It happened to us

Best advice I have seen on this forum yet, all of it.

My condolences, I am sure you are shattered over this.

Ok, my advice: Talk with your spouse and your daughters and.... (god forbid) your neighbors. Between your family, and neighbors I am sure you can get something together. you sound like you are level headed. ON the gun issue, ask your daughters if they think they could kill someone. If there is no hesitation, that means NO regardless of what they say. IF they hesitate adn think about it, go with their decision, but give them the tools, training and information to make the right decision when that time comes. I doubt I could allow my 15 year old daughter the ok to do that but your daughters are different than mine.

Sean
 
I dunno if I'd talk to the girls about killing. Maybe just stick to the basics for now, having fun punching holes in empty soda cans, paper targets, steel reactives, water filled milk jugs, watermelons, full soda cans, balloons on strings... let them put 2 and 2 together when they're ready. Perhaps some martial arts for self confidence as well.

Maybe find an NRA Refuse to be a Victim instructor and have a private (or group) session. Emphasize "stopping the attacker"... no need to get gory and deathwish-like on killing. (I hope)

Good luck Jim. Stay safe.
 
KYJIM SAID:
I'm going to get another and make sure they have one in each bedroom.
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Make sure niether of those phones have a service. keep them charged and on the cradle, leave them on. If they have no service then no one has any reason to carry them someplace. Even cells that have no service must be able, by law, to contact 911.
You should have established safe rooms in each level of the house. these should be inaccesable from the outside. I have bars on mine that key open. Each room should have a steel door with a bolt lock and a door club. In each room there should be a gun safe, digital fast acting, containing the loaded firearm a reload and the key to the bars. Each person authorized to use the firearm should have the combo. If you have several levels in the house each should have a room and the combos for the safes should be the same. The forementioned cell phone should be in each room with it set at speaker phone if it has one. Also, in my safe room, and one in each bedroom of my house, I have a EVAC-U8 smoke hood for each house member. Each bedroom and my saferoom has a battery light.
The drill should go like this, and I mean drill regular:
The alarm is sounded, what ever that alarm is. All house hold members go to the closest room. The door is closed and bolted, then the door club is put in place. The safe is opened and 911 is called. Keeping the operator on the line constantly, the break in is reported. If the perp comes to the door he is warned, "DON"T TRY TO COME IN HERE, I HAVE THE POLICE ON THE PHONE AND I AM ARMED!!" Continue repeating that as long as he is attempting to enter. If he gets in do what you have to do while shouting STOP!!.
If he doesn't get in you will eventually be told the police are there. If a knock comes to the door and someone says he's the police ask him for his name and badge number, verify this with the operator. Place the firearm back in the safe and leave it open. Open the locks but do not remove the door club, this will allow the door to open far enough that you can see outside. If its a cop pull the club out and keep your hands exposed.
Thats my drill, I also do fire escape drills. I guess it's because of my years as a corrections officer and those as a navy HT damage control and firefighting
 
Again, thanks to everyone. Choochboost -- the additional information on the alarm system is especially helpful.
 
garryc,

Do you feel it is wise to have everyone in different rooms? If I were you I would designate a safe room (probably the master bedroom). If you have everyone in different rooms, there is no communication between the other family members. As for having each room having guns and a door club, I feel that might be a little excessive. Besides, it is illegal to leave firearms where they are accesible to minors (under 18). If I lived in a neighborhood where I would need to set up my house that way, I would move.
 
He has safe rooms on every level of the house. Each family member goes to the closest safe room. I guess that makes sense since the MB safe room is useless if you can't get to it because the bad guys are between you and the safe room. The thought is, 2+ safe rooms are better than one. Its not what I have in my house but I understand his point.
 
Chooch,

I can understand his point as well. The solution to that is to have guns hidden throughout the house. These can be in quick access type safes in discrete hiding places. My point is that all of the family members should be together if possible. This lessens the chances of "friendly fire" incidences and ensures that all family members are accounted for. Using garryc's method, you won't know if everyone is accounted for until the cops show up. Besides, who should be responsible for contacting the police? I guess 4 or 5 frantic 911 calls may get a faster response time. I guess it depends on the age of the people living in your house. If you have kids, you sure as heck would not them fending for themselves.
 
I agree with you completely. I wouldn't want my daughter (if I had one) in an upstairs safe room while I was in the safe room downstairs. I would want her with me. Here's another concern - If my family is spread in different parts of the house, how am I to know if, and when they are locked in the safe rooms and when I should lock mine? You could potentially and inadvertently lock family members out. I guess you'd need a intercom system. But yes, having your entire family accounted for cannot be emphasized enough.
 
I live in a single level house so I have I safe room. I can see your point about wanting to insure all the people are accounted for. If I was in that situation I would go to them. But they would be in a safe room. I figure the kid would let me in (MAYBE A CODE WORD) thats not a big issue. Fact is if the perp is between me and my kid and I have to shoot him, oh well. I would go to my child after I'm armed. Ohio doesn't have an issue with kids access to guns inside the home, nor should they, it's the parents decision. Of course I don't have any children, but if I did the kids going to the closest room and it's my respocibility to get to them.
 
i just have to throw this in here stephen426 said something that got me to thinking "If I lived in a neighborhood where I would need to set up my house that way, I would move." how do you know if you live in a neighborhood where you need to do things like this freak things happen every were it could be someone who's just passing through the area it doesnt have to be someone who actually lives there so i dont think having the door clubs and a phone and a weapon in every one is being over bareing its like the old saying goes better to be safe than sorry
 
When I grow up and have kids, I think it'll depend on the situation whether they'll be allowed to open doors for strangers. Young kids, say under 12, definately not. When they're older, and they're living in the kind of nice upscale neighborhood I'm in now, they'll be allowed to use their own judgement. Obviously, if it's 2AM and there's loud knocking by a stranger, I'd have them look through the peep first and holding a gun before making any decisions. Preferably just talk to them through the door to see what they want first. If it's a pleasant sunday morning, with lots of people walking their dogs along our streets and the neighbors kids playing basketball with their dads in their driveways etc, and one of them knocks on the door, I'd expect them to open it.
 
I live in a low crime area, but I'm a corrections officer these last 14yrs and I have a few "Enemies" you might say.
 
McBrideGuns said:
i just have to throw this in here stephen426 said something that got me to thinking "If I lived in a neighborhood where I would need to set up my house that way, I would move." how do you know if you live in a neighborhood where you need to do things like this freak things happen every were it could be someone who's just passing through the area it doesnt have to be someone who actually lives there so i dont think having the door clubs and a phone and a weapon in every one is being over bareing its like the old saying goes better to be safe than sorry
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I know that not everyone is fortunate enough to live in a good neighborhood, especially when it comes to expensive cities like Los Angeles, Miami, and New York. Miami has been split into many townships such as Coral Gables and Pinecrest. Both of these townships set up their own police departments and have response times far superior (usually less than 5 minutes) to that of City of Miami or Metro Dade (up to several hours). Property values are higher in these townships but the millage rate for taxes are lower. Crime can occur anywhere, but both of these townships have a much lower crime rate compared to the city of Miami in general. Do your homework and investigate the crime rates before you buy a house.

I am not saying one should not always be prepared, but putting door clubs in all bedrooms and having guns in all rooms is excessive. Besides, unless everyone uses the door club on a consistant basis, it won't mean a damn thing if the bad guy is inside the room. I failed to mention one very big weakness in garry's plan. What if the bad guy takes on of your kids hostage or claims to have one of your kids? For me, there is no option but to get everyone into the safe room. If that means taking out the bad guy on the way, so be it.

As I've mentioned on many other posts, the most important thing is prevention and advanced warning. Instead of spending all that money on door clubs and guns, I've get a good monitored alarm system or a good guard dog. Spend money on good door locks or bars for your windows. If they don't get in, then you won't have to worry about it. If the alarm goes off and they leave, even better. For me, the last option is a shoot out with a bad guy.
 
You know, what works in my situation and what works in someone elses is likely differant. But whats important is to have a dang plan so you aren't caught with your pants down.
 
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