At 8:43 AM -0700 10/30/97, Igor Chudov @ home wrote:
Tim May wrote:
And so it goes. This is why I have 3000 rounds of .223 stashed away, and several loaded weapons readily available. And an early warning system in case the night ninjas decide my house needs to be raided before dawn.
What kind of early warning system is it, technically?
Well, now that wouldn't be very smart of me, would it, to tell the world where my defensive measures are? (I'm willing to let would-be ninjas know that I won't take a no-knock raid without fighting back, as this may deter them, in classic game-theoretic terms, but not to tell them precise details of my defenses.) Check the ads in the gun and survival mags for ideas. Seismic (footfall, vehicle) detectors are affordable, but hard to monitor on a 24/7 basis. Simple photolectric vehicle detectors are useful. In my case, I have a private driveway about 100 meters long as the only access to my house. Not to hard to rig up methods to warn of vehicles approaching...harder to warn of men approaching on foot. And even harder if they come up through the brush and chapparal on the other 3 sides. The main thing is to provide a minute or so of warning of vehicles approaching in the middle of the night.
Another question about home defense: it must be really inconvenient to perform all these self-defense actions naked, which would obviously happen during these night raids and robberies.
Is that a problem, and if yes, what are the solutions?
The usual advice is to secure one's bedroom for immediate invasion. (My bedroom is on the second floor, too.) This helps with burglars as well as with ninjas. For example, lock the bedroom door. This will slow down attackers, who first have to gain access to the main house, then have to get in the bedroom. The noise from the first step should provide valuable seconds of awakening, grabbing a gun, etc. I don't think a locked bedroom door will stop an entry team from getting inside in a matter of seconds, but every second helps. (Experts also advise that homeowners facing such assaults "stay put," unless, of course, they have to defend other family members in other rooms.) And ignore the advice from the Consumer Protection Safety Commission, etc., to lock all guns up in safes or vaults or closets. A gun locked up in a gun safe can't be gotten to when it's really needed, can it? Oh, and loading a gun takes far too long, especially in the dark and in a crisis situation. (And keeping ammo out of the gun is only a minor speed bump to inquistive children, so it's not even much protection there.) "What about the children?" For children too young to understand orders, come up with an access solution that gives you fast access but keeps little Suzie from finding the gun. For children old enough to understand orders, and what guns are, tell them exactly what a gun does, show them, educate them, and warn them to NEVER touch the gun or show it to their friends (this is exactly where many accidental shootings happening, with Johnny showing his friends Dad's gun). --Tim May The Feds have shown their hand: they want a ban on domestic cryptography ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, ComSec 3DES: 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Higher Power: 2^2,976,221 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."