Three Letters Re: Surviving A Home Invasion Robbery

Good Day James Wesley,
I’ve been learning from your site for years and today became a Ten Cent Challenge subscriber.. Thank You!

I too was struck how easily a standard residential entry doors can be opened either by lock “bumping” and even more easily with a stout “kick”.

When I retired last June, one of my first projects suggested by my darling wife was to replace all entry doors to our 1959 brick veneer ranch style house with attached garage.

We wanted at minimum insulated, solid core, steel doors but also spent quite quite a bit of time looking/considering the various fiberglass alternatives. We wanted robust and were less concerned with appearance and were surprised that in virtually all instances, “Big Box” and Contractor Supply “Residential” replacement doors feature “minimalist” wooden frames, or pricey 20 gauge steel [frames], which as pointed out in a prior post, need heavy reinforcement to survive any determined assault.

We therefore chose heavy duty commercial steel doors from Steelcraft. The ones that we bought have 16 gauge galvanized frames and 18 gauge galvanized doors with 90 minute fire ratings.

The Steelcraft choice was due to it’s Ohio operation (freight cost economies, for us) as well as the familiarity we had with local Contractor Supply companies. Regionally, there are a number of similar manufacturers and suppliers for these commercial standard products.

Once we determined the basic specifications we did “shop” the order to three supply houses and one “Big Box” retailer with whom we had positive experience with in sourcing a replacement patio door.

Unfortunately with the Big Box experience we found that their wholesale supplier could provide the doors we wanted but had a “policy” of charging 40% above Contractor pricing!

Needless to say that made for a very simple decision and we ordered from the selected Contractor Supply company three doors [ 2-30×80, 1-36×80 with 4″x24″ tempered glass “lights”] for $1,800 with tax and delivered and an estimated two week lead time due to the three “special” frames needed, as they are made in 1/8″ increments.

We estimated that we could install each door in two days and were almost on target after the first one. (The first one took four days.)

The biggest effort was removal of the old doors/frames and reinforcing the channels in the metal frames to permit their being further secured with 5/8″ x 3” lag screws into the house joists/framing.

Final paint/trims completed the re-dooring and we installed aluminum wood core “storm doors” with exterior openings, Commercial #2 lock sets and reinforced jam openings completed the project to “buy time” in the event an unauthorized entry attempt.

The installation directions from the door manufacturer were right on and I’ll point out that I haven’t done any construction in over 30 years.

Am pleased with the results and would encourage your readers to consider similar action if events continue to evolve since my first read of “Patriots” in 1999. Warmest Regards – Bob F.

 

Mr. Editor:
To all of those recommending spending money on major door reinforcements, consider that unless the rest of your house is a steel box, this is largely just window dressing. Literally that. The strongest door in the world isn’t going to keep someone out of a house that has man-sized glass-covered holes in it on every wall. We call those windows. Unless you’re on a high floor of an apartment building, or unless you’ve added security grates to all your windows, the best lock in the world might give you peace of mind, but does little more in the way of true security. You might only ever come in through the door, but criminals don’t. – Troy

 

James,
This is a follow up to the Surviving a Home Invasion Robbery article. If any of your readers have exterior doors that swing outward, they probably have exposed hinge pins. If so, removing the hinge pins can allow an adversary to somewhat quietly and easily remove a door.

A possible solution is to use a couple of specially designed hinge security screws on each hinge. Here is an example of this type of screw. This is not an endorsement for any particular brand of hinge security screw, but just to show your readers what to look for.

Economics and Investing:

Chris G. sent us this troubling news article: House Democrats ‘Deem’ Faux $1.1 Trillion Budget ‘as Passed’

Recession cut into employment for half of working adults, study says. (Thanks to frequent content contributor B.B. for the link.)

Items from The Economatrix:

BofE Rate Setter Fears New UK Recession

Nearly 1 in 3 First-Quarter Home Sales a Foreclosure Sold at Steep Discount

Central Banks Warn of New Crisis if Exit Left Too Late

China Slowdown Fears Hit Global Markets

It’s Everyone for Themselves After Toronto Failure

Europe’s Recovery Falters

Double-Dip Recession Warning Signs are Everywhere! Batten Down the Hatches!

Payrolls Drop by 125,000, Jobless Rate Falls

Stocks Inch Up After Government Says Job Growth Slow

No Bucks, No Boom for The Fourth

Oil Drops Slightly After US Jobs Report

New Data Shows US “Recovery” in Peril

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"In every government there necessarily exists a power from which there is no appeal, and which, for that reason, may be formed absolute and uncontrollable. The person or assembly in whom this power resides is called the sovereign or supreme power of the state. With us, the sovereignty of the Union is in the people." – Charles Pinckney, 1788

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 29 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. This one is too short to qualify for consideration in the judging, but had enough merit to justify posting. (I encourage writers to include greater depth of detail and references.) The prizes for this round will include:

First Prize: A.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost between $500 and $600, and B.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees, in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $392 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A 500 round case of Fiocchi 9mm Parabellum (Luger ) with 124gr. Hornady XTP/HP projectiles, courtesy of Sunflower Ammo (a $249 value), and E.) An M17 medical kit from JRH Enterprises (a $179.95 value).

Second Prize: A.) A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $400, and B.) two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Third Prize: A.) A copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, from Arbogast Publishing, and B.) a Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.)

Round 29 ends on July 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Sustainable Chicken Farming, by Sheila C.

I have been raising chickens for eggs during the past several years, and I would like to share some of the secrets I have learned for long term food production. I like free range eggs, but have found that chickens pose certain conflicts with other necessities that can be quite frustrating. And reproducing chickens can be quite a trick these days. Chickens are a very good source of sustainable food from eggs and meat and also have side benefits, but it’s good to know some of the tricks. I hope this article can help preppers get ready and give a couple good chuckles along the way.

First of all, I found that most varieties of chicks sold at a local feed store have been genetically selected for egg production and the “broodiness” has been intentionally bred out of them. In other words, they do not set on their eggs and hatch them. I grew up on a farm, and I just assumed that chickens would naturally have babies like they did on the farm. For several years I waited for my hens to set, eagerly looking forward to the familiar chirp of little voices following a clucking hen around. I finally visited with a woman I consider a “chicken expert” about my dilemma and she enlightened me. I am now raising reproductive chickens and encouraging broodiness in my little hens.

The secret [of reliable broodiness] is using bantam chickens. There are several breeds of full-size chickens that will set, but infrequently and unreliably. I have purchased some banties that run around with my full-size chickens. I try to cross breed as much as possible. I have some half-size chickens now that set on eggs and cluck around with babies. My reproducible chickens have become somewhat of an obsession for me, as I try to perfect the kind of chicken that we had back on the farm.

The next problem I noticed with the chicks I bought at the local feed store was the roosters. They are just plain mean. I’d never encountered such mean roosters before and I was baffled. I noticed that the second-generation roosters who were raised by a mama hen were gentler with the hens and less aggressive with everybody else. I have one little rooster from last year that is quite a romantic and the hens love him. I have established a no violence policy with my roosters and have been known to get the shotgun out and settle the problem a couple of times after watching the roosters beat up some poor hen.

I have tripled the size of my garden this year and the chickens were determined to make sure they had a taste of everything first. They dig up the seeds, they eat the seedlings and they generally wreak havoc. I love to have free range chickens, so this was a dilemma for me. I finally built a small fence out of a dog kennel outside of their chicken house and I “ground” my chickens when they start getting into things they shouldn’t. I know it sounds funny, but they seem to behave better after spending a good part of the day cooped up and they seem to understand that they should stay away from the garden now. When one of the hens strays into the garden, I notice the rooster tries to lure her out before she gets caught.

I have had several boxes added to the outside of my chicken coop with hinged doors. I really began feeling a sense of dread for walking through the poop to get the eggs. The hens seem to love the boxes, and the eggs are clean and easy to gather. I also found that adding perches up high encouraged to the chickens to stay out of the boxes for taking a nap and hanging out. Before I had the extra-high perches, I had chickens leaving a mess in the nesting boxes because they liked hanging out in them.

I have been using the chicken manure for garden fertilizer this year. People have told me that it is too “hot” to use like you would horse manure or cow manure. So I added a small amount when I tilled and then I have been scooping dried manure onto the ground around the base of the plants. My garden loves it. I have also found that the chickens are a wonderful bug brigade. I have almost no insect troubles. Even though the garden is off limits and fenced, the chickens have cut the bug population down and for the most part the bugs are gone.

I love chickens, and I believe that in a survival situation they will be a good source of wholesome food. I hope my pointers can help others.

Letter Re: A Brief Review of the Movie “Right at Your Door”

James Wesley:

I watched the [R-rated] 2006 movie Right at Your Door on a cable movie channel this weekend. [It is also available as a “Watch Instantly” streaming video from Netflix.] The scenario was that there were multiple dirty bombs in Los Angeles– initially thought to be chemical, later revealed to be viral agents. [The film follows the protagonists’s reactions to] real-time self-defense (duct tape and plastic), the chaos of getting to the “retreat” of one’s home, reveals some poor thinking and planning and its consequences, and shows the deadly nature of likely governmental “help” for some victims in such a scenario.

Great for getting simple preparedness motivation going, and a good one I’d say for acclimatizing the skeptical spouse. My wife and I found ourselves discussing what we’d do differently in similar circumstances. – E.C.B. in Illinois

Letter Re: The Stamp of Idiocy

James:
Here in Michigan Food Stamps are paid electronically to each person’s account. The recipients are then issued a card to pay for their purchases. The card has a picture of the Mackinac Bridge on the front so they are referred to as “Bridge Cards.”

The Mogambo Guru’s Stamp of Idiocy article states that over 40 million people receive Food Stamps. This is scary to think about. But a few of my observations makes one wonder how many people actually deserve the benefits.

When I picked my daughter up from school last month both my wife and I were appalled at the amount of food that was being thrown out. The dumpster was full of frozen food. When I asked my daughter about this she said many of the girls are very wasteful with food because they purchase the food with their “Bridge Card.” Our daughter said she was one of the few girls there who did not receive Food Stamps.

When I went to a local supermarket last week I noticed many people paying for their purchases with their “Bridge Cards” They were buying expensive processed food and even cases of bottled water. I have also seen people pay with their “Bridge Card” then pull out cash to pay for alcohol and cigarettes since these items cannot be purchased with the card. I was [in the queue] behind one person who paid with a “Bridge Card” and when I went to the parking lot I could not help but notice that they were driving a newer sport utility vehicle.

I also know friends whose children are receiving Food Stamp benefits, many of these children have not worked for years and are doing nothing to look for employment or acquire additional training or education. My cousin’s son has a “Bridge Card”. He dropped out of high school, is 35 years old, lives at [his parent’s] home, does not work, and has had two children with two different girlfriends.

Yes, the economy in Michigan is bad, but there sure is a lot of waste in the Food Stamp program and in my opinion many people are receiving the benefits that are not even making the slightest effort to take care of themselves. – Mark G.

Three Letters Re: Surviving A Home Invasion Robbery

James:
First thank you for your site; helping others and spreading the word of Jesus Christ. A few years ago I came across a company called Armor Concepts and their product Door Jamb Armor. After watching video on their site, I decided to purchase three sets for every entry door to my home. I’m 100% positive that no one will kick in my door – in fact, one of their videos shows how hard it is to bust the door in even with a police battering ram. I’ll admit it’s not the most decorative, but I can almost guarantee very effective. (I’ve never had anyone try to break in).

I should also note that we got into the habit of always locking the doors behind us as well. You never know when someone may just try to walk in and take you by surprise.

Thank you again, and God bless. – Kurt W.

 

Sir:
I am a Vet and retired policeman and I would like to add a couple of my thoughts to Susan’s recent blog post about her home invasion experience. First of all, I admire Susan’s decision to fight for her and her husband’s life. Most of these type of events occur very rapidly which leaves the homeowner very little time to respond. Therefore, having a plan to deal with an event like this is critical. Just thinking about what you would do in the case of a home invasion puts you way ahead of most people. Develop a plan that is suitable to your family’s situation and practice it. If you don’t have small children in the home it gives you more options for placing weapons in strategic locations. If you have children in the home maybe you can fortify one room in the house to act as a safe room to allow time to call the police and retrieve a gun from a safe or lock box. Most home owners have no clue how easy it is for a normal size person to kick in a front door to a home that hasn’t been reinforced properly. I have read many articles regarding home invasions and the vast majority of these cases involve the criminal kicking in the front door allowing him instant access to anyone in the home.

In addition to Susan’s conclusions she learned from her experience, I would like to add two additional items. First, install quality security screen doors made out of heavy agriculture aluminum or steel and make sure they have a least one heavy duty dead bolt. Two deadbolts are even better. These doors are installed in their own metal frame and attached to the house using one-way screws. These type of doors prevents a person from gaining rapid entry to your home because they can’t just kick these doors in since they are made of strong material and close inward towards the door jam. An invader would have to virtually pull the door away from the house to gain access. If the invaders were still serious about going through a security door, at least it would buy the homeowner time to arm themselves and call the police. When these doors are properly installed and locked, a home invader would most likely try entry through a window which takes longer and can buy you time. So, you must also lock your windows as well.

Secondly, I strongly recommend anyone planning to defend themselves in their home from any criminal, to choose the caliber and type of weapon they intend to use carefully. I have no problem with .22 [rimfire] caliber, but I
would never choose it for a defense weapon. I’m not writing this to recommend any specific type of weapon or caliber since that has been discussed many times on this and other blogs. However, I am saying to choose a weapon that is capable of doing the job with as few shots as possible. And last, don’t place the weapon in a drawer or safe and never practice with it. The more you practice, the more efficient you will be in the event you ever experience anything like Susan did.

It is amazing how proper training kicks in during stressful situations. I don’t believe Americans should be paranoid about being a victim of these types of situations. By arming yourself and with the proper
practice you can have the confidence to fight for your life and perhaps save your family from harm. Regards, – Steve P.

 

Sir:
I wanted to reply to the “Home Invasion Robbery” article that was recently posted.

I noticed that the “front” door gave way (IMO) very easily. Most doors are framed by 1 inch board so that they can be dropped right into the joist arch. This also means that even a steel door would only have a little wood to hold on to. I would address that problem (weakness) as I have with my own doors.

First, the lock latches – I would screw a steel 1/8 inch thick 2 inch wide strip stock 3 to 4 foot long onto the door frame with 3 inch screws. Use a chisel to remove some of the wood (1/8 inch) so that the steel strip is level with the wood frame. Center the steel strip to the door latch and deadbolt. Drill holes for the door latch and deadbolt to go thru. Use at least 5 screws positioned along the strip stock, try to put one between the door latch and deadbolt. Screws are cheap, use 6 or more if you want. This will “distribute” the brunt force over a much greater area and into the home framing as well.

Second, the hinges probably only have 1 inch screws for both door and frame. Replace all screws with the 3 inch length to go thru the door frame to the joists. Steel doors may have tapped holes and short screws – I would still put longer screws in (2 inch) because screws can strip. I would put in a 3rd hinge if I didn’t have that now.

I will not say that your door won’t be broken but, you will have added valuable seconds (at least) to your defense time for the cost of screws and a 4 foot long piece of steel. Mike C

Economics and Investing:

KAF sent us this: National debt soars to highest level since WWII

Thanks to RBS for spotting this: Oregon city turns off streetlights to save money

Courtesy of reader John R.: Corruption Suspected in Airlift of Billions in Cash From Kabul. (Gee, do you think it might be suspicious?)

I was doing some web wandering, and I found a fascinating history piece on AIG, and its parent company, AIC.

Items from The Economatrix:

Europe’s Banks Still on Life Support

Roubini Says Greece Needs Orderly Debt Restructuring to Avoid “Inevitable Default”

Britain “Might Not Cope with Another Bank Emergency”

You Don’t Recover from a Debt Crisis with More Debt

Fannie Mae to Charge Strategic Defaulters, with Everything

How Does This Financial Panic Compare to Previous Panics?

Mortgage Applications Rise 9% After Rates Fall

Odds ‘n Sods:

James C. sent this: Army begins shipping improved 5.56mm cartridge.

   o o o

Some interesting insights on wilderness living can be gained from this–especially the article’s last few lines: Cambodian ‘jungle woman’ flees back to wild
Cambodia’s “jungle woman”, who spent 18 years living in a dense forest, has fled back to the wild after struggling to adapt to society.

   o o o

Chris M. sent this: Terrafugia Transition ‘flying car’ gets go-ahead from US air authorities. Simply amazing. Like a lot a lot of “dual use” devices, I suspect that it isn’t particularly good at either one, but it might have some utility. It certainly has some captivating possibilities for “Get Out of Dodge” situations.

   o o o

Be Prepared Now has a kit of 27 varieties of Non-Hybrid Vegetable Seeds packed in a heat sealed Mylar Bag available for $38.25, with free shipping. To get this price, use the coupon code SurvivalBlog (one word). This coupon code will give you 15% off all their merchandise.

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 29 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round will include:

First Prize: A.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost between $500 and $600, and B.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees, in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $392 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A 500 round case of Fiocchi 9mm Parabellum (Luger ) with 124gr. Hornady XTP/HP projectiles, courtesy of Sunflower Ammo (a $249 value), and E.) An M17 medical kit from JRH Enterprises (a $179.95 value).

Second Prize: A.) A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $400, and B.) two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Third Prize: A.) A copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, from Arbogast Publishing, and B.) a Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.)

Round 29 ends on July 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Surviving A Home Invasion Robbery, by Susan G.

On August 2nd, 1997 I had the hardest choice in my life to make, that was to survive.  Masked men wearing camouflage and carrying guns kicked my front door in at 12:40 am.  I was sitting about five feet from the front door waiting for my son to arrive home for the evening.  I heard my doorknob jiggle.  I thought it was my son trying to get his key in the door.  I made it within two feet of the door and stopped because I had not heard him set his car alarm.  With one kick from a 299 pound man took my door off the hinges.  The deadbolt and regular lock did not help.  I heard someone say: “Lay down ma’am” or “Get down ma’am.”  I had to make a split second decision whether I was going to lie down or fight.  I decided that I had to fight or we might die. 

I took off running to where my husband was sleeping, screaming for him to help me.  One intruder tried to jump over the couch to stop me and he fell, the other one chased me but did not catch me.  I made it to the bedroom and tried to hold the door shut.  The door did not close all the way but I had my body against it trying to keep them out.  My husband Mike had woken up and did not know what was going on.  He made it to [join] me at the bedroom door about the time the door was busted into two pieces, over my body.  Then I felt a burning sensation go through my chest.  A 9mm bullet had hit me near my heart.  We think Mike was shot once at this time but he does not remember the first bullet hitting him in the shoulder and coming out his back near his spine.  Mike grabbed the intruders and would not let them go.  He tried taking them back out of our home and was fighting them through the kitchen and into the living room.  This gave me enough time to call 911, give our address and tell them we were being shot. 

I then thought about everything my husband had taught me about self defense.  It was now or never.  I went for his .22 [rimfire] that he had sitting on the headboard.  All I could think was cock the hammer back and take the safety off.  This is what he showed me every time he would work a night shift.  He would tell me that this is for you to protect you and the children.  I never really thought that I had listened to him but I had.  I now had to decide how to shoot at the intruders that were fighting Mike.  I might shoot Mike by accident.  I ran out of the bedroom and into the living room and shot warning shots over their heads.  I thought they would run away.  They did not.  One intruder got away from Mike.  He was running towards me.  I ran back to the bedroom and turned to fire on him.  He was not there.  I waited about a second or two and he did not come to the door. 

I had to do something.  I went to the bedroom door and peeked out to look for the intruder.  He was squatted down by my refrigerator waiting for me to come out with the pistol pointing in my direction.  I knew I still had to help Mike.  Next to my bedroom door is an 8 inch wall and then an opening that leads to the dining room.  The dining room also has another doorway that leads into the living room.  I knew they would not have known this.  While he waited for me to run out, all I could see was his arm and gun around the refrigerator.  The refrigerator also blocked him from seeing me slide against the wall to go into the dining room.  I made it into the dining room and came out the other doorway with my gun drawn and prepared to fire on the intruder.  He never knew what was coming because this put his back to me.  I opened fired and shot him in the back two times.  He said: “The F….. Bitch shot me, kill her.”  That brought me back to reality that Mike was still fighting one of the intruders.  When I turned to help Mike, I watched the intruder put the gun to Mike’s side and fire.  Mike dropped to the floor from the gun shot and this gave me the opportunity to fire on this intruder.  There was just one problem.  I had no more cartridges.  I turned to run and as I turned he opened fire with eight bullets.  One round hit me in the shoulder and came out my back.  I ran back to the bedroom and prayed that the police would arrive [in time] to catch them before they made it up my long driveway.  They did not. 

I thought Mike was dead and the house had gotten very quiet.  I thought they had left because 911 kept calling back on the phone and hanging up when the answering machine would come on.  I knew they wanted out of this situation because things had gone very wrong for them.  Then all the sudden I heard someone scream at Mike: “Where is the f…… keys to that truck?”  He said, in my hat, on the gun cabinet, in the bedroom.  I was still in the bedroom but I now knew Mike was still alive.  I knew the intruder was coming back in the bedroom where I was.  The door was busted and the light was off where Mike had been sleeping.  I was about 2 feet from the door when he appeared and screamed “where are you”?  I did not answer hoping he would leave or the police would arrive.  He didn’t, he turned the light on and there I was.  He put a sawed off type shotgun to my temple.  He screamed, “Where are the f…… keys to that truck?”  I had heard what Mike had said about the keys but my purse was right there and I had a set of keys.  He screamed: “Did you call 911?” and I lied, and said “No but you have already shot us just leave”.  Just take our truck and go.  About that time my hand came out of my purse with the keys and he grabbed them and ran. 

I thought to myself: “Please wake up from this horrible nightmare.” I looked down at my chest to see that I was bleeding very badly.  I knew then it was not a nightmare.  I thought of the ringing phone.  That is the help that I need for Mike and I.  I got to the phone and talked to the 911 dispatch.  I really don’t remember much about what the dispatch operator was saying because I was thinking of my family.  I put my mom on three-way calling to tell her what had happened and tell her I love her before I died.  I then thought of my son that was due home any minute.  I then put my sister on three-way calling to tell her to get here for my son.  He would need family there in case I died.  From the time I made the original phone call it took the police about 14 minutes to arrive on the scene. 

Tips to Survive a home invasion robbery:

  1. You must make you own choices of what to do to survive.  Do not depend on the police or your neighbors to protect you.  You must protect your family and yourself.  They may take what they want and leave you unharmed.  You may give them everything that they want and they may want to rape your wife just so you can watch.  You may not have enough money or valuables so they’ll kill you anyway. Or they’ll kill you because you might be able to [later] identify them.  You have to decide what your life is worth.  I made the choice that I did out of fear of the unknown and the will to survive.
  2. Get a Concealed Carry Permit.  Take courses to teach you how to correctly use your weapon.  Classes on self defense.  Training in self defense strategies practiced in role playing scenarios.  Practice with your weapon on the firing range.  Practice can make perfect and you want to be comfortable with your weapon.  If you have children don’t hide your weapon, teach them the right and wrong use of the weapon.  Most children once they have seen and heard what a weapon can do would never touch one without you. But keep your weapons out of the reach of children and have gun locks and all weapons except your personal weapon and that should be on you at all times.  (That should be backed by our Constitutional Rights but in many cases has been taken from us).  Children are curious of the unknown.  Do role playing scenarios with your children of different scenarios of events that can happen.  This is not limited to home invasions but can be done with stranger danger, fires and many other dangers in our children’s lives that could happen to them.
  3. Be alert of your home and surroundings.  Don’t think it can’t happen to you or your family.  Think again, home invasions happen everyday.  Home invasions don’t make the news unless someone dies, or if there is no other news stories for the news that day.  I never would have thought it could happen to us but it did.  We did not know the intruders, this was a random act.  It doesn’t matter where you live it can happen to you.
  4. Use your instinct to get you through, because your instincts are usually right.  Never second guess yourself.  Make a plan and stick to it.  If plan A does not work, then go to Plan B or Plan C.  You must play the hand you are dealt.  If you confuse the intruders or their plan fails, then they usually don’t have a Plan B or Plan C.
  5. Be prepared to use your weapon to protect your family and home.  “Your home is your castle” laws should apply in most states. [In those states] the law gives you legal right to use deadly force and if it results in death can be defended as justifiable homicide under the castle doctrine.  Each state is responsible for its own castle laws.  It is your responsibly to know that laws of your state.  Some states have a stand your ground rule while other states have a [responsibility to] retreat law.  Make sure you follow the laws of your state so you are fully protected [legally].  Some states have added legislation that also gives you this protection in your vehicle and your place of employment.
  6. For you women, there are purses designed to hold your weapon.  I can have my purse on my shoulder and my hand on the grip of my gun for my outside activities or walking to my car alone.  This is a great self confidence builder when you are all alone and scared.  There are thugs everywhere and the split second it may take for you to get to your weapon can be the difference between life and death.    

Conclusion
Mike and I both survived this home invasion.  We worked together as a team.  I will admit that I was not prepared for what happened to us.  Mike always was worried about protecting his family.  I never thought this would happen to us.  Now I am more prepared and I watch my back everywhere I go.  Mike and I are survivors not victims. 

The intruders did not get what they came for.  But what they did get is what they deserved.  The [third man, their] driver left the intruders at our home after the shooting started.  He received a five year sentence and served about 3-1/2 years.  The intruder that shot us received five life terms in the Florida Prison System.  He was charged with the death of the intruder that I shot, under Florida law.  (Florida law states that if anyone dies in the commission of a crime then that it is [deemed] Felony Murder.  So this intruder was found guilty of the murder of his accomplice. ) He was also found guilty of two attempted murders, armed robbery and armed burglary.  He will never be eligible for parole.  The other intruder got something he probably never bargained for. He was shot by me and died in my yard.  The autopsy stated he lived 5 to 10 minutes after being shot.  He was also run over by the other intruder as he was leaving in our truck.  We don’t know if this was so he would not talk or if his friend ran over him by accident.  I hope he made piece with God before he died.  I live with the fact that I took a human life.  I know that is was self defense but I still have the emotional scars to carry with me.

Letter Re: The Winter Salad

Mr. Rawles:
In his book The Winter Harvest Handbook: Year Round Vegetable Production Using Deep Organic Techniques and Unheated Greenhouses, Eliot Coleman has written about his lifelong experience and experimentation with year round commercial farming in snowy Maine. His methods entail no extra heating or lighting, and all produce is grown outdoors during the Maine winter. Specifications include planting schedules.

I have not yet tried Coleman’s winter gardening techniques, but I plan to. His research and experience have convinced me to give it a go this coming winter. My small plastic greenhouse, homemade [planting] boxes, and floating cover are ready to go. Regards, – Deb D.