«-- Odds 'n Sods: | Main | Letter Re: Learning Old-Fashioned Trades and Skills --»
Letter Re: Home Invasion Robbery Countermeasures--Your Mindset and Architecture
Jim,
After reading the recent letters about home invasion robberies, I've gotten
a little paranoid about the idea of someone kicking in my front door in the
middle of the night. It would be incredibly easy to do and it's unlikely I
could retrieve a firearm quickly enough to defend (I have a toddler so all
guns are locked up except a pistol, which my wife doesn't know is in Condition
3 in a drawer too tall for my daughter to reach).
The Strikemaster II is out of budget (I need three of them) so I looked into
having similar strikeplates fabricated. As it turns out, I can have them made
for about $30 each by a local guy who has a plasma cutter. This is an option
for those in a similar situation.
On a related note, on a whim I purchased a lock pick kit at a recent gun show.
With just several minutes of practice I am now able
to pick the deadbolts on my house in less than 10 seconds each. So my locks
have got to go. Any standard
lock that you purchase at Home Depot or Lowe's can be picked or bumped in seconds.
Neither of those
stores carry locks that provide high security, all on-package claims aside.
The only locks that even approach being secure (enough for residential use)
are those that meet or exceed ANSI 156.x standards, and even this level only
provides that the lock can't be picked in less than 15 minutes. A good article
on the subject can be found here and
here.
I have glass adjacent to two of my doors. Rather than putting a double-cylinder
deadbolt in, which would be unsafe during a house fire, I'm replacing my deadbolts
with a high-security cylinder on the outside and a keypad-equipped cylinder
on the inside. The keypads cost about $100 and are backlit. As an extra safety
measure, I'm hanging keys inside each door - but not close enough to see or
reach through a broken window.
With all the glass on modern houses, it would be impossible to stop a determined
burglar unless someone is home. My objective is to buy the extra time I'd need
to respond to someone breaking in. For burglary protection for valuables, I'm
relying on a security system and a large gun safe bolted to the floor with
four 4-1/2" anchors. Best, - Matt R.
