A side note, if you had night sights did you notice they turn into regular sights (just an outline) when you use a light.

What are the crime stats for lit houses being broken into vs dark properties? I’m not being sarcastic in asking. It seems that criminals would select secluded, dark properties over well lit ones. The Interweb articles are non-conclusive on this topic. Having said that I have lights on outside, inside, and lights on my HD weapons.

Another idea is some early warning that trouble is coming. In addition to having all doors and windows monitored along with glass break sensors and motion sensors, I have ring cameras/lights that buzz my cell phone every time there is movement outside the house. As I get older it takes a bit longer to come out of a dead sleep. The alarm going off is ear piercing and you couldn’t possibly sleep through it, but having that extra few seconds before the perimeter is breached might give me the few seconds I need to clear my head and get ready. The military, at least in my time, didn’t only rely on just their immediate perimeter for defense. They use layers of early warning. You should consider adding the same.

I also remember reading one of big home defense guys back in the day - perhaps M Ayoob, but I’m not certain - say not to go looking for trouble. Get in a good concealed position with clear line of sight at your room door and let them come to you. I guess the logic was its much better to be the ambusher than the one being ambushed. I do not tend to follow this advice myself and work through clearing the house if I sense trouble.

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Locally? extremely rare. Most burglaries occur during the day.

quote:

Originally posted by jljones:
Locally? extremely rare. Most burglaries occur during the day.

I suspect that’s true most places, and especially so in areas where gun ownership and the right to use them for self-defense are common. Breaking into a home when the residents are present is often extremely dangerous for the criminal, and they usually know it. The incidents we read about that involve someone who persists in making the entry and confronting a resident very often involve unusual situations such as the intruder’s confused mental state, being drunk, being specifically intent on attacking an individual resident, or some prior interaction between resident and intruder (e.g., drug dealing). Someone who’s just looking for valuables to steal will usually immediately retreat as soon as he realizes he’s been detected: “Oops, sorry. Don’t get up; wrong house. Bye.”

Not only is the burglar possibly at risk from the homeowner and the police who may be on the way, attacking or otherwise injuring an occupant is a much more serious matter than simple burglary. As an example, the UCMJ (military) offense of “burglary” requires breaking into a “dwelling house” (i.e., not something like a warehouse or supply room) in the nighttime. Both the dwelling and the nighttime elements of the crime are recognition of the fact that they are much more likely to result in a confrontation between the intruder and an occupant, to the danger of both. In the Army burglary was an offense the CID investigated, but “housebreaking” (which ironically did not necessarily involve a house or any “breaking”) was a less serious offense handled by MP investigators.

A violent subject was brought to the hospital for a psych evaluation. He broke out and went on the run. He broke into a house in the neighborhood. Husband and wife in bed heard someone downstairs and hid in the bedroom, defenseless. Subject came up the stairs, armed with a hammer, and into their bedroom where he began beating the husband with the hammer. Neighbors were later interviewed by media. They heard the screams and came outside and listened in horror. No one in that neighborhood owned a firearm and or did anything. This is he city next to me and it made me sick thinking of an entire neighborhood of sheep listening to someone being beaten with a hammer in their home in the middle of the night.