A few days ago in Dallas a 14 year old boy who broke into a man’s home was shot and killed. A few months ago a 24 year old man was shot and killed by an 18 year old mother protecting herself and her baby.
These homeowners were prepared to protect themselves, their family, and their property.
I hate that both of these situations ended with the criminal dying, but you can’t reason with someone who is intent on breaking down your door. You have to be willing and capable of protecting yourself.
You and Your Property Must Be Protected
If you’re reading this blog, that means you are either good with money or you are doing your best to get better with money. That means that you either currently have some money saved up or you will one day in the future.
And when you have money and potentially nice things, certain people are going to want to take those things from you. You must protect yourself.
There are police officers that can help keep you and your property safe, but your security is your own responsibility first and foremost. Who knows what would have happened to the 51 year old man in Dallas or the 18 year old mother in Oklahoma if they hadn’t been prepared to protect themselves?
It’s very sad, but there are bad people in this world and they will do bad things if no one stops them.
Protecting Yourself is One of the Best Investments You’ll Ever Make
I hate reading about criminals dying when a homeowner shoots an intruder. More than that, I hate reading about someone who was a victim of a crime who didn’t have the means to protect him or herself.
How you choose to protect yourself is up to you. You can do one or more of the following:
- Have a gun and be proficient in using it.
- Have other weapons to be used for self defense
- Have an alarm system that makes noise when an intruder tries to break in
- Have your alarm system monitored by a security company
- Move to an area that has low crime rates
- Become active in your neighborhood watch program, or start one if one doesn’t exist
- Have a big, loud, scary, protective dog
- Hide valuables and keep some outside of your home (like a safe deposit box)
- Don’t flaunt your wealth publicly
- Take self defense or martial arts classes
- More things I haven’t thought of…
A lot of these things cost money, and there’s a good chance you’ll never find yourself in a situation where you are being attacked. But being prepared and never having to protect yourself is much better than being attacked with no way to defend yourself, your family, and your property.
You can go cheap on generic cereal. You can buy a used car instead of a new one, or even go without a car altogether. You can eliminate your cable bill. But don’t cut corners when it comes to your safety.
You’re worth it.
Readers: How do you protect yourself and how much does it cost you?
Kevin McKee is an entrepreneur, IT guru, and personal finance leader. In addition to his writing, Kevin is the head of IT at Buildingstars, Co-Founder of Padmission, and organizer of Laravel STL. He is also the creator of www.contributetoopensource.com. When he’s not working, Kevin enjoys podcasting about movies and spending time with his wife and four children.
Booby traps, Disability insurance, an emergency fund, and good health insurance.
Booby traps are illegal in every state of the union.
For reasons I explain in http://chl-tx.com/2012/03/prepper-tv-show-a-really-bad-idea/, answering the question you posed is probably not a good idea. However, my wife and I are working on a book for would-be preppers which is a guide to where to find information on how to prepare for disaster, both natural and man-made. Volume one of the book is now available on Amazon at http://sn.im/7sklsv1
The second volume, which includes a chapter on general firearms knowledge, will be out in a few weeks. My brother contributed to that chapter. He and I are both certified NRA instructors, and Texas Concealed Handgun License instructors. In addition, my brother is a licensed peace officer.
I’m interested in getting my concealed handgun license but I’m not ready to buy a gun just yet. Soon, hopefully.
I avoid situations that put me in danger. I do not jump out of planes or walk in dark alleys. I avoid bad neighborhoods as well. I do have adequate lif insuarance too.
I have a baseball bat and that’s it. Maybe I should get a samurai sword and put it next to the door. I don’t want to get a gun though. There are many more stories about people shooting themselves or their family by accident.
For me, all the firearms that I have were gifts, though they arent really for self defense purposes. Of course, they can be used that way (and will, if need be) but I’d really rather not shoot someone if I dont have to.
The ammo for these costs a few bucks for a 5 shell box, and if I never had to use it then it’s a waste of a few bucks, but that’s relatively cheap if you ask me.
And all the George Zimmerman’s out there say “Amen!”
I own a firearm that I’ve been blessed to never have to use for anything other than recreational uses. I grew up in a home where my Dad stopped an intruder because he had a firearm, but he was also blessed to not have to discharge it.
I also like this post, regardless of any haters.
Kevin do u consider buying an insurance as a protecting for yourself?
It’s always a good investment to protect yourself. It’s a nasty world we live in and it doesn’t hurt to be cautios.
wow, awesome blog article.Much thanks again. Keep writing.
I absolutely hate it when firearms are the first thing to come up when you talk about personal safety… so maybe they make you feel more secure, but what about the people around you? When my neighbour carries around his rifle openly I always fear that one day I will mistakenly be on the wrong end of it…
I do practice martial arts, though.
To the haters of gun ownership out there, put in some volunteer time with your local law enforcement agency and you very well may see things differently. I’ve been a cop for 22 years now and can tell you that we (the police) will do everything we can to get to you and help in your time of need, but it doesn’t always work out well for you. What is your plan for dealing with the monsters that walk among us until we do arrive, if you were successful in summoning us? Only you can protect yourself and loved ones, we are just the backup plan. If your primary plan for dealing with disaster is to call 911, remember that when seconds count, we are only minutes away. It’s up to you to handle those minutes until we get there.
“remember that when seconds count, we are only minutes away”
@Avenger, this is exactly what I was going to say, but you beat me to it. Thank you for your 22 years of service and protection.
I have a 9MM in a speedbox safe and hope I never have to use it. I live in a nice neighborhood, but I have a family to protect. I grew up in a tough neighborhood and have seen a lot of bad things happen to good people.
12-gauge shotgun and a 9mm, backed up by an alarm system, itself backed up by reasonably barky dogs.
Also hate it that a 14 year old kid lost his life. I’d like to think that I would have fired a warning shot, but it’s hard to second-guess a homeowner when faced with not one, but three intruders. The article doesn’t say what size the kids where. In the dark, a six-foot teenager looks like any other intruder.