Securing your home and firearms
We’re right in the midst of the Christmas and New Year season. It’s a time of love, happiness, peace, and goodwill towards men. However, it’s also a time of increased theft and burglaries. According to HG.org, there is a 20% increase in both robbery and larceny during this time of year.
It can happen to anyone.
Even the John Wick Star, Keanu Reeves, suffered from a break-in to his home in California. Those thieves ended up with a firearm. So, here are some thoughts about securing your home, how to avoid making your home a target to predators and preventing your firearm from ending up in the wrong hands.
Invest in an Alarm System
This sounds simple but unfortunately, criminals are making this more complicated than ever. Many alarm companies, like Simply Safe, use Wi-Fi to emit emergency calls to first responders, if issues ever arise.
Some ingenious criminals in the Detroit area are easily acquiring Wi-Fi Jammers, blocking all radio communication on any device that operates on radio frequency within its range by emitting radio frequency waves, preventing the signal from getting to the police. For true security, hard-wiring or directly plugging into an ethernet cable is your best bet.
Avoid making your house a target for predators. According to Bloomberg News, The American Automobile Association (AAA) has projected over 115 million Americans to be on the move over the holidays. One of the most common indicators burglars look for when targeting homes are: packages left on your front porch, signaling you aren’t home or have left town.
My neighbor frequently goes out of town, he pays $1/day per kid to come check his mail and hold onto his packages for him. Having your packages sent to a friend/family member while you’re gone may also be something to consider.
Secure your valuables
Again, this sounds simple but presumably, many of us choose predictable areas: under the bed, side table, closet, etc. to store our valuables. Even if it is a quick smash-and-grab style event. Some reports from the Reeves break-in said the response time was 7 minutes, which is more than enough time to rummage through nooks and crannies.
If you are going out of town, I HIGHLY recommend that you secure your firearm(s) in a solid, reputable safe. Could people still get in? Absolutely. But they’ll have to work hard for it, in less than 7 minutes, they hope.
Speaking of safes, a lot of people I know rely solely on the weight of the safe to be enough of a deterrent to thieves. I agreed with them, thinking my 1000-pound safe would be more than adequate to prevent theft. However, watching two movers handle my safe with straps, these guys literally took 2-3 minutes to squat and lift my safe right up into the truck with relative ease.
If you have a safe, I HIGHLY recommend that you bolt that sucker to the ground, into the floor or concrete. Otherwise, thieves are more than capable of loading it up and breaking into it during their own time.
Be unpredictable
Like most people, I tend to be a little predictable. Get up at 5am, walk the dog, leave the house by 7:30, come home at 5pm, repeat. If you are out of town, or even out of the house for extended periods of time, it’s good to add some irregularity.
Schedule timers on interior and exterior lights, set a timer for your TV to come on, and make it look like someone is home. Most thieves look for an easy target, so make them think twice about stopping at your house this year. Trick them into thinking someone is home, and it becomes a lot more difficult for them to take what is yours, or worse.
Be Safe, Be Vigilant, and I hope you had a Merry Christmas and a safe New Year.
Author: Ian Bolser
