How To Protect Your Household: A Guide To Family Security

This topic is something that has been something weighing on me deeply of late. I personally have a wife and two children, so protecting them from harm is one of my highest priorities. Having family security is much more than having a shotgun under your pillow in the unlikely event that an intruder comes busting through your front door at zero-dark-stupid. Family security is keeping your family protected from risks or danger, with an action plan in the event that personal injury or death is possible.

This is a list that, once read, will give you a good perspective on the importance of family security and ways that you can implement them today! A little difference goes a long way. Meaning, changing a few habits and spending a few extra dollars can be the difference between life and death.

Fire Drill / Fire Extinguisher

This may not be the most “tactical” aspect you might think of when protecting your home, but fires are the number 1 cause of death at home. It’s not someone kicking the door down in the middle of the night, or sneaking in the back door while everyone is away at work and school. Having family security means that you should have at least a fire extinguisher in or near the kitchen, and have a fire escape plan in the event you and your family need to get out of the house as soon as possible. If you have small children, see whether they can open windows and successfully escape that way. Teach the to feel the doorknob to see whether it’s hot or not. Also make sure they know not to go get their favourite belonging. The other important thing is to know how to properly function the fire extinguisher! No use having it if you don’t know how to use it.

Lock Your Doors & Windows

Simply lock the doors at all times. Over 30% of break-ins are done by walking through an unlocked door or window. Making a habit to lock your doors at all times is important to preventing this from happening. But what happens if they decide to kick the door in?

The plate that the deadbolt locks into is held in by two 3/4” screws. After approximately 3 hard kicks to your front door, this plate will get knocked out and allow for intruders to enter your home. If you’re at work and it’s just your wife and kids at home, then this leaves no time for her to get the kids to safety. So what can you do about it?

By simply replacing these 3/4” screws with 3” long screws, you will change the amount of kicks from 3 to approximately 17 kicks! That’s if the intruder doesn’t give up before that. This will allow your wife to get herself and the kids to safety, or get the GLOCK for self defence. Sadly, if the police are called by this time, it could take at least 10 minutes before they arrive. Don’t believe the lie that the police are responsible for your families safety.

Sadly, another way intruders enter the home is by simply knocking. Once the door is unlocked and opened, they walk right in. For $10 you can buy and install a peephole kit on Amazon. It’s also a good idea to have one installed at 4′ for any smaller children. This will allow you to see and talk to whoever is on the other side of the door. Make sure you have something to block the inner side of the peephole. What intruders will do is use their cellphone camera to look inside the peephole and have a view of the inside of the home.

Make it a habit to go around your home before bed making sure all windows and doors are locked. If you have a garage attached to the home, lock the door going from the house to the garage. Even if the garage itself has an exterior door. Many times the intruders will pry open the garage door itself and then have easy access to the door to enter the home.

Where’s Your Car Keys?

Normally, people will keep their car keys near the door or entry way in a bowl so they can never misplace their keys. A good tip is to bring them with you when you go to bed. If at any time you hear a bump in the night, sound the car alarm. Burglars hate noise typically and don’t want any attention drawn to them. It doesn’t matter if it’s a teenager making a poor life choice or an experienced burglar. Hopefully you have nosey neighbours that will come see what’s the matter.

Where’s Your Sidearm?

Taking a life should never be taken lightly. A question you should ask yourself should be, “is this worth jumping into shark infested waters to save?” For example, if your phone or wallet fell into shark infested waters, then you probably won’t jump in after it. Sure, getting a new phone might be costly, and maybe even submitting the paperwork for all your credit cards or personal ID, but it wouldn’t be worth taking a life over. Now, say for example your child falls into shark infested waters, you would be much more likely to jump in after them to save them. So this would apply to if someone were a threat to kidnapping your child. This would be a scenario where taking a life would be the final solution to protecting them from harm. Research the Laws where you live to see what proper force can be applied in self defence. It’s usually not black or white.

When it come to carrying, check with your State what the laws required are. Be sure that you invest in a sidearm that will not fail when you need it the most. Don’t cheap out and buy a $200 pistol that you might need to use to save your family. If your purpose for this tool is to protect those you love, then think about investing in a good quality sidearm. You don’t need to spend $2000, but find a balance between quality and affordability. Something around the $700-$1000 range.

Now, having a good quality functioning sidearm is great, but it’s no good if you don’t know how to use it! Make sure to practice often to keep up your skills. Don’t just stand in the standing position facing forward at a target, but practice realistic situations you might find yourself in. Can you gain access to your pistol if someone grabs you from behind or while their arm is around your throat? How good is your aim when you’ve been tackled to the ground, or shoved over while your kids are being chased? These are all possible scenarios you might find yourself in. The more difficult or challenging types of drills you practice, the more prepared you’ll be if a situation arises.

Conclusion

Ask yourself what’s worth fighting for. Many people will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on their home, with belongings and a family inside, but aren’t willing to spend some money to invest in the security and safety of that home. Often when a crime is being committed, what the person is thinking is, “this can’t be happening”. The reason that their thought is because they weren’t prepared.

Seriously think about what is at stake. What would you fight and die for. Be willing to invest a couple hundred or a couple thousand dollars to make your home a safe and secure setting. Don’t cheap out on a piece of junk pistol that doesn’t function when your child’s life depends on it. You would hate to live with the reality that your child’s life wasn’t worth having a more expensive sidearm.

I hope this has been helpful to you!