Home Invasion Scenarios

Squeaky tells us how she'd react

I'd like to discuss what my plan would be in such a situation and why, but I have to sleep, so I'll do this tomorrow.

I was watching Dateline (or nightline) recently with my parents and they were discussing a case in Long Island where a black man shot a white teen and was ultimately convicted of manslaughter. A group of drunk teens came to his house in the middle of the night threatening to kill his son. I immediately told my parents before the facts had been laid out on the show. "If he left the house with his weapon, he's screwed." Sure enough, thats what he did. He left the house carrying an old Beretta, and ultimately one of the teens was shot in the head at the bottom of the driveway. My parents used this to proclaim "SEE, this is what happens if you keep a gun in the house. Without the gun this wouldn't have happened, and 2 lives wouldn't be ruined. The gun only made things worse." The thing is, this case was the exception rather than the rule, and it was the decision to leave the house, not the GUN that was the problem. They just aren't willing to see that.

Anyway, back to the point of this post. How I'd react to a home invasion would depend largely on whether I'm living by myself at the time, or whether I'm living with my parents as I am currently. Obviously, it greatly depends on whether there are other people in the house.

First things first, If someone breaks into our house I am not going to investigate. If I'm home alone I'm locking the bedroom door and grabbing my phone and maybe a flashlight. The keys to my safe are on my person and in my room at night. The safe is hidden but easily accessible. I'd prefer a quick-open electronic safe with a keyed override, and if I can find an inexpensive one I'll buy it. Both the Sig & .22 Bersa are loaded w/ one in the pipe when they're in the safe. I don't bother ever using the safety on the .22, since the Sigs don't have one anyway.

As far as I'm concerned, the best thing I can do is stay put and get on the phone with the cops. I don't know the capabilities of the intruder nor whether he's armed. In Delaware we have no castle doctrine, and while I personally consider anyone who's forcibly entered my house to be a potentially lethal "threat" Delaware law doesn't see it that way in regards to my lawful use of lethal force. This extra legal burden on my makes it even more imperative that I don't leave the room to find him. I won't use lethal force until he breaks down that door and comes after me.

Having other family members home changes the circumstances drastically. If possible, I want to get everyone, including my dog into an upstairs bedroom. In this case we all stay in that room and my actions from the above paragraph apply. If getting my family into one room exposes me to danger so be it. That's a risk that needs to be taken.