House broken into...

[DJM/78]

:agree: Perfect choice for a weapon .357 m. Very well put Eagle , allot of people put too much trust in the police ,

I accidently hit the panic button on my alarm at work , ADT was on it , with in 30 .sec . they were on the phone .

Took the cops 45 min and there right across the street . When he showed ,I explained my urgency . Told him we were all

dead by now , don't even bother I'll take care of it next time on my own .

BE PREPARED !!! Thats the best advice I can give , If you have a weapon , use and train with it allot .

[Eagle]

:agree: Perfect choice for a weapon .357 m.

Maybe, maybe not. Revolvers are easier for new shooters because they are less likely to malfunction, but they only hold 5 or 6 shots and take more time to reload. One nice thing about a .357 Magnum is that it can be down-loaded with .38 Special ammo for practice, or even all the time for someone who doesn't like the muzzle blast and recoil of a .357. Worth considering, but my point was simply that a petite female can shoot even a .357 Magnum well. My friend's wife has gone shooting with us when I've visited, and I can attest that she DOES shoot it well.

[DJM/78]

I used the Glock .357 semi auto , Interchangeable barrel , from 9 mm. - .40 cal . Holds 13 rounds .

I've never had a glock jam on me , that was properly cleaned and had never used reload rounds .

Good for shotguns not standard amo. weapons . Most manufactures will void warranty if they see improper powder

used in the firearm . Thats why blank rounds always misfire and take a crapload of cleaning after.

[BORDENCOMANCHE]

I love how nobody mentioned anything about warning shots? I am from Canada, were not really gun oriented up here, well not entirely. I am pretty well off with firearms, being an armoured crewman.

 

If somebody was coming through my front door, I don't care whats going on, I'm cappin a few off to let him know I am armed, the safety is off and I know how to pull the trigger, not to mention myself or "somebodies" wife might be better prepared to score a kill shot in the situation if the barrel and herself are already warmed up from warning rounds.

 

Anybody can pound a bullseye but can you beat the tunnel vision of a life threatening situation? If your answer is Yes then guns are for you, if you will freeze, I suggest removing every gun from your house immeadiately, as I agree with others, what you have may be turned against you.

 

Buy a dog, buy a friend, buy non-lethal methods of subduing somebody but unless your ready to put somebody in the grave, don't buy a gun, cause it will be you going to yours. Thats the bottom line.

 

 

AND FOR F* sakes do not enter ANYWHERE if your spider senses are tingling, its different for me I have the training, and even still I wouldn't do it without back-up, behiet a neighbour, friend, co-worker or police officer or trusty canine friend.

 

 

Sorry about the rant guys, seen too many good friends go in the ground.

[freakjeep93]

:agree: 100% i will be getting the training this summer (joining army reserves) and i wouldnt go into a house if it felt unsafe without backup

[Eagle]

I love how nobody mentioned anything about warning shots?

Warning shots are very bad advice. First -- they have to go somewhere. Out on the street, what goes up ... eventually comes down. In your home, playing around with warning shots wastes your ammunition, and it alerts the bad guy(s) to where you are.

 

I don't know what the law is on home invasions in Canada. I know in England the homeowner goes to prison and the assailant gets a medal, but we don't do that in the U.S. Every state recognizes the inside of your home as your "castle." Once someone breaks into your house, they are considered a threat and the use of lethal force is justified. Most experts recommend having a plan -- the family retreats to a pre-arranged location (such as one of the upstairs bedrooms) and somebody calls 9-1-1 while someone else covers the door (and hopefully the stairs) with a gun. Doesn't hurt to call out "I'm armed and we have called the police," but don't show yourself and don't play around with warning shots. If the bad guy(s) persist in coming up the stairs (or down the hall, depending on where your safe room is) ... fire when ready.

 

And no nonsense about "shooting to wound," either. You are employing lethal force. Make it lethal. The idea is to STOP the threat. Under stress, it's hard enough to hit center of mass (the torso). Trying to shoot an arm or a leg is a great way to guarantee that you'll miss.

 

It's really very simple: "Stop, or I'll shoot." Step. BANG!

[freakjeep93]

i think in canada if someone invades your house and is threatening your family you have every right to shoot them BUT only if thery are in you house if there in you yard its concidered murder. thats why in canada we use warning shots

[BORDENCOMANCHE]

I admired everybodies ability to stay away from what if scenarios (there is no end to them and nobody ever gets to the conclusion).

 

All very good points Eagle, yes the idea is to stop the threat before it reaches you, and under duress its not the easiest thing to do. Mind you, even the most seasoned criminals I am sure also experience the some sort of duress as well. The idea behind escalation of force is that a conflict can be resolved or eliminated at the lowest means neccessary, yes I completely agree with you,

 

STOP OR I WILL SHOOT, tactical communication, step, bang is a very effective method of dealing with home invasion. It is legal and it provides the suspect that extra little mental notion of ' I shouldn't be here' and give him the fight or flight frame of mind. It was just in my frame of mind, I would cap rounds into floor boards, the wall, the brick, the couch, whatever I would show that a-hole he's gonna get it.

 

Getting back to the original problem, somebody broke into your house, thats MEGA serious. Firearms are dangerous for both parties regardless.

 

Weigh the risks, but whatever you do, always have a plan or multiple contingency plans, incorporate a family pet, get friendly with the neighbour, tell them the situation, practice home evacuation, you sound like a pretty serious guy, don't allow yourself to be sucked into the gun will fix all my security issues solution, provided yes the gun is a great tool but it shouldn't be your only one.

 

Not much else I can say but I pray your problems are over and that you can move on.

 

Ryan

[Carl'sMJ]

I love how nobody mentioned anything about warning shots? I am from Canada, were not really gun oriented up here, well not entirely. I am pretty well off with firearms, being an armoured crewman.

 

If somebody was coming through my front door, I don't care whats going on, I'm cappin a few off to let him know I am armed, the safety is off and I know how to pull the trigger, not to mention myself or "somebodies" wife might be better prepared to score a kill shot in the situation if the barrel and herself are already warmed up from warning rounds.

 

 

This is not very good advice. I cannot think of any situation where it would make any sense to just start ripping rounds off blindly at an assailant. Eagle mentioned some of the downfalls and there are many more.

 

Warning shots are a tactic that have most recently come into common practice trying to minimize civilian casualties during OIF/OEF and really have no place in this discussion. Also note that Standard Operating Procedire for warning shots used by military units specifies specific shot placement for each step in the escalation of force. Warning shots are never just randomly fired shots.

[DJM/78]

:agree: , also you have to look at the situation , Even with right , the police are going to investigate every situation

like a crime scene , To there defense , the cops have two people , one dead and the other with a gun . Even if its your

house and you were protecting your family . The investigating officer has to look at all the details. You could've had a

friend over and got in a massive fight , someone ends up dead . The scenario's are endless .

Thats partly what the handgun safety courses are all about , giving you a chance to look at your local laws ,

different scenario's and what to do , not to do . Owning and having a handgun permit is a big responsibility !!

Thats also why they changed the name to a concealed handgun permit and not a concealed weapons permit.

allot of people thought that meant any weapon . In fact the only weapon you are allowed to carry by right and

conceal , is a firearm . Not a baseball bat or a switchblade or any other weapon . If you use any of those or are

caught with them will be or can be charged with all kinds of crimes . Dependent on situation .

[Dave Stark]

Well, I have to say, at first i was only looking for opinions on some weapons to get her started training, but i ended up with a wealth of knowledge. The different viewpoints, opinions, & experiences you have all provided will help tremendously.

 

Tonight I'm going to have my wife read the entire thread & hopefully that can help her to understand the gravity of what she wants to undertake far better than i can express to her myself...

 

:bowdown: :bowdown:

[Eagle]

Thats also why they changed the name to a concealed handgun permit and not a concealed weapons permit.

allot of people thought that meant any weapon . In fact the only weapon you are allowed to carry by right and

conceal , is a firearm .

Sorry.

 

You are extrapolating, presumably based on YOUR state's laws. In some states, it IS a "concealed weapons" permit. Since there is no universal reciprocity, I have permits from four states, and that makes me legal to carry in about 36 states.

 

One state just calls it a "permit to carry pistol or handgun" and it allows either concealed or open carry.

 

Florida calls it a "Concealed Weapon or Firearm License."

 

Another state calls it a "Pistol/revolver License." I can carry either open or concealed in that state.

 

The fourth just calls it a "License to carry firearms." Doesn't require that they be concealed.

 

Further, there is nothing in the 2nd Amendment that limits "arms" to "firearms." Your statement that "In fact the only weapon you are allowed to carry by right and conceal , is a firearm" may be correct for your state, but it is not correct for most states.

 

The laws, and terminology, of each state are different. Please don't fall into the trap of providing specific advice based on the law in your state to people in other states. It isn't helping, because it may very well be incorrect. (In fact, it will almost certainly be incorrect.)

[dasbulliwagen]

I'm not sure if it really matters at this point in the conversation, but a real professional burglar goes to all lengths to avaoid such interaction with the homeowners. If your house was invaded, nothing taken, lights left on, the criminal could have seen your wife coming and made a quick exit without having finished his job. They could have both been there at the same time and your wife would not have known it. But we all know too well the ones we have to worry about are the drug crazed ones that steal whatever they can for their next hit, but too, most of them will still only look for the easiest, quickest least interaction jobs they can find. I know that the worst of the home invasions happen, but I think too that TV and POP culture has us more scared than we need to be on this subject. If a criminal invades while someone is home, it is because they have intended it to be that way and have other things on their mind... such as rape. But most rapists attack in an open dark area, or through coersion. They too want the least possible danger for themselves, which makes a home invasion very unlikely. I know that a break in makes you feel violated, but it is highly unlikely that it will happen. Yes training on the subject of self protection is needed, and steps should be taken, but It does not sound like your wife will need to go the full distance and get a gun to protect herself. Pepperspray positoned throughout the house is a low cost measure that could be taken, change the locks of course, check the whole house for weak points in security and address them... This is probably all you will need. They say the security company stickers just put on the house without even a system is a detterant! All these little steps should point you in the direction you both feel you should be able to handle mentally and financially.

 

I too have the Mossberg 500 that can hold 8- 2 3/4" shells in the mag and one in the barrel, but mine has a pistol grip. I also have a Berretta 3032 Tomacat 32 auto. This when loaded with hollowpoints hits like 38, but can still fit inconspicuously in your pocket. The wife has shot both, and has more than once gotten afraid at home by herself and kept the 32 with her till I got home. Would she use it to protect herself? I'm really not sure. But I know she wouldnt go down without a fight.

[BORDENCOMANCHE]

We could sit here and dispute SOPs, all day.