Why You Need a Personal and Home Protection Plan

But What If Someone Does Break Into Your Home?

Get a Handle on Why You Need a Personal & Home Protection Plan

A home invasion. It’s something you hear about on the news or witness on your TV screen. But what are the odds someone is going to break into your home? As it turns out, they’re pretty high. On average, a burglary happens once every 30 seconds! Terrifying when you think about it right? This is where Pew Pew Guru steps in. We’re committed to ensuring you’re armed with the knowledge and training to protect yourself.

Someone Just Broke Into Your Home—Now What?

Having a plan in place just in case someone breaks into your home can save your life. That’s the idea behind establishing a personal and home protection plan. 

While it sounds super official and intimidating, it’s not. A home protection plan is simply ensuring everyone in your home knows what to do if a home invasion occurs. From clarifying who goes where to defining everybody’s roles and responsibilities, the more thorough the plan is, the better. Leave no “What if …” not wondered. When outlining your plan of action, make sure to take these factors into consideration:

• Who lives in your home: Make sure to assign everyone a role and a place to go.
• The layout of your home: Define different safe areas depending on where in the house the break-in occurs, i.e. the backdoor vs. the front door.
• Proximity to help: The closer you live to law enforcement and other local emergency services, the quicker the response time, and vice versa.
• Access to a weapon: Do you have a gun(s) in your home? Figure out who is responsible and what action they should take. Pew Pew Guru recommends shotguns.
• The legal rights of homeowners within your jurisdiction: Illinois has what is referred to as the Castle Doctrine, which derived old English times, states “a man’s (or woman’s) home is his (or her) castle.” Essentially, what this means is that there is no duty to retreat in your home and that you can employ deadly force to protect yourself and the inhabitants of your home if someone breaks in.

In addition to devising a well, thought-out plan (and ensuring everyone in the home knows it like the back of their hand), you should also consider adding deterrents to your home. While implementing certain measures does not certify you won’t be a victim of a burglary, they can make it less likely to happen to YOUR home.

Perform Your Own Home Assessment

Is your home really a safe haven, or could it use some improvements? There are certain things you can do to make your home harder to break into, and therefore, safer. This includes reinforcing its several points of entry, namely your windows, doors and garage. Pew Pew Guru recommends you have: 

• A quality deadbolt
• Shatterproof glass windows 
• Door security plates, which make it harder and noisier to break in
• Door wedge
• Bigger doorjamb plate screws. Even if you have a top-notch lock, the jamb plates are the weak points. All it takes is a swift kick or shoulder to kick in most doors. Bigger screws in the doorjamb are your best protection.

Install an Alarm System & Cameras

The truth is criminals are lazy. Studies show that 72% of homeowners who have an alarm are less likely to be targeted by burglars. Same with their neighbors. In fact, even just having a sign in front of your house saying “protected by” scares burglars away. Now tack on a security camera such as the Ring and your chances of steering clear of a home invasion are even higher!

In addition to its deterring qualities, an alarm system has other benefits. If armed when a burglar enters your home …

• You will be alerted about the break-in, giving you back crucial seconds to react.
• The sound may scare the intruder and make him flee.
• Your alarm company will instantly notify the police, ensuring a quicker response time. Remember, even if you have an activated alarm system, you should still dial 9-1-1 and speak to a dispatcher.

Pew Pew Guru Aims to Keep You Safe!

The best way to arm yourself is with knowledge. At Pew Pew Guru, we empower homeowners and household occupants, particularly women, not to be victims by offering classes in Chicago firearm training, personal protection and security. Be safe, feel secure and live your life freely.

We’ll provide you with the training to handle guns and to protect your home as we dive deeper into helping you create a personalized home protection plan in our concealed carry classes. Contact Pew Pew to learn more today!