of the equation. Even with the best TTPs the person assaulting is putting themselves at risk, and if you lack the ability to flood the room, chances are you will get shot.
 
I am not going to address the clear or not to clear issue. I have been trained by the military, law enforcement, and civilian trainers, and believe that the question will be answered by each individual situation.

I have use both hand held lights and weapon mounted lights and believe they both are better options than not having one. I will argue the fact that a weapon mounted light is a bad idea becuase it may cause you to shoot an inocent subject.

I would argue that these tragic incidents are caused by the shooter not following one of the four major gun handeling rules that most of us have been taught since we first started attending training. Keep your finger off of the trigger and on the frame until you have identified the target and decided to shoot.

Just my opinion
 
I'm just seeing this thread for the first time, and haven't read its entirety, so will not comment upon anyone else's remarks, but it's always been my opinion that mounting a flashlight or laser system to one's firearm provides your adversary with an excellent means of identifying, tracking and targeting you long before you were able to identify and target him.
 
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