I did a good, clean finishing shot and she gave out the death twitch.

[RamRoddoc]

I guess in order to protect ourselves, we have to be sympathetic to the intruder and give them the benefit of the doubt until they prove other wise....hope that doesn't get me or my family slaughtered by the next Manson family

We have to be honest and ethical. Who could or would ask less?

 

[protective measures]

how do you determine if a intruder is armed when it's pitch black. Assuming most people are not tactical ninjas and don't have a flashlight at the ready?

That is the reason to have a handheldlight in addition to weapon mounted lights available so as to be able to identify shoot/ no shoot situations quickly.
Too many innocent people, including family members are shot by mistake by untrained, or at least undisciplined, unprepared gunowners.

Safety Rule #4 Always know your target & whats behind it.... That includes home defense.
If a light is unavailable or the fight is at extremely close range in the dark is another reason to train how to fight with a pistol in those circumstances.... fighting w/ a pistol & just shooting one are two totally different things.
Hardly anyone practices close quarters fighting w/ a pistol although many fights happen within 0'-7'.

In our classes in addition to these topics we highly promote having multiple layers of passive security at a residence to buy more time to wake up, get the police on the phone & on the way... and to get to the best "tools" (pistol, rifle, shotgun, whatever) for the job at hand.

An extremely bright tactical light (100-500 lumens) has often ended or at least prevented escalation by taking the criminal by surprise.

Many B.G.'s are like rats & cockroaches... they like the cover of darkness & often flee when hit by a blinding light.
Of course it is usually advisable to "light & move" as lights can & do draw return fire.

A "Flash sight picture" often confirms whether the target is a family member, drunk neighbor, etc. or a criminal who just picked the wrong house.
It can be a decided advantage for a number of reasons & is too important to not have available.

 

[MilSpec308]

That is the reason to have a handheldlight in addition to weapon mounted lights available so as to be able to identify shoot/ no shoot situations quickly.
Too many innocent people, including family members are shot by mistake by untrained, or at least undisciplined, gunowners.

Safety Rule #4 Always know your target & whats behind it.... That includes home defense.

In our classes in addition to this topic we highly promote having multiple layers of passive security at a residence to buy more time to wake up, get the police on the phone & on the way... and to get to the best "tools" (pistol, rifle, shotgun, whatever) for the job at hand.

An extremely bright tactical light (100-500 lumens) has often ended or at least prevented escalation by taking the criminal by surprise.

Many B.G.'s are like rats & cockroaches... they like the cover of darkness & often flee when hit by a blinding light.
Of course it is usually advisable to "light & move" as lights can & do draw return fire.

A "Flash sight picture" often confirms whether the target is a family member, drunk neighbor, etc. or a criminal who just picked the wrong house.
It can be a decided advantage for a number of reasons & is too important to not have available.

Believe me I completely agree with what your saying and I have taken plenty of Low light/Disruptive Enviroment/Force on Force etc. They are all great courses, but what they don't teach you is how to engage an armed, moving target in your home. I haven't met many people that will hold still and let you take a shot at them. You know your home better than anybody and that has to be taken advantage of. The more chances you give an intruder, the more your survivability rate decreases! I just like hearing other people explain that it's more beneficial to be sympathetic and use the least amount of force on an individual committing a forcible felony by breaking into your home....

 

[protective measures]

Believe me I completely agree with what your saying and I have taken plenty of Low light/Disruptive Enviroment/Force on Force etc. I just like hearing other people explain that it's more beneficial to be sympathetic and use the least amount of force on an individual committing a forcible felony by breaking into your home....

One of the reasons my old Instructors encouraged me to open my school is due to the fact that most schools' Instructors have backgrounds in L.E. or Mil. & their rules of engagement as well as methodology often does not translate well to the civilian world.

As Massad Ayoob so succinctly stated, "You not only have to survive the fight.... you have to "survive the aftermath".
This was referring to the civilian world specifically.