From a tactical standpoint the best way to protect something, as in this case, your home or compound, is to hinder or destroy an enemy’s ability to attack your home or compound. This is easier said than done of course, and the reasons why include law and order and your own moral compass.
You simply cannot “take it to the enemy” until you know whom the enemy is. Some suspicious looking person loitering on a public street could very well be a threat at some point, but that person has yet to act. You cannot go on the offense to try and “take out” a perceived threat at this point, legally anyway.
The often quoted line “The best defense is a good offense” however, certainly applies, if you can in fact apply it, but it is very difficult when it comes to home defense.
Unfortunately, some people believe that as soon as a disaster strikes law and order no longer applies. This could be the case in an extreme situation, but this country has not, as of yet, faced a crisis where citizens could simply do as they wished and never have to answer for their actions afterward. You will be called to task for your actions at some point regardless of the crisis.
Home defense is not a sporting event, and you and your family are not a military unit looking to take hill 29. You cannot take it to the enemy in the traditional sense, unless of course, you are attacked first, and then you are merely defending yourself. Herein lies the problem, you essentially have to wait for an attack or other action that indicates their intentions, before you can launch a counter attack.
You cannot take to the streets and eliminate possible threats, and even if you could legally would you actually do it, certainly some, if not many of those you eliminate would turn out to have not been a threat after all. You simply do not know until their actions tell you they are a threat.
Can You Play Offense When It Comes To Home Defense?
You really cannot play offense, the only thing you can do is to keep intruders at bay so to speak by having a good perimeter defense plan. Your home is what you are protecting. Your family and possessions are inside the home and you have to prevent someone from getting inside. You need to be able to handle any threats outside of the safe zone. This means you need an early warning system.
Defensive positions cannot be linear they must be circular or even triangulated. If you position people in a straight line, they all are looking in the same direction essentially, so who is covering everyone’s back, their “six” if you will.
Obviously, you will have limited personnel, so to make sure your defensive pattern is circular so you would need roving guards to cover 360 degrees of perimeter. Two guards would be the minimum and have each one meet at 180 degrees for example. To prevent boredom (complacency) you can switch directions at random, and this can help prevent developing a pattern that an intruder could exploit as well.
Your objective is to give enough warning to others in the home that an intruder has entered your property, giving those inside time to prepare a defense. You will need a quality communications system for this to work properly.
Roving guards could be considered an offensive position, if you stretch the meaning considerably, but you still must wait until someone has entered your property, and then their actions must indicate they are a direct threat in most cases.
If the first indication of trouble is that someone has just kicked in your door, you have essentially lost the battle. You have to have eyes and ears in a circular pattern to make sure no one is approaching the safe zone, the home itself.
Type of Weapons
You have to know how far it is from your front porch to the edge of your property. Measure it off so you know what type of firearm you would need if you have to fire from the front door or front windows of the home. Set up a line of fire for the back door and windows as well, and from all sides of the home.
If there is a breach in the perimeter and a verified lethal threat then you must know if it is 100 meters or 25 meters from a defensive position to the threat by knowing the distance to fixed landmarks, landmarks such as light poles, large rocks, trees and other permanent fixtures. Once an intruder is on the grounds and you know the range to the big rock is 100 meters, for example, you can use the applicable weapon capable of the range.
Each position should have a range card displayed so anyone firing from that position knows what the various ranges are. You would obviously hold fire if your firearm is not capable of reaching a target. You would waste rounds firing when you know the threat is out of range, and you would reveal your position as well. You do not want to be in the position with a weapon not capable of the range and have the aggressor with a weapon that is capable of the range.
For those that state they will shoot anyone coming to their door or state they plan to shoot anyone that steps onto their property will end up in jail for murder, or end up dead. People could enter your property during a crisis for any number of reasons and not everyone is a threat. For those that are willing to simply shoot first without knowing there is real threat then you will not last long yourself, and this shows a total lack of skill and experience in such matters.
People in the community will rise up against trigger-happy people and take them out. Communities simply will not stand for this type of behavior. The shoot first and ask question later mindset will get you dead or incarcerated quickly regardless of the law enforcement status during a crisis.
You need a system in place to contain any possible threats in an area of your choosing. Interrogate or talk to them if you will, away from the safe zone. This may mean barriers to keep people from driving up to your front door. Put people on foot in unfamiliar terrain, terrain you are familiar with, and you have the tactical advantage.
A sally port is a barrier system that allows people entry to a certain extent far, then bars escape while not allowing them to go further into the compound. You can set up a system similar to this on your property, but it takes planning, and certain skill sets and a certain number of skilled personnel.