I attended a free seminar on Active Shooters at Royal Range here in Bellevue. One of the most important things I took away was how to respond to a home invasion. The main reason people break into your home when you are home is not to steal your things, but because they are hunting you.
To let the intruder hunt you, they suggested having a high-power flashlight on your nightstand. When you hear someone enter your house, turn on the flashlight and point it towards the door and then get to the side of the door in your closet or bathroom, so that when they come through the door you can attack. One may ask, “Why a flashlight?” If you think about any crime show you’ve ever watched police carry flashlights when entering a dark building. They also tend to get shot because of that flashlight, thinking there is a person behind it. However, in this instance, the flashlight is allowing you to see them yet for them to be blinded by the flashlight. The idea is, you can attack from the side with either a taser, a gun, or if you don’t have either of those, your hands. You see them before they ever see you.
Until I attended this seminar, I can honestly say I never had a plan. Obviously, if someone broke in and I was home, I learned that I can safely climb out of the window. The key is to get away as fast as you can and call the police to handle it. But if you are like many of us that live in a two-story home, I can’t say I would jump from my window. The most important part of the seminar was to have a plan. You are much more likely to know what to do, if you preplan. We all hope this will happen to us, but knowing what to do ahead of time, may save a life. I urge people to visit Royal Range or view their videos on Facebook. This business was built on the idea of educating people about safety, not just being a gun range.
