Family safety is my responsibility. Not because I’m a man, but because I am a gun owner, and my focus is on self defense. It is my responsibility to be sure my house is secure, my daughter is safe when she comes home from school by herself and my wife is safe when she decides she wants to walk or jog at night (which drives me nuts).

If you read the section on “Ultimate Self Defense” you know that the truest form of self defense is the avoidance of danger. But, assuming that people are not going to live in a protective bubble and that their daily activities are going to take them into less than ideal environments or situations, then you have to take action to be sure they are as safe as possible under those conditions.

The first factor is in making a point of them being aware of what is going on around them. The approach of any stranger, a slow moving vehicle approaching, or a large dog running loose can signal potential trouble. That awareness is key is them being able to implement whatever type of self defense they are capable of (children) and/or willing to do (my wife who won’t carry a gun).

Now my 14 year old daughter just doesn’t want to have to walk over and stay at the Boys and Girls Club until we get home, so she is willing to do whatever is necessary to get to come home after school. For her to do that, she has to walk a couple of blocks and enter the house by herself. Assuming that everything will just be ok has left many a parent with a child missing and heartbreak from not making sure their kids have a pro-active way of protecting themselves when home alone. Our daughter calls us from school before she leaves. She walks straight to the house via our street where she remains in plain sight of houses and people milling around. When she enters the house, she enters through the side door where the “dog door” is and where our three dogs are there to greet her. She enters through the “dog room” and takes our pit bull “Fletcher” out into the house with her. She makes a complete walk through with the dog, then calls me. She checks the locks, leaves the dog in and goes about her business at home. Safe.

Now some of you will catch the fact that she is now in the house unsupervised with a 65 pound pit bull. Teaching her, from the time the dog was 6 weeks old, how to relate to the dog and get the dog to see her as a source of fun, snacks and authority is all part of the intentional plan to keep her safe. Fletcher doesn’t just see her as another thing that lives in the house. When she gives him a command, he obeys with a wagging tail. One safe. One to go…..my wife.

This is a little more difficult. My wife could carry a gun. But she won’t. She is not anti-gun. She just refuses to carry one herself. And she likes to walk and jog at night. She doesn't exactly cooperate with my plan for family safety. So, I do the only thing to do in a situation like this. I pitch a fit until she carries some type of weapon, which is better than just having her fingernails. I also constantly talk to her about self defense and awareness. An alternative for her, when practical is to walk one of our dogs with her. As safe as I can keep her.

As to our house when we are here, a gun is within easy reach of me most of the time. It would be a rare time that a person could get in the house unnoticed by us or the dogs and enter without being shot in the process. Because it is my responsibility to keep our household safe.

And come to think of it, maybe it is because I’m a man.

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