Do you know what’s going on in your home when you’re away at work? Do you have a reliable home security system that can relieve you of your worries and concerns when someone is breaking into your home when you’re away? If you already have a home security system in place, how reliable and steadfast is it? Has anyone ever broken into your home even with your current home security system in place? Do you know that you can now install a home security system that utilizes the Internet so that the home security system can actually alert you of unusual activities at home?

That’s how far the home security system technology has advanced. If you’re still having one of those old home security systems that blares a siren whenever there’s an intruder, then you’re not doing the best you can to protect your home. How many times have you heard one of those sirens cut through the silence of the night and ignored it because the siren is turned off about a minute later? Intruders who break into homes know how to turn off the old types of home security systems and they can usually break through any of those home security systems easily.

With the advancement of technology, home security systems have developed into more than just an electronic alarm system that detects opened windows or doors. Conventional home security systems have sensors built into the home security units that detect interruption in the flow of electricity. Whenever the home security system detects the interruptions, it will either let out a deafening siren or activate strobe lights to attract attention.

But have you ever thought about this – what if others choose to ignore the sirens and lights?

What you really need is a home security system that will silently alert guards and you of the activities in the home. Combining the advancement of the technology used to create and develop home security systems together with the Internet, the home security system will silently send signals of the intrusion to a call center run by the home security company. It will also send a message to your cell phone or make a call using your telephone line to you to alert you of a possible break in. With the home security system’s silent method of alerting various parties, the intruder is not alerted but YOU are. Therefore, it will give the police and the relevant authorities enough time to act and catch the intruders in action.

In fact, the latest home security systems in the market today allow you to activate and deactivate your home security system via the Internet or through your phone. This is what I call a TOTAL convenience to home security systems.

In my experience, there are three basic kinds of people. Wolves (a.k.a. the bad guys) are the first kind. They are the human predators, the ones that prey on the weak. The Sheeple (sheep + people) are individuals that believe it is society’s duty to protect them. These people blindly submit, even if it means death because they cannot bring themselves to use force. The third type of person is the Shepherd. Shepherds are those people who are strong and alert. They can protect themselves. Shepherds protect the weak because it is right and because they care. Police, Firemen, Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines are shepherds, but they are not the only ones. You don’t have to be one of those ready professionals in order to be a shepherd. Protecting your own family is enough. You don’t even have to carry a gun to be one; just stepping up and doing what needs to be done is all it takes. A shepherd knows that all wolves understand is force, and against someone like that sometimes force needs to be applied.
 

Force should never be used lightly. It is the province of serious individuals. People who use force must make sure that what they are doing is justified. Your mental state should be that while it is not desirable to hurt or kill another human, anyone that uses force to get you to submit to their will has probably done it before and will probably do it again. Is it better to do what a wolf wants and risk death simply because he wants no witnesses, or risk death and fight back? That is a decision only you can make based on the situation. Think about this, what good is it to submit to violence if the aggressor commits a similar crime next week to someone else?
 

The FBI’s uniform crime statistics suggests that there is a connection between submitting to the will of a criminal to avoid injury and being injured. However, before you decide to resist, you must seriously consider all available options. If all the criminal wants is something you can buy, borrow, or replace, then just give it to him. It is not worth your safety to fight over the twenty bucks in your wallet. If he wants to force you or a loved one to go with him, or if you truly believe he has another motive besides theft, then fight. You have to! Ask yourself is it better to be shot in a parking lot where people can get you medical attention, or to be found six months later in a shallow grave because you submitted to a kidnapers demand?
 

Remember it is not just yourself that you are protecting. On a practical level, you need to be alive for your loved ones. Your family needs you. If you are not there, who will be there for your family? On a larger level, in the equation between you and some criminal scumbag, the world is better served by you, not them, surviving the encounter.
 

Above all, you must never give up. You will be hurt, and you will probably be alone. Fear is a given, just don’t allow fear to paralyze you. Train hard and remember your training. Studies have shown time and time again that you fight like you train. Visualize different scenarios so that mentally you will be ready to survive and go home to your family. They need you.

Personal preparedness means different things depending on who you are and what your situation is. To an inhabitant of the Florida Keys, preparedness means having items to outlast a hurricane. To a city dweller, preparedness might be having a can of mace in her purse. To a survivalist, preparedness might mean having a semi trailer loaded with M14 rifles buried in the back yard. Depending on the situation, any of these definitions might be appropriate.

Personal preparedness is simply knowing what dangers are likely to befall you and taking reasonable precautions to avoid or survive them. In today’s modern world, insurance is a required item. No one laughs at a car owner that buys a full coverage policy for his or her car. As a matter of fact, a driver that fails to insure their car is looked upon as irresponsible, sometimes even criminal. The same thing can be said about homeowner’s or renter’s insurance, life insurance, and health insurance. Today people take out money for retirement in the form of IRA’s, 401K’s, mutual funds and the like. No one faults them. Why is it then that someone who has a pantry of stored food, candles, a rifle or two, and ammunition for them is considered crazy or dangerous? Isn’t it a logical extension of the doctrine of insurance? After all insurance is merely a device to lessen the extent a disaster has on your life. If having an extra insurance policy for break-ins is smart, then the idea of someone breaking into your home is possible. If it is likely that someone might break into your home, then having a means to protect yourself is justified.

Each year natural disasters occur in the United States. When these occur, the news media rushes to the scene. It never fails that they show a relief organization van at the disaster site. Usually there is an interview with someone who is standing in line looking for help. The site is common; a desperate parent with a hungry child waiting for someone to give them some milk for their infant. Ratings soar and people feel sorry for this poor child. Consider this, areas prone to natural disaster are known. Floods happen on a regular basis. Places like Tornado Alley have been recognized and named. If the choice is made to live in an area like this and the basic precautions are not taken, then pity is not the logical emotion. Irresponsibility on the part of the parent caused the child’s pain; it only takes a few extra seconds to grab a couple extra bottles of formula. Why didn’t they take this simple precaution? They probably paid the cable bill. Does that expense outweigh the measly cost of a gallon of bottled water?

Organizations like the American Red Cross and the Office of Homeland Security suggest that each family have a few days of essential items to get them through an emergency. Doing this is not hard nor does it have to be expensive. No one says that preparedness means having a years supply of freeze dried steak in a concrete storage bunker. Simply buying a can or two of extra food every time you go shopping is enough. Buy an extra box of garbage bags, some extra toilet tissue, or any item you have to have. Store it in a box under the bed, or in the closet. In hardly any time at all, you will soon have a store pile that will give you not only an added measure of security, but also a sense of well-being. Rotate this stock out. As you eat a box of macaroni, buy another. Forget that you have four boxes on your kitchen shelf. This causes you not to feel over burdened financially to support your prepared lifestyle. It also keeps your store fresh. An added benefit is that your safety net is familiar to you. In the stressful time of disaster, you don’t have the added stressor of eating unfamiliar foods chosen not by your appetite, but by their shelf life.

It is easy to lecture on what items are needed. Lists of essential items depend on lifestyle and location as much as physical needs. It would be irresponsible to dictate what equipment your family would need to survive without knowing you or your situation. You must sit down and decide what are your family’s priorities, and from that list correlate your family’s needs.

It is not important what others say or think of you. It is not even recommended to tell your neighbors you find the need to be prepared for life. Does it matter if they think you are crazy for stocking up added groceries? Will it matter if your children or spouse suffer because you want to keep the good graces of the people 2 doors down?

In this world of live TV broadcasting, it’s likely few have missed witnessing the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina.

An overwhelming sense of helplessness permeates the lives of thousands of victims in New Orleans and other affected areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. You need cold steel in your heart and ice water in your veins to not be mournful of their plight.

The pattern of Katrina prior to its cataclysmic route was coined by some to be “nothing to worry about” as it whirled 95 miles per hour gusts through portions of Miami eventually causing about 100 millions dollars of estimated damage. And, this was before it locked its sight on New Orleans.

Why do people pretend certain things won’t happen to them? Like dying prematurely … or becoming disabled … or running out of food and water.

Even when a crisis situation is up close and in our face we tend to quickly dismiss it. For example, the car accident scene we just passed as paramedics were placing severely injured passengers into the ambulance. You could see pools of blood on the street and twisted metal with broken glass strewn everywhere.

Then, once beyond the accident scene we began accelerating to speeds excessively over the posted limits. Out of sight… out of mind.

Why won’t we take these real life experiences seriously enough to prepare for the worst?

On Aug. 24, 1992, Hurricane Andrew slammed into South Florida. It wiped out Homestead, Florida City and parts of Miami before continuing northwest across the Gulf of Mexico to strike the Louisiana coastline.

The storm was responsible for 40 deaths and $30-billion in property damage. At the time, it was the costliest disaster in U.S history.

We have only just begun to calculate the cost of Hurricane Katrina. More than likely, it will be beyond our capacity to imagine.

During August and September 2004, Florida was lambasted by Hurricanes Charley, Dennis, Ivan and Jeanne. The damage was astounding and perhaps foretold of things to come - like Katrina.

So, why don’t we better prepare for these dramas of Mother Nature? Why do we ignore the fact that what happened before will most assuredly happen again?

On September 11, 1992 (less than one month after Andrew) Hurricane Iniki leveled every telephone pole and hundreds of trees on the Island of Kauai in Hawaii. Fortunately no one was killed and yet the preparation for this disaster was postponed because it was originally forecast to be less severe.

Planning for any disaster is filled with complications. Various departments of local, state and federal governments often clash due to opposing viewpoints or budget constraints.

Interesting isn’t it? When panic is upon us … when the disaster has struck … more often than not we rise to the occasion. And yet, we frequently fail to prepare for future disasters that could threaten the lives of our own family.

If we were as smart as we are compassionate, we would help ourselves and our families by storing provisions to be used, if necessary, for our survival. More information can be found at: http://www.survival-center.com.

Compassion seems to come easier than wisdom. Is this because it’s easier to write a check than to spend time making a plan for our own survival?

But do our checks really go to help those we care about?

Even the Red Cross admits there are times funds end up being distributed to parties other than those designated by the contributors.

Preparing to buy your first handgun can be quite daunting. They aren’t cheap. New handguns range in price from $250.00 to $2,500.00. And to complicate the matter even further, there are many different manufactures and choices. I tell people in my carry permit course that there are as many different types of handguns as the manufacturers can talk people into buying. What is probably most confusing to someone new to this field is the fact that for every make and model of handgun, there are 3 gun magazine writers telling their readers that their particular brand or caliber or gizmo is the best, and 4 others saying that the gun in question will get the reader killed.

Yesterday I was asked my opinion about Glocks. I said that what I thought didn’t matter; it wasn’t my money or my safety on the line. My preference does not matter in the decision to buy your gun. My wife likes Glocks; I feel the same about revolvers. Our preferences differ. As long as you know your gun, why you chose it, and it fits your needs, then it’s the best gun for you. Now, that being said lets discuss the benefits and drawbacks of the two main types of handguns, semi-automatics and revolvers.

Revolvers are a type of pistol that has a rotating cylinder containing a number of firing chambers. They typically hold 5 or 6 rounds, each held in its own firing chamber. They are generally cheaper to purchase than a semi-automatic, with a new one from a major manufacturer such as Taurus or Rossi being in the neighborhood of $250.00. The major benefits of this type of handgun include:

They are easier to learn to manipulate, because there is generally fewer functions than a typical semi-auto.

They are normally easier for weaker handed persons to operate. This is due to the lack of a slide.

They are generally more reliable.

There is more choice of ammunition.

Revolvers are not as training intensive as a semi-automatic pistol (more about this later).

I prefer revolvers for home defense, as a home protection weapon will be stored loaded for an extended period of time. This is because they have fewer moving parts, which in turns makes them less sensitive to a lack of cleaning and maintenance than semi-automatics. I also recommend them for someone who is not going to train as intensively as recommended because this type of handgun has fewer functions to remember. In order to manipulate a revolver, one only has to operate the trigger and the cylinder release, whereas a semi-automatic pistol generally has a trigger, a magazine release, a slide lock, and at least one safety lever.

Revolvers do have disadvantages, and it is because of these disadvantages that police departments around the county have changed from them to semi-automatics. These disadvantages should be understood if the reader wishes to make a decision; therefore I will list them:

Revolvers are slower to reload than the typical semi-automatic. They are sometimes harder to conceal, due to width of cylinder. Revolvers do not normally hold as many rounds (5-6rds compared to 8 or 10rds in a semi-automatic.

Because a revolver contains separate chambers for each round, to fully load a revolver, the operator must put a round in each chamber (6 actions for 6 rounds). To fully load a semi-automatic the operator has to insert a single magazine into the pistol (one action for multiple rounds).

Semi-Automatic pistols fire a single cartridge each time the trigger is pressed. It automatically extracts the spent casing and prepares to fire another round. A semi-automatic is sometimes called automatic, but the difference is a true automatic can fire multiple rounds per trigger press. This seemingly small difference can cause tens of thousands of dollars in fines and years of time in federal penitentiaries, so be sure to know the difference. A semi-automatic holds its rounds in a single device called a magazine (it is possible to offend some hard-line gun enthusiasts by calling a magazine a clip). This magazine is normally inserted into the grip of the handgun. These handguns are the most popular, and they are that way for many reasons. Some of the most recognized reasons are:

Semi-autos can hold many rounds compared to a revolver. Normally a semi-auto magazine holds 8 to 10rds, but there are magazines capable of holding 15 to 30. They allow faster reloads. Due to popularity, there is a wider choice of accessories such as holsters available. They are easier to conceal due to thinner action than a normal revolver. It is easy to carry spare ammunition via preloaded magazines.

Iyt is because of the amount of rounds easily carried in magazines upon one’s body and the amount of rounds in the pistol that caused the semi-automatic to replace the revolver in the arming of our nation’s police. What has kept it there is the different features that are possible in a semi-auto. A police force or a private user can decide the type of safety devices or modes of operation that they want in a firearm and buy a brand that has those features. While this is a benefit, it also can become a drawback. The reasons for this are:

They are very training intensive. Before one begins to carry a semi-automatic for self-defense, it is recommended that the user fire 2 or 3 thousand rounds of the type of ammunition they intend to carry in their firearm in order to fully understand the function of their firearm. Semi-autos are more complex. This means more prone to fail. While modern firearms and ammunition can fire thousands of rounds without malfunction, it can and does happen. They are more expensive than a revolver. Firing them can be harder for people suffering from arthritis or of weaker stature to manipulate slide. This type of handgun is more sensitive to ammunition type. Some types of semi-automatics are more prone to jam with certain types of ammunition, which is another reason it is suggested to train with the type of ammunition you intend to carry.

The semi-auto type of firearm is very well represented in the world of guns. Because of this sales popularity, there are many different functions and characteristics. Comparing this is like comparing pickup trucks to cars. There are many brands of pickups (revolvers), but generally they all are basically the same. In the car (semi-autos) world, they have sedans, sports cars, wagons, convertibles, limousines, economy class, and luxury designs. You can buy a vehicle or a firearm based solely upon an arbitrary reason such as looks, popularity, or what the marketing hype in a gun magazine tells you. You may also buy a tool such as this by deciding your needs and weighing your options.