defense, low-lightOne area of self-defense that worries me is my low-light/no-light tactics. I don’t know how to prepare, what to practice, or where to even begin. What should I do to become more comfortable with defending my house and family at night?
Training, training, training. Did I mention training?
Being able to fight in low light is an important part of being able to defend yourself with a firearm. However, contrary to what you might hear from the manufacturers of night sights and tactical flashlights, this is not a problem that can be solved by buying hardware. The hardware can be useful (I've spent lots of money with Surefire and Trijicon), but it's a supplement to training, not a substitute. I would start by looking for a good low-light training class.
On the hardware side of things, I agree with Xander that a good hand held light is the place to start. Not only does it allow you to illuminate things without pulling your gun on them, it also can deter thugs and makes a handy impact weapon. It's particularly nice because, not being a 'weapon' you can have it in your hand, ready to go under a much wider array of circumstances than you could a pistol or knife. When I'm walking through a dark parking lot I've got my Surefire in my hand ready to go. Heck, you can even take it on airplanes!
I prefer tube lights, with momentary tailcap switches. A light with multiple modes, or that clicks on and off is a recipe for disaster in a fight. The last thing you want is your light getting stuck on, or being set to the wrong brightness setting. In the midst of a fight or flight reaction I want a light where I can mash down on the tailcap to get light and let my thumb up to turn it off. My current favorite is the Surefire G2X; plenty of power, stupid simple tailcap switch.
To my mind the most important things to know are where your family is at, and how to get around in zero light. Make sure your family knows that if something is going bad — strange noises in the dark, etc. — that they should either stay put or come directly to you.
There are a few schools of thought when using a weapon-light (or a flashlight and a weapon together). The one I’ve seen most often is based on treating the light like its own weapon. Just as you would shoot, move, and communicate in a combat situation you should consider your light as “shooting,” and each time you finish shooting you must move. Lights and gunshots both give away your position. Communication can be to your significant other, to your children, to anybody you are working with (perhaps a roommate or other family members who are with you).
If your light is mounted to your weapon, remember that anything you want to illuminate is having a gun pointed at them. If you hear a noise from your daughter’s room and point the light at the door to see her coming out, you’re pointing a gun at your daughter. Remember this when employing your light. If you have a weapon light you can use the cone of the light rather than the center for inspecting noises in places your family might be (another reason it’s important they either stay put or come directly to you). Or you can use a light that isn’t mounted to your weapon. Independent lights compromise your grip and control of the weapon but give you a greater level of safety and mobility when inspecting your home. There are trade-offs in all things. I prefer weapon mounted lights.
#Training is vital. I can assure you from experience as a US Marine that people will not and can not “rise to the occasion” like they do in TV and movies. You will default to your most solid level of training. You won’t suddenly have this part of your brain kick on because your family is at risk, imbuing you with heightened levels of skill. You must train to be proficient.
I am a firm believer that if you pick up a gun, you do so because you are prepared to kill somebody. If you’re not prepared to kill somebody, find something else. A bat, some mace, whatever. If you are going to shoot somebody, do not fire warning shots, do not shoot to wound, and do not second guess yourself. If you’re uncomfortable with the idea of killing somebody that’s good: It means you’re not a psychopath. But be prepared to do it, and accept that by using a gun you may have to kill in order to protect you and your family.
With that said, very bright lights can be deterrents. They have a blinding and disorienting effect on people when you go from pitch black to 200 lumens directly in your eyes. Conversely, some people don’t react to this as badly as others, and while their night vision will be totally blasted, there’s a very very bright light that acts as a great target indicator.
It’s very important that you know your house. That you know corners that provide good lines of sight. That you know the dead space where somebody could hide if they see you coming (like behind a couch in the middle of your living room, for example), that you know the common points of entry and exit to your home that may not be a door.
Side note about home defense: A common myth is that racking a round into your shotgun will cause criminals to flee in terror. Don’t count on it. Does it work? Yeah, sometimes. Does it work very often? No, not really. In police and other law enforcement circles, it’s relatively well known that it rarely works. What it does do, every time, is telegraph your position and your intentions, and remove the element of surprise.
I think it’s critically important to learn to work with a flashlight for low-light situations. You need to be able to create enough light to be able to identify any threats, safely engage the threats, and ensure that there aren’t additional threats lurking in the corners.
I have both weapon-mounted lights and hand-held lights, and I prefer a hand-held flashlight for it’s ability to create light anywhere I want it without the need to point my firearm in an arbitrary direction.
There’s more to defending your home than training with a flashlight. If you’re defending an otherwise unarmed family, you’ll want training and practice in finding/creating defensible positions and getting your family to those positions safely, which means they’ll need to be trained on where to go, when and how. If you have adults that would be arming themselves as well, you need to get team training so someone isn’t accidentally shot in the back. This is really something that’s going to be well beyond the scope of a short website answer.
I’m going to take a different approach than the other respondents. While training of all sorts is great, and will improve your skills and your options, I think the sorts of things they’re suggesting you train yourself to do are the wrong response to a home invasion.
The right thing to do in a home invasion is to gather your family in one room, with only one entrance, and call 911 while keeping the entrance covered with one or more weapons. Don’t go wandering around the house with or without a light, trying to find the intruder. Don’t try to “clear” your house. Let the police do that when they show up.
Now, if your house layout is such that it’s not feasible to gather your family, because the bedrooms are widely scattered, then you’re going to have to use a less optimal approach, and that’s going to require the sort of night-fighting skills and training mentioned in the other responses. But that’s a distinctly inferior option, and I’d first take steps to see if I can correct it.
The best plan is to do everything possible to prevent things from getting to a gunfight situation. Once you are firing at other humans in anger, your best possible outcome is you convince them to retreat. Your second best outcome is dead bodies on the floor, police, grand juries, news media, and all that.
Get good locks. Get a monitored alarm with a panic button. Get good outdoor lighting. Get a well trained dog. Make your home a very unattractive target.
Then do all the things the other armchair commandos recommended above. Lethal force should be your final resort in your plan to keep your family safe.
One important aspect of defending your family at night in your house is knowing your house and property. Where are the shadows? Where are places an intruder could hide? Where are places you could hide while waiting for the intruder to approach you instead of you approaching him? Do you have clothes or toys on the floor that could trip you and leave you exposed to danger or alert the intruder that you are up and about? Which lights are on in the house and do they help you or the intruder more? Do you have a backup plan in case you lose your weapon in a scuffle? Do you or your neighbors have outdoor lights that are always on at night? Motion activated lights that will light you or the intruder up? Walk around your house and property at night with your flashlight and weapon. Can you easily maneuver the hallway, steps, various rooms, porch, deck, pool, garage, vehicles? Practice this when the moon is full and when there is no moon and when it’s cloudy.
Take a concealed handhun course first! Educate yourself on your state of residence laws concerning your rights to protect yourself and third parties. Some states don’t allow you to protect yourself. A state like Texas has a Castle Doctrine law that allows you to defend your property and carry a handguns and long guns in your vehicle without penalty.
Shotguns are long guns & very effective protection in your home, usually they don’t over penetrate walls when using shot shells. CHL & state laws alow to stop the threat only. Threat is define by state laws such as robbery, kidnaping, aggravated assault, bodily harm. Know your laws before taking action to stop threats! Storing firearms accesible to minors can be a major problem should a minor gain access & discharge or injure someone. Most states have laws addressing firearm storage and locks preventing minors to acces them.
Good luck! Know your target, finger on the trigger only when ready to fire. Gun Safety always. Train, educate, ask questions, There are no dumb questions always ask!
All content is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.