And in Today's News...The Number of Home Invasions is Up

Actually I just caught this story at the tail end of the news this morning.  Seems that as the economy heads south, the number of home invasions tends to increase, as they are doing now.  Among some that you may have heard of recently:

•  3 Arrested in Deadly Home Invasion Robbery
• Suspect Pleads Not Guilty in Deadly Burglary
• 5 Arrested After Home Invasion Robbery

I could go on and on.  There are literally hundreds of home invasion robberies that have made the news in recent months, many that end with the home owners being injured or killed and others that end with home owners taking action and killing the intruders. 
I am hoping that if this ever happens to you, YOU will be the one that comes out on the winning side of the deal.  Here's how:

• Be properly licensed to carry a concealed weapon (note that if you will only have firearms in your home and you won't be carrying them outside of your property, you may not need this license; check with law enforcement in your jurisdiction).
• Buy a firearm (or two or three).  Of course you will want to seek advice from someone who is knowledgeable on this topic before just running out and buying a gun.  There are many types and sizes of firearms and you want one that you are comfortable shooting and that will get the job done effectively.
• Seek training.  There is a world of difference between target shooting in the back 40 and using a firearm in defense of your life inside your home.  If you plan to use a firearm for protection, it behooves you to be properly trained to do so (training will cover such things as your rights and responsibilities when it comes to using a firearm defensively, proper ammo, knowing what is behind your target, close-quarters combat techniques, and local rules and regulations).
• Practice.  And practice.  And practice.  If you plan on using a firearm for self defense, you absolutely MUST practice with it (on a weekly basis IMHO).  The only thing worse than having no firearm to protect yourself is having a gun you bought years ago which has been hidden in the back of your closet for more than a decade which you have never practiced with (or only practiced with a couple of times over the course of years).  You must be intimately familiar with your firearm if you are going to use it in a life or death situation.
• Be a good firearm owner.  This means that you properly store your firearm, that you clean it after each use, that you can strip it and put it back together by yourself, that you can safely load and unload it, and that you have practiced with it often. 
• Take other steps to keep your home from being a home invasion target: make the outside look as unappealing as possible, don't let strangers into your home, don't brag about all of the goodies you have in your home, etc.

As the world gets more chaotic, there are more and more people who will take the risk of barging into someones house and taking what they want, usually at the end of a gun.  If you ever find yourself in this position (and I really really hope you don't), you need to be prepared.  And not just you but everyone in your family as on occasion it has been children who have had to respond to home invaders which is unfortunate but nonetheless happens.  As the old adage goes, expect the best but prepare for the worst; in this case, the worst can be really bad if you aren't prepared.