[LibWhacker]

Security cameras inside and out. The thing about interior cameras is loss of privacy.

A cop buddy once told me that the best approach often is to take cover and wait for the intruder to come within view. Better to see him first while under cover than the other way around.

[GOPJ]

The other thing to remember is don't EVER say 'Drop your gun or I'll shoot'.

That only works in movies or when two cops have a guy cornered. If it's just you and the perp, he'll locate your voice and shoot you. If these lowlifes had a sense of 'fair play' they wouldn't be criminals in the first place. Lots of good people get shot trying to be 'fair'. It's a mistake.

[William Tell]

LibWhacker said: "A cop buddy once told me that the best approach often is to take cover and wait for the intruder to come within view."

There is nothing in my house which is worth as much as my life or the lives of my family members.

My home has six entrance points. Assuming that my wife and I are the only ones who are supposed to be in the house and we are together in our bedroom, then I would arm myself and try to verify that exiting the house through the outside door in our bedroom is safe.

If it appears safe, then we exit and make our way up the hill next to our house where we have a relatively good view of the entire house. This buys us time to then consider what the next move should be.

The risks in this plan are that there might be unwelcome attackers outside the house or that somehow the police have already arrived and mistake me for the intruder. I think neither of these is very likely.

What I would not do is attempt to clear the house. I took a defensive handgun course once which taught us that the doorway into a room is a tunnel of death. Standing in a doorway a person is located exactly where a bad guy is expecting you to be.

I'm reminded of the line from "No Country for Old Men" in which the sheriff says something like, "Even in a contest between man and beast the outcome is uncertain." Despite all the advantages I might have over an intruder in my house, confronting him has little upside and has a downside risk of getting myself killed. It's just not worth it.

The scenario I described also allows for the possibility that one of my family members has mistakenly entered the house without informing me. There's a further possibility that the intruder is simply a drunken teenager whose lost or out to cause trouble. Why kill them if there is nothing to be gained?

[varyouga]

“A cop buddy once told me that the best approach often is to take cover and wait for the intruder to come within view.”

FYI, in many jurisdictions that would not qualify as self defense and get you charged. Especially if the perp turns out to be unarmed.