People will take the easiest way (myself included so I’m definitely not throwing stones); we tend to choose the path of least resistance. Natural lines of drift across the open grass on college campuses are a testament to the desire for man to take the easiest, most energy-conserving way through a problem. It is built into our very being to do so. Couple this tendency with complacency and we can end up with blind spots that may have far-reaching consequences. Many times, these “violations” of personal and home defense are simple and almost common sensical (is that a term?) to avoid. As you read through these few examples this morning take a good self-assessing look and decide if you want to adjust or re-commit your approach to crime prevention and personal defense. These are just a couple of examples to start you thinking or re-thinking.

Open Source Intelligence and personnel/operational security. I still see people in my local community (the average mom, dad, or kiddo) posting and displaying dumb stuff for the world to see. When I say “dumb” Im not talking about the soccer mom’s reach for her college glory days by posting old keg stand photos. I’m talking about vacations, kid events and personal data, and seemingly benign pieces of info that can be used to paint an intelligence picture for a criminal. Yes, most threats are targets of opportunity and not sophisticated. However, rolling the dice and building a target package for some bad actor isn’t a great idea. Sure, you aren’t some CIA super delta dude - but when your teen posts “looking forward to Maui for the next three weeks, leaving tomorrow with the family!” it is an opportunity opened up to anyone who knows you will be away. The teen counter-argument is always “relax, my friends aren’t gonna raid the house while we are gone, it isn’t that deep, you are paranoid…”. Yeah OK. What about the friend of a friend who also sees it who has a brother who needs to fuel his drug habit. Social media users as a whole need to keep their business private. It is an uphill battle since users of social media are the product and the system is built to garner these types of narcissistic interactions. Attention starved, validation seeking individuals are easy targets and will walk right into this one.

Wow. Some dudes in the gun community love to slap the NRA and gun decals on their rides. I never understood this one even as a young, ignorant male. Applying firearms decals does several things that are counter to good personal defense and crime prevention. It is not a deterrent; skylining yourself as a gun owner does nothing to help you. It lets thieves know you may have a firearm in your vehicle (more on this later), it broadcasts that you are probably on one side of the political spectrum, and they can make an already nervous anti-gun cop even more nervous as they approach your vehicle at a traffic stop. Keep the gun and Professional Citizen Project decals on your gun cases and notebooks where they belong.

Back to our former keg-standing soccer mom and her child transport. The creepy Epstein admiring dirtbag does not need to know that precious Brianna attends Miss Piggy’s dance academy and is an honor student at Rucksack Elementary. Keep that caca off the minivan. Decals on vehicles that show family task organization and names of kids are beyond dumb. That is not just my personal opinion, that is a hard fact.

While I do not participate on the Next Door app I do monitor it. Remember that OSINT idea? You can pick up a lot of information from your neighbors…and can learn a surprising amount of information about them. I am always surprised at just how much info people will post for public consumption. Back to the topic at hand, vehicle security. We have had a good run of vehicle “break ins” on our corner of the county the last year or so. I use quotes because they really aren’t break ins, it is simply checking car doors and rummaging through the ones that are unlocked. The gangs are not breaking glass, they just check car doors in driveways. You may be surprised just how many people don’t lock their car doors, I know I always am. You see the post on Next Door including the camera footage - car rolls in the neighborhood at 3am and disgorges 4 or 5 hooded dirtbags that scatter and begin checking car doors. The next day the hard working suburbanites are complaining how their unlocked vehicles were tossed and cash was taken. Annnnnnd…a firearm. What is that video meme of all multiple people slapping their own forehead in what the hell fashion? Apparently, people leave firearms in their cars overnight. Outside. Unlocked. I can almost get past the unlocked car. Not really but almost. But a firearm? I am shocked at just how many are stolen each month from unlocked cars. Here is my eye-rolling take on this garbage (Im not talking to you of course, I know you would never leave your vehicle unlocked or overnight store a firearm in it):

An entire chapter of a book is needed for this but just one brief though this morning. We may have a CCW misconception driven by complacency. When do you carry? Is it a process when you get ready to go out to dinner? Nice heavy properly made CCW optimized belt and kydex AIWB holster plus an extra mag. You betcha, ready for anything because you are going downtown and there may be trouble. That is the standard thinking anyway. What about going to church? Just running to the store for lawnmower gas? What is your mentality or philosophy on CCW or having a weapon in arms reach? Be honest with yourself right now.

How about when you are in the garage working on a project with doors up? Mowing the lawn or walking the dog, you carry then too right? Man, that is some paranoid crazy stuff right there. Or is it? Life and criminality continue on in your neighborhood no matter what you are doing. We are fortunate and live in an incredibly safe suburban neighborhood. It would be easy to rationalize not carrying a firearm while walking to dog or mowing the lawn. I’m telling you fellas that is exactly when something will happen that necessitates a defensive firearm. Stuff does not happen when you are unloading the truck in the driveway after a great range session. You are warmed up and ready to run an El Prez on the three escaped prisoners who have appeared in your drive with axe handles. That just ain’t how it goes. It will happen fast and out of nowhere. When we lived in Georgia several years (again a nice quiet neighborhood) ago some crazy bastard started speeding through and tried to run over people on the sidewalk - and then intentionally drove into (through) someone’s garage door. it was the middle of a nice sunny “typical” suburban day. He then backed out and continued the mounted attack through the neighborhood until the cops finally stopped him. What if it was your garage with your family just inside the house? If you were out back replacing a sprinkler head as it happened, would you have the means to intervene if the driver dismounted and tried to get in the house? This may be a one-off real scenario but there are countless other ones that have the same elements. You might just want to throw that stainless J Frame in your pocket (in a holster of course) while you are separated from your home arsenal. You just might need it.

Summary. These were just a few thought-generating ideas and examples that have been weighing on my mind this summer. Most crime prevention is a result of disciplined routine. Locking doors, being aware, not setting patterns, not disclosing absences. The list goes on. We can’t make our neighbors take precautions for their own good, but maybe we can refresh and revise what we do in our own families. It isn’t rocket surgery to lock one’s car doors. They may break the glass but at least you did what you could. And if they do get in, they won’t be stealing your Glock since it is in the house with you where it belongs. As always you do you.

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