Okay, okay, admit it: the old Michael Keaton film “Johnny Dangerously” is a guilty pleasure.
Joe Piscopo’s line makes me laugh every time.
“This goes through armor… then it goes through the victim, through the wall, through a tree outside… ”
The thing is, Joe’s “88 Magnum” isn’t actually that special…
Because right now, if you’re a gun owner, you own a gun that shoots through buildings.
I talked to legendary firearms expert Massad Ayoob about this issue, and here is a summary of what he told me.
The TRUTH About Using “Cover” In Your Tactical Home Defense Plan…
The gun you’re not safe from is ANY handgun in most standard calibers.
A locked door is not enough.
Even a wall isn’t enough.
That’ because handgun rounds will travel through the walls of the average home.
They’ll pass through the hollow-core wooden doors inside your house like a hot knife through butter… and they’ll even penetrate most exterior walls.
So where in your home is safe from bullets in a home invasion?
Here are three tips to keep in mind where cover and concealment are concerned.
1. Bookshelves Are Your Home’s Best “Bullet Absorber”
Pay attention to where the natural points of cover are, and where in your home you can expect bullets to stay put rather than passing on through.
A .45 auto bullet, 230 grain, that would go through as much as 30 inches of muscle tissue-simulating ballistic gelatin, will generally stop after about six inches of hard-backed book material.
Heavy bookshelves full of books are therefore a good “bullet absorber.”
Those layers of paper do wonders for stopping a bullet, even though an individual book isn’t enough.
2. Anything With Lots Of Metal Is Cover!
Any item in your home with lots of metal in it has a good chance of stopping a bullet.
This includes obvious things like cast-iron fireplaces and old claw-foot iron bathtubs.
But it also includes major kitchen appliances like freezers and ovens.
Sadly, though, you just don’t find much natural cover in most American homes.
That’s why strategically placing your bookshelves is so important.
So what else can you do?
Well, that leads me to…
3. When Possible, DON’T BE THERE
Your best option when it comes to taking fire in a home invasion is to anticipate where the intrusion is most likely to be.
Where are YOU likely to be when this happens?
Typically these things occur in the deep-sleep hours.
The single most likely place for you to be is in your bed when a home invasion occurs.
Consider your plans in that context.
That way, when the bullets fly, you won’t be in their path.
Instead, you’ll have a superior position… and you’ll be ready to take those invaders down.