A Really Bad Idea

A number of the defensive shooting schools teach house clearing, but many students don't understand the purpose for this instruction. The actual reason this is taught is to allow the student to put to use the skills that he has learned on the square range, such as turning, working corners, low-light shooting and target recognition, to name just a few. To actually try to clear a building, even your own house, by yourself is a dangerous undertaking.

When we actually try to hunt the bad guys in our house, too many bad things can happen. We can more easily be surprised and disarmed. We can more easily be ambushed. We can become separated from the rest of our family, leaving them vulnerable. And we can be mistaken for the bad guys by the police who are responding to our call for help. If you think about the situation, I'm sure that one can come up with several more bad things that can occur.

It makes far more sense to establish a safe room and work out a family plan for having everyone gather there in case of a burglary or home invasion. This safe room should be equipped with defensive firearms, cell-phone communications (bad guys may cut your phone lines) and other equipment needed to wait out the time until the police arrive. In the event a family member can't make it to the safe room, they should be aware of other places to hide until the threat is neutralized.

Sneaking around through a building, even your own house, is simply not a good idea. Keep that in mind the next time you enjoy the challenge of working through a shoot house at your favorite defensive training school.