Flashlights and Handguns for Home Defense

Hi Matt

PERHAPS READING A BIT FURTHER INTO MY POST WOULD HAVE PREVENTED YOU FROM MAKING SUCH A MISTAKEN ASSUMPTION OF MY statement and it's INTENT.

I don't expect any family member, fiance, friend etc, to be breaking into my house... things might be different for others or yourself.

Give your fiannce a key!

Knowing what is being said is important if an intelligent response is to be made.

Taking pot shots at something out of context is both 'pure folly' and says something about whomever breaks in unprepared and pops off a drive by posting.

every situation is different... I expressed my own circumstances.... AND my feelings about exposing yourself and how little one can actually find out about some burgalar in a split seconds burst of light... not only that but a strong light will affect your eyes too..

The mere presence of a stranger in ones home yields the pressence of a possible threat, and in the case of a home which is alarmed and monitored as well, as so many are and is my own, and they are still on the premises informs me the likelyhood of things going south fast is a viable assumption.

Lights flashing and sirens screaming, and some person hasn't headed for the highway yet?... sounds like someone wants more than money jewelry electronics, drugs or guns to me.

BTW.... any known persons would have contacted me by cell, phone, and or just tapping or beating on my bedroom window most likely. Close ones too. Family members would all have access keys... and I'd know where my loved ones are... I suppose some remote circumstances could change things but it's doubtful.

True too, those who know how I feel about such matters, and know me, also know I own weapons... and am not afraid to use them. trust me, they all either knock loudly or call me from the driveway on their cells... that is of course, if I'm not already outside awaiting them.

Perhaps knowledge is key... identification is knowledge... and as I said, the displayed light determines or supports your belief the intruder is indeed a stranger.... OK. Then what... and naturally, the "then what" only applies IF they don't shoot you.... or their partners don't shoot you.

There's no time for all the supposed rhetoric being jotted down here to be filtered thru!

Capturing is better left to the pros...

keeping myself and my loved ones breathing is my duty.

Here's one other scenario for ya... what if the interloper very closely resemgbles one of your friends and you make such a mistake?

NOpe. There's always someone which will interject some wierd ... just won't happen... situation to attempt to poke holes in someone else' notions.

But then, you've probably not experienced someone kicking in your door or busting in your window... and not responding to your cries for them to ID themselves... or to leave.

Once you have.. you may change your mind. I have. Recently. several times and its why I own guns again. Even though law enforcement says I can shoot thru the door I still want to hesitate... and that too is wrong in that case. I should have shot. there was established precidence.

I take no pleasure in this... for me it's all just too real and I aim to be standing in the aftermath. Let other's take chances of misidentifying someone, or identifying the person whose shooting first... not me. My gun's light will be the next to last one they'll see depending on their religious beliefs.

However ... anyone can proceed whcih way they choose. I've no problem there. I simply feel there's contingencies some folks here might have missed or overlooked and why I posted as I did.

Good luck...
 
All the foregoing flummery aside, if one is considering shooting someone, he needs to identify his target. One might rationalize it however he wishes, and he might be sure that whoever he is going to shoot deserves it; but people have been wrong about such things before.
 
true enough... identification begins way before some incident takes place. it begins with planning, security, and having all on board actively participating in the plan.

Despite all of this .. despite everyone practicing together various scenarios... things can indeed turn out poorly.

We all have our very best efforts and ideas laid out in our minds, and prayerfully, all will turn out great and no one will encounter anything dramatic, but if so, the home owner, renter, etc, will prevail by sticking to his or her plans..

I have my own, and for me... its a good plan. I live alone, no pets, no kids, and some plants that won't make September.

the thing is this, RESULTS WILL ALWAYS VARY!! No matter what the plan likely is when stuff hits the fan.

Regardless, thinking ahead as is being done here by tossing around different perspectives and ideas is always a good thing to do in advance, no matter the path one winds up subscribing too.
 
My Streamlight Strion LED has a strobe mode. I had my wife blast me with it in the dark from 35 feet away. It is absolutely disorienting. I've used that function several times in the prison, works great.
Click to expand...

Several of my lights have strobes. While they may be disorienting to some (including the person behind the gun), some folks aren't really bothered by them. My kids like to use the strobe lights for dancing and running around stop action antics.

Who knows? Maybe you will get lucky and your bad guy will suffer a photosensitive epileptic seizure.

true enough... identification begins way before some incident takes place. it begins with planning, security, and having all on board actively participating in the plan.
Click to expand...

I don't think 'identification' means what you think it means.
 
I agree and disagree with both sides. One thing that someone pointed out is that it doesn't hurt to have two lights. one in your hand, and one on the gun. You don't HAVE to use the one on the gun but it's nice to have it just in case.

the way my house is laid out it's like a "V" my master bedroom is at the bottom of that "V" so anyone that might have come in through a bedroom window will need to come down the hallway from the right, and anyone from the living area will come from the left.

Sitting in the bedroom, behind the bed, on the phone with 911 will allow me a perfect view of the door to the master bedroom. I also keep at least one or two lights on in the house even at night. small lights, but enough that I can easily see at night. I have a revolver and a LED maglite in my nightstand. I also have the benefit of having hurricane windows. Ask anyone in Florida, the chances of someone breaking in through those is VERY slim. Fire departments don't like them because even they can't get into a house through them without some extreme measures.

In the living room I have a PX4 with a streamlight on it as the patio on the back of the house is off that room and the backyard is not very well lit. yet. We live on a lake so in case something comes up out there I have, again, both a handheld and a gun light. If I did identify someone, regardless of what light, I could easily flip on the gun light, drop the handheld and use that hand to then dial 911. Now if I've only got a handheld light, how am I supposed to dial 911 while holding the gun and the flashlight? Or do I drop the gun to dial? do I drop the hand held flashlight so I'm now in the dark again?

And before anyone says it, no, I'm not calling 911 on every sound I hear in the backyard just for them to come out because of a big bad raccoon or opossum that wants to eat one of my tomatoes. haha.


Basically though, it's like having the gun itself. Just because you have it, doesn't mean you have to use it. But in that one scenario that you do need it, it's damn nice to have.
 
I started quite the debate on this topic.

I have to thank many of you for helping me revamp my tactics and think of alternative ways to make my home safer!
 
Blindjim said:
...true enough... identification begins way before some incident takes place. it begins with planning, security, and having all on board actively participating in the plan....
Click to expand...
Nope. It means simply looking at, and seeing, the person.
 
identification begins way before some incident takes place. it begins with planning, security, and having all on board actively participating in the plan.
Click to expand...

Nonsense. At best, all that gives you a vague idea of what you might be able to expect. It does not relieve you of the responsibility to ensure that you are not shooting a nonthreatening or completely innocent person.
 
while I agree 10000%, I think I know what he was getting at.

could be things like, call your husband/wife before coming home at 2:00am.
having a plan that is a noise is heard everyone meets in a certain place in the house?
leaving certain lights on in the house to help easily ID the person making the sound. Or thing, it might be something that just fell over when an AC or heater vent blew on it...
 
Last edited:
Hate to be rude but anyone advocating shooting without positively identifying their targets is dangerous and has no business handling firearms.

Preplanning is good, but unless you see the person for sure, you don't know if it's a criminal that broke into your house, or a family member that tripped over something on their way to get a drink of water.

As to the nature of the light I have an L shaped mini light it's a UTG brand not sure the model. It's my main flashlight, and I rather like it.

The wrist strap means I can still have the light with me, but have a hand free at the same time.

That said I feel a decent light on a rail isn't a bad idea to have too. As a backup, or if you off hand is busy but you need light to take the shot.

My current pistol a CZ PCR doesn't have a rail, but if I get a gun with a rail I might look into one.

Slightly off topic, my Mossberg 500 has a light mounted to it for defensive use.
 
Last edited:
I think you meant withOUT positively IDing the target, but yeah. rule #3, know the target AND what's behind said target.

shooting at shapes or sounds is how accidents happen and anyone that does so should not own a firearm, or probably any weapon of any kind.
 
My choice

I like a maglite 4D - obviously not attached to my gun. The reason for that is that I believe it's more likely to be some dumb kid breaking in than a well armed/trained boogyman, and a scaring/clubbing may be closer to what they need than a shooting. I like my TV, but I'm not going to kill anyone for trying to take it. Life seldom resembles a John Wu movie.
 
make sure he doesn't sue you for hitting him over the head while he was trying to steal your TV. haha.

personally, I'm not shooting them for taking something, I'm shooting them for being in my house uninvited. And I hope to make sure they don't do it a second time or to someone else. Because we know the legal system won't make sure of that.
 
Agree with those who don't use a light mounted on their home defense handgun ... my nightstand 1911 has night sights, and right next to it is a Surefire 9p ... the tailcap lets me switch the light on and off quickly and keep the light outside the outline of my body ...

As for shooting a home invader, the only person other than me who has a key to my house is my wife, and the first thing I do if a sound disturbs my sleep is reach and make sure she's next to me in bed ... anybody else in the house, thanks to the Texas Castle Law, is there uninvited and is fair game ...
 
Just curious, but how many people keep their house totally dark at night when they go to bed?

Those that need some kind of light, are you wanting the light in case someone were to cut the power or turn out lights or are you wanting it because you turn out all the lights before going to bed?

My house is set up with high ceilings. We keep the light in the, ummm, I think it's supposed to be a breakfast area on and with that on it lights up enough of the family room, kitchen, dining room and living room to see quite easily. the only dark areas where I'd need a flashlight would be down the hallway to the other three bedrooms.
 
I have the Viridian C5L on both Sig's and I recommend them because they provide both a solid light and strobe capability in addition to the green laser. I can assure you the strobe is powerful enough to cause anyone in front of it to hesitate and wince when hit with it. The nice thing is the strobe also casts a wider solid ligght similar to the flashlight so you can see a wide area.
 
try prevention first

I’ll start with this. Whatever firearm you choose, it won’t help you if an intruder can get into your home without you knowing it.

Being able to force a door or window because it isn’t secured properly will result in someone standing by your bed while you sleep. You can have a hand cannon with a mounted flood light in your nightstand, but if you are asleep, it won't help.

If your home is just off the street, make sure you don’t have shrubs etc blocking the street view of you windows or door. Often criminals will use those shrubs to hide while they work on breaking in, or lay in wait for you to come up to the door. Make sure your house number is highly visible from the street so emergency responders can easily find your home. If you have a back alley, number the house there too.

Place motion activated lights around the home. They have decorative fixtures with motion detector capability as well as spot lights for the back of the home. Yes a deer or raccoon will trip the lights, but so what, they only stay on for as long as you set them to stay on, and then go off until tripped again. When the exterior lights go off it illuminates the surrounding area of your home, and any intruders trying to enter. They are in the light, you are concealed in the dark.

We have a long driveway, so I went to Harbor Freight and bought two $20 motion sensors. They are battery operated and the detector is mounted to a post by the driveway, and one by the back of the house. One sounding device sits in the living room, the other by the back door. When someone enters the driveway, the alarm gives a ding dong sound. If they get near the house, the other sounds. Again deer and raccoons will set it off, but I don’t mind watching them too.

For the doors, have a locksmith key all the doors alike. Then unscrew the strike plate screws and make sure they are long enough to go into the 2X4 in the wall, not just the pine door frame. If there is glass surrounding the door, have double cylinder dead bolts installed, but keep an extra key hidden near the door in addition to your regular keys for fire safety and escape. Solid doors should have a 180  peep hole so you can see who is knocking before unlocking. With the screws going into the wall itself, not just the frame, if they kick the door in, you’ll hear them.

Windows need to have an additional locking system other than the butterfly lock. You should be able to secure the windows when they are closed and/or when they are partially open.

The inside should have lights on timers. There should be a good gun safe for guns and jewelry.

One other thing is to mark your property with your driver’s license. The state initials and the numbers will allow officials to find your name, age, address and so forth. If you can find stickers that indicate “Operation Identification” for your windows they help.

If you trust your neighbors, work with them. Be suspicious of traveling salesmen and so forth, and don’t hesitate to report suspicious activity.

When you call the police, remember, they don’t know what is going on until you tell them and they need the information in order. Your name, your location, phone number, why you are calling, what you think is going to happen. If it is happening right now, tell them “IN PROGRESS”. Be patient and stay on the phone until they tell you to hang up.

Make sure the family has a plan for fire and intrusion, and practice.

There is no one answer to crime, but using a combined package or system perspective where all the units work together can make the bad guys go somewhere easier.

Last but not least; I have an alarm system installed that not only monitors doors and motion, but a smoke detector. When we are not home, or the wife is home alone, it is comforting.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top