self defense

Training for the changing threat

Posted on by Caleb

A couple of posts popped up on my radar today that both hit on the same subject – how we’re training and what kind of threat we’re training to fight. First up is Todd at Pistol-Training, talking about the emerging active shooter/terrorist threat:

While there are still muggers and rapists and thieves aplenty in our society, this year has seen a rise in organized, trained, well armed, and fearless teams of ne’er do wells who are all too happy to kill their victims. Murder for them is a goal, not an inconvenience.

Caleb Area 3 with Colt 1911

Next is a post from American Handgunner, where Ralph Mroz talks about how he’s changing his training focus from extreme CQB (inside 3 yards) to more short/intermediate range training; reasoning that the data from recent civilian and LE shootings shows most fights occur outside the “phonebooth” envelope.

We now have the only good data set on civilian defensive uses of guns (Tom Givens’ data published in Handgunner (Sept./Oct. 2014 edition) which indicates most civilian deadly force encounters happen at about 5 yards, at least in his data set. This means we definitely need to train at that distance — plus or minus a couple yards, so say 3 to 8 yards. Further, the astonishing success rate of Tom’s students suggests we need to pay attention to Tom’s fairly traditional training too — sighted shooting with two hands on the gun.

I have always advocated that self-defense training should be focused on making difficult shots under tight time limits, with the simple reasoning that if you’re capable of making a pair of head shots on a 3×5 card under 2 seconds from concealment at 7 yards, a wide open torso at 3-5 yards is an easy shot. Or to put it another way: “No one rises to the occasion, you default to the level of your training.”

It’s sort of like the zombie apocalypse joke: if you’re prepared to survive a plague of the undead sweeping across the land, a tornado is just an inconvenience. I’m not saying that everyone should immediately run out and take a carbine operator course, rather that people should take an honest look at the self-defense skills you have, identify weak areas, and then train to make those weaknesses go away. The mere act of carrying a gun for self-defense means that you acknowledge the possibility, however unlikely, that you may need to actually use that gun for self-defense. If you’re mentally capable of realizing that, it then follows that it’s in your best interests, and the interests of those around you, to be prepared for the most extreme situation in which you could use that gun. Because if you’re training to make 25 yard head shots on moving partials, you’re going to be able to make the easy shots.

But what does that look like? How can we go from “not ready” and find the road that leads to being ready for an unthinkable day?

  1. Evaluate your gear. Step one is simple. Look at the gear you’re carrying right now. I understand some people can’t carry in the workplace, so look at what you can carry. If you can and do carry at all times, what are you carrying? A j-frame? A Glock 19? Is your equipment, be it holster, belt, or gun itself a limiting factor in your ability to make hard shots at intermediate ranges? I would casually suggest that if you can’t make an untimed headshot on an IDPA target at 15 yards with your current gear, you might want to look into changing it up.
  2. Evaluate your skills. Can you make an untimed headshot on demand at a 15 yard target? What about hitting a 2 inch circle at 5 yards, or a 3×5 card at 7? There are a ton of drills available online that you can use to benchmark your skills, whether it’s a good old fashioned Bill Drill, the FAST test, the iHack, whatever. Find some drills, test yourself, and see where your weaknesses are. If you’re good at bill drills shoot a drill you’re not good at.
  3. TAKE A FRIGGIN CLASS. Once you’ve found out where your weaknesses lie, take a class from a reputable instructor to have professional adjustment made on those skills.
  4. Pressure test your skills and training. Once you’ve received that professional instruction, you need to pressure test what you’ve learned in the white hot fire of the furnace of the crucible of motorsport competition. Weird things happen to people’s skills when you put them in front of other people and on a timer.
  5. Practice. Once you’ve done all these things, you need to set up a repeated schedule to practice and continue to build speed and efficiency. It doesn’t do you any good to learn new stuff and pressure test if after that you just sit around for 2 months waiting for your next match. Dry fire. Even if it’s just for a little bit. Go the range and train.

The bottom line is that once you’ve accepted that the world is a dangerous enough place to warrant carrying a gun every day, the only logical extension of that thought is that the danger is significant enough that you should be training to kick its ass.

editorial

Even the Associated Press had to call shenanigans…

Posted on by Tim

Earlier this week I counted Mr. Obama’s lies on guns during that ridiculous spectacle of a speech he put out to announce that he was doing something executivey on gun control. The lies were so ridiculous that even the Associated Press is calling President Pinocchio out:

“THE FACTS: It’s not that straightforward. In fact, federally licensed gun dealers are required by law to conduct background checks for gun purchases no matter where the sale takes place — in a store, at a gun show or online. While private gun sales can be conducted over the Internet, if the sale involves people in different states, a licensed gun dealer in the state where the gun is going still has to be involved in the transfer.” 

Every now and then I hear some dim bulb insist that we the gun owning community somehow have to “compromise” with the banners. Absolutely not.

You see, the banners lie every time they open their mouths. They’re not even willing to have any sort of honest debate. They can’t, really. The facts are stubborn so they insist on lies and melodrama to try and sell their wares…and it appears to be frustrating the dickens out of them that folks ain’t buying.

You do not “compromise” with people lying and dancing in blood in their effort to deprive you of your rights. You fight them.

If you are not a member of the NRA, please join. Contribute the cost of a box or two of ammo to the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action.

Walther

Walther announces new PPS M2

Posted on by Caleb

Walther-PPS-M2-Left-Angle-Ext-Mag

Walther’s Slim 9mm Meets Comfort with the New PPS M2

(FORT SMITH, Ark.) – New to the Walther line of personal protection pistols is the PPS M2, an innovative new 9mm pistol that sets the bar for ergonomics and comfort for concealed carry. The new PPS M2 is engineered for the concealed carry shooter looking for a slim 9mm that provides superior concealability while maintaining comfort and accuracy. The new PPS M2 is built to carry, measuring in at 1 inch wide, low profile and smooth features. This coupled with a new push button style magazine release for easy operation, highlights some of the changes from the Classic PPS to the new M2.

Walther-PPS-M2-1024x798

The new PPS M2 is equipped with a smooth, light 6.1 lb trigger pull, which improves control and accuracy. The PPS M2 can be the perfect fit for every shooter with Carl Walther signature ergonomics, that have become a staple in 21st Century Walther Arms. The PPS M2 is also available in an LE edition with phosphoric sights.

Adam Blalock, Walther Arms CEO stated, “I have been really excited about the PPS M2 since the beginning of its development. The PPS Classic has been my everyday carry gun for years. It’s a great gun and the idea of improving on the original was challenging … but our team has done it. The engineering enhancements and modifications that create the new M2 truly elevate this pistol into a class of its own.”

Walther-PPS-M2-Back-Angle-Ext-Mag

Adding the PPS M2 to the Walther handgun line is a prime example of Walther’s dedication to continued innovation and customer focus in the fast growing personal protection industry. The PPS M2 will be available in retail stores in early 2016. It will also be available to test at Industry Day at the Range at SHOT Show and viewing on the showroom floor during the show in Las Vegas, NV January 18th – 22nd. For more information on the PPS M2, visit www.waltherarms.com/ builttocarry.

Walther is the premier provider of personal protection and recreational firearms of various calibers ranging from .22 to .45. With a vast devotion for continued innovation and customer focus in a fast growing industry, Walther Arms engineers products that are Built for Life.

Taurus

Taurus PT1911 Torture Test Part 5: 500 round challenge

Posted on by Caleb

Here we are at the planned end of the Taurus PT1911 Torture Test. I always wanted to close it out with something interesting like this, where I run the gun through something that’s beyond the limits of any gun’s normal operating environment. Hence the 500 rounds endurance test. By the end of the test, the gun was too hot to touch, mags weren’t dropping free, it was throwing brass everything, and it was filthy, but for two malfunctions it ran the test just fine.

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editorial

How doth he lie to us? Let us count the ways…

Posted on by Tim

So the president has decided that he’s going to take “executive action” on gun control, and naturally he had to give a big self aggrandizing speech to announce his intentions to the world. It’s impossible for this guy to open his mouth on guns without telling some whoppers, so let’s have some fun and count the ridiculous lies he and his administration are pushing today.

#1 

lie1

 

 

 

Contrary to the president’s assertion, there is no internet exception to existing gun laws. Interstate commerce in firearms is highly regulated by the National Firearms Act (1934) and the Gun Control Act (1968) which regulates categories of firearms and the manufacture, distribution, and sales of firearms. Manufacturers of firearms are required to be licensed and comply with BATFE regulations regarding manufacture and sale. Wholesalers who buy from manufacturers are required to be licensed and comply with BATFE regulations regarding storage and sale. Dealers who buy from wholesalers have to be licensed and comply with BATFE regulations regarding storage and sale. Nowhere in any of this is a “unless it’s on the internet, and then it’s game on muchacho!” clause.

You can indeed find guns advertised for sale on the internet from distributors like CDNN, but it’s not like Amazon prime. You cannot simply fill your cart, check out, and have the gun shipped to your door no questions asked. CDNN is still bound by applicable federal laws and will only ship firearms to someone who holds the proper category of Federal Firearms License. They even have an entire page of their site dedicated to explaining the process:

“After deciding which firearm(s) you want to purchase you’ll need to choose an FFL Dealer that the firearm(s) will ship to in order to complete the 4473 transfer. Communication is an important part of the transfer process, before you process an order you should contact the selected dealer and review their specific transfer procedures. Please be aware that it is customary for a dealer to charge a fee for this service and that transaction is between you and the transfer dealer, you do not pay CDNN Sports the transfer fee…”

So a violent felon cannot, in fact, buy a weapon over the internet from CDNN and get it shipped to their door “no questions asked”.

There are also a number of auction sites like Gunbroker dedicated to firearms and accessories sales…but here again, federal laws still apply. Some of Gunbroker’s users are FFL holders who use the site to auction their wares to the larger public. Some are private individuals moving an item or two in their collection to fund other things. All of them are still bound by federal and state laws. Bob in Ohio cannot advertise his cool shotgun and then ship it to Suzy in Virginia when she wins the auction. He can legally ship the gun to a FFL holder local to Suzy. The FFL holder takes the gun, enters identifying information about the weapon into his bound book, and then Suzy has to fill out the 4473 form and undergo the federal background check as well as filling out any state level forms and undergoing any state required background checks. In the Commonwealth of Virginia the state police have their own background check system that piggybacks off of the federal NICS system.

So if Suzy is a violent felon, she cannot, in fact, buy Bob’s weapon and get it shipped to her door, “no questions asked” using an auction site.

Or a FaceBook group.

Or a web forum.

All the firearms laws apply all the time…even when the transaction begins on the internet. Bob and Suzy cannot cross state lines to make that transaction happen without breaking the laws already on the books.

#2

lie2

 

 

 

That “recent study” was put out by “Mayors Against Illegal Guns”, Mikey Bloomberg’s group. You remember Mike Bloomberg, right? The guy who actually violated federal law by sending “private investigators” to make straw purchases at gun stores in various states? The same Bloomberg who has funded specious “studies” to argue his point of view before? His group Mayors Against Illegal Guns has hit a rough spot or two because some of those mayors are apparently not quite so stringent about following other aspects of the law. Like not holding a 20 year old you’re trying to sleep with hostage and shooting off a gun in the house. Or not taking bribes. Or not hunting for child pornography on the internet.

So we’re expected to believe that MAIG looked on Arms List and compared “wanted to buy” entries with criminal records to find that 1 in 30 people on Armslist were criminals looking to buy guns. Because I’m certain that everybody who placed those ads on Arms List included all the information you would need to do an accurate criminal background check in the ad, right? Like putting their address, date of birth, full legal name, and social security number up there for all to see?

And how many of those supposed criminals that MAIG found in their little study were reported to the authorities and prosecuted, do you think?

But nevermind all that, let’s just take MAIG’s word for it. I mean, the guy vouching for it is the same guy who said that if you like your doctor, you can keep him! It’s not like he would lie to us or anything, right?

#3

lie3

 

 

 

 

 

 

“The gun lobby” in and of itself is a lie. The NRA is not some alien entity that descended from outer space one day. It is an organization made up of millions of individuals interested in preserving their Second Amendment freedoms from people exactly like this president. It is funded by their voluntary contributions. “The gun lobby” is a bunch of people who are motivated and politically involved…just ask all the politicians those people have thrown out of office. The wide majority of responsible gun owners are not going to join with people who are blaming them for “carnage” and actively trying to find novel ways to turn them into felons while gangbangers who are actually killing people get slaps on the wrist.

Congress is comprised of people who aren’t willing to pass more gun control precisely because a bunch of them really want to keep their job and they know that ticking off all those millions of gun owners (the NRA’s formal membership, as big as it is, doesn’t account for the millions upon millions more who view the issues the same way) is not conducive to keeping their job.

Contrast that with the billionaire-funded Bloomberg pushes which have lots and lots of money but little to no popular support.

truth1

 

 

 

You really do, chief…because right now what you have is a country with a whole bunch of voters who know you’re lying through your teeth about “safer gun laws” and will remember any attempt to pass them come election time.

#4

lie4

 

 

 

The term “gun violence” is itself a magnificent little bit of fiction. It includes all kinds of “gun violence” like armed felons being killed by the police or law abiding citizens in justifiable acts of homicide. It also includes suicides.

Suicide is certainly a terrible and tragic phenomena, but it is not one that can be blamed on guns. If you look at the CDC’s numbers for 2013, you will note that there were 41,149 suicides that year. 21,175 of those suicides were accomplished with firearms…which is about 51%. Japan has about 1/3 of the population of the United States but they had more than 25,000 suicides in 2014 giving them one of the developed world’s higher rates of suicide (higher than in the US) and in a society where there is almost no private ownership of firearms…and this is a consistent feature of Japanese society from year to year.

Suicide is being used in a pretty shameless political ploy to make “gun violence” seem bigger because suicides (someone killing themselves) outnumbers homicides (someone killing another) by a margin of almost two to one in the US. The people who used other methods like overdose or suffocation or automobile just aren’t as politically useful, I suppose. But note that we don’t hear about suicide prevention…just gun control. Because people taking their own life isn’t really the issue unless you can use that to try and push gun control that everyone acknowledges wouldn’t have made one damn bit of difference in any of the horrible events he cites in his speech.

There are, of course, more lies…but I’m running out of time and space so we’ll have to make due with just these four whoppers he’s trying to sell on Twitter.

He wants voters who are disappointed in their leaders…fine.

I suggest we make our disappointment with this ridiculous power grab known. If you are not a member of the NRA, join this week. If you are already a member, donate at least the cost of a box of ammunition to the NRA-ILA. Don’t give these bastards an inch.

 

 

 

gun control

White House official twitter lies about online gun purchases

Posted on by Caleb

Look, I don’t care who you are, but this is just an outright lie.

If you support gun control, you should be angry that your allies in government are using tactics like this, because this is an absolute lie that can be easily disproved with about 30 solid seconds of research.

Fact: If you buy a gun online from an out of state entity, it must be shipped to a Federal Firearms Licensee in your state of resident, and that FFL must conduct a NICS background check on you before they transfer you the gun. This tweet from the White House is an absolute lie.

1911

Taurus PT1911 update

Posted on by Caleb

The PT1911 now stands at 1500 rounds exactly. With the exception of the 10-8 Performance Function Test, it has run just fine. In fact, if you remove the malfunctions and the rounds fired during the two runs through the 10-8 Function Test, it’s had exactly one failure to complete its cycle of operations in 1400 rounds. Add the Function test back in and we have 7 failures in 1500 rounds.

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gun control

Summary of White House Executive Action on Gun Control: Say goodbye to trusts

Posted on by Caleb

This morning, the White House released a fact sheet stating President Obama’s plans to enact new gun control measures via executive order. After being thwarted by the will of the people, Congress, and the Constitution, a lame-duck President takes one last petulant swipe at law abiding gun owners in his final year in office. I personally cannot think of a more fitting legacy. The full fact sheet is available here from the White House.

fbi nics logo

The first action item from the fact sheet is: Keeping Guns Out of the Wrong Hands Through Background Checks. This is further clarified in the following paragraphs:

Clarify that it doesn’t matter where you conduct your business—from a store, at gun shows, or over the Internet: If you’re in the business of selling firearms, you must get a license and conduct background checks. Background checks have been shown to keep guns out of the wrong hands, but too many gun sales—particularly online and at gun shows—occur without basic background checks. Today, the Administration took action to ensure that anyone who is “engaged in the business” of selling firearms is licensed and conducts background checks on their customers. Consistent with court rulings on this issue, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has clarified the following principles:
A person can be engaged in the business of dealing in firearms regardless of the location in which firearm transactions are conducted. For example, a person can be engaged in the business of dealing in firearms even if the person only conducts firearm transactions at gun shows or through the Internet. Those engaged in the business of dealing in firearms who utilize the Internet or other technologies must obtain a license, just as a dealer whose business is run out of a traditional brick-and-mortar store.
Quantity and frequency of sales are relevant indicators. There is no specific threshold number of firearms purchased or sold that triggers the licensure requirement. But it is important to note that even a few transactions, when combined with other evidence, can be sufficient to establish that a person is “engaged in the business.” For example, courts have upheld convictions for dealing without a license when as few as two firearms were sold or when only one or two transactions took place, when other factors also were present.
There are criminal penalties for failing to comply with these requirements. A person who willfully engages in the business of dealing in firearms without the required license is subject to criminal prosecution and can be sentenced up to five years in prison and fined up to $250,000. Dealers are also subject to penalties for failing to conduct background checks before completing a sale.

How that affects us: at first glance, it would seem that this is a redundant measure, because people engaged in the business of selling guns are already required to get a license. However, when you read the “clarification” language it’s clear that the intent behind this particular EO is to go after people engaged in private online transactions such as Gunbroker, Armslist, or the many Facebook groups that support such transactions. One does wonder exactly how this is going to be enforced, as many of those transactions already involve an FFL at the destination point, thus satisfying the background check requirement. My opinion: you’ll see this used to effectively shut down things like Facebook gun swap groups.

Next on the list, the EO will shut off the ability to use a trust or an LLC to bypass the Chief Law Enforcement Officer sign-off on NFA items. I won’t really go in to much detail here, because we’ve seen the writing on the wall for a long time on this issue. It’s been coming, despite our best efforts and stalling it once before, and it was only a matter of time before it happened. How that affects us: if you were planning on setting up a trust to buy some cans, do it today. Do it yesterday. I imagine it will also put a dent in the business model of lawyers that would set up trusts for NFA items for a small fee.

Next item: Ensure States are providing records to the background check system, and work cooperatively with jurisdictions to improve reporting.
Honestly, with as onerous as the NFA-kill and going after private transactions are, this one isn’t that bad. It’s a fact that some states are not very good at reporting to NICS. There have been multiple documented incidents of people passing a NICS check who had convictions at the state level that should have bounced them and didn’t; because the state failed to report. NICS is only as good as the data that it gets fed.

Make the background check system more efficient and effective.
Again, nothing really bad in here, and in fact a little bit of good news for FFL holders. If you’ve ever had to call in a NICS check during peak times and sat on hold forever, you know what I’m talking about. This bullet point allows for the FBI to hire another 230 NICS examiners, non-sworn personnel responsible for processing background checks, as well as continue to upgrade the online NICS system.

The EO then shifts from Background Checks to “Making Our Communities Safer from Gun Violence.”
Ensure smart and effective enforcement of our gun laws.
Short version: the Attorney General instructed the US Attorneys to really crack down on firearms related violence. I genuinely feel bad for whatever guy is the first person they arrest for being an “unlicensed dealer” because he sold a couple of Glocks on facebook. This section also notes that the President’s budget for FY2017 includes funding for 200 more ATF agents.

Ensure that dealers notify law enforcement about the theft or loss of their guns.
This is a clarification of who exactly is responsible for reporting a gun lost or stolen if it goes missing in transit, the ATF has decided that the shipping entity is responsible for reporting the theft, as they were the last person/business to have the gun on their books.

Issue a memo directing every U.S. Attorney’s Office to renew domestic violence outreach efforts.
This one is weird, and because I can’t see the wires it makes me wonder what it’s really about. All that this does is have the AG issue a memo to the US Attorneys nationwide instructing them to engage with local agencies on the subject of domestic violence.

The final subheading is perhaps the most vague: Increase Mental Health Treatment and Reporting to the Background Check System.

In this section we see the White House’s plan to shut off access to firearms to people who have been deemed unable to take care of themselves, or are a danger to themselves. This creates a genuine slippery slope as previously a person had to be adjudicated mentally incompetent to be denied access to guns. Under the new EO, which lacks specific guidelines, a person could be stripped of their 2nd Amendment rights for something as simple as seeking treatment for suicidal thoughts, because an overzealous doctor believed them to be a “danger to themselves.”

Here is the most troubling section:

Include information from the Social Security Administration in the background check system about beneficiaries who are prohibited from possessing a firearm. Current law prohibits individuals from buying a gun if, because of a mental health issue, they are either a danger to themselves or others or are unable to manage their own affairs. The Social Security Administration (SSA) has indicated that it will begin the rulemaking process to ensure that appropriate information in its records is reported to NICS. The reporting that SSA, in consultation with the Department of Justice, is expected to require will cover appropriate records of the approximately 75,000 people each year who have a documented mental health issue, receive disability benefits, and are unable to manage those benefits because of their mental impairment, or who have been found by a state or federal court to be legally incompetent. The rulemaking will also provide a mechanism for people to seek relief from the federal prohibition on possessing a firearm for reasons related to mental health.

To summarize, the White House plans to mine Social Security records to deprive approximately 75,000 people of their 2nd Amendment rights without due process of law. The problem is that while there will obviously be some legitimate denials on that list, invariably it will also include good, law abiding and mentally able citizens who should not have their guns or their rights put in jeopardy.

The final part of the EO covers smart gun technology, which I won’t really touch on here simply because it’s a dead end road. All it does is tell agencies they have 90 days to create a report that shows a roadmap to smart-gun usage, and to “regularly” review smart gun technology to see if it’s viable for LE use. It’s not, and it won’t be for a long time, thankfully.

Summary
For those just looking for some quick bullet points to toss around in a Facebook argument, here is the official Gun Nuts Media Summary of the EO:

  • Goodbye Facebook Gun Sales groups and maybe even Armslist
  • Goodbye to NFA Trusts, because you’ll have to get a CLEO sign-off on those now
  • Say hello to a whole lot more prohibited persons added to an larger and more efficient NICS bounce-list

Those three items, the increased focus on what constitutes an “unlicensed dealer”, the end of NFA trusts, and the expansion of prohibited person reporting are the three items most likely to affect otherwise law-abiding gun owners in negative ways.

We have a few options for relief here: first, Congress can seek to defund these EOs, but that will be difficult since funding is already in place and Congressionally approved for the responsible agencies. Secondly Congress could pass laws that override the EOs, but that’s likely not going to happen. They could also be challenged in the Judicial branch…which probably won’t happen either, because the most likely option for redress is wait until we have a Republican president in 2017 and get them to overrule the previous EOs.

On that note, I bet the Democrat political front-runners are pissed at Obama right now. With the race actually heating up, he’s played directly into the hands of the GOP candidates who can now easily say Democrats are in fact coming for your guns. I bet Hillary is thrilled.

Editor’s Note:According to a statement released by the ATF, the CLEO sign-off requirement is going to be eliminated as well. This means that all background checks for NFA items will be processed by the FBI/ATF when they receive the NFA paperwork.

self defense

Interview with a burglar

Posted on by Tim

There is an idea out there that criminals are, by in large, idiots. Criminals can be extremely impulsive and regularly make news for doing incredibly stupid things…often when ingesting drugs are involved…but, to paraphrase Robert DeNiro’s character in Heat they aren’t all doing thrill-seeker liquor store holdups with a “Born to Lose” tattoo on their chest. A good many of them live closer to the edge of survival than the vast majority of law abiding people ever will. You can’t do that for long while being incredibly stupid.

The police department in Allen, Texas recently put out an interview they did with a career criminal specializing in residential burglary. It’s a gold mine in terms of understanding criminal motivations, resourcefulness, and the way they look at the world. This guy was one of the smart criminals, who had gotten away with plying his trade for at least twenty years.

 

Some things to make note of in this interview:

This individual worked as a personal trainer. In other words, he used a legitimate looking job as a means of getting access to neighborhoods and houses so he could case them for a heist. Criminals are predators, and predators are always on the hunt. He was mindful of how he presented himself and tried to blend in and look plausible enough not to raise anyone’s notice. Think carefully about who you allow to have a look inside your house and how much they get to see. I’ve seen bad guys case neighborhoods using Trick-or-Treating as cover. Anything is fair game to these guys.

People who don’t belong in your neighborhood ought to be treated with healthy suspicion. You don’t necessarily have to be best friends with your neighbors to know what they look like and what kind of cars they drive. If you’ve lived somewhere more than a couple of months you should be able to get a feel for what people belong there and what vehicles belong there. When an unfamiliar element shows up, it should raise your suspicion.

Many alarm systems can be easily defeated. They work on telephone signals and defeating them can be as simple as cutting the main phone line into the house. This is often much more exposed and vulnerable than it should be in most homes. A wireless system or wireless backup that works on cell phone signal, however, is a much tougher nut to crack because he has no effective way of cutting off the signal. If you don’t know how your alarm system functions, find out and make sure yours isn’t easily beaten. Note also that the systems he is most afraid of are those that connect directly to the police and guarantee a police response. The majority of alarm systems sold are managed by third party companies (ADT, for example) and do not guarantee a police response. The smart bad guys know the difference. Also note the mentioned utility of an alarm horn loud enough to alert the neighborhood to the break in.

He also discusses glass doors at length. Here again we are getting an insight into the differences between the criminal mind and the law abiding citizen’s mind. Glass doors and entry ways can be very pretty and used to create beautiful lighting in your home. They’re also a positive boon to a dude like this looking to take your stuff or at least get the advantage on you. Those pretty glass features stream information into the world and he’s looking to download the data. A house that’s streaming that information is more attractive than one where he has no easy means of seeing into the home. Your neighbor’s pretty glass door versus having a solid entry way with any ground level windows curtained, blinded, or otherwise blocked from view can be the difference between this guy trying their house over yours. Deselection in practice.

Take the time to watch this video and digest the information in it. The more you understand about how criminals think and operate the less likely you are to be a victim.