I'm in the process of getting my wife trained up on how to react to a break in. We have already done plenty of range time and weapons familiarization and she is going to be using the AR-15 because the 12ga is too much for her to handle. They way our small one bedroom apartment is layed out, I feel the best bet is to have the rifle staged in the back of the bedroom furthest from the front door in the living room. If any unwanted person starts attempting a break in I'm thinking of having her drop everything and run to the rifle and setting up a defensive position behind limited concealment with with the muzzle covering the corner of the wall 45-90 degrees from where an intruder would have to enter the room. I'm hoping with her being somewhere the indruder doesn't know in a big room and him being funneled through the doorway she has a good chance of shooting him before he can even register where in the room she is. I dont know if she should give verbal warning that she is armed or keep it a surprise when they try and enter the bedroom.

Also her POI is completely free from any over penetration issues covering the doorway.

Any help in making an SOP will be highly appriciated.

Needs moar MS Paint. I can't picture what you're saying.

AR15.com and google are like fuck buddies

type "defending a bedroom" into google search...

http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=defending+a+bedroom

Extremely rough sketch of APT layout

Another idea may involve motion-activated lighting. That way, the intruder gets an eyeful of bright light as he enters the bedroom door. YOU, and your wife, know about this lighting and are prepared for it.

Another idea is to put the motion-activated light across the room from her, say, directly across from the door. This will draw the attacker's attention from her to the light, affording her 2-3 seconds more recognition time.

Another idea is to strategically arrange the furniture in your bedroom/house to make a sort of 'zigzag' for the intruder to follow or trip over. YOU know the pattern; he doesn't*. Ever seen the movie "Enough?" J Lo is being terrorized by her asshole ex, and she plans her escape around several 'traps' the BG must walk through, giving her time to get her and her son to the car.

One of my plans** is to cut the power to my house at the indoor circuit breaker if there's an imminent break-in. I have the weapon light, etc and know the layout; they don't.



And.. Congratulations on getting your SO on board with your preparations! Your next step should be to get some professional training.
*I have set up my own home in this manner; my friends think I'm a lazy bachelor but I know better!

**I've planned for 2 or 3 contingencies, for example, being followed into my house, imminent break-in (they haven't got through the door yet), break-in has happened, and a couple of others. NEVER assume that you will face only one situation. The NRA has a very good book about self-protection in the home. LINK HERE.

Personally, if someone is in my home with ill intent, I'm not going to give them a warning to give away my position. I'm not a lawyer and your mileage may vary.

"Dead people don't testify" -police instructor

ARFCOM member Old_Painless has his own web site, theboxotruth.com
in which he explores various bullet-related issues. One of these issues is cover.

Link to the sands o' truth.

Well said "unpleasant". Either we have: taken training from the same instructors, talked to the same lawyers about home defense, or we have just come to the same conclusions due to common life experiences. Your advice is almost identical to what my lawyer and various instructors have told me to do. I am going to restate what I believe "unpleasant" said, hopefully by rewording his excellent post I will add some value to the discussion.

The defenders primary goal in this scenario is to survive with the least amount of physical and psychological damage possible. Killing somebody in your house is going to cause a great amount of psychological damage. Minimizing financial damage due to property loss is the least of your concerns (if it is something you are worried about, you should already have property insurance). On the other hand minimizing financial loss from writing checks to lawyers and missing work due to involvement with the criminal justice system should be a relatively high priority.

To prepare for this scenario; a lock needs to be pre-installed on the bedroom door, a telephone needs to permanently reside within arm's reach of the pre-chosen defensive location. And most importantly, the defender must be familiar enough with whatever weapon they are going to use that they can operate it without consciously thinking about it.

I think the concept of cover inside of most houses is over blown; without custom building a house with concrete or metal interior walls, cover is very hard to create. What may act as cover for a .22 LR may only be concealment against a shotgun with slugs or a rifle. Cover is relative to the round it is trying to stop, concealment on the other hand is concealment no matter what the Bad Guy (BG) is using. I would therefore place a table, chair, dresser, whatever; just in front of the defensive position to break up the defender's outline. This will make it harder for the BG to locate and effectively attack the defender. I would place the concealment object close enough to the defender that it did no inhibit their ability to shoot anybody coming into or through the room (i.e. don't position a dresser or chair in such a way that by sidestepping a couple of feet, the defender is no longer able to point their weapon at the BG). Don't crowd (get too close to) the cover/concealment.

The scenario begins:
Wife/GF/you are at home when you hear/notice somebody is trying to forcefully break in to your house.

Immediately drop what you are doing and retreat to the bedroom. Close and lock the bedroom door behind you.

Move to your preplanned defensive position and access you defensive firearm/weapon. Make the weapon ready for use.

Once you are ready to defend yourself against the BG, grab the phone and call 911. Tell the 911 operator that an unknown person is breaking into your house/has broken into your house. Give your name and address (if you are using a cell phone include your city and state as well). If you have time, give a brief description of yourself; 28 year old female w/shoulder length brown hair wearing a red blouse and white pants. Make a brief statement to the effect that you fear for your life and that you are armed (this will hopefully move the police response to your call up in priority). When the 911 operator tells you to put the firearm down, tell them you hear something outside the door and need to put the phone down. Put the phone down so that the mouthpiece is facing you (911 calls are recorded and will be used as evidence at the trial (yours or the BG's)).

Personally, I would point my pistol/rifle/shotgun at the bottom of the door (along the edge of the door opposite of the hinges) in preparation for somebody breaking the door down and entering the room. Do not point the weapon at the door, do not shoot through the door either on purpose or by accident. If you shoot through the door, you will dramatically increase your odds of being charged with some form of a homicide. My training has convinced me that I can engage a target quicker by coming up on it, than by moving sideways. People tend to be taller than they are wide, making a vertical movement less likely to bypass (overshoot) the target.

From this point on you wait for either the police to arrive or the BG to try to enter the room. If you hear the BG hauling everything you own out of your house, you just sit and wait. Do not leave your defensive position until the police have arrived and cleared the house.

When/if the BG tries to turn the door knob and enter the room; I would scream something along the lines of: "Go away, do not enter, the police are on the way. I am armed and I will shoot you if you break in." You make the verbal warning for two reasons; first, hopefully the BG will take the hint and leave, thereby all you are out is your insurance deductable and some lost sleep due to the massive adrenalin dump. Second, if the BG chooses to break the door down after finding out you are armed; you know beyond a doubt that he intends to do great harm to you and has left you with no choice but to shoot. Also your warning and the BG's subsequent decision to attack will be recorded on the 911 tape, indicating to the police/prosecutor/jury that you were in reasonable fear of death and were justified in using lethal force.

Do not have a firearm in your hands when the police see you, they will shoot you. If the BG has not forced the door and somebody is claiming to be the police, tell them you are armed and will not let them in until you are sure they are who they say they are. Ask for their names and badge numbers so you can check with the 911 operator to make sure they are really the police. If they are really the police, they will not object to this; if they object, they are not the police.

YMMV, good luck
p.s. I could probably write 20 pages of material just on the subtlies of this scenario that entered my head while I was typing this already overly wordy explanation. Mass Ayoob spends over an hour of lecture time during LFI-1 on nothing more than how to not get shot when the police arrive on scene.

Edited for format.

Go to craigslist and buy a cheap pre paid phone and charger. 20 bucks should do it. Phone rests right next to rifle.

I haven't read everyone's post but a good idea is to incorporate some kind of cover such as a book case with books or magazines stacked side to side. You would be amazed how well they stops rounds. Get yourself a weapon mounted light so you don't have explain why you shot a dark object. Prepaid cell phone that remains charged and ACTIVATED. Also if you have the money go ahead and get you some soft body armor. UsPalm makes a quick throw on, front protection only vest.

Did you consider the pucker factor? how will your wife react to someone beating the door down or climbing in through a window while doing dishes or in the middle of a shower? Maybe she is on the couch half asleep watching soaps and some dude is screaming and banging away at a failing door? She gets scared, nervous never having never dealt with a person who wants to do all kinds of crazy things to her person...traumatic thoughts start running through her head...OMG wheres the gun...what do I do....I need to call police...how do I escape....etc...because for the most part for everyone having their cherry popped for the first time in a armed confrontation there is always that moment of hesitation. (For those who are not trained) but even sometimes trained folks end up shitting themselves...

And the biggest worry is what if she is so freaked out she starts shooting at the door thinking the burglar is there and ends up hitting a neighbor or a kid in another apartment...or worse case dude comes through the door and she is so traumatized she misses every time...I'm thinking its dark, oh damn how did Steve say to turn on this light again...what I'm pointing out is when the pressure and adrenalin kicks in can you count on her to remember all of the training?

Another point to consider is if the intruder is armed. If that is the case he could easily shoot through walls etc...I told my wife to take her shotgun lock herself in the bathroom and to yell at the thief I am armed don't come in this room I'm calling the police etc...if they shoot in to the room the bathtub is built like a tank and all she has to do is lay the shotgun on the tub pointed toward the door and pull the trigger without looking only if the door is breached otherwise lay low and keep yelling until she hears the police and the dispatcher on the phone saying it is them.

I have seen guys get so freaking worked up they couldn't remember their own name and that was just from putting a dumb ass on the ground.

Have you thought about a 410 with bird shot? She can hit anything in the doorway and even clear out a hall way without really looking as long the weapon is pointed in the direction...and they are very nice for the price. We know that it not a guarantee but there is a better chance of it not going through walls.

I might have missed the point of the topic and someone may have brought this up already. I think whats important to remember is that like myself I have spent countless hours as a grunt behind a M-16 so its like another body part to me, but my wife on the other hand only ever uses it when she is at the range so I wouldn't count on her to know what to do when the SHTF with a weapon that has optics, lights, lasers, and buttons..etc...so in her case I choose something that is easy to remember from seeing it used in countless movies and easy for her to fire without the need for precision when pulling the trigger in a stressful situation in a dark room.

My 2 cents anyway...

cant believe someone actually suggested a 410 with birdshot. op, dont do that.

security comes in layers. you cant sleep in a bank safe and watch tv in a paperbag. each door needs to be reinforced. security is going to cost you. a monitored alarm and security lighting as well as a spare cell phone are great ideas i want to reiterate.

you can look at 3M glass laminate for your windows and should consider purchasing solid-core doors to replace all of your doors as well as metal frame inserts and longer hinge screws. you might lock that door but a solid kick and theyll be flooding in. also one lock per door is not enough. 2 minimum. i also like to suggest door wedges too. they are great secondary locks in a pinch. you can pick up most of the stuff at lowes or home depot and do the work yourself.

each weapon you have should have a light mounted to it and quality ammo. you also need to train and rehearse. the first time youre running to your bedroom to grab a gun shouldnt be while some naked guy intent on eating your face off. train train train. ever try to dial 911 from a touch screen phone in a hurry? it sounds easy but its not.

maybe consider getting a dog, they make great deterents, early warning and kinetic defense solutions.

also consider more non traditional scenarios. what if they try to burn you out? do you have a fire extinguisher anywhere? what if its the cops or at least they are saying they are? what if they come though your bathroom wall?

good luck!