Below are a few of our tips, lessons, and ideas on self-defense and home security systems.

I Learned From That. No. 1

At dusk on a Wednesday evening in May of 83, we drove up the driveway of our home, and upon entering we thought we heard something. As we went upstairs to the main floor, we noticed that the kitchen door was open, although nobody seemed to be in the house. I went up the spiral stairs to the bedroom to find a scene of destruction. Drawers were dumped on the floor. Our bi-fold closet doors were smashed. The mattress was flipped off the bed. We had been burglarized by someone who had some skill at it. They got all the jewelry and some money. They dumped their loot, including the jewelry box, into a pillow case they took off the bed.

Statistics show that half of all burglars are armed. I know that many more become armed during the crime. It is stupid to put anything of value under your mattress because a competent burglar always checks there. I didn’t know that back then so that is why they departed with my loaded Beretta automatic pistol. One gets a sick feeling looking through the aftermath of a burglary. In the back of our minds, we all hope that a guardian angel is assigned to protect us and our stuff. It is unsettling when that does not seem to be the case. We were not at a ball game or movie that night. We were at Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting. How could this happen? Perhaps we were mightily blessed. If we had stayed home that night we might have experienced a home invasion instead of a burglary.

Lesson:

If you don’t want a Burglar to shoot you with your own gun, don’t keep it under the mattress! Better yet, use a Burglar Bomb to avoid the entire situation.

I Learned From That. No. 2

One hot summer day a few years later, my wife and two young kids were splashing and paddling around in our above ground pool. Our pool is cut into a hillside so that the terrain drops off steeply toward the east, which could allow somebody to approach without being seen. Suddenly, as I glanced toward the east I saw this huge man leaning on the edge of our pool, staring at us. He looked like a typical NFL lineman. In a booming voice, he said, “Do you remember me? I’m here to pay you back.” My mind was racing. Pay me back for what? I couldn’t remember doing anything to anybody that I needed to be paid back for. I noticed that my body had developed a bit of a shake and my legs were turning to rubber. He continued, “Don’t you remember? A few months ago at the gas station, you loaned me five bucks for gas. I said I would pay you back, and you gave me your address.” I replied, “Oh, I completely forgot about that. You don’t need to pay me back. Just keep it.” The man said thank you and left. He was merely a really nice guy, keeping his word. But suppose he was not a nice guy. How much trouble could we have been in? What power did I have to take control of a bad situation? The answer was none. We were unprepared to do anything but submit to all demands made by an evil intruder.

I have done a lot of thinking and planning since that day. Our house is quite vulnerable, and there is nothing I can do to harden the structure. Numerous doors and windows are floor to ceiling glass. We like all the light and don’t feel like living in a dungeon, but one tap with a brick allows any intruder to step into our home with no hindrance whatsoever. We live on an isolated three acres right up against the borough where any crazed dirtbag towney can walk here to have a go at us. I recognize that we are at a higher risk than the typical homeowner. I am an imaginative, inventive fellow and I have made several provisions to even the odds. I stay sharp and alert by assuming that a Home Invasion encounter is inevitable, even though it probably is not.

Lesson:

Most people do not want to think about these things. Therefore they give no thought to planning. It is good to have a plan. Even if you choose not to implement it, you at least have the option. God willing you will never need it.

One great way to plan ahead for a home invasion is to implement a non lethal self defense home security system. That's exactly what we offer here at Burglar Bomb Security Systems with our OC pepper aerosol home defense spray.