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randomoutburst wrote:We also concluded a few things:

• We grabbed our revolvers by reflex because they are close and quicker to grab than the shotgun especially since we were groggy and hadn't identified the location or cause of the sound. In retrospect, we had time after hearing the noise to pick up the shotgun so perhaps one of us should have had the shotgun while clearing the house.
• We're going to speed up our fortification plans and put bars on our bedroom door and the outside door in the room connecting to our bedroom. We were going to wait but after last night I do think they would be useful.
  We were considering getting a small camera system with live feed to our computers which would overlook all entrances to our home. I think we definitely want to get one now, if only to have documentation of anything that happens and not necessarily as a deterrent or security blanket.
• I'm almost 100% sure we had locked the doors so now we need to test to see if the locks failed, if there was a simple way to break in, or if perhaps we hadn't locked the doors and that's why they were unlocked at 4am.
• We are going to devise a plan for clearing our house tonight so we aren't pulling it together as we go along. Two weeks in a new place was plenty of time to prepare a new plan and we should have already done it.
• And...we really need to get a lamp or a bedside flashlight for the bedroom because stumbling in the dark looking for the overhead light was not cool since it's across the room.

Great post!

I think one of the good things things you've mentioned here is the camera system, not only for documentation purposes, but as an surveillance system of sorts. If you set it up in such a way as it allows you to view the main areas of your home on the INSIDE, you would be able to see them before stepping out of your bedroom to clear the house.

In regard to the shotgun, I agree with your conclusion. At least one member of your "marital tactical team" should be armed with one during clearing ops.

Again, great post and thanks! It's got me to thinking.......