Another Reply: Home Invasion in USA‏

Hola Ferfal,

Thank you so very much for your blog and book. It has helped me tremendously.

According to my husband, I became an "obsessive compulsive and amateur expert"
on the Petit case. He was right about this. I would mention this case everytime
that I found out some new detail about it, often during dinnertime. What can I
say, other than that I will use any tactic to prepare my family for what is
slowly but surely going to happen. I was trying to use all of the horrific
details in order to attempt to convince him that at the very least we should
prepare to make our home safer. Since we live in a very "good neighborhood," he
hasn't been much interested in securing our home.

Please don't think that I am in any way placing any blame on the Petit family.
I am not. They are the tragic victims without blame and the convicted criminals
bear all the responsibility and blame for their acts. Personally I believe that
their execution should be swift and not some twenty years from now after they
have exhausted a tremendous amount of appeals at taxpayer expense. And their
executions, as far as I am concerned, should be death by being burned alive in
gasoline.


Regarding the Petit case, you are absolutely right on all your points. Although
this a horrific tragedy for the entire family, there are somethings that we can
all learn from this case. First, the two alleged criminals entered through the
unlocked door of the attached garage. (Make sure that all your doors and windows
are locked every day and night.) They came across a refrigerator that had,
among other things, lots of beer. They sat down and drank about 6 cans of beer
while waiting a few hours so that the entire family would be in their deep
sleep. I'm amazed that they didn't fall asleep themselves in the garage. There
are police crime scene pictures of the beer cans and DNA evidence that they had
the beers. Second, from the garage entry into the house was as simple as
opening another door. Third, the criminals bought fake plastic guns, although
they were realistic enough to fool the victims into thinking that they were
real. Apparently, they had no idea of what realistic fake guns look like. I
believe that most people that have been around guns can tell the difference
between the real and fake ones. Even if people choose to not own guns, and that
is their right to do, they should at least know what the fake ones look like.(
Check out places that sell these realistic guns, Walmart, Dunham's, Dollar
Stores, etc. You'll be surprised at the variety.) The victims didn't have
anything to defend themselves with, such as bats, golf clubs, metal flashlights,
etc at their disposal. (Alot of us have many things lying around in our homes
that can be put in strategic and discrete locations in each of our rooms. Not
every room has to have a hidden Glock with several magazines.) I can only
imagine that when one is awaken in the middle of the night by armed intruders,
the horror and stress level must be unimaginable, however, the family had no
alternative plans of what to do in case of a home invasion. (Even if only one
member escapes immediately after the invasion, they can get help faster.)
Unfortunately it does not appear that they had any back-up systems in place.
(Simple alarms can be installed by homeowners that will trigger a loud sound
outside your home, so that your neighbors can call the cops on you. Even having
your car keys next to you when you go to sleep can help because you can trigger
the car alarm. Alot of people do not park all of their cars in their large
garages.) Mrs Petit was followed home. (Always make sure that you look back
once for every two blocks that you travel. I find that doing this breaks up the
monotony of driving and I can keep an eye on my kids when they think that I'm
simply paranoid about other drivers. Since I am not used to doing this, I have a
small index car on the front passenger seat that says "Look back!" I hope that
someday I can remember to do this automatically without any reminders, just like
a use my seatbelt all the time. I am also driving around using different
roads. This has really helped me to get to know my surrounding neighborhoods.
My children call this "paranoid gas guzzling driving." And always when leaving
any business, I stop, turn around and look to see who is behind me. I also do
the same thing in the parking lot. It it happens that someone is leaving at the
same time that I am, I make sure thay they are not following me.) All of this
is a bit too much of paranoia for my family, however, I continue practicing this
because it want it to be second nature when things get bad and I need to behave
with intelligent and practical paranoia.

If you are ever visiting the Midwest, please email me.It would be great to
meet you in person.

Unfortunately, I am the only prepper in the family. My husband doesn't object
to me prepping, nor does he help me. Sometimes we have arguments because of all
the "stuff" that I have bought. However, I explain to him my reasoning behind
the purchases and no matter how heated the arguments get, I do not back down on
the purchases and goals of prepping. I can only thank God that neither of us
believes in divorce. Unfortunately I am the only member of my family at the gun
range. I practice with a S&W 357 magnum revolver (own), Glocks 17, 19, 34
(rentals) I have a small hand and haven't decided which one is best for me, a
Remington 870 20 gauge pump shotgun (own) and a S&W M&P 15 rifle (rental).
Hopefully, I'll be able to purchase the Glock and S&W M&P 15 with a good scope,
magazines and ammo soon. I have a concealed carry permit from my state. I have
also conditioned myself to stay up until dawn, on some evenings. This is in
case we find ourselves in the situation where it might be necessary. I know
that one family cannot possibly keep a 24 hour surveillance. However, I do
believe that you do what you can. I am also working on a substantial food
storage, have water barrels and filters. My goal is to continue prepping until
there is some kind of a trigger that starts bringing things down. Right now, I
am preparing to purchase some window bars for my home. Needless to say my family
does not approve, however, I remind them that I am the interior and exterior
decorator of our home. From what I have seen on the internet, there are two
types of bars, outside and indoor bars. I would prefer outside bars but no one
in my neighborhood has bars and I'm concerned that they would attract unwanted
attention. Because of this, I am leaning towards buying the indoor window bars.
(Look up goodbarsecurity.com) If you know anything about them, please let me
know. I value your opinion highly. I am not prepared in the area of
prescription medicines. Do you know of any doctors in America who would
prescribe antibiotics, to store, in case they are needed during a collapse or
pandemic? "Will travel for antibiotics." I'm not looking for any pain meds,
only antibiotics.


Once again, thanks for all that you have done for so many of us. I have no
doubt that when you come to America, you will eventually find many of us that
are very grateful for all your advice. I believe that you and your family
already have many friends here.

M in the Midwest

Hi M. Thanks for your email. Experience is the best way to learn, and if its other people´s experience then in my opinion it means we can at least learn from it and avoid it from happening to us, at least improve our odds a bit. Nothing good comes from these horrific events, all smart people can do is learn what they can from them and after taking some action, then yes, hope it never happens to us. Just preferring to look the other way because these events are too painful wont reduce our chances of being next.
You should do what you can to get the family on board, don´t stop trying. A family is a team, and a team is only as strong as its weakest link (group member). Keep trying and you'll eventually see results.
The topic of home security is important and I'll keep posting about it so that people can prepare better and get more ideas.
Search this blog for "antibiotics". Other than a friend doctor or a visit to Mexico, at least until you find a better solution you might want to check out Veterinarian Amoxicilin (for fish) th short story is that its amoxicilin (as well as other anitbiotics) but its legally sold on line if its for veterinarian use. Fish Mox Forte (Amoxicillin) - 500mg 100 Capsules The comments over at Amazon are pretty informative.
Add me to your tweeter and facebook. Its the best way to know if I'm ever near by next time I visit USA and a meeting/dinner/lunch is organized.
Take care!

FerFAL