Stay put or go investigate?

[Derius_T]

Hawken50 wrote:

one question about clearing your own house though. i would think because you know your own house, even in the dark, this would give you all the advantages over and intruder whos already tripped over something and woke you up.

You may know the house, but does that really give you alot of advantage? Worth staking your life on? So intruder has tripped, woke you up, and is now on HIGH ALERT! (if he doesn't run) If its a guy intent to kill you and family, not just rob you, now he's more cautious. Maybe he holes up somewhere where he can see you coming and suprises you? You never know. You can't see everywhere at once. What if there is more than one? Some work in pairs/groups. IMHO, best thing to do would be secure family, secure area, call LEO's, and be ready for a firefight if anything breaks through where you have barricaded yourselves. Your stuff is replaceable. Your kids aren't.

 

[jdberger]

What if there is more than one?

Definitely a great point that has been overlooked so far. There may be more than one guy/gal.

Look, here is the deal. You are not Rambo. You cannot effectively clear a house by yourself. yoiu just can't. You can't see behind you, you can't cover all the angles at once. This isn't Doom or Quake. The Delta, FBI's HRT, local SWAT teams all train their asses off to be able to clear a room and survive and they use a 5-6 guy team.

Gather the family. Get somewhere safe. Stay put. Call the cops on your cell. Shoot anyone coming through the door who isn't calling out that they are a cop. The cops are your house clearing team, let them do their job.

You may have rights to shoot in other circumstances - but your life and the safety of your family come first. Don't let your pride get in the way of doing the right thing.

And finally, do you really WANT to shoot and kill another human being? Scumbag or goblin or badguy - you are killing someone's husband/brother/son/dad etc. That is quite the weight for your soul. Not saying that you should give a damn about all that when the goblin comes for you - then they lose thir humanity and get to learn the hard way that the instinct for survival and preservation of the clan trumps the spitiual dilemma.

My favorite president said something to the effect of "walk softly, but carry a big stick."