Photo Credit: USCCA
The late Robert Boatman states in the chapter The Constitutional Right and Social Obligation to Carry a Gun from his book Living with Glocks, that “Carrying a gun is a social responsibility.” He goes on to say, “A citizen who shirks his duty to contribute to the security of his community is little better than the criminal who threatens it.” With that said, it’s important to realize that you ARE your family’s first responder and that it’s no one else’s responsibility but your own. In this post, I’ll state my case along with some tips to show you where to begin.
Let’s begin with some key information.
- In 2017, the “national average on police response is 10-11 minutes”. Detroit’s average is approximately 14.5 minutes for priority one calls (ex: active shootings, assaults, robberies) and 49 minutes for non-priority one calls, depending on the neighborhood (Bridge MI, 2017) and New Orleans takes 2 ½ hours on average (Officer.com, 2022).
- According to SaferWatch, factors include: 1) the priority of your emergency (high, low, or somewhere in the middle), 2) the number of other high priority calls coming in simultaneously, 3) the number of officers on duty, and 4) the number of officers needed per call. If a police officer is on his way to a lower tier situation and receives a call for a top priority, if he is the closest officer to the location, he will divert to the emergency.
- According to the FBI, burglars enter through the front door 34% of the time, 22% of the time through the back or screen doors, and 23% through the first floor window. It’s important to note that the FBI doesn’t separate occupied vs. unoccupied homes from their statistics.
- Insurance company surveys have shown that 60% – 81% of people with alarms fail to set them when at home or on vacation. The number one excuse? Pets.
- “A standard criminal defense trial takes months to prepare and weeks in court to defend. Based on the situation, location, and experience level of an attorney, rates can range from $300 – $1,000 per hour” [Delta Defense].
- When you think of a “bad guy”, it’s easy to imagine someone that’s 6’5″, 350lbs and tattooed with a tear drop tatted under the eye, but what if it’s a 12 year old kid with a gun pointed at you or your family?
With that information in mind, are you physically, legally, financially and morally safe? If you are, great! This post isn’t for you then. If you’re not, continue to read on to learn some ways so that you can be. Regardless, you can’t simply rely on first responders to always come to save you. Your safety – and the safety of your loved ones – boils down to YOU! So take personal responsibility today.
Where Do I Start?
I’m going to make something clear: my family – wife, children, nieces and nephews – are my top priority. Their safety is the most important thing to me! I’m willing to go through the gates of hell for them. Death or jail time is secondary in my mind to their health and safety. When it comes to a watch, car or disrespectful comments, however, it’s not worth me risking my life and/or receiving jail time over! There’s a major difference between my life – or even my family’s life – and everything else.
With that said, here are some tips of where to start.
- Go check out a previous post on how to stay safe in public.
- Acquire training in both firearms and martial arts as it’s important to not limit the amount of tools and knowledge in your toolbox. Click here to learn what martial arts styles that we recommend studying.
- Get trained in First Aid/CPR/AED for both pediatrics and adults.
- Become a member of the USCCA. Not only for the self-defense liability insurance but also for the wealth of information and training that they provide.
- Conduct an assessment of your home from a criminal’s perspective. Start from the outside and work your way in. Compare your house with your neighbors. Look for both weak and strong areas.
- Replace any standard strike plate and standard-length screws with a reinforced strike plate and 3-inch screws to your standard deadbolt as it takes 13 impacts at an average of 160 joules each to breach a door vs. two impacts at 60 joules each with the standard strike plate and screws.
- Add a bar stop and plastic window treatment to the standard-hung window and/or reinforced hinges and metal locks to the casement window.
- Install a home alarm and use it RELIGIOUSLY! Manufacturers now offer “pet immune” motion detectors and homes with alarms are three times less likely to burglarized.
- Remove bushes, trees, etc from the windows around your home. Also, install outdoor motion security lights, and security cameras both outdoors and indoors. Research the various manufacturers (i.e. Arlo, WYZE, etc) and service providers (i.e. Brinks Home Security, ADT, etc) to determine the best option for your needs.
If you’d like to train with us, we offer courses in Self-Defense, First Aid/CPR/AED and Emergency Preparedness. We also have the textbooks available for sale in our online store.
