Self-Defense Checklist
In case of a disaster, your careful efforts to prepare for and survive will be noticed. Unfortunately, there will always be people who want to take the easy way out and will try and take advantage of your efforts. Some of these people will not ask and will try to take what you and your family have by force.
For short-term disasters, this is not as big of a problem but for any disaster that lasts for any length of time, you must be prepared to defend yourself and your family or your careful preparations will be for nothing.
Passive Protection by Being Prepared
You should expect to protect yourself. But this can be more about being prepared than it is about combat and showdowns. In most cases, careful preparations for self-defense will result in not having to defend yourself.
Simply being prepared means that you will not have to put yourself in uncontrolled situations to find food or medical supplies. The first place that riots and violence will happen will be the raids on the grocery stores, hardware stores and other stores that have supplies critical to a disaster. By being prepared in advance, you simply won’t have to be there.
Firearms
Every member of your family should be familiar with and comfortable around firearms. Use all appropriate safety precautions with firearms but make sure that each member of your family is comfortable cleaning, loading and unloading and firing both pistols and rifles.
In general, you should own several rifles, a shotgun and pistols appropriate for each member of your family. Depending on the individuals stature and comfort with pistols, a .22 caliber pistol is perfect for children or people who have small frames.
Larger caliber pistols will have more stopping power so a .45 or a 9mm pistol would be ideal if you are going for stopping power.
Make sure you have plenty of ammunition. It is likely that ammunition will be hard to come by in the case of any extended disaster scenario.
Training
In case of any weapon, appropriate training is always a good idea. If possible, become licenses to carry. I’m not recommending that you carry your weapon daily but the extra training and familiarity with firearms will help you and the extra license will make it easier to transport and carry your weapon to and from the range.
Along with training for the proper handling and use of firearms, its not a bad idea for you and your family to take basic self-defense classes either. This is as much about learning the techniques as it self-confidence and mindset. Each member of your family needs to feel like they are ready for whatever happens and this would go a long way towards helping their mental preparation.
Active Self-Defense Checklist
The following checklist can be used for active self-defense of you and your family:
- Shotgun
- One or more rifles
- Pistols appropriate for each member of your family
- Ammunition
- Training and licensing for the firearms
- Tasers/Pepper spray for each member of your family
- Basic martial arts self-defense training
Passive Self-Defense Checklist
This checklist includes a list of things you should do for your home:
- Secure locks (deadbolts) with lock-plates on all outside doors
- Research and install an alarm system that does not require a central call center. This should include motion sensors, door and window contact sensors and impact sensors with a loud siren. Make sure your family is familiar with the alarm and has a reaction plan in case it goes off.
- Pre-cut plywood covers for each downstairs window. This also applies as storm protection so this is a good idea regardless of the type of disaster.