HD plan- stay guard at top of stairs?

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charile12

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I have a mossberg 500. I have the BR's on the top fl (2nd floor). My plan is to have kids with wife in a BR and me waiting in hallway guarding the stairs making sure no one comes up. I do have some concealment - i can conceal myself to the side but will be exposed if I need to fire down the stairs. Is this a good plan or should I retreat with family in BR? I do not like the idea of going into BR with fam because I feel the BG can take a shot when the door it broken down or opened.
Thanks for your thoughts.
 
Is there a large closet or bathroom within the master bedroom? If so, I would send the family in there while I stood watch over the locked bedroom door. Consider giving a loud verbal warning that you have called the cops and whoever it is should leave immediately. At the first sign of trying to enter the bedroom, I would open fire. While a bedroom door may not be much cover, it is a good "line in the sand" that I can dare anyone to cross.

Of course there might not be sufficient time to sequester the family in one room. In that event, I would try to have everyone take cover where they are. If everyone is upstairs, then defense of the stairs is probably the best tactic.
 
I agree with jmhyer.

To the OP...I used to have a house exactly as you describe. Make a plan and communicate the plan to the entire family.

Some other things to consider in you HD plan:
Most times you would not have time to gather the clan so educate them. Tell them a command you will give which means to lock down in their room until the all clear is given. Make it short a sweet.

Have a weapon (you already do), a cell phone (in case the home phone wires are cut) and a good working flashlight (in case the power is cut) and a key to your house on a key ring with a brightly colored fob or "boat float" (for throwing out the window to the police) in your safe room (master BR in your case).

Find a position where you can get low and cover the point of access to the upstairs. If possible have someone else (wife etc) call 911 so you can stay focused. Instruct the police to come to a specific window to receive the key. This way they don't have to break down your door. Tell the 911 operator to give the police a password to use before they come upstairs. Have them call your name and give the password before you lay down the shotgun and step away from it in plain view with your hands empty and up.

HD plans can save lives.
 
It depends on your state laws and whether you have a castle doctrine in effect and also whether the intruder is just attempting to steal or actually intends to kill you. The further you let an aggressor into your house, the more like you are to be injured. Once inside, they also have cover similar or equal to your's. While you are confined to an upstairs bedroom all they have to do is get directly below you on the lower level and fire up through the floor you're standing on. If you feel it's likely the aggessor(s) are going to cause you bodily harm, a more proactive defense would be advisable.
 
In our case, we'll be better off in the bedroom. We have actual cover there, not just concealment, and the room would need to be entered through a short hall making for a perfect "fatal funnel."

Mobuck said:
...a more proactive defense would be advisable.
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As we've discussed before, that's a bad idea unless one needs to round up innocents and get them to a place of safety. Moving about increases the risk of being flanked and/or ambushed.
 
Just don't peak around the corner to see who they are talking to, if you hear someone softly call out "Khalid".

Your plan is similar to mine; bunker up at the top of the stairs.

I want to meet them with a blinding light and hd shot gun as they are confined on the stairs.
 
It depends on your state laws and whether you have a castle doctrine in effect and also whether the intruder is just attempting to steal or actually intends to kill you. The further you let an aggressor into your house, the more like you are to be injured. Once inside, they also have cover similar or equal to your's. While you are confined to an upstairs bedroom all they have to do is get directly below you on the lower level and fire up through the floor you're standing on. If you feel it's likely the aggessor(s) are going to cause you bodily harm, a more proactive defense would be advisable.
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This is pretty much universally accepted as bad advice. If you are passing along advice that was given to you then you should carefully consider any other advice from the same source. If this is advice you formulated on your own then please rethink this position and/or get some real professional training. There is a high likelyhood you will be killed or injured doing this and nobody here would want that for you.

This course of action puts you in the greatest peril possible under the most likely robbery/home invasion scenario. Unless the perp has absolutely located you, which would mean you were not at all stealthy, or if the perp has done something rash like setting your house on fire or armed a bomb, staying put and on guard is your best hope for success. Even if this is someone who means you harm and knows your home's layout, you are still better off laying in wait rather than actively seeking the perp.
 
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My attitude is once they hit the stairs, they are no longer a burglar. They have now put my family in jeopardy. So yes the stairs have become my line of defense, and as such I would tell them the cops are on the way and the stairs is where I will defend my family, take what you can and leave. If they decide to test my directive I will defend it.
 
I plan to make my stand in the bedroom.

The wife goes in the closet (out of any line of fire) with the phone and calls 911. I move to the opposite side of the bed, weapon trained on the door. I'll be crouched down low with only a few inches exposed, and in deep shadow.

I'll holler "Don't come in here, I'm armed". If he/they break the door in, he is now a deadly threat. He's not coming to steal my stuff. He has no idea where I am, and I know exactly where he will be when the door opens. In the several seconds it takes to locate me I can send 5-6 rounds his way. There will be 9-10 more left in the magazine if he has a friend. The friend will now know basically where I am, but I still have the cover of the bed.

If he/they decide to just take my stuff and not enter the bedroom, let them go. My insurance will cover the loss. But the bedroom door is the point of no return.
 
Don't agree with those who would let intruders come up the stairs and occupy the same floor as their families. Of course, stairs aren't all the same, and tactical considerations aren't either.

I'd also make my stand at the front door, if possible, and not let them get in in the first place.



Just my thoughts on the matter. :cool:
 
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Why would your wife be hiding in the closet, or anywhere else, instead of being your back up?
What would be the result if you go down, if she just hides?
She is just as capable to defend your family as you, isn't she?
 
My bedroom is not upstairs, it's in a rear corner of the house. Its the best place to control entry, only one way in.

Issues of my wife protecting the house are My concern.
 
The OPs description leads me to belive that the stairs should be the place to make a stand.

I would cover the stairs and have the wife (or another person) call 911. The narrow stairway becomes a fatal funnel and humans are instincively wary of attacking foes on higher ground. Psychological advantage.

This also divides the home. The police can be told that the intruder is on the first floor, and the armed homeowner and his family are upstairs.

Put a small night-lite on the bottom area of the stairs, and do not light up the top. That way, you can see down, but the intruder cannot see up as well.
 
DON"T engage in conversation with the BG ! One short command only.

Never trust the BG ,he's in your home to do you harm one way or another .
 
Staying guard at the top of the stairs is an acceptable position, but not ideal. Ideally, you will have a better form of cover. If there is a closet in the master bedroom that is out of the way of a possible exchange of gunfire, I would put my family there. If your wife knows how to handle a gun, I would keep one that she is familiar with in the closet in case something happens to you.

Also, make sure to test that you get a good cell phone signal wherever your wide and children will be hiding, they need to be in direct and effective communication with police in such an encounter.

I also agree to keep from a conversation with the BG. A simple command to leave and that the police are in their way is all that is necessary. Don't say anything about being armed, don't say that you will kill them should they do ____.


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Posted by Nnobby45: I'd also make my stand at the front door, if possible, and not let them get in in the first place.
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That'll work--if and only if (1) they all happen to decide to come in through the front door; (2) you know about their intentions in time to so act; and (3) they give you a legal reason to shoot them before they enter; and 4) you can somehow conduct an effective defense that way.
 
I have a multi-channel digital video baby monitoring system with two cameras that I have put to good use now that the baby is big kid. These cameras, while not high definition, are able to see in complete darkness fairly well.

One camera is positioned to survey the entire great room and I can see all entries into the house with it.

The other camera looks directly down the main hallway that leads to the bed rooms. There is a hallway door that we close which partitions the main living area from bedroom wing, which I keep closed at night in case of smoke/fire. No need to poke my head around corners to see whats coming. All of my doors and windows are alarmed. We also have motion detection lighting around the entire exterior perimeter of the house which are mounted high up to deter casual tampering.

After we have collected the kid, I plan on holing up in the master bedroom with the monitor while the wife makes the necessary calls with her cellphone. We are pretty well prepared for anything that tries to enter the bedroom wing uninvited.
 
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If I had to fight a bad guy in my house, the stairs would allow me the best advantage and him the greatest disadvantage.

IMO, the staircase is the first best place to fight, if you are already on the second floor and must fight. **That is, if you have cover or a corner you can duck around.
 
light

If I have my tac light on that is mounted on SG doesnt the BG know when he turns the corner to go upstairs that someone is waiting for him. Perhaps its better as suggested a few posts ago about placing a small light at the bottom and me waiting with the SG trained down the stairs.
 
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