HomeDefenseHacks Get To It

HOME DEFENSE HACKS
You don’t hear it said much anymore, but a man’s home is still his castle. That
goes for women too, as the queen of the castle rules beside her king in modern
day society. Believe it or not, this is actually a legal principle, which goes all
the way back to when Moses received the tablets of the Law on Mount Sinai.
In Exodus 22:2a it says "If a thief is caught breaking in at

night and is struck a fatal blow, the defender is not guilty of TABLE OF CONTENTS
bloodshed…” This is the basis for what is known as the
“Castle Doctrine,” which states that a person may protect ƓƓ Introduction
their property, standing their ground and not being legally ƓƓ Understanding the Criminal Mind
required to retreat. In the process of defending their
ƓƓ Common Mistakes People Make
property, they may apply deadly force against an intruder
ƓƓ The Area Outside Your Home
who intends to commit armed robbery or inflict serious
bodily harm to the occupants. ƓƓ Securing Your Home’s Perimeter
ƓƓ Security Inside Your Home

That’s all fine and dandy, but passing a law doesn’t provide
ƓƓ Defending Your Home
the means or knowledge of how to apply it. Having the legal
right to defend yourself and your property is one thing; ƓƓ Protecting Yourself from Identity Theft
being able to do it is something else entirely. ƓƓ Protecting Yourself Personally
Most people would be quick to tell you that they’ll defend ƓƓ Conclusion
their home and family against all intruders; be it crooks or
the government. However, few of those people truly have
an idea of how they would go about defending their homes.
They might have some vague ideas about using a baseball
bat or even a gun. They’ve probably put a deadbolt on their
front door. But when it comes down to it, they really don’t
have any idea what to do.
1 HOME DEFENSE HACKS

Don’t get me Let’s look at some statistics:
wrong, I’m not
• 2 million home burglaries are reported each
faulting those
year in the United States, that doesn’t include
people’s attitudes;
the many more which go unreported
I’m faulting their
training. We’ve all • Every 13 seconds a home intrusion is
been trained the committed
wrong way. We’ve
• 1 in every 36 homes is burglarized each year
been told that if
we put deadbolts • About 30 percent of all burglaries are through
on our homes and doors and windows that were left unlocked
buy a burglar alarm,
• 1 out of 3 residential assaults are a result of a
then nothing bad can happen. But reality tells
burglary
us a different story. Reality says that people with
deadbolts and alarm systems are victims each • A member of the household is in the home
and every day. during 28 percent of burglaries
Let me tell you a little secret here; the • 85 percent of burglaries are committed by
conventional wisdom about keeping your home desperate people who are not professional
safe is a lie. Everything you’ve been told is based criminals. Their desperation makes them even
upon the concept of locks keeping an honest more dangerous
person honest. In other words, if you follow the

• 95 percent of break-ins require some element
conventional wisdom, you’ll keep a casual passer-
of force to get into the home
by from breaking into your home and stealing
your television set. • 65 percent of all burglaries happen when
people are at work
That conventional wisdom doesn’t do you a
• Police solve only 13 percent of all reported
whole lot of good when it comes to a determined
burglaries
criminal. They don’t care about your home. They
don’t care about your locks. About the only thing Looking at those statistics, it’s clear that we are all
that they care about is getting caught. That makes at risk. While the risk in some cities or parts of the
them a little reluctant to throw rocks through country are greater than they are in others, there is
windows and kick in doors, since the noise might no truly safe place to live anymore. There is no part
give them away. But if they can find a way to do of the country which we can truly call crime free.
that without attracting attention, then those locks Did you see that next to last statistic I mentioned?
might as well not be there. 65 percent of all burglaries are happening in

broad daylight, when people leave their homes In a sense, that is usually safer for the people
to go to work. With two bread winners in most in the home, as the perpetrator will tie them up
homes and the kids at school, this is the one and blindfold them, rather than commit acts of
time that criminals can be most sure that homes violence on them. While not an ideal situation, at
will be empty. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always least the victim usually doesn’t get hurt.
work out that way, as in 28 percent of the cases,
We have to take into consideration the fact
someone is in the home. That often results in
that many of these criminals are known to
some sort of violence being committed against
their victims. This is especially true in cases of
the person who is at home.
single-parent homes. In a whopping 65 percent
One-third of residential assaults are a result of violent burglaries, where the residents are
of these burglars entering homes and finding attacked by the perpetrator, the victim knew and
someone in the home. Their intent isn’t to hurt could provide the police with the name of the
anyone, but to rob valuables which they can perpetrator. Again, this is especially true in cases
sell or hock for money. When confronted by a of single women.
member of the household in the home, their
In about a third of the cases, the criminal
most common reaction is one of panic. The
manages to get into the home, without causing
perpetrator attacks that person, usually a woman;
any damage. This is important, because the
for fear that they have seen the perpetrator’s face.
police need that evidence of an actual break-in
This increase in daytime break-ins shows that in order to prosecute. However, in that third of
criminals are becoming bolder. Crime used to be the cases, the perpetrator entered through an
something that was committed at night, when unlocked door or window, leaving no evidence of
people couldn’t identify the criminal. To a large part, their entry. In cases where the windows or doors
professional criminals still operate at night. It is the are screened by bushes and trees, there is no
high percentage of non-professional criminals, who possibility of a witness from the neighborhood.
are turning to crime out of desperation, that are
So, how do these criminals gain access to our
performing this daylight crime.
homes? Mostly through windows and doors:
With that level of desperation, it’s no wonder
• 34% enter through the front door
that these criminals are attacking people when
• 23% enter through first floor windows
they find them at home. In a recent development,
some criminals are entering homes prepared to • 22% enter through a back door
meet people inside. They enter with high intensity • 9% enter through the garage
strobe lights from tactical flashlights, so that they • 6% enter through unlocked storage areas
can temporarily blind and stun the residents long • 4% enter through a basement window or door
enough to be able to overcome them.
• 2% enter through a second floor window

• Living near people who are likely to resort to
crime
• Having your home near a major road
• Living on the outskirts of a neighborhood
• Whether or not anyone is at home
With this in mind, it is clear that the way we • Visibility of entrance point (risk to them being
secure our homes has a lot to do with how easy spotted)
it is for criminals to gain entrance. If we can make

• The home having a lot of cover (trees, privacy
it hard enough for them to get in, they will look
fences, bushes)
elsewhere, leaving our home alone.
• Being secluded from other homes
There are a number of things that criminals look
for when selecting a home to break-into. Their • Having poor exterior lighting at night
number one concern is to avoid being caught; so

• Living on a corner
they will seek out homes where the possibility
• Accessibility for ease of entry and exit
of them being seen is lessened. As part of that,
they are thinking of the convenience of the • Vulnerability of the home, how easy the home
location, whether or not it is occupied, visibility, is to break into
accessibility, lack of security and the potential
• The home displaying signs of wealth
rewards. Homes that meet those requirements
are much more likely to be broken into than • Of course, homes that have been burglarized
others. once will probably be burglarized again, as
they will have a number of these conditions.

Some specific things that could make your home
Likewise, being a neighbor of someone who
into a target include:
has been burglarized makes you a prime
• The criminal’s familiarity with your home
target. Probably many of the same things that
• Convenience of the location apply to your neighbors apply to you, making

it more likely that a criminal will select your

home to attack. are a number of things you can do to prepare
yourself and your family for such an event, so that
The good news is that there are a number of
you are ready to react to it, protecting yourselves
things that you can do to reduce the likelihood
and your home.
that your home is broken into. In addition, there
UNDERSTANDING THE
CRIMINAL MIND
There are two basic types of criminals; those that choose to be criminals and those
that feel they are forced into it. By and large, there really aren’t all that many who
find themselves forced into a life of crime. Generally speaking, the only time you find
people who are forced into a life of crime is in cases where there is severe poverty. In
that type of situations, there are always some who turn to crime in order to survive.
Prostitutes often fall into this category of criminal. going. Since they can’t work, many of them turn
Most women who turn to prostitution do so in to some sort of crime; usually something simple
order to avoid starvation. These are typically like breaking into homes and stealing.
women to whom life has dealt a difficult hand.
While no two criminals are the same, there are
Many start out as runaways, with no marketable
certain characteristics that they share. Knowing
skills. Others are drug addicts who are unable to
these characteristics can help us to keep them
do normal work, but need to support their habit.
from accomplishing their goal, protecting
Of course, none of us are worried about a ourselves and our homes from them. The
prostitute trying to break into our home and rob study of the criminal mind, a specialized area of
us blind. We are concerned about the common psychology, gives us a fairly good understanding
thief or robber, who wants to break into our of how they think and what they will do.
home to take what is ours, whether at gunpoint,
INTELLIGENCE
or when we are not at home to stop them.
By and large, most criminals aren’t really all
Another category of criminal that is often forced
that smart. That doesn’t necessarily mean that
into a life of crime is the drug addict. Drug
they’re stupid, as there are some very intelligent
addiction is a cruel master; one which destroys
criminals around. However, the kind that break
its slaves’ ability to work. Those who are addicted
into homes and stick people up aren’t the cream
have a very high cost of living; as they need to
of the crop in the intelligence department.
constantly score in order to keep themselves

However smart criminals are or aren’t, they
always think that they are smarter. It doesn’t
matter if we’re talking about a break-in artist
or a guy sitting at a computer hacking into
corporations to steal millions of dollars; they are
all universally convinced of their own brilliance.
As far as the criminal is concerned, he or she is
smarter than anyone around.
This misconception is based in the idea that they

have found a way to make a living without having
to work as hard as everyone else. Criminals
universally see their actions as proof of their
intelligence. They look around them at all the
Being a criminal doesn’t take eight or ten hours a
people working and compare that to the few
day; the average criminal only works two to three
hours a day that they “work.” This tells them (in
hours. The rest of the time, they are free to do what
their mind) that their superior intelligence has
they want to do; whether it is working out in the
provided a better way for them to make a living,
gym or drinking beer while they watch television.
besides working their tails off for eight to ten
If they don’t feel like “working” one day, there’s
hours a day.
nobody to tell them that they can’t take the day off.
Of course, they really aren’t as smart as they think.
This actually plays into your and my hands, as
What they are is cunning. Most of them probably
criminals won’t bother committing a crime if it looks
wouldn’t do so good on a typical I.Q. test. But,
too hard. Contrary to what television might show,
then again, I.Q. tests are designed for people who
they want the easy money. They’re not willing to
apply themselves to learning. The only thing the
work hard in order to get it. So, if we can make
average thief really applies themselves to learning
it look hard for them to get away with breaking
is better ways to commit their crimes and avoid
into our homes, they’ll usually give up and go
prosecution.
away. “After all,” they figure, “there are a lot of other
INDUSTRY houses which are a lot easier to break into.”
I somewhat alluded to this one in my description CAUTION

of the criminal’s intelligence. Criminals are lazy.
The last thing that any criminal wants is to spend
They don’t want to work to get ahead; they’d
any time in jail. While the government very nicely
rather steal the fruits of someone else’s work. A
large part of the reason why many turn to crime provides them with a place to live, food to eat
is that they are too lazy to work. and recreational activities to keep them occupied;

being in jail keeps them from doing what they world as honest people, while trying to rob those
want to do. The desire to stay out of jail figures same people blind. This duplicity could drive the
into just about everything that they do. average person to drink if they weren’t acting.
This makes most criminals very cautious people. A crook’s acting ability is used in the performance
They don’t want to attract attention to what they of crime. Since the vast majority of crimes are
are doing, because they don’t want the police to committed in daylight hours, it is necessary for the
be called. They don’t want to leave any evidence criminal to make everything look normal. That way,
of their crimes, because they don’t want the people won’t notice them. They want anyone who
prosecutor to have anything that can be used sees them to think that their presence where they
against them. are is normal, not something done as part of a crime.
Criminals won’t keep what they’ve stolen for one One simple example of this would be a break-
minute longer than they have to. Most of them in artist that is walking out of a home with a
will hock their take as quickly as possible, so big screen television. If they were to act furtive
that there is no evidence to be found in their with that TV in their hands, people would get
homes. Even if they want the item, they’ll get rid suspicious. So instead, they walk out as if they
of it. They’d rather go buy one for their own use, were supposed to be there to pick it up. If anyone
paying full price for it, so that they can prove their looks at them, they’ll even wave at them, adding
innocence with a receipt. to the appearance that things are normal and
they aren’t criminals.
Once again, this plays into our hands. While a
front door might be easy to kick through, the Another trick that can be used hand-in-hand with
average criminal doesn’t want to do that, because waving at the neighbors is to dress in brightly
they don’t want to be heard or seen doing that. colored clothing. Everyone is so used to the
Likewise, they’ll avoid breaking a window, instead stereotype of criminals wearing dark clothes,
looking for one that was left open. If we can make that we automatically assume that someone
sure that the home is always secure from entry, in bright colored clothes is okay. But there’s
most criminals will turn away, looking for another another advantage for the criminal. That is that
house to break into. most people will remember the clothes, without
remembering the person wearing them. The
GOOD ACTORS
clothes actually distract people from seeing
Most criminals are actually very good actors. what the criminal looks like, so they don’t have a
They have to be to present themselves to the description to give to the police.

COMMON MISTAKES
PEOPLE MAKE
All too often, when the police investigate a break-in, they find that the people
living in the home unknowingly did something that invited the criminals
into their home. This phenomenon stems from the fact that most people don’t
have any idea of how criminals think, so they don’t look at their home in the
way that criminals do. They live their lives in a way that is comfortable for
themselves, not realizing that others might be taking note.
T
hese things we do are rather innocuous to do with the location of your home, which
in and of themselves, but that doesn’t are inviting attack; things that you never even
prevent them from being important. Life suspected.
is full of seemingly small things that make a big
I used the word “mindset” a moment ago. A
difference. Driving down the wrong street, taking
defensive mindset is one where we are seeing
a different route home, leaving a few minutes
things in the light of how they affect our family’s
late; all of these have been known to cause
safety. Most people don’t have this mindset, or
huge differences in people’s lives, given the right
even anything close to it. They go through life,
conditions.
busy with what they are doing and never see the
The more aware we are of how criminals think danger around them.
and what signs they look for, the easier it is for us
The problem with this type of mindset is that
to develop the right defensive mindset to thwart
when danger strikes, we aren’t ready to deal with
their intentions. You’ve probably never thought
it. We are stunned by the event for the first few
about the list of items that I mentioned in the
critical seconds and we never mentally catch up.
introduction; but those area all important. If you
Those few seconds can often be the difference
look at your home with the intent of identifying
between life and death. We need to be ready
how those apply to you, you’ll probably find a
to react and react quickly, if we are going to
number of things that you are doing or that have
prevent attack.

The defensive ƓƓ CONDITION ORANGE – A potential threat
mindset looks has been identified and is being watched. The
at things and individual is reading themselves to react to it.
evaluates them in
ƓƓ CONDITION RED – Imminent danger is
terms of whether
recognized. The individual is ready to fight if
or not they are a
need be. If armed, the hand is ready to draw
threat. Soldiers
the gun.
in a combat zone
quickly develop To have a good defensive mindset, one must
this mindset, learn how to live in condition yellow. This doesn’t
or they don’t mean being paranoid that everyone out there is
survive. It’s actually what you see the hero in any an enemy, but rather the awareness that anyone
action movie using. Have you ever noticed how can be a potential enemy. Understanding that,
the hero always seems to have a sixth sense, you look to see if they are a threat or not.
which tells him when danger is near? In real life,

With that in mind, let’s take a look at some
that is nothing more than awareness. His senses
common mistakes people make, which cause
are turned on high, letting him know what is
them to become victims.
going on. That allows him to be ready to react.
1 - LEAVING OUT THE “ROB ME”
There is a scale that has been developed to show CALLING CARD
the various conditions of awareness we can have,
As criminals or potential criminals are looking for
in regard to defense. It uses colors to designate
a place to rob, one of the things that they look
the different states of mind we can have and what
at is what is in front of the house that they drive
they mean.
by. Often, people have things outside which give
ƓƓ CONDITION WHITE – Unaware of what’s away their financial status and what types of
happening, relaxed and assuming there is no things they might have inside the house.
threat. This is the state where most people

The most common of these is to leave out
live.
children’s toys. Children are notorious for not
ƓƓ CONDITION YELLOW – Aware of one’s putting things away, so criminals have an easy
surroundings and looking for potential danger. time finding which houses have children. If the
Not ready to act, but looking to see if the need child has an expensive bike or one of those
might arise. electric toy cars, the family probably spends a

lot of money. That could mean that they have a
big-screen television, computer games and other
easily sold items.
Children’s toys aren’t the only thing that can

be left in front of a house to invite criminals.
Expensive cars are an inviting target as well. The
cars might be inviting enough so that they leave
the house alone and just steal the car. While
the house, checking all doors and windows, can
selling a stolen car isn’t easy, it is very easy to
make a huge difference in the safety of the family.
strip parts off the car, abandon it, and sell the
With everything locked up, criminals have to
parts. This sort of a “strip job” is very common,
break through a door or window to gain access.
leaving the owner with several hundred or
That creates noise; which can give you enough
thousand dollars worth of repairs, depending
warning to react, call the police and put your
upon what parts they steal.
home defense plan into action.
Expensive decorations or porch furniture can also
Windows don’t always have locks, merely latches.
attract attention. People who put cast-iron tables
It is easy to close a window, thinking it has latched,
and chairs on their front porches probably have
but not have closed it far enough for the latch to
expensive things in their homes as well. The same
actuate. When this happens, it’s easy to open the
can be said for any expensive lawn decorations,
window from the outside, either by prying it open
planters or other items.
or by simply sliding it open with the palms of
2 - FORGETTING THE LOCKS one’s hands against the window.
The easiest thing to do and the most commonly
Worse than that, many people leave their
forgotten is to lock the house up when you leave
windows open for ventilation, making it extremely
in the morning and when you go to bed at night.
easy to get in, without problem. Even if they are
At least a third of the burglaries happen to homes
only opened a few inches, it is easy for a criminal
where the perpetrator found a window or door
to open it the rest of the way.
unlocked. They didn’t have to do anything to gain
entrance, except open the door or window. It is actually very easy to secure a window, even
while leaving it open a few inches. A through
Few people make a circuit of their homes to make
the frame pin will keep the window from being
sure it is secure before going to bed at night.
opened any farther. As long as the window is
However, the few minutes it takes to go through

closed far enough to prevent a person from
getting enough of their arm through the window
to reach the pin, that slightly open window isn’t
going to help them.
3 - HAVING AN INVITING HOME

Some homes just seem to invite criminals to
break in. More than anything, this isn’t because
of the location or how wealthy the family looks,
but rather, because the home looks like it would into the door frame. Unless you have a steel door
be extremely easy to break into. Criminals are frame, you probably just have a 3/4 to one inch
lazy, so they want to find places that they can get piece of wood there. The distance between the
into with the minimal amount of trouble. Many deadbolt and the edge of that piece of wood is
actually think a life of crime is easier than having about 1/2 inch. So, it really doesn’t take much to
to go out and get a job. break it. One good swift kick and the criminal is in
your home.
So, what makes a home look inviting, like it’s easy
to break into? There are a number of things, but The reason why more criminals don’t kick open
mostly it is having an easy place to break into. doors is that they don’t want to get caught.
Doors with a lot of glass are a prime example of Kicking through a door, like breaking through a
this. It doesn’t matter if the glass is in the door window, makes noise. They want to avoid that
itself or in side-lights, either way, it doesn’t take noise, because they want to avoid attracting
much effort to break through the glass and open attention. However, if the door or window is
the door. hidden from view, then all bets are off. In that
case, even if they do attract attention, they
Doors without deadbolts are just as bad. It’s
probably won’t get spotted.
common knowledge in the criminal community
that kicking in a door isn’t all that hard. Pretty 4 - SOCIAL MEDIA
much any man equipped with a good pair of ANNOUNCEMENTS
boots can bust down the front door of a home; Social media has become
deadbolt or no deadbolt. the way that people
communicate; especially
The reason it’s so easy to break through a front
young people. People talk
door is that the deadbolt and the door lock just
about all aspects of their
go into small striker plates, which are mounted

lives, including things we’d really rather not know. your house, because you don’t know them.
Most seem especially prone to talking about
The simple solution to this problem is to be
the good things that are going on in their lives.
careful about what you post to your favorite
Getting in a relationship, buying a new tablet,
social media site. If you want to post pictures of
going on a vacation or even going out to dinner
your vacation, that’s fine; just wait until you get
and a movie all seem to be reasons to post on
home to do so. That way, you’re not issuing an
your favorite social media site.
open invitation to attack.
There’s just one big problem with all those
5 - LISTENING TO
announcements; that is, you never really know “CONVENTIONAL ADVICE”
who is seeing your Facebook, Twitter and
I hate to say it, but most conventional advice
YouTube posts. You post that information so that
for securing your home is worthless. It’s based
you can share your good news with your friends.
upon some assumptions which may or may not
However, when they “like” your post, their friends
be true in your circumstances. The most basic
can find out about it. If they share it, rather than
assumption is that locks only keep honest people
just like it, then their friends can like it, allowing
honest. In other words, home security is usually
another whole group of people who you don’t
based upon protecting you from the chance of an
know and who don’t know you to find out about it.
honest person being desperate and momentarily
So, a whole bunch of people might find out about deciding to commit a crime. The assumption
your pending vacation, purchase of a new car or continues with the idea that if you can make it
getting into a relationship. The thing is, you don’t hard for that weak honest person to commit the
know who all those people are or what they’re crime, then they’ll change their mind and go back
like. They might all be great people, but they to being honest.
might not. There might be one lurking out there
The major fallacy in that assumption is that there
who is wondering how they are going to pay the
are a lot of people in the world who aren’t honest.
bills. Your notice might just answer their question.
They’d much rather live a life of crime than look
Anonymity always makes it easier for people to for honest work; mostly because they think it is
commit crimes. Knowing that you are going to easier to be a criminal and the rewards of a life of
be out of town or at work, added to the fact that crime will be greater than the rewards of honest
you don’t know who they are, gives them a pretty work.
good feeling of anonymity. There’s no way that
This idea isn’t anything new; it’s as old as mankind.
you could possibly know who is breaking into
Criminals have plagued mankind ever since the

idea of civilization took root. The word “travel” has enough, forgetting that criminals don’t really care
its root in the word “travail” because traveling if they damage our homes in the process of getting
was dangerous. The major danger that they were inside to steal. The only thing that keeps them
concerned about was bandits on the road. from breaking more is a desire to avoid attention.
Cities used to have walls for this very same I’ve already mentioned how easy front doors are to
reason. Without a wall, a city was virtually break through. Sliding glass patio doors are even
defenseless. That wall existed to keep bandits worse. All it takes to pop them off the track is a big
out, so that the people could live in peace. Why? screwdriver or small pry bar. That can be foiled by
Because outside the wall roamed criminals who putting some screws through the track above the
wanted to steal what the people in the city had. door, but not many people bother to do that. Of
course, even with the screws in the top track and
In a sense, the walls of our homes are supposed
a board in the bottom track to keep the door from
to perform the same purpose that the walls
opening, all it takes is a rock, hammer or axe to get
of those cities did. They are to keep the bag
that door open. It’s glass, isn’t it?
guys out. Even so, there are a couple of major
differences between the city walls of old and the Like I said, conventional wisdom is there to
walls of our homes. First of all, the city walls and protect us from the honest people. The dishonest
gates couldn’t be as easily broken through as the ones can always find a way. We need to use much
walls and doors of our homes can. Secondly, they more extreme measures to foil them. Measures
had guards on the gates and walls, something that will show them that they can’t just pop a
that we don’t do today. door open by kicking it or prying it off the track.
Measures that show them that they can’t just put
Does that mean that it’s safer today than it was in
a rock through a window or find one we left open.
the past? No, it only means that we have a much
Measures that will discourage them, because it’s
greater tendency to ignore the bandits amongst us.
just too much work to break into our homes.
We expect our deadbolts and window locks to be

THE AREA OUTSIDE
YOUR HOME
Let’s start by looking at what’s outside your home. Unless your break-in
artist is a personal friend or someone who has regular access to your home
(like a maid), they’re going to be choosing your home by how it looks from the
outside. They’ll be looking at everything from the types of cars you drive to
the landscaping you have. Anything that could give them a hint about your
affluence will quickly attract their attention.
Based on what they see, looking at the outside of

6 - DON’T LEAVE OUT A
your home, they’ll have a pretty good idea of how “WELCOME MAT”
much you have in valuables on the inside of your
We’ve already talked about this a little, but I want
home. While they won’t know specifics, they’ll to go into more depth. You have to realize that
have a pretty good idea in dollars and cents. any crooks who are thinking about breaking into
This is what these guys do for a living, so they’re your home start by scouting your home. They
used to making value judgments based on little don’t have a list of “most robbable homes” they
information. can buy through the Internet. Based upon their

experience, they drive around, looking for a likely
The first trick is to deny them the information that target. When they find it, they surveil the target
they need to have, in order to pick your home as for enough time to make sure that they’ve picked
a target. The second, which goes hand-in-hand a good one.
with it, is to make sure that your home won’t be
That’s why I told you to watch out for children’s
an easy target, should they decide to break into
toys, nice cars and other valuables left in the front
it. Anything you can do to make things harder of your house. Those are all signs to the crooks
will decrease the chances of having your home that people live in the house and that the people
broken into, especially considering that thieves have money. There’s nothing like advertising that
are lazy. you have money to attract the attention of the
criminal element.
advocating building a cement wall around your
property. They aren’t common here in the United
States, so if you were to build one, it would
merely highlight your home as different. That
might be enough to convince someone that you
have a lot of valuable stuff in there and that they
should relieve you of some of it.
What I am advocating is making your home look

like you aren’t the richest people on the block.
There are several things you can do to help
project this sort of image. The first of these (as
However, even without the toys and fancy cars
we’ve already said) is to get rid of anything in the
sitting in front of your house, some places just
front yard and driveway which makes it look like
look like the family has money. American homes
you have a lot of money.
show off our affluence by their size and style. A
home with fancy windows, dormers and multiple 7 - WHAT’S IN YOUR WINDOWS?
roof sections is more expensive; and visibly more
Once you’ve gotten rid of those items, the next
expensive as well.
thing I’d do is to take a good critical look at
Having traveled overseas, I’ve noticed that in the front of your house; from the viewpoint of
many countries, the homes of wealthy people defining what makes it look like you have money.
don’t necessarily look like the people are wealthy. Do you have fancy curtains visible? Then put a
Instead of showing off their wealth on the outside lining under them to hide them. Can people see
of the house, they show it off on the inside of the expensive things through the windows? Hide
house. They don’t have fancy front yards, they those things with window shades. Do you have
have fancy patios. In some cases, the home is a stained-glass front door? Change it out for
built with a fancy patio inside the home, what we something simpler.
would call a hacienda style.
It’s not generally known, but you can’t see inside
In some countries it’s also common to have a house from the outside during the daytime. The
cement walls surrounding the home, hiding it. only way you can see inside is to get really close
This is done to keep crooks out and property to the window, so that all you see is through the
in. In some of these countries, the use of fences window. That’s because the eye naturally adjusts
and walls is so common, that the common to the ambient light level. When it is daylight
understanding is that it you don’t have it inside outside, the eye is adjusted to that level. The
your fence, it means that you don’t want it. lower light level inside the home is too low to see.
Please don’t misunderstand me; I’m not Nighttime is another thing entirely. At night, the

inside of the home is brightly lit, compared to the
ambient light outside. So it’s easy to see what’s
inside the home, because it’s so much brighter
than the ambient light.
What this means is that during the daylight hours,

the only thing that people are going to see in
your home is something that is right up against
the window. If you have stained glass windows
or decorations hanging in the window, they’ll be
visible. But nothing else will be.
that transformed the look of their home. Even
You can stop thieves from seeing what is inside though it’s the same house, with bay windows
your home at night by the simple expedient of and dormers, the home looks simple. Compared
drawing the curtains or shades. You don’t need to the neighbors, they look like they don’t have
them open to get light into your home, so there’s much money. However, I know for a fact that they
no real reason to have them open. By closing are the wealthiest family in our neighborhood.
them, you keep others from seeing inside your
Landscaping can do a lot to make a home look
home, giving you privacy and preventing thieves
wealthy or poor as well. Everyone wants nice
from scouting your home.
landscaping in front of their home, but that
8 - ADD A LITTLE CAMOUFLAGE just makes the family look like they’ve got more
money. If you have simple landscaping, it looks
The next step is to add in a little bit of shabbiness.
like you don’t have the money to waste on that
I realize that this might go totally against your
fancy landscaping.
grain (it does mine), but making your home look
like it isn’t all that well taken care of can make you 9 - CHECK YOUR MAIL DELIVERY
look poorer. You want to be careful about this,
Another thing that criminals look for is a lot of
as ignoring things like painting can have adverse
deliveries to a home. With the current trend
consequences in causing damage to your home.
towards online shopping, some people receive
That paint isn’t just for appearance, but to protect
deliveries every day. Often, these deliveries are
your home from the weather.
made when there is nobody home to receive
Something as simple as changing the color of them; so they sit on the front porch until people
the paint on your home can make it look drab. get home. This is a sign to the criminals that
My neighbors just recently painted the trim on nobody is at home during the day; the time when
their brick home. They used to have a contrasting most break-ins happen.
color, like most people do. This time, they painted
The same can be said for your mail delivery. If
the trim to match the brick. It’s amazing how

you have a mailbox sitting at the curb, it’s easy Most of us make the mistake of letting everyone
for criminals to pass by late in the afternoon, know when we are going to be out of town. While
open the box and see if there is anything inside. there are people you might want to let know, you
A couple of days of doing this and they’ll know don’t want very many to know about it. You never
which homes are occupied during the day and know who is going to end up talking about your
which ones aren’t. plans with the wrong person.
The simple solution to this red flag is to have your I had my home broken into once years ago when
deliveries made someplace else besides your I was out of town for a weekend conference. The
home. If you own your own business or if your person who broke into my home was a drug
employer allows, you can have things delivered at addict that our church had been trying to help out.
work. That way, there’s nothing sitting at home. A Although he came to church, he really couldn’t be
second option is to have your deliveries made to called a religious person. His drug addiction still had
a Post Office box or one of those shipping places a hold on him, driving him to do many things. One of
which allows you to rent boxes. If you can’t use those was to break into my home while I was gone.
either option, what about a neighbor that is at
There are a number of signs that criminals can
home during the day? Could you arrange with
use to see that your home is unoccupied. If you
them for your deliveries to go to their house and
want to avoid them finding out that you are gone,
pick them up when you get home?
then you need to make sure that you are taking
Criminals also use this to tell them when people care of all those signs:
are out of town. If your mail isn’t picked up for
• Mail in the mailbox – Have mail delivery
three or four days, it’s a clear indicator that
stopped while you are out of town.
you’re not at home. For any criminals that might
be casing your house, that stuffed mailbox is • Newspapers – If you receive newspaper
about as good as a billboard in your front yard, delivery, have it stopped while you are gone.
announcing that you are on vacation. If you can’t count on them to remember
that, then have a neighbor you can trust pick
10 - WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU
them up.
LEAVE TOWN
Criminals love it when people go out of town, • Grass growing long – If you are going to be
gone for more than a week, you might need
whether on vacation or on a business trip. This
to arrange for someone to cut your grass; at
gives them the time they need to scout the home
least in the front yard.
thoroughly, prepare their plans and perform the
break-in, with little risk of anyone catching them. • Lights out – Light timers are a simple, yet very
For a break-in artist, someone being out of town effective way of making it look like someone is
is like a kid being left in a candy shop. at home. Buy a few of them and have different

lights go on and off, to match your normal need to think it through a bit more. That privacy
schedule. fence will work against keeping your family safe.
• No noise – A quiet house is a vacant house. The first problem with a privacy or security fence
Leave a radio on or put one on a timer, is that it advertises to the whole world that you
preferably to a talk radio station. Make sure are trying to keep them out. Unless everyone
it is loud enough that it can be heard from else in your area has the same sort of fence,
outside the windows or doors, but not loud you’re essentially telling everyone “we have
enough to distinguish what is being said. something valuable in our yard” or “preppers
live here.” Those aren’t the kinds of messages
• Cars – If you always have a car parked in the
you want to send. Putting a fence like that in
driveway, but it is gone for a few days, it’s a
front of your home would make that message
sure sign that you’re not at home. Park another
even stronger than putting it in the back does.
car there, even if you have to borrow one.
Many neighborhoods have privacy fences in the
Of course, the best thing you can do is get backyard, few do in the front.
someone to stay in your home while you are
The other problem with a security or privacy
gone. That way, there is normal activity, making
fence is that it gives assailants someplace to
it seem like your home is occupied. Even though
hide behind, in order to spy on your home and
they won’t be there all the time, they will be there
prepare to invade it. That isn’t going to help you
enough to give any criminals pause, which might
either. The last thing you want to do is make
just be enough to keep them out of your house.
things easier for them.
11 - THE FENCE YOU SHOULD
There’s a great alternative to this, one which not only
AVOID AND WHAT TO DO
will help your home’s security, but also help slow
INSTEAD
down anyone who wants to get into your home. That
Many people like the idea of having a six to eight is to put a hedge of thorny plants or cactus around
foot tall security or privacy fence around their your property. That will slow them down much faster
home, especially around their backyard. While I than your fence will, as most people have a natural
can see some definite advantages to this, I can aversion to being stabbed by thorns and needles.
also see two very strong disadvantages to it,
which I’d have to say overshadow the advantages. Make sure you put the thorn bushes or cacti close
enough together so that there isn’t a pathway
If your major concern is to keep the neighbors from between them. You want to be able to control
looking at your wife or daughter while they are how people approach your house. At the same
sunbathing, then by all means put in that privacy time, you want to leave a fairly easy way to
fence. That’s what it’s designed to do. However, if approach your house, so that you can control
you are interested in protecting your home, you how people come to your front door. Human

psychology will cause them to take the easy way. move so fast and fight so viciously, that they are hard
to defend yourself against. That’s enough to keep
In an emergency, that easy way should take them
most criminals away from your home.
right under your guns. In other words, you want to
use your bushes or cacti to create an ambush. That Another good type of sign to have is one of the
way, if you really have to defend your home against various signs that indicate that you are armed
a group of attackers, you have a way of making sure and prefer to shoot first and ask questions later.
that you hold all the cards in your hand. Regardless of your ability or intentions, that tells
them that attacking your home may not be a good
12 - A GOOD SIGN CAN MAKE A
idea. While many criminals have no reservations
WORLD OF DIFFERENCE
about beating, stabbing or even shooting a victim,
There was once a great Peanuts cartoon where they don’t want to find themselves leaving your
Snoopy is sitting next to a sign that says “Beware home with a slug in their body.
of Dog.” The little balloon showing his thoughts
said, “I always wanted one of those.” I’ll have to
say that Snoopy never struck me as a great guard
dog. I think he’s more the type to try and mooch
a treat from any would be thief, than protect the
home; unless, of course, he was on his Sopwith
Camel and could shoot down the Red Baron.
What makes that sign effective is that any thief

who comes around isn’t going to know if Snoopy
is likely to take a bite out of their leg or lick them
to death. All they’re going to see is the sign.
Believe it or not, that’s enough. Yep; you can scare
off most would be thieves with a two dollar sign,
just because it warns that you have a dog.
Why is that so? Because as we’ve already seen, thieves

don’t want to be discovered. The last thing they need
is a barking dog waking up the neighbors and getting
people to look through their curtains. Even if the dog
doesn’t attack them, they can give them away.
Of course, there’s also the risk that the dog will attack
them; something else they want to avoid. Dogs can
be unpredictable, especially when they attack. They

SECURING YOUR
HOME’S PERIMETER
As we talked about in the introduction, criminals are looking for some easy way to
get into your home. More than anything, they’re hoping that you’ve left a window
or door unlocked, which they can get through, without having to break anything.
Failing in finding an open window or door, they’ll try to find a way into your house,
without the neighbors seeing them do so.
W
ith that in mind, it’s somewhat
13 - WHAT’S WRONG WITH
surprising that the front door would
SURVEILLANCE SYSTEMS?
be the most common point of access
that criminals use. Nevertheless, statistics show Not too many years ago, surveillance camera
that the front door is the most common entry systems were ridiculously expensive. However,
point. After that, the next most common entry in the last few years, we’ve seen some
point is the first floor windows and then the incredible price reductions. Now, just about any
back door. homeowner can buy a four camera system that
will provide surveillance all around their home,
If you are going to keep criminals out of your
along with the monitor and a recorder for 24
home, then you need to avoid allowing them a
hours worth of video.
means of entry. That means taking a good look
at your current security setup and seeing what With the great reduction in the price of these
you can do to improve it. Of course, others have systems, why wouldn’t anyone want to install
already found the ways to improve your home’s one? After all, businesses all over the place
security, all you need to do is to implement them. have surveillance cameras installed to catch
criminals. If it works for them, it ought to work

for us as well, right?
14 - THE BEST ALARM MONEY
Uh, wrong. You have CAN BUY
to understand what Okay, so now that we’ve dispelled the myth
surveillance cameras of how great surveillance cameras are, what
do first of all. All they should you do instead? There’s an old standby
are capable of doing which mankind has used for millennia. It’s an
is showing what is going on and recording it. For all-natural solution, which not only will keep an
that information to be of any use, one of two eye, ear and nose out for intruders, but raise the
things has to happen. You either have to have a alarm whenever one comes near. I’m referring, of
security guard who is watching the monitor all course, to the dog.
the time, ready to react to a threat; or you have to
Dogs are the best home alarm system in
have a crime occur, so that the police can use the
existence. Any dog, from a Chihuahua to a Great
recording as evidence to convict the criminal.
Dane is territorial. They will defend what they
So tell me, how does either of those help make consider their territory from all intruders, even
you safer? I suppose if you like watching the grass if that intruder is huge and they’re as small as a…
grow and the neighbor’s dog leave a gift on your well, as a Chihuahua.
front lawn, then your surveillance system will help
Larger dogs can be trained to do more than just
protect you. But if you’re not going to do that, then
raise the alarm; they can be trained to attack as
the only thing that the system is doing is gathering
well. Granted, this is natural for dogs, so it doesn’t
evidence for the police. That won’t stop your home
take a whole lot of training to get them to do
from being broken into, as most criminals know
it. What does take the training is to get them to
how to avoid being filmed on camera.
attack only when you want them to. That requires
There are several easy ways to defeat surveillance the help of a professional trainer.
cameras. The easiest is to sit back and shoot
Dogs are also rather scary. Even tough guys, who
the lenses out with a BB gun. That won’t make
wouldn’t hesitate a moment to attack another
enough noise to attract attention and it’s
man will quail at being attacked by a dog. Most
uniformly fatal to the cameras. If you don’t have a
people naturally realize how hard it is to defend
BB gun, you could always sneak up on the camera
against a dog, so they don’t want to tangle with
from the side or back and cover the lens. Spray
them. They’d much rather tangle with you than
paint works well for this. Of course, the easiest
with your dog.
way to defeat them is to simply put on a disguise,
like a big floppy hat, so that the camera can’t see Of course, the dog is on duty 24 hours a day, 7
your face. Without a face, the video is essentially days a week, without vacations or personal days.
worthless. Even when they’re asleep, they’re still on duty.

You can count on them to do their job, no matter Systems Frame
what. So, even when you’re not there to keep an Reinforcement Kit.
eye on the monitor for your surveillance system, These spread the
your dog is making sure that your home is safe. force of that kick
over a much larger
15 - THE WEAKEST POINT IN
area, absorbing it
YOUR HOME AND HOW TO FIX IT
and preventing the
Way back in the intro, I mentioned that the most door frame from
vulnerable part of your home is the front door. breaking.
That’s the entrance most commonly used by
criminals to enter your home. It’s also one that Both of these kits come with 3-1/2 inch case
can be opened by a single kick from a booted foot. hardened screws, which go through the plate, door
With that being the case, fortifying the front door frame and into the studs behind it. This is done
makes lots of sense. on both the hinge side of the door and the latch
side. By putting those longer screws in, the door
The reason that the front door is so easy to break frame itself can’t be kicked out, any more than the
into isn’t the door itself or the locks; it’s the door deadbolt can be busted through the frame.
frame. If you have a metal frame around your
door, then you have a much stronger front door The same types of long screws should be added
than most people do. Most front doors only have to the hinge side of the door, replacing the screws
a wood frame. That door frame is held in place by that hold the hinges to the door frame. Typically,
a few finishing nails run through the door frame these are 3/4 inch long screws and only go into
into the wall studs. the frame. By replacing them with longer screws,
you can attack the door’s hinges to the home’s
I don’t care how many deadbolts you put into that framing. The hinge screws going into the door
door, it’s not going to be strong. The deadbolt don’t need to be as long, as they don’t have to go
goes into a small striker plate in the frame, which through a frame to get to the door; rather you
is held in place by 3/4 inch screws. There’s only can use 1-1/2 inch long screws to replace the 3/4
about 3/4 inch of wood between the deadbolt inch screws that are standard.
and the edge of the frame. That little bit of wood
is what breaks when the door is kicked in. Adding This simple fix will stop over a third of the
additional deadbolts won’t make it stronger if criminals from gaining access to your home. If
something isn’t done to make the door frame you have a side or back door, add the same kit
stronger. to those as well, to stop another quarter of the

would-be assailants. While this alone won’t make
Fortunately, it’s easy to make a door frame your home burglar-proof, it will deny them two of
stronger. All you have to do is add a larger strike the most common entrances.
plate, such as the StrikeMaster II or the Safe Door

16 - WINDOWS AND DOORS 17 - WHO’S LOOKING THROUGH
REALLY DON’T MIX YOUR PEEPHOLE?
Many entry doors for homes come complete with If you don’t have a window in your door, then
a decorative window. While this makes it easy security consultants recommend having a
to see whoever is knocking on your door, it also peephole, so that you can see who is standing
makes your home much easier to break into. If a outside your door, before opening it. That sounds
criminal can’t kick in your front door, all they have like good advice, except for one minor problem;
to do is break the glass in the door window and there are devices which crooks can use to look
reach through to unlock the door. through your peephole from the outside, giving
them a panoramic view of what’s inside your door.
The same problem exists if the door has side lights.
In fact, the side lights are usually easier to break While invented for use by law enforcement
than the glass in the door, because they are made officers to see who is inside a home before
of thinner glass. That means that instead of being a a forced entry; these peephole reversers are
nice decorative touch to your home, they become a available on the open market. For less than $100,
safety hazard, allowing criminals easy access. a criminal can buy one, which will allow them to
see if you are in your living room or entryway,
The easy solution is to replace the front door with
before coming through your door.
one that doesn’t have a window in it and replace
the side lights with painted plywood. Unfortunately, The solution to this problem is to use a covered
that solution doesn’t look all that good and is a peephole. This is a low-tech device, which consists
bit too obviously a ploy to make it hard to break of a small cover which slides over the peephole
into your home. While doors without windows on the inside of the door. When closed, all they’re
are common for apartments, they are pretty rare going to see, looking through your peephole, is
these days on free-standing homes. black. However, you can open it whenever you
need to see outside.
Instead of replacing the door and covering up
the side lights, you can gain just about as much 18 - YOU CAN MAKE YOUR DOOR
security by putting bars over the windows. These EVEN MORE SECURE
can be either mounted on the inside of the While putting in a security door striker and
home or the outside. Either way provides similar eliminating the possibility of anyone getting
protection. One important detail is that the bars through a window in the door will do a lot to
be manufactured so that they are close enough secure your front door, there’s still more that
together so that an intruder can’t stick their hand you can do. The best front door security on the
between the bars to reach the door lock and market is to add what is known as a “door club.”
deadbolt. Otherwise, they could still get the door
open. There are a couple of different designs of these

available, but they all
19 - WINDOWS, THE SECOND
work essentially the
ENTRY POINT
same. The major part
Windows are the absolute opposite of secure.
of the club attaches
to the door, near the Being made of glass, it really doesn’t take
bottom. There is also anything to break through them. There are

an insert, which needs only two things that keep most criminals from
to be installed into the floor. When you wish to breaking windows: a desire to avoid attracting
secure the door, the door club is lowered, so that attention and that they can usually find an easier
the pin in the club goes into the insert in the floor.
way into a home.
Breaking the door open would then require a lot
more force than normal. Considering how insecure windows are, it’s
somewhat surprising that we use them so much. I
Even if an intruder managed to break the glass
guess that this is an example of that old saw that
and open the deadbolt, they probably wouldn’t
see the door club or be able to remove it. That “locks only keep honest people honest.” People
means that unless your door has such big who don’t want to get caught accept a closed and
windows that it can be walked through, the door locked window as sufficient reason to at least look
will probably still hold firm. for another access point if not to find another
home to break into.
As you can see in the picture, the sides of the club
are curved. This provides a bit of a spring action, Of course, most break-ins through windows
in case intruders were to try to use a battering
happen because the windows are left unlocked.
ram to break the door open. While a battering
Window locks can be difficult to use, especially as
ram will get through pretty much any entry door,
the home gets older. This leads to many people
it will slow the intruders down, providing you with
not bothering with them, or not checking to make
an opportunity to react to them.
sure that they have locked the windows securely.
The only problem with the door club is that it isn’t
an automatic security system. In other words, it Even a locked window is no match for a
won’t automatically secure your door for you. determined crook. Considering how fragile
Each and every time you want to secure the door, glass is, all they need is a hammer, crowbar or
you will need to activate the club. Likewise, once convenient rock, and they’ll be inside the house
activated, you’ll need to remove the club in order
in no time. Granted, there will be glass all over
to open your door. Nevertheless, it is one of the
the floor, but it’s not their house; they don’t
best possible ways of securing an entry door on a
need to clean it up. So if the crook in question is
home.
convinced that there are enough valuables in the

20 - IF YOU DON’T LIKE
WINDOW BARS
A lot of people don’t like window bars, thinking
that they make the home look like a prison. Of
course, a lot of this depends in part on where in
the country you live. If you are the only person in
your town with window bars over the windows, it
might seem a bit strange. On the other hand, if
half of your neighbors have them as well, then it
home to warrant the risk, they’ll break through a
would be seen as normal.
window.
There is another option that can be used in
There’s an old solution to this, which is very
place of window bars; that is a window security
common in the Southwest, having come from film. This film, which is more or less invisible,
Mexico. That is to put bars over the windows. is attached on the inside of the window. If the
While some may think that this makes it seem like window receives a blow, the film will keep the
you’re living in a jail, it really doesn’t. On the other glass from flexing to the point of breaking. A
hand, window bars make it almost impossible window treated with this sort of film can take
for a criminal to break into your home through a several strong blows from a hammer, without
window. cracking.
These bars are usually made to order. The The films that are currently on the market need
readymade ones available in some large home to be installed by a professional contractor, who
improvement centers are usually made of very has been trained in their installation. Apparently
thin metal tubing. The custom ones, while more the film loses a lot of its ability to protect your
windows if it is not installed properly. To ensure
expensive, are much more secure.
the most possible protection, the companies
Window bars can be installed on the inside or which manufacture this type of window film insist
outside of the window, although they need to that it be installed by their trained personnel.
be designed slightly differently for these two
While fairly expensive, window film is much less
different mounting options. The ones on the
expensive than installing window bars. It is also
inside are actually more secure, as they are
visually unobtrusive, so if you have a nice view
harder for a criminal to remove, even if they try
out a picture window, it won’t be ruined by metal
using a truck and chain to pull them off.
bars going across it.

glass door deals with preventing criminals from
21 - SLIDING PATIO DOORS – A
lifting the door off its track. There are two things
SECURITY NIGHTMARE
which are commonly discussed; putting screws
Probably the worst invention of all times for
into the top track, above the door, so that it can’t
home security is the sliding glass patio door. Even
be lifted off the track. This works well, as without
so, most homes that have been built in the last 50
lifting the door, you can’t remove it. The second
years have one of these wonders. They provide a
bit if wisdom is to put a stick in the track, between
great way to look out into your backyard and see
the door and the end of the frame. This prevents
the kids playing; allowing you to keep working
the door from being slid back, even if the lock can
in the home, while still keeping an idea on them
be popped.
outside.
There’s only one problem with the conventional
If home security wasn’t a concern, sliding glass
wisdom; it ignores the fact that it really doesn’t
doors would be wonderful. Unfortunately for
take much to break the glass. However, the same
us, the world in which we live isn’t all that safe a
solutions that are used for securing windows can
place. There are too many two legged predators
be used for securing a sliding glass door; that is,
out there, which we need to protect our homes
window bars or window security film.
and families from. Those doors don’t help.
When window bars are made to go over a sliding
The sliding door itself is easy to defeat. Of course,
glass door, they are usually made with a metal
the easiest way to defeat it, like defeating a
bar door over the sliding door portion of the
window, is to break the glass. Once broken, the
sliding door. In this way, you slide open the glass
criminal can walk right through it, as if it wasn’t
door and then unlock to “gate door” to swing it
there. Combined with a privacy fence around the
open. Some fabricators make sliding doors for
backyard, this gives criminals a safe entry point,
this application, but they are not recommended.
where they really don’t need to worry about being
The sliding door rides on a track, but there are
seen by the neighbors.
no wheels or bearings used. That makes the gate
If a criminal doesn’t want to make the noise door hard to open, especially if it rusts.
associated with breaking the glass, all they have
22 - SECONDARY DOORS, OFTEN
to do is pop the sliding glass door off its track.
FORGOTTEN BY ALL BUT THE
This can easily be done, just by prying up on the
CROOKS
bottom of the door, as if you were trying to adjust
Most homes have some sort of a secondary door.
it on the track. It will raise up enough to come off
If it isn’t a sliding glass door, then it’s a back door
the track. With some sliding doors, raising it up
or garage door. It’s amazing how many people go
like this can trip the lock, opening the door.
to great lengths to secure their front door, while
The conventional wisdom for “securing” a sliding totally forgetting about the back one.

Often, the back door is a cheaper door than the
front one. If it is cheaper just because it’s a solid
door, without windows, that’s not a problem. But
when it’s cheaper in construction, it becomes a
weak point in the home’s security. Not only are
they often cheaper, but they are also often less
well maintained. This seems to be especially true
in the case of garage doors. So, while a home may
have a great front door, all the crook has to do
is walk around to the back of the home and they
Unless you have neighbors who are in the habit of
can literally push the back door open.
looking out their second-story windows into your
Fortunately, everything that we’ve talked about backyard, they can do just about anything they
that can be done to secure a front door, can also want, without being seen.
be used to secure a back door. So, while you’re
That alone is sufficient reason to secure your
putting that security in place, don’t forget to do so
backyard. While you probably can’t make it totally
for all of your exterior doors. That way, you won’t
secure, to the point where they can’t get in, you
be giving anything away to the bad guys.
can make it harder. If it’s hard enough to get into
23 - WHY BOTHER LOCKING your backyard, you’ve reduced their options. Like
A GATE? anything else you do to make your home more
Let me ask you a question; what do you have in secure; make it hard enough and they’ll go away.
your back yard? Most of us have quite a bit there. A simple latch, located where it can’t be reached
While lawn mowers and kids toys may not be the by putting an arm over the gate is often enough.
most pilferable items around, they can be stolen. If you can’t put the latch out of reach, then put a
Criminals won’t limit themselves to just jewelry lock on the gate, so that they can’t open it. You
and big-screen TVs, they’ll go for anything which can reduce the “hassle factor” of a lock by hanging
they can sell. I’ve seen cases where tools, weed a key on a hook inside the door, where you can
eaters and kids electric powered cars were stolen get it easily.
and sold.
24 - GARAGE DOORS REALLY
That’s not the worst though. As I’ve already AREN’T ALL THAT SECURE
mentioned, crooks who gain access to your
Few people think about the security of their
backyard can use that as a means to gain access
garage. After all, the valuables are in the house,
to your home. The backyard offers them a degree
right? Actually, many garages have a lot of
of privacy for their nefarious activities, which they
valuables in them; valuables that really aren’t all
don’t have when they are in front of your home.
that well protected. Besides cars, you can find

boats, motorcycles, four wheelers, bicycles, tools, You can strengthen the lock on the door fairly
camping gear and riding lawn mowers in many easily if you don’t use an automatic garage door
garages. All of these valuable items are easy to opener. Simply put a bike lock or the type of lock
steal and easy to sell. used for securing firearms through one of the
holes in the track, just above where one of the
There are two basic types of garage doors in use
rollers for the door is located. This will prevent
today; wood and metal (aluminum). Of the two,
the door from being opened, even if the lock is
aluminum is much more common, due to its long
damaged.
life and low cost. However, an aluminum garage
door isn’t really all that strong. Of course, proper maintenance of the rollers is
essential to keep anyone from popping the door
When I bought my house, four years ago, the
off the tracks. The bearings in these rollers are
rollers for the garage door were badly worn. This
factory lubricated, but the lubrication eventually
is something that few people pay attention to and
works its way out of the bearings. When this
even fewer people know how to repair. Those
happens, they begin to wear.
worn rollers made it possible to knock the door
off the tracks, just by applying a little pressure. Replacing these rollers is extremely easy. They
With the door off the tracks, it was easy to crawl are mounted into a bracket, which is attached to
under it, gaining access to the garage… and to my the door. Simply remove the bracket and angle
tool collection. the old roller to pull it out of the track. Angle the
new one to put it in and put it into the bracket.
The aluminum used to make the garage doors is
Then, the bracket can be reinstalled. Be sure
thin, which makes it very easy to puncture. This
to only work on one at a time, so that the door
makes it very easy for criminals to find out what
doesn’t fall while you are working on it.
is inside. All they have to do is make a gash in the
door and take a peek with a flashlight. 25 - ARMOR PLATING YOUR
HOME ON THE CHEAP
Strengthening the aluminum skin of the door
is fairly easy. All it takes is cutting pieces of There’s little chance that a criminal is going to
thin plywood (1/4 inch thick works fine) and try and drive their truck through the wall of
putting it inside of each of the door panels. A your home, or even that they will try and shoot
little structural adhesive, like Liquid Nails works through the walls of your home. Most criminals
wonders for holding it in place. The only problem aren’t interested in being seen or heard, at least
is that the door’s springs will have to be tightened, during normal times. However, if something
to counterbalance the extra weight you are should happen to cause a breakdown in society,
adding to the door. If you don’t know how to then all bets are off.
do this, you might want to call a garage door There are a large number of people talking
contractor to help. about the United States being on the brink of a

financial crisis, similar to the one that they had Fortunately, the Army developed an inexpensive
in Argentina. Should that happen and things solution to this problem years ago. The humble
happen like they did down there, then there will sandbag wall can do wonders to protect you and
probably be a breakdown of society; specifically a your family, even from bullets fired out of high
breakdown of law and order. powered hunting rifles. A sandbag wall is easy to
construct and can be made very cheaply.
The Argentineans faced some very difficult and
dangerous times when their financial crash All you really need to do is have a ready source
happened. Mob violence and other criminal of sand and a stock of sandbags on hand. Many
activity skyrocketed, as people tried to come cities use sand for storm control and to put on
to grips with the changing economic and social icy streets. If you live in an area where flooding
situation. Many people who had never committed is possible, they will usually allow you to take
a crime in their lives, turned to crime in an effort the sand for free, as long as you have your own
to feed their families. They would steal, kidnap sandbags. Sometimes, they’ll even supply the
and even attack homes that they thought had sandbags (although only a limited number).
food in them.
The average home’s floor can support a one foot
In such a situation, the walls of your home won’t thick sandbag wall that is three feet high. This
provide you with much protection from the bad is enough to stop any pistol or rifle bullet, with
guys’ guns, unless you happen to have cement the exception of .50 caliber sniper and machine
or stone walls. Brick walls can provide fairly good gun slugs. Building sandbag walls below your
protection against pistols, but not against rifles. If windows gives you excellent protected firing
you have to defend your home in such a situation, positions to use when you have to protect your
you’ll need an armored plated home. home from attack.

SECURITY INSIDE
YOUR HOME
No matter how good a job you do to try and keep criminals out of your home, you might
leave a chink somewhere which they can and will exploit. An accidentally unlocked
window; a previously undetected flaw in the installation of your back door; even an attic
vent can be used by a determined criminal, if he really wants access to your home.
Knowing that a determined criminal will find a you; but it can work to let you know that someone
way into your home, no matter how well you has entered your home without your permission,
secure it; you need to be prepared. Part of that giving you time to react.
preparation is making sure that even if they get
26 - ONE “INSTANT ALARM”
into your home, they won’t find everything you
THAT IS DIRT CHEAP TO PUT
have of value.
TOGETHER
A home offers many places to store valuables. If you have dogs, you might think you’ve got all
The problem is that most of us don’t take the alarm system you need. Normally I’d be the
advantage of those places, but rather just keep first to agree on that, but I’ve found that my dogs
things in the same old place; making the job of miss the UPS delivery truck (one of their favorite
the criminal very easy. There are a few exceptions, things to bark at) when they’re in the back
like big-screen televisions and crystal; but other yard. Considering I don’t like them doing their
than that, everything worth stealing is usually in business on the carpet, I have to let them out
the master bedroom. every once in a while.
We’ve already talked about how good dogs are So, I decided that I needed a supplementary
for helping protect your home. Dogs make great alarm system. While one of those nice
alarm systems, but they aren’t perfect. That’s professional alarm services which ties into a local
why you may want to consider putting alarms on monitoring office might be nice, the price tag isn’t.
your doors and windows. You can pay an alarm I decided that I needed something a little cheaper;
company big bucks to do this or you can do it something that would work on a local level.
yourself. Of course, if you do it yourself, you won’t
have anyone monitoring it to call the police for After visiting my local electronics store, I

realized that buying and installing a full-blown You might also want a
alarm system would be a bit expensive. If I was small on/off switch as well;
going to put in an alarm, I’d need to come up you’ll want a SPST (single
with something a little bit cheaper. As I was pole, single throw) switch.
considering this problem, my daughter’s cookies Make sure that you buy a
burnt in the oven, setting off the smoke alarm. “miniature” switch, as there
Turning off that annoying thing gave me all the isn’t much room in the
information I needed to come up with an el- smoke alarm’s housing to mount it. This switch
cheapo alarm system. will allow you to turn the alarm off, so that you
don’t have to listen to it when carrying in the
Every smoke alarm I’ve ever seen has a test switch
groceries or when the kids are running in and
built-in. That’s the doorway we’re going to use to
out ten times a minute.
turn the smoke alarm into an intruder alarm. All
we have to do is find a way to attach that switch You’ll also need a soldering iron and some skill
to a door or window and we’ll have an alarm that in its use. If you have never used a soldering iron
goes off every time the door or window is opened. before, you might want to get someone to show
you how to do it, before trying this project. While
The other key to this alarm system is a magnetic
they are fairly easy to use, if you don’t know what
reed switch. These switches are standard issue for
you’re doing, all you’ll succeed in accomplishing is
alarm systems. They consists of two pieces, both
ruining the alarm.
mounted in plastic housings. One of the pieces
has two screws on it, for connecting wires. This The basic idea here is to connect the magnetic
one holds the magnetic reed switch. The other reed switch in parallel with the test switch. That
piece doesn’t have any electrical contacts and means to have two switches connected to the
holds a magnet. When the two are next to each alarm’s circuit card, either one of which can
other, the magnet in the one part acts on the make the alarm go off as if the test button had
switch in the other part, causing it to actuate. been pushed.
There are two different types of these switches, To start, take the alarm case apart. These cases
“NO” for normally open, and “NC” for normally are almost always a “clamshell” case, with the
closed. You need a normally open switch. Be front and back halves held together by some
careful about this, as a normally closed one will plastic snap-in latches. Locate the latches around
not do what you want. In fact, the normally closed the edge of the alarm and pop them loose with a
switch will cause the alarm to sound constantly, screwdriver. Be careful not to break the latches.
except when the door or window is open.
Once the latches are loosened and the case will

switch. You will be connecting your magnetic reed
switch here.
The trickiest part of making this alarm is that you

won’t be able to stick the wires through holes
in the circuit card. Rather, you’re going to have
to solder them to the backside of the circuit
card, wrapping them around the switch contacts,
where they come through. Start by cutting a short
come apart, you will see the circuit board which is piece of insulated wire, striping both ends and
the main part of the alarm. The test button itself connecting one contact of the test switch to one
will probably still be attached to the front case contact of your on/off switch.
half, while the working part of the switch will be
It is easiest to install this alarm if you use double
connected to the board. This will consist of a strip
wire, whether a twisted pair or what is known as
of springy metal, with a contact that is directly on
“zip cord.” Zip cord is two wires molded together,
the board or a microswitch. When the button is
forming one single cable. If you think of a cheap
pushed, the springy contact touches the contact
six foot extension cord, the wire used on it is zip
on the board, causing the alarm to go off. Test
cord. You can separate the tww wires by cutting
this, with the battery connected, to ensure that
the thin spot between them. You can also literally
you have found the switch.
rip the wires apart, which will cause them to
The next thing you need to find is room inside the separate at this same point.
alarm case to mount your on/off switch. It has
Strip a short section of wire at one end of the zip
to be mounted in such a way that the contacts
cord and separate the two conductors (wires).
on the switch won’t touch anything on the circuit
One needs to be soldered to the other text button
board. When you find a place, drill a hole in the
contact on the back side of the circuit board.
case and mount the switch.
The other one needs to be soldered to the other
If you flip the circuit card over, you’ll notice that terminal on your on/off switch.
there are silver bumps on the back side of it.
With everything soldered, it’s time to test your
These are the wires for the components on the
work. Strip a short section of the insulation off of
front side of the card. They are stuck through
the other end of the wires. Touch the conductors
holes in the circuit card and soldered to the back
together and the alarm should go off. If it doesn’t
side. Locate the leads for the two parts of the test
check that your on/off switch is in the “on”

position and that the battery is connected. If it each magnetic reed switch, the system will work,
still doesn’t work, check all your connections. regardless of which entrance is opened.
To finish your alarm, put the circuit board back Be sure to check each installation after it is done.
into the smoke alarm and close up the case. Run You don’t want to count on an alarm system that
the wire to the door or window that you want you haven’t taken the time to test.
to set the alarm up for. Mount the magnetic
27 - MY FAVORITE PLACES TO
reed switch to the door or window frame and HIDE MY GOODIES
the magnet to the door or window immediately
I’ve already mentioned that the master bedroom
adjacent to it.
is the worst place to hide guns and valuables.
Connect the two conductors of the wire to the That’s the most common place for people to
magnetic reed switch. It doesn’t matter which keep their valuables, especially jewelry and
wire connects to which contact on the switch, as it guns. A quick look through closets, dressers and
will work either way. Test your installed alarm to nightstands will usually garner a quick profit for
be sure that it will work whenever the window or the average break-in artist.
door is opened.
So, if hiding that stuff in the bedroom is out,
An interesting thing about this design is that you where should it be hidden? I’ve found a number
can literally connect an unlimited number of of places around the house which work wonders;
doors and windows to the same alarm. While that some of which not only would be good hiding
won’t tell you which one is opened, it will tell you places to protect your valuables from crooks, but
that one has been opened. Your reaction would also to protect them from government agents.
then be to check all of them, looking for the one
»» INSIDE FALSE HEAT REGISTERS
that has been breached.
– Cut a hole in the wall and put a shelf between
There are two ways of connecting the alarm to two studs. Cover the hole with a heat register,
multiple entrances. Both require that you have making it look like it is just another outlet.
a magnetic reed switch for each door or window.
One is to run wires from each switch back to the
alarm, connecting them the same way that the
first set was. The other is to “daisy chain” the
switches, connecting from one to the next. As
long as you are using two wires (one zip cord or
one twisted pair), and connect the two wires at

»» INSIDE FALSE DUCTWORK – Your »» OVER CLOSET DOORS – It’s amazing
home’s heating and cooling system will how few people think to look up. Put a small
probably have ductwork in either the attic or shelf or hook on the wall inside the closet,
basement. Very few people understand how above the closet door. While in plain sight, it
these systems work, so the addition of some would be very rare that anyone would see it
false ductwork, connected to the original, there.
won’t be noticed. Remember, whatever you do, you want to break
up your stash and hide things in a variety of
»» INSIDE FURNITURE – Most furniture
places. That way, if one place is discovered, the
offers a lot of great places to hide things,
rest of your goodies may still go undiscovered.
especially sofas, padded chairs and the box
springs of beds. They will all have empty space 28 - HIDING YOUR CACHE
that can be used. All you need to do is find a FROM THIEVES, LOOTERS AND
way of getting into that empty space.
GOVERNMENT AGENTS
There’s another important step you should do, in
»» BEHIND PICTURES AND
addition to hiding your guns and valuables as I
BOOKSHELVES – Home walls have 3-1/2
already mentioned. That is to make a decoy. Your
inches of dead space inside of them. You can
decoy should consist of things that won’t hurt too
easily cut a hole in the wall, like I mentioned
much to lose. If you have guns in the decoy, make
for the false heat registers. Make a little
them inoperable, or at least make sure that they
cubbyhole and hide stuff in it. Cover it with a
don’t have ammunition. Any valuables should
picture in a frame or a movable bookshelf.
likewise be not all that valuable.
»» FALSE PLUMBING PIPES – Just like
Your decoy needs to be hidden in a place where it
the false ductwork, you can add false 4 inch
will be relatively easy to find, but not so easy as to
drain pipes in your basement. These should look
raise suspicion. The master bedroom is ideal for
like they are connected to the rest of the system,
this, as everyone expects to find things there. The
without fluid being able to flow into them.
idea is that when they find the decoy, they’ll think
»» BURY IT – An old standby is to bury it in a they’ve found what they are looking for and quit.
hole in the ground. You can make an excellent
For your decoy to be effective, it needs to look
“safe” for burying things out of 4 inch PVC
real. At the same time, you don’t want to lose
plumbing pipe. Sealed properly, it is totally
anything of real value. You’ve got to find the
moisture proof, even protecting your guns
balance between those two positions. One
from rusting.

possibility might be to put a practice gun in your hurry; not in your bedroom.
decoy stash, but keep the guns you use hidden
Actually, the master bedroom is one of the worst
better. I have a .22 pistol that is my practice
places to hide anything of value, whether it be
gun, which I am using this way. It wasn’t all that
guns, jewelry, money or food you’ve stashed for
expensive, and I only use it for target practice.
an emergency. Robbers operate under severe
29 - THE #1 PLACE YOU SHOULD time constraints. They want to get into your home
NEVER HIDE YOUR GUNS and back out again as fast as possible; eight
Unless you have a concealed carry license and minutes is the longest they will spend. Therefore,
keep your gun with you at all times, you’ve they go to the most likely place to find valuables…
probably struggled with where to keep your the master bedroom.
guns. Most people make grave mistakes about
The only place that’s worse to hide your gun is in
this. They either keep their guns in the glove
the glove box of your car. There are two reasons
compartment of their car, their dresser drawer
for that. The first is that the criminals don’t even
or their nightstand. Those are the worst possible
need to break into your home to get your guns.
places to keep them.
All they have to do is break into your car. The
Let’s analyze this for a moment. The reason why second problem is that the glove compartment is
you have guns in the first place is to protect your the first place that police look to find guns. So, if
home and family. Okay, so let’s say that you the criminals don’t get your guns, the cops might.
have a gun under the pillow on your bed. Some
If you aren’t going to carry it on you, then hide your
criminal kicks in your door and what do you do?
guns someplace out of sight, but easily accessible.
If that gun isn’t where you can grab it within
There is a wide variety of furniture and other things
about two seconds, you may as well not own it. In
on the market, which is made specifically with the
fact, if it’s not where you can grab it in about two
idea of being able to hide guns in it. Another great
seconds, you’re probably not going to own it; the
standby is to hollow out a wall behind a picture
criminal that just kicked in your door is going to.
and hide the guns there. While a determined
Guns are only useful when they are on your search will still find them, the quick search that
person. I realize that carrying a gun on your crooks do will overlook such a place.
belt when you are at home might seem a bit
Remember, you need to be able to access it
extreme, but if it isn’t there, it’s probably out
quickly, so make your hiding place close to where
of reach. If you aren’t going to carry it, at least
you are most likely to be. If that is your favorite
hide it someplace where you can get it in a
recliner in the family room, then your gun should

be hidden close by. That way, when you need it, furniture is, every corner that someone could hide
you don’t have to go far to get it. behind and maybe even where the kids left their
toys on the floor when you shoed them off to bed.
30 - THE DARK IS YOUR
There’s no way that the thief can know their way
FRIEND, USE IT
around your home as well as you do.
While many break-
in artists have taken There’s really no reason to give away that
to practicing their advantage. The thief doesn’t know their way
art during the day, around your home like you do. So if you use a
when everyone is light, you’re really doing more to help them, than
at work, there are you are to help yourself. Keep it dark, so that they
still a fair number have to stumble around looking. Better yet, put
of break-ins that some things on the floor for them to trip over, so
happen at night. that they can give themselves away.
Thieves like the By utilizing the dark as your ally, you can make it
dark, because it much easier to catch them, while avoiding having
makes them harder to see and recognize. It also them try to take some potshots at you. While they
makes it easier for them to hide from the police, may take a few wild shots in the dark if they hear
should they end up in a chase. you, all you have to do to prevent that is find a
When people hear someone in their home at good spot to watch what’s going on, and stay still,
night, they pretty much all do the same thing; waiting for them.
go to investigate. They’ll grab their gun, baseball Whatever you do, make sure that you stay
bat or other weapon of choice in one hand and between your family and whoever broke into
a flashlight in the other. As they make their way your home. Usually, the best place for this is in
through the house, they flash the light around or the entrance to the hallway that leads to the
start turning on lights. This tells the thief where bedrooms. That way, they have to go through
they are, while making them a great target for the you to get to your family and you’ll have a good
thief to attack. chance of seeing anything that they might
The dark is your friend. You’re probably used to be doing. Whatever they might steal isn’t as
wandering around your home in the dark; whether important or as valuable as your family. By
it’s to get a cup of water, put out the cat or go to blocking access to them, you protect them.
the bathroom. You know where every piece of Anything else can be replaced.

DEFENDING
YOUR HOME
The last thing any criminal wants is to get into a shootout with you. In fact, I’d go as far
as to say that they are counting on you not defending yourself or your home. We’ve had
so many years of police departments telling us to not confront criminals that break into
our homes that most people won’t even try to defend themselves, even if they have the
ability. That plays right into the criminals’ hands.
Many criminals aren’t armed with anything more ridiculous techniques with their guns; techniques
dangerous than a switchblade knife. Even those that are likely to make them miss their targets,
that carry guns aren’t likely to be very good at rather than hit their targets. That doesn’t mean
using them. Their gun is a tool of intimidation; that they’ll never hit a target, just that if they do
intended to make you so scared that you don’t it’s more by luck than by design.
bother trying to protect yourself.
Don’t think that I’m saying that criminals can’t hit
You’ve probably seen some criminal “gangsta” anyone. Any time there’s lead flying, there’s a risk
type in a movie or television show, who is of getting hit. Criminals do in fact hit victims on a
holding a pistol sideways, pointing it in the regular basis. Those criminals might think they’re
general direction of their victim. They’re not tough and act like they’re tough; in reality they
holding it right, they aren’t using the sights and are cowards hiding behind guns. They’ll shoot
they’re supposed to be able to hit their target… to maintain the image of being tough, as well as
yeah, right. Anyone trying to shoot that way is to intimidate, not really caring who they hit. In
depending upon luck more than skill. reality, they’d rather not hit anyone, because they
don’t want to go to jail for murder.
Guess what? The criminals watch that as well.
To them, the gangsta on the television screen I can tell you, as an experienced shooter, that
is a hero to be emulated. So, they use the same shooting someone with a gun, even at close range,
is much harder than it looks. The natural difficulty stop them from doing
in shooting is amplified by the adrenalin rushing what they are planning
through the person’s system, reducing their fine on doing, capture them
motor skills and causing them to move in a quick, or convince them to
jerky manner. Instead of pulling or squeezing the leave.
trigger smoothly, they will usually jerk it, ruining
To succeed, the one
their shot.
thing you need to
Never take chances when faced by an armed remember is that the
criminal. While they probably haven’t practiced last thing criminals
with their guns, they still have them and they want is to attract
know how to pull the trigger. If you find yourself attention. Their most important goal is to get
in that situation, make sure that your aim is good away without getting caught. So, anything you
and that when you shoot; you hit what you’re can do to attract attention to them is going to
aiming at. make them very nervous; perhaps even nervous
enough to run away.
31 - FIRST MOVE TO GET AN
INTRUDER OUT OF YOUR HOME How can you do this? By making a lot of noise. It’s
human nature to look at a loud noise, just like it is
While the law allows you to defend your home
to look at a flash of light or a sudden movement.
and family in most states, the courts have pretty
With that in mind, you want to make the most
well defined that as meaning once a criminal
noise you can, the fastest you can. If you succeed
actually enters your home. Up until that point,
in making a loud enough noise, you might even
you aren’t really allowed to take any active
startle them momentarily, preventing them from
measures against the criminal.
taking further action.
The premise here is that until they actually enter
This is not unprecedented. Police SWAT teams
your home, they aren’t a threat. Since it can’t
use flash bang grenades to startle criminals when
really be self-defense unless there is an imminent
they make a forced entry. The combination of a
threat of bodily harm against you, this actually
loud noise and a bright flash of light is usually
makes sense. Unless a criminal is going to shoot
enough to stun the criminals for a moment, giving
at you through the door or wall, which isn’t very
the SWAT officers enough time to get in and take
likely, they aren’t an imminent threat until they
control of the situation without opposition.
are in your home.
You can’t buy flash-bang grenades at your local
Okay, so once they do manage to kick in your
sporting goods store; besides, they tend to scorch
door or break out a window, what do you do?
the carpet and the furniture. So, with that out
Those first few seconds are critical and can make
of the question, you’ll have to find something
all the difference in the world. You either have to

else. The noisiest thing I know of that is readily Nevertheless, the decision is often in other
available are the horns that are sold for use at people’s hands. Our only decision is whether we
sporting events. I’m sure you know the type I’m are going to run, be a victim or defend our home
talking about. They have a can of compressed air, and family.
connected to a plastic horn. Pull the trigger and
If your decision, like mine, is to defend home and
they make a blast that’s loud enough to be heard
family, then you need to be ready to do so. That
all across the stadium.
means having firearms and becoming proficient in
That’s loud enough to attract a lot of attention, as using them. But becoming proficient means more
well as make the perpetrator stop to wonder what than just learning how to shot. It means knowing
is going on. You don’t even need to be strong or in how to maneuver in your home, how to know
good health to use it. Children, adults, elderly and when to shoot and how to shoot while moving.
the infirm can all use it with equal results.
There’s one other element in this equation that
If you can’t get your hands on one of those horns, is of supreme importance. That is to make the
than anything that makes a lot of noise will be decision that you will shoot to kill, if necessary.
good, although not as good. Whistles, firecrackers, You really can’t wait until the time comes to make
cymbals and blaring stereo systems can all that decision. If you do, then you’re the one
produce a lot of noise, although not as much as who will end up dead. While you are making the
that horn can. Whatever you use, you want it to decision, the criminal will kill you. He’s already
be as loud as possible and you want to make it made that decision and he won’t hesitate.
go off right as they are breaking into your home.
With that decision made, the best way to deal
That increases the chance of someone looking
with an armed intruder is with all the violence
and seeing what they are doing.
and aggressiveness you can muster. Notice I
32 - MY FAVORITE TACTIC TO say “armed intruder” there. You really don’t have
SAVE AMMO AND POTENTIALLY a legal leg to stand on, if you kill an unarmed
intruder. So the first thing to do is make sure that
SAVE YOUR LIFE
he’s armed. It doesn’t have to be a gun either. It is
Okay, so maybe the loud noise trick doesn’t
commonly understood that within 21 feet a knife
always work. Nothing is going to work all the
is just as deadly as a gun.
time. There are times when you’re going to need
to take much more direct action; confronting the Don’t try and negotiate with the criminal; don’t
criminals directly. try and talk him out of what he’s doing and don’t
try and arrest him. If he’s broken into your home
Most of us hope that time will never happen. I
with a weapon at hand, it’s already too late for
can understand that. After all, who wants to be
any of that. It’s fight or flight time, those are the
stuck having a shoot-out in their own home?
only options available.

assailant isn’t going to help you at all.
At the same time, you want to make it as hard for

them to hit you as possible. That means moving
while you are shooting. This is a skill that few people
have. In order to be able to shoot while moving, you
need to practice. The really great thing about that,
is that if you learn how to do it, you have a huge
advantage over the bag guy. He probably doesn’t
practice at all, preferring to intimidate and if he
does practice, it’s not while moving.
Another thing that can help you is to use cover as

much as possible. Cover is anything that you can
get behind, which is likely to stop the bullet from
If you find yourself caught in that situation, then
hitting you. Contrary to the movies, upended
you had better be ready. That means ready to be
tables and sofas don’t do this. Pretty much any
as violent as you can. Grab your gun, get a good
gun can shoot through a sofa, table or wall, as
sight picture and start shooting. The faster you
if it wasn’t even there. About all those can do
can put them down, the less chance you’ll end
is to give you concealment. For cover you need
up getting shot. Remember, the only rule in a
something metal or brick.
gunfight is to win!
While moving and getting under cover will help
With that in mind, anyone that is worth shooting
prevent you from getting shot, the best thing to
is worth shooting more than once. Real life isn’t
keep you from getting shot is to make sure that
like the movies. One shot may not put him down.
your assailant can’t shoot you. It all comes down
Recently, a police officer put 19 rounds into a
to that. Get them first, and they can’t get you.
criminal and he still kept on coming. When people
are pumped up on drugs or adrenalin, all bets are 33 - THE BEST “DESPERATE
off; you don’t know what they are capable of doing.
FIGHT” MOVE YOU CAN FIND
Keep shooting until they are down, and then check
I’m a firm believer in using firearms to defend
to make sure that they can’t still shoot you.
home and family. But there are times when you
When push comes to shove, the only thing that might not have a firearm available to you. Even
matters is winning. Take the time to make your though I have a concealed carry permit and carry
shots count. Shooting fast is great, but I can tell all day long, even at home, there are times when I
you from personal experience that shooting am unarmed. After all, some activities, like taking
accurately counts for a whole lot more than a shower, really aren’t intended to be done with a
shooting fast. Ten shots into the wall behind your gun strapped to your side.

If there’s anything I’ve learned in life it’s that bad instep. A hard hit to any of those places will have
things happen at the most inopportune times. In the most possible effect.
other words, if my home ever gets broken into,
Self-defense and martial arts experts will tell you
Murphy’s Law states that it will happen at one
that there are lots of ways to hit an assailant,
of those times when I don’t have a gun on me;
but in reality there are two basic ways to hit; a
probably when I’m naked in the shower.
swinging blow or a jabbing blow. In most cases,
You can train all you want with a gun, but if you you will want to use a jabbing blow with whatever
don’t have that gun with you, then it doesn’t makeshift weapon you pick up, simply because
do you any good. Does that mean you just give you can put the most force into the blow that way.
up? Do you forget about defending yourself Put your weight behind it and make it hurt; don’t
just because you’re wet and naked? Do you let hold back at all.
criminals do whatever they want, just because
Don’t depend upon only one hit to disable or put
you’re unprepared? I hope not.
fear into the heart of your assailant either. Keep
The trick is to know how to handle those at it, making each blow count. While you want to
circumstances. There are three important be violent, you want to be intelligent as well. If
principles to remember here: you just flail wildly at them, you’re probably not
going to do any good. Take enough time to think
• Criminals don’t want to get into a fight if they
through each blow, aiming for one of the tender
can avoid it
areas I mentioned. Just don’t take any more time
• Anything can be used as a weapon than absolutely necessary.
• The more violent your attack, the more fear 34 - TWO WEAPONS THAT CAN
you put in their hearts SEND ROBBERS RUNNING AT
I don’t care if you’re 98 pound soaking wet, if you THE VERY SOUND
strike with enough violence, you’re going to seem You’re probably thinking that I’m talking about a
like you’re seven feet tall, weighing 250 pounds shotgun here, but I’m not. While I’ll have to say
of all muscle and be a martial arts expert. That’s that the sound of racking a round into a shotgun’s
the trick to winning the fight; strike quickly and chamber is a pretty scary sound; one that is likely
violently, scaring the crap out of them so that to send crooks running, I don’t recommend using
they can’t fight back effectively. it that way.
You need to make the most possible impact, for You see, if you have a shotgun for a home
the least possible expenditure of energy. That defense weapon, it should be loaded and ready
means that you want to hit them in places that to use, with a round in the chamber. Racking a
will do the most good. What are those places? round into the chamber will either waste the
The eyes, nose, throat, groin, side of the knee and

round that was in the
35 - THE EASIEST TACTIC FOR
chamber, or it means
DEFENDING YOURSELF, EVEN IF
that you left your home
YOU’RE OVER 60
defense gun without a
I’ve mentioned firearms
round chambered. Not
before and I want to go back
a smart move. It should
to them again. Firearms are
be loaded and ready the weapons of choice for
to go, albeit with the defending yourself, mostly
safety on. because they are relatively
easy to use compared to
No, the first weapon I’m referring to is a stun
other options. While you
gun, commonly referred to as a taser. You push
can’t just pick up a gun the
the button on it and it will make a nice crackling first time and expect to be able to shoot like Doc
sound which everyone recognizes and that can Holliday with an attitude (like most criminals think),
be heard from a fair distance. That’s enough to you can learn to use one effectively fairly easily.
give anyone who is thinking of attacking someone
The thing is, any attacker is likely to be armed with
good reason to pause. Nobody wants to be hit by a gun. Oh, there might be a few out there who
that taser and there’s a good chance they’ll decide use a knife; but the majority will come at you with
it’s a good time to leave. a gun. So, anything less than a gun puts you at a
distinct disadvantage. With that in mind, the big
The other item I’m thinking of is an actual sonic
question is what kind of a gun should you have?
weapon. There are several companies making
these on the market. They are totally harmless, If you already have guns, I’m not trying to change
your mind here. Whatever you have is probably
but have an amazing effect. Essentially, the
just what you need. I’m writing this section more
weapon make a sound at a frequency to cause
for people who have never shot a gun before.
discomfort in the individual. Depending upon the
They’re the ones who need some advice.
particular weapon, this could be nausea, a need
Okay, so what should you use? I’d recommend
to urinate or even fear.
buying a semi-automatic pistol in .380 caliber.
While not the type of weapon you see all the time, That’s big enough to cause some damage, while
these are highly effective. They are used by stores still being small enough a caliber to be easy to
and police to break up crowds and get disruptive handle. Anything smaller really isn’t effective, mostly
youth to move on to some other location. Used because the bullet is so small. Anything larger will
be harder to shoot. The .380 caliber is very easy to
in your home, they could give a potential criminal
shoot, especially for first-time shooters.
ample reason to decide to move on, especially
when used in conjunction with a gun in your hand. Part of what makes the .380 easy to shoot is that

it doesn’t have a lot of recoil. Let me tell you a
36 - THE IMPORTANCE OF
secret here. The amount of recoil a gun has is a
FIREARM TRAINING
combination of the amount of gunpowder in the
cartridges and the weight of the gun. In order to have Just having a gun in your home isn’t enough. While
low recoil, you want a fairly good sized gun. Avoid over 70 percent of criminals will turn tail and run
buying a compact gun; as the recoil on a compact when faced by a law abiding citizen holding a gun,
gun will be much higher than a full-sized gun of the there are still some who will choose to fight it out.
same caliber from the same manufacturer. It doesn’t matter what their reason is, these people
can be dangerous. The fact that they are holding a
The other thing that makes the .380 easy to shoot gun is enough to make them that way.
is that the slide doesn’t require a lot of strength
to cycle, what shooters commonly call “racking If you are going to use a gun to defend your
the slide” (moving it back and forth). This is an home, then you need to know how to use it
essential part of loading the gun, as it is the action well. The only guns which can hit perfectly every
of racking the slide that causes a round from the time, without using proper technique or even
magazine to enter the chamber of the gun. knowing how to shoot are owned by Hollywood.
Unfortunately for you and me, they don’t share
If you are elderly, a woman or have health those with us. As homeowners protecting home
problems, then the amount of force required to and family, we have to know how to use standard
rack the slide should be a concern for you. You guns, not the magic ones of Hollywood.
don’t want to have to wrestle with the gun in order
to load it. You want something that will be easy for While the mechanics of shooting a gun aren’t all
you to load, so that you can do it quickly and easily that hard, the ability to shoot it well requires a lot
when you need to. The .380 caliber does this. of practice. There are several different elements
of shooting; each of which must be paid attention
I would also recommend buying “self defense to when you have to do it for real. Without a lot
ammo” for the gun. This is ammunition which uses of practice, you’ll never get a shot off or if you do,
standard hollow point bullets. When the hollow you’ll merely hit the wall.
point bullet hits a target it mushrooms, making the
bullet have a bigger diameter. That increases the Firearms training always starts with target
size of the hole it makes, causing more damage shooting. This gives you the opportunity to
and making the assailant bleed out faster. learn how to use the gun, incorporating all the
elements of firing into making a good shot. Many
This is important, because unlike the movies, people stop there, thinking that being able to
getting shot by a gun doesn’t usually cause shoot the gun is enough; but it isn’t. Once you
someone to fall down. Unless they are hit know how to shoot it, you have to learn how to
somewhere vital or by a very large bullet, they will shoot it in a tactical situation; a situation more
probably remain standing. In that case, what you like what you can expect to encounter if someone
need is for them to lose enough blood to make breaks into your home. This has to include:
them weak; hence the larger hole.

• Shooting at multiple assailants most people, the focus is all about stabbing the
• Shooting at multiple distances body. That’s actually much harder to do than most
• Shooting at moving targets people realize, simply because you have to get past
• Shooting while moving their knife to get to their body. While you are trying
• Shooting in a low light situation to get past their knife, they are trying to stab you.
Any or all of these elements may be present when Fortunately, most criminals aren’t any more
you have to do it for real. That’s why you have to expert in using a knife than you or I are. They are
practice with them. If you don’t take the time to hoping to intimidate you with their knife, so that
practice, then when someone breaks into your they can get what they want and get away. That
home, you’re going to be standing there with a doesn’t mean that they can’t cut you, but they
gun, punching holes in the wall. probably won’t be doing anything fancy.
37 - IF YOU’RE STUCK FIGHTING Here’s a great secret for winning any knife fight.
WITH A KNIFE Remember, for your purposes, winning means

that the bad guy gives up and runs away; not that
Effective knife fighting is
you manage to put him down permanently. If he
complicated and requires
goes down, that’s fine, but all you really need is
a lot of practice in order
for him to give up. To do that, don’t fight his body,
to be effective. Most true
fight his knife arm. In other words, don’t try and
knife fighters have spent
stab him in the body, just try and cut the arm or
years learning how to fight,
hand that is holding the knife.
as well as to develop the
reactions that allow them There are several advantages to this strategy. First
to fight effectively with a of all, he’s not expecting it, so it will be easier for
knife. You probably don’t have that time or the you to do. Secondly, he has to expose that arm,
interest in learning how to become an expert so you have a ready target. Thirdly, he’s going
knife fighter. Besides, knife fighting really isn’t all to have a hard time cutting or stabbing you, if
that effective. his arm is hurting from a cut or two that you’ve
That’s not to say that knives are totally useless. put on him. Finally, there’s a real psychological
If someone attacks you with a knife and you advantage in getting first blood.
don’t have a gun, I hope that you have a knife at
Another thing you should do, along with grabbing
hand. True fighting knives are more effective for
a knife, is to grab a pillow off the sofa or bed.
fighting with, simply because they have a double
Hold the pillow in your other hand, so that you
edged blade. However, you can defend yourself
can use it as a shield. If he tries to stab you, that
effectively with any good-sized kitchen knife.
gives you something to put in the way of his knife
When most people think of knife fighting, they or to bat his knife away with. So what if he cuts up
imagine two people circling each other, looking
your pillow, at least he’s not cutting your body.
for a chance to stab their opponent’s body. For

PROTECTING YOURSELF
FROM IDENTITY THEFT
Identity theft has become the crime of the 21st century. Rather than have to break into
your home to steal whatever they can, criminals can sit at the comfort of their computer
and rob you blind; often in other countries, where they don’t have to worry about
American law enforcement officers catching up with them.
While identity theft can take on a variety of In a sense, an identity thief is much like a private
different forms, such as buying things on your investigator, trying to find out everything they
credit cards and transferring money directly from can about you. Of course, a true P.I. isn’t going
your bank account, it has one thing in common; to use that information to steal from you like
the thief has to pretend that they are you to a thief will. The thing that sets identity thieves
accomplish it. That means that the thief needs apart from other investigators is how they use the
your personal information to work with. information.
Keep in mind that you aren’t picked out as a Often, we are our own worst enemies in this
target of identity theft because you have a big battle. We are the ones who give that information
house or a lot of money in your account. The over to the hands of these criminals, allowing
only reason you might be picket as a target is them to perform crimes against us. So the key
because the thieves are able to find enough to preventing identity theft is nothing more than
information about you to be able to accomplish denying the thieves the necessary information to
their goal. At the same time that a thief is digging be able to take action. If we can do that, we win
up information about you, they are working the battle.
on a bunch of other potential victims as well.
If identity theft is all about information, then the
Ultimately, the decision of who to rob from boils
major question we need to concern ourselves
down to who they can get enough information
with is where are they getting the information
about.
from? If we can figure that out, then we can put a

stop to giving over information that can be used
against us.
38 - HACKING INTO YOUR

ACCOUNTS
One of the biggest tools of the identity theft is
hacking into your e-mail, purchase accounts and
bank accounts. This is not as hard as most of us
Using a login ID that is more complicated won’t
think and is one area in which most people play
guarantee that it can’t be hacked, but it will make
right into the thieves hands.
it harder for a thief to guess it easily. You can
There are two things that a thief needs in order make it more complicated by using information
to hack into an account. Those are the account from a combination of sources, such as a hobby,
name or login I.D. and the password. Most of us your work, where you went to school and the year
use login IDs and passwords which are easy to you graduated. While an ID of this type can still be
guess. Worse than that, we use the same ones figured out, it is much harder.
over and over, on all our accounts. So, if a thief is
able to find out what they are, all they have to do 39 - PASSWORDS
is to keep trying it in different places, in order to Many people literally give themselves away by
hack into our accounts and either buy things in choosing a poor password. The number one
our name or steal from us. password in use for every one of the last 20 years
has been “password.” It doesn’t take a genius to
Most people’s login ID refers to their name
figure that one out. In many cases, all the hacker
somehow. It might simply be their name, or their
has to do is to try the most common passwords
name followed by the year of their birth. Often,
with every account name that they have, and reap
the login ID is the first piece of information that
the benefits of the “hits” that they get.
the thief has to work with; finding it via a number
of different means. The 25 most common passwords in use today are:
One of the most common means of finding a 1. password

login ID is by trial and error. They start with
2. 123456
information that they have about a potential
victim and try to use it. This information could be 3. 12345678
obtained via social media, through mail that has
4. abc123
been thrown away, via a response to an online
inquiry or by hacking into a company’s sales 5. qwerty
computer and getting information about many
6. monkey
different people’s accounts.

7. letmein for passwords is personal information, like their
spouse’s name, the name of a pet or the name of
8. dragon
a child. This is almost as bad, as this information
9. 111111 is all available on their social media accounts.
While not as easy to break through as the top 25
10. baseball
list, it won’t take long for a thief to figure out.
11. iloveyou
Security experts recommend forming a strong
12. trustno1 password that is a combination of elements. This
makes it hard to break without long and complicated
13. 1234567
work. Like anything else we do to thwart the activity
14. Sunshine of thieves, the harder we can make it for them, the
better. A good password needs:
15. Master
• To be at least 8 characters long
16. 123123
• To use a combination of letters, numbers and
17. welcome
symbols
18. shadow
• To use a combination of upper and lower case
19. ashley letters
20. football • To not use any easily recognizable word in any
21. jesus language, especially English
22. michael Even the best password can be a problem if you

use it all over the place. Many people make the
23. ninja mistake of using the same password for all their
24. mustang accounts. Then, if a hacker happens to find their

password, they know how to get into all that
25. password1
person’s accounts.
This list isn’t any secret. It can be found all over

40 - WHAT INFORMATION ARE
the Internet. So you can be sure that anyone who
YOU THROWING AWAY?
is in the identity theft business knows it. With that
in mind, if you are using any of those passwords, Besides sifting through your online information,
you are giving hackers the key to get into your another great source of information for identity
accounts and steal from you. thieves is your garbage. These people are highly
organized and work in teams. While some are
The other common thing that many people use
online seeking out information, others pick

through garbage looking for it. they are is to look at the e-mail address that
they originated from. While they might include
You’d be amazed how much information you can
elements of the name of the originating company,
end up throwing away in the garbage, especially
they won’t be the URL of the originating company.
around tax time. When people throw away their
In other words, instead of saying: customer_
old records, they often contain valuable personal
[email protected], they would say something
information, such as their address, account
like: [email protected]. The key
numbers bank statements, old bills, old credit
to look for is what is located just before the “.com”
card statements and the holy grail of the identity
as this will identify the true source of the e-mail.
theft community: social security numbers. This
information gives them a great start on building a The problem for those who are using e-mail to get
profile about their potential targets. you to give up your information is that they can’t
use the actual e-mail address of the company they
Any paperwork more serious than a child’s
are pretending to be. If they did, the e-mail with
coloring page or an advertisement should be
your answers would go back to that company,
shredded before being thrown away. Even small
instead of to them. Therefore, they have to use
bits of personal information can give these
a fake e-mail address, even though they try and
thieves clues that they can use to break into
disguise it to look like it is the correct one.
your accounts. If they happen on something that
contains your social security number, they can Another thing to keep in mind is that most
rebuild your entire life, taking it over for their legitimate companies won’t ask you to provide
nefarious purposes. any important information via e-mail. These
companies know how identity thieves work and
41 - WATCH OUT FOR YOUR E-MAIL
want to protect their customers. Therefore, if they
Another source that need your information, they will ask you to sign
is commonly used to on to your account and provide it.
trick you into giving
Watch out for this as well, as the embedded
away information is
links in e-mails, supposedly provided for your
e-mail. There are several
convenience, can be just as dangerous as those
different scams used,
fake e-mails. They can be harder to spot as well,
but the most common is to send you an official
because they are often much longer URLs than
looking e-mail from your bank, PayPal, eBay or
a simple PayPal.com. Once again, find what is
even the IRS, seeking to “verify information” about
right before the “.com” and verify that it is the
you. These are very well crafted documents,
company you think it is. Anyone else will have
which look like the real thing. The only thing is,
something else there, besides the actual name
they aren’t.
of the website, even if they have the name of the
The key to recognizing these documents for what

website included somewhere in the URL. account, which I had not authorized. By finding
the activity quickly and contacting my bank, I was
42 - KEEP TRACK OF YOUR
able to put a hold on the activity, blocking the
ACCOUNTS thieves work. This made it possible for the bank
One of the simplest ways of protecting your bank to return my money to me and I suffered no loss.
accounts from identity theft is to check them every
couple of days. All banks today have websites,
43 - COMMUNICATIONS
which allow you access to what is essentially a SECURITY AND YOUR ONLINE
live ledger for each of your accounts. It will list all SECURITY
of your deposits, withdraws (whether by check or Another common
debit card) and the current balance. By reviewing trick for those who
it, you can find if anyone has charged anything practice identity
to your account or transferred money from your theft is to pick your
account, without your knowledge. secure information
right out of the
If you do encounter any suspicious activity on
air. Whenever you
your account, you should immediately contact
connect to the Internet through WiFi, you are
the bookkeeping department of your bank and
broadcasting a radio transmission between your
let them know what activity you have found. You
computer and the WiFi hub. Anyone with the right
can dispute this activity, which may allow you to
equipment connected to their computer can pick
recover the funds, once the bank investigates. If
up your transmission and read it. In most cases,
you suspect that illegal activity has taken place to
that information isn’t even encrypted.
steal money from your account, you should also
file a police report. If you access your bank accounts, e-mail accounts
or make purchases with a credit card online, that
Before contacting the bank, it is important to
information can all be seen by anyone who is
be sure that the suspect activity is worthy of
watching you. They can easily pull your credit
investigation. Check with other family members
card information, passwords and login IDs from
who have access to the account, ensuring that
your computer’s transmission and use that to
they didn’t make a purchase or transfer that
access your accounts on their own; stealing your
you weren’t aware of. The bank will probably
money or buying things in your name.
deactivate your debit cards, which means that
you will be without access to your account, except The solution to this is to avoid using WiFi for
by check, until new cards are issued. anything more serious than surfing the Web.
Never access critical accounts on a public WiFi
I have personally encountered cases where
network, as you can’t be sure who is “listening in”
money was transferred out of my checking
on your transactions.
account and where purchases were made on my

There is one way in which you can access this You are entitled to receive free credit reports
type of information over a public WiFi network, from all three of the major credit reporting
without any risk. That is to contract for a agencies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) once
secure service that allows you to transmit and per year, if you so request. You are also entitled
receive information through a secure proxy to receive one if you are turned down for credit
server. These systems are called “virtual private in any way. This report gives you the opportunity
networks” (VPNs). The information going out to see if there has been any credit activity in your
from your computer and returning to it will then name, which you have not authorized.
be encrypted, making it virtually impossible for
Another free service that is offered by these three
hackers to access it.
companies is called a Fraud Alert. This is a flag
44 - MAKE USE OF FRAUD ALERT on your credit information, letting the company
TO PROTECT YOUR CREDIT know that you want to be informed, any time
information about your credit is requested. This
SCORE
is only done if you request it and you must renew
Besides stealing
your request every 90 days to keep the alert active.
money directly
from your bank If you don’t fill out a credit application, but receive
account or buying a report from a credit agency that you have, it
something using means that someone else is trying to use your
your credit cards, credit rating in order for them to buy something
another way on credit. This most likely means that someone is
that identity trying to initiate identity theft against you.
thieves work is
If you have been the victim of identity theft, you
to impersonate you in order to obtain credit in
can request a “7 Year Victim Statement.” This is
your name, so that they can buy things with that
essentially the same service, with the exception
credit. They get what they want and as far as the
that it stays in place for seven years. That
companies that they bought it from and the credit
provides you a longer-term window into your
reporting agencies are concerned, you didn’t pay
credit information, protecting you longer from
the debt.
any potential identity theft.
The three major credit reporting agencies can’t
The three credit reporting agencies work together on
do much to stop this, as everything that is
this, so if you make your request for Fraud Alert or
presented to them looks hunky-dory. However,
fill out a 7 Year Victim Statement with one company,
those fraudulent transactions, in your name,
they will ensure that the information is passed on
can destroy your credit rating. This could be
to the other two, so that you are receiving the same
disastrous if you ever decide to buy a home.
coverage from all three credit agencies.

PROTECTING YOURSELF
PERSONALLY
Criminals don’t just break into homes to steal from people; they do so in public
places as well. Purse snatchers, pickpockets and armed robbers roam the streets,
looking for victims that they can enrich themselves off of. These classes of criminals
try to balance their need for a public place where there are many potential victims to
choose from, against a need for a private place where they won’t be seen.
A
key thing to understand is that these walk down the street without noticing what is
robbers are very selective of the people happening. They could no more describe the
that they rob. Not only are they looking person they just passed, than they could tell you
for someone who will have something worth what that person had in their pocket.
robbing, but they also want to make sure that
While there’s no reason for us to expect them
they approach someone who is not going to give
them a problem; someone who they can rob from to know what is in the other person’s pocket, it
and get away to rob another day. is reasonable to expect people to be able to
describe the people that we see around us. If we
This immediately takes a few categories of people
are living in condition yellow, like I talked about
out of the equation. Like all criminals, these
back in the introduction, we’ll have a pretty good
too want to get away without any problems.
idea of what’s going on around us; even to the
Therefore, they will skip over many potential
point of being able to describe the people that we
criminals who look like they might be well heeled,
encounter.
in order to select one that it doesn’t look like
much of a security risk. The advantage to the criminals of attacking
people like this is obvious; they are unlikely to
45 - CRIMINALS LIKE VICTIMS be able to report much about their attackers to
WHO ARE UNAWARE the authorities. This increases the chance of the
Most people walk down the street, not seeing criminals getting away with their crimes, with little
what is going on around them. Most people chance of repercussions.

The best defense against any criminal in a public the person back to their feet, when contact with
situation is being aware of what is going on them would be normal. Another is to stage a fight.
around you. The term for this is “keeping your While two are fighting and everyone is watching,
head on a swivel.” If criminals of any sort see you their teammates will be busy picking pockets.
looking around all the time, specifically looking
There are a number of strategies you can use to
at the people around you, they will probably
protect yourself from pickpockets:
leave you alone. The risk to them that you will
remember them is too great. • Never carry your
wallet or any other
While being an active defense measure, keeping
valuables in your
your head on a swivel is the easiest defensive
backpack. That makes
measure to employ; one which doesn’t require
it extremely easy for
any self-defense classes, has literally no chance of
the pickpocket to take
causing you harm and essentially eliminates the
them, without you
possibility of any sort of confrontation. From a
feeling a thing.
self-defense point of view, it is actually much better
than having a black belt or being an expert shot. • Carry your wallet in your front pocket, not
your hip pocket. It’s much harder to get
46 - PROTECT YOURSELF FROM
something out of a front pocket without it
PICKPOCKETS being noticed.
The above mentioned measure of keeping your
• Putting a couple of rubber bands around your
head on a swivel is one of the best possible
wallet makes it harder to get out of your pocket.
methods of protecting yourself from pickpockets.
Like any other type of criminal, pickpockets try • If you are carrying a purse, use a shoulder bag,
to operate without being seen. They studiously with the strap diagonally across your body.
ignore those who are studying them. Carry it with the flap of the bag towards your
body, so that it can’t be opened as easily.
Pickpockets usually work in pairs, often a man
and a woman working together. One partner • Use purses with thick straps, rather than thin
(usually the woman) distracts the intended victim, ones. These are harder to cut and steal.
while the other does the actual theft. There are
• Don’t carry all your money and credit cards
many ways in which they go about this; one of
together. Keep some separate in case you are
which is to have their intended victim collide with
the victim of a pickpocket. You’ll at least still
the distraction, so that both of them fall to the
have something.
ground. The pockets are picked while helping

• Wear a jacket to cover up your pockets. This community. Regardless of what weapon they
also gives you a good place to hide things, in have, the purpose of that weapon is to intimidate
the inside pockets. you and make you do what they want.
• A backpack can also be worn on the front, Your best opportunity to counterattack is when
making it almost impossible for anyone they first approach you. They will be expecting
to steal something in it, without giving you to submit to the “authority” they create
themselves away. by attacking you with a weapon. If you are
sufficiently trained to act instantly, you have
• Keep your valuables inside your clothing by
a momentary advantage, as they won’t be
using a money belt or other pouch that is
expecting it. It doesn’t matter if you are a martial
hidden under your clothing.
arts expert or you’re carrying a gun, the element
More than anything, you want to avoid being of surprise will be on your side. Don’t try this
predictable. You can throw off a pickpocket just however, unless you have trained for it. They will
by making sure that your valuables aren’t where react, and might hurt you.
they expect them to be. Keep all valuables in
The laws about what is permissible as self-
physical contact with your body at all times, so
defense vary from place to place. More than that,
that they can’t be removed from you without
the judicial culture varies as well. Some states
you noticing them. The space between your arm
may legally permit killing in self-defense in the
and your body is excellent for this, as you have
law, but have courts treat those who do so as
contact with both sides of the object.
criminals. It’s important to know how the courts
47 - WHEN YOU ARE in your area treat this. You can find that from the
CONFRONTED BY A ROBBER way other cases are treated.
There may be times when you are directly Regardless of the judicial culture in your state, it
confronted by a robber, regardless of how is only self-defense if you are in imminent danger.
observant you are. Not all criminals are smart That means that you have a criminal facing you
enough to avoid being seen and some don’t care, with a weapon in their hand. Once they turn away
as they customarily wear masks or otherwise to leave, you are no longer in danger. Shooting
make identification difficult. them at that point in time will be looked at as
A robber will always be armed in some way. They murder or at least manslaughter.
will either stick a knife in your face or a gun. There are several things you can do to put
Which they use depends upon where you are and the criminal off their guard. The first is to
what the criminal has available to them. Customs act frightened. They are expecting you to be
vary from place to place, even in the criminal

frightened, so if you are, you are meeting their There is still a huge controversy about weapons
preconceived notions. They will not question it, ownership and laws in the United States. This
because they are expecting it. They will probably fight is far from over and will probably outlast
relax a little, thinking that they have won. You anyone reading this book. The statistics are clear
can also act as if you are going along with what though, armed citizens reduce crime. It doesn’t
they are telling you to do. If they tell you to give matter if we’re talking about simply burglary
them your wallet, reach for your wallet. If you or mass shootings, having guns in the hands of
are carrying concealed, this will give you the law abiding citizens is both a deterrent against
opportunity to get your hand to your gun, without criminals and a protection for society at large.
them suspecting anything. A quick draw and fire
Having a concealed carry permit doesn’t give
from the hip, and you’ve won the confrontation.
you any more right to shoot than anyone else
Whatever action you take, you need to realize has. The only true advantage it gives you is the
that you only have one opportunity; don’t waste legal right to carry a loaded firearm concealed
it. If it doesn’t look like you’ll be able to draw on your person. Of course, that gives you a huge
your gun and fire before they can shoot you or advantage over the rest of the people, who don’t
stab you, then go along with them. Wait for your have a gun on their person. Having a gun gives
opportunity. If that opportunity never presents you the ability to fight back.
itself and you are robbed, at least you are still
There are many views about carrying concealed,
alive. Nothing you are carrying is worth your life.
even amongst those who do. The premise is that
48 - SHOULD YOU GET YOUR you are carrying concealed for self-defense. While
CONCEALED CARRY PERMIT? that is valid, in and of itself, it raises the question
of what you will do if someone else is attacked?
Holders of concealed
Would you, as a law-abiding armed citizen, run
carry permits are
to their rescue or would you allow the criminal to
on the rise. Ever
have their way, as it doesn’t affect you?
since states started
switching over This is a difficult question to answer and in reality
to “shall issue,” one that doesn’t have just one answer. Laws vary
meaning that they from state to state about what you are permitted
will issue the permit if there is no reason to deny to do. However, that isn’t the biggest issue. The
it, more and more people have been getting their big issue is whether you are able to help the
concealed carry permit. This gives honest law- situation or not. If you see one person shooting
abiding citizens the necessary tools to protect at another, how do you know for sure who is
themselves from armed thugs and criminals. the guilty party? It could be that the shooter is

doing so in self-defense, even though it looks like lots of fear to feed off of.
they are the aggressor. You must be sure of the
I strongly believe in women having concealed
situation, before you draw your gun.
carry permits so that they can protect
With that said, I personally believe that carrying themselves from rapists. There have been
a gun implies the responsibility of protecting a number of things said about what women
society in general. I would use my gun to protect should do, but when it all boils down to it,
others, but I would be sure of the situation women need an equalizer when confronted by a
before I acted. To me, this isn’t a gun issue, it’s a male attacker. Guns do that very well.
citizenship issue. As a responsible citizen, I have a
Without a gun, a woman’s options in a rape
responsibility towards my fellow citizens.
situation are very limited. The best she can
49 - DEALING WITH RAPISTS do is to hope for an opportunity to run away,
preferably when the rapist has his pants down
Rapists are different than robbers. Their intent
around his ankles. That will at least slow him
isn’t to get something and get away, as rape is a
down a bit, giving the woman a momentary
violent crime. More than the sexual gratification,
advantage. If she is able to run towards a crowd
the rapist is looking for the power they have over
of people, she might be able to find someone
their victim. With that being the case, they feed
who can help her.
off of their victim’s fear. So it’s good to give them

CONCLUSION
If you are one of those who think the police
are going to protect you, think again. Due
to restrictions placed upon the police
department, they are only able to react to
crime, not be proactive. About the only thing
they can do proactively is to drive around,
“showing the flag.”
When the time comes that someone breaks
into your home, the police will come; but as someone tries to break into your home,
the saying goes, “When seconds count, the you’re going to be nervous. That will degrade
police are there in minutes.” That’s really not considerably your ability to fire accurately. If
their fault; it’s the reality that they are stuck things come down to having to shoot in self-
with. Most police officers would rather be there defense, you’re not going to do anywhere near
when you need them, they just can’t. as good as you did on the shooting range.
The only one who is going to be able to defend For that reason, it’s important to get to be
your home and family is you. That means you as good as you can. Just being able to hit a
have to be ready. The information in this book silhouette target isn’t good enough; you need
will help, but only if you put it to good use. to be able to hit the bulls-eye, time after time.
There’s something else that you’re going to Even more than that, you need to be able to
have to do as well, that is to practice. You can shoot tactically; moving and shooting at the
have the best security equipment there is and same time, using cover to protect yourself and
the best firearms available, but if you don’t knowing how to engage multiple targets.
know how to use them, you may as well not Real-life shooting situations are about as
have anything. similar to normal range shooting as pro
Shooting is a skill; it requires practice to learn. football is to a couple of small kids throwing a
More than that, it takes practice to become ball around. While the rules may be somewhat
truly proficient. You have to realize that when the same; in practice, it’s much harder and

much more demanding. The danger is part a number of targets, at different ranges and
of it, but more than that it’s the fact that heights, in as little time as possible, turned my
you are shooting at a moving target which is normally good shooting into garbage. It took
trying to shoot you as well. You’ll never have me months of shooting to get to the point
an assailant just stand there at the perfect where I could do reasonably well.
distance, in perfect lighting, waiting for you to

Don’t only practice with your guns either. You
shoot them.
also need to practice using everything we’ve
Many shooting ranges offer tactical shooting talked about in this book. If something is part
nights. These are competitions where you of your home defense plan, then you need to
shoot at multiple full silhouette targets, set make it such a natural part of your life, that you
up as if it were a real situation. Shooting is are comfortable using it at a moment’s notice.
done against the clock, adding pressure to the That only comes with practice.
shooter to hit all the targets quickly. Scoring

Remember, this is your family’s security we’re
is based upon a combination of time and
talking about here. When the time comes and
accuracy. While not totally realistic, it is much
your home is invaded, you’ll be glad that you’ve
more realistic than typical target shooting.
spent all the time, money and effort preparing
This type of practice will go a long way towards to defend your family. That’s really what it’s all
preparing you for an actual encounter with about; not getting the bad guys, but protecting
a bad guy. There really is no way of creating your family. After all, when it comes down to
perfect practice, but this is much more perfect it, they’re worth much more than anything else
than anything else you can do. I’ll warn you you have.
though, your first couple of times, you’ll do
horrible, even if you are a good shot.
The first time I went to a tactical shoot, I
scored last place for that night. It didn’t seem
to matter that I could hold a 3-1/2 inch group
at seven meters in rapid fire. Having to shoot

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HOME DEFENSE HACKS

In Exodus 22:2a it says "If a thief is caught breaking in at

ƓƓ Security Inside Your Home

1 HOME DEFENSE HACKS

and every day. during 28 percent of burglaries

upon the concept of locks keeping an honest more dangerous

person honest. In other words, if you follow the

2 HOME DEFENSE HACKS

3 HOME DEFENSE HACKS

• Having your home near a major road

• Living on the outskirts of a neighborhood

• Whether or not anyone is at home

secure our homes has a lot to do with how easy spotted)

it is for criminals to gain entrance. If we can make

number one concern is to avoid being caught; so

others. once will probably be burglarized again, as

they will have a number of these conditions.

• Convenience of the location apply to your neighbors apply to you, making

4 HOME DEFENSE HACKS

6 HOME DEFENSE HACKS

This misconception is based in the idea that they

I somewhat alluded to this one in my description CAUTION

7 HOME DEFENSE HACKS

8 HOME DEFENSE HACKS

9 HOME DEFENSE HACKS

this mindset, learn how to live in condition yellow. This doesn’t

or they don’t mean being paranoid that everyone out there is

which tells him when danger is near? In real life,

threat. This is the state where most people

might arise. electric toy cars, the family probably spends a

10 HOME DEFENSE HACKS

Children’s toys aren’t the only thing that can

11 HOME DEFENSE HACKS

3 - HAVING AN INVITING HOME

12 HOME DEFENSE HACKS

13 HOME DEFENSE HACKS

14 HOME DEFENSE HACKS

Based on what they see, looking at the outside of

information. can buy through the Internet. Based upon their

What I am advocating is making your home look

16 HOME DEFENSE HACKS

What this means is that during the daylight hours,

17 HOME DEFENSE HACKS

18 HOME DEFENSE HACKS

19 HOME DEFENSE HACKS

What makes that sign effective is that any thief

Why is that so? Because as we’ve already seen, thieves

20 HOME DEFENSE HACKS

21 HOME DEFENSE HACKS

22 HOME DEFENSE HACKS

stronger. to those as well, to stop another quarter of the

23 HOME DEFENSE HACKS

24 HOME DEFENSE HACKS

bottom. There is also anything to break through them. There are

25 HOME DEFENSE HACKS

26 HOME DEFENSE HACKS

27 HOME DEFENSE HACKS

28 HOME DEFENSE HACKS

29 HOME DEFENSE HACKS