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Ready to defend? (readytodefend.com)

Nick,

Your comments about door magazine hawks are right on the money but I take exception to your comment ‘Definitely Never Buy One of These’ (www.ReadyToDefend.com) products. As a 2A Lifetime Member, fellow gun guy & IDPA shooter, I understand the thinking. However, as the founder of Ready to Defend, I’ve spoken personally to hundreds of LEO’s including Sheriffs, PD Chiefs and many more street cops who disagree with your assessment . . .

These same LEO’s buy our products for their own homes and for their families. Why? I can only tell you what they tell me. They tell me our signs are “the single best crime deterrent for the money”. That’s what THEY tell us. I would never be so bold as to make that up. I don’t pretend that EVERY LEO thinks the same way but there are MANY who do.

They don’t just say it in passing. They’re backing it up by spending their hard-earned dollars on our products as a kind of “line in the sand” between the would-be criminal / predatory / thug / bad guy and their families too. These men and women are the ones who eat, sleep, live and breathe crime every day… and know the mentality of who they’re dealing with.

Ask your neighborhood cop how they’d feel responding to an alarm call in the middle of the night at a house with one of our signs posted out front and our decals in the windows. That’s how P. J. in Broward County Florida first learned about RTD and called to order his signs the next day.

For the record, we don’t believe that posting a warning sign is some kind of magic shield from all evil-doers. As you’ve said in your fine article (fine except for the part disparaging Ready To Defend), there are many things we can all do to make our home appear to be a more ‘hardened’ target.

Actively reporting suspicious activity, keeping doors locked, having a working alarm system, making your home look occupied at all times, big dogs (or the appearance thereof) motion sensor lights are just a few of the tactics we can use to make our homes and families a less desirable target.

Still, according to our cop friends, the single biggest deterrent for criminals is ‘DYING by GUN SHOT’. We know our products aren’t right for everyone but we think our customers put us in pretty good company.

One last thing, Ready to Defend just relocated from Los Angeles to San Antonio so it looks like we’re neighbors. Give me a shout and let’s sit down over lunch. No matter the disagreement, it’s always good to know a fellow competitive shooter and 2nd Amendment supporter.

James Miller – Founder Ready to Defend

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81 COMMENTS

  1. “However, as the founder of Ready to Defend, I’ve spoken personally to hundreds of LEO’s including Sheriffs, PD Chiefs and many more street cops who disagree with your assessment . . .”

    Great. Fantastic. How many DA’s have you spoken to? Do they agree? ‘Cause these are the ones deciding to try you or not.

      • And a small child is going to accidentally fall inside the sign or floor mat and die or what? How is it an attractive nuisance?

        “attractive nuisance” is a progressive liberal’s dream. How great is it that everyone else is responsible for your child’s safety and you are not.

    • “Great. Fantastic. How many DA’s have you spoken to? Do they agree?”
      Exactly. LEO’s may put them on their own laws, but they also enjoy a bit of unwritten immunity when it comes to shooting encounters and are given the benefit of the doubt more often than the rest of us. I think many DA’s would salivate over these, using them as as “Proof!” of a homeowner “itching to shoot someone–anyone– for anything.”
      I’m sure a few communities would be an exception, such as those that require every household to have a firearm.
      But in most places, it’s like posting a “Beware of Dog” sign implies to the court that you are knowingly harboring a vicious dog. Sucks that it’s this way. Whatta wonderful world.

    • Exactly! And many anti-gun DAs will look at something like that as an indicator that the shooter wanted to get into a situation so he could shoot somebody, or as the DA would call it, a manslaughter indictment.

      And if a cop shoots an intruder in his home, he has the entire PD protecting him from prosecution, covering up evidence, “testilying”, etc. if needed.

    • +1000

      I don’t care what the local cops think of the sign. I care about what owning shows and looks like to a prosecutor or jury. Any product that even hints that I don’t take the decision to use deadly force seriously is something I will not purchase. That goes for this product and anything zombie related.

      • +1 on the Zombie products. I have passed up great deals on hard to find ammo because I refuse to give the Zombie marketing dolts a single peso.

        The other problem I have with this sign is that it when I’m not home, it’s screams to potential gun thieves where a good source would be. I don’t need that.

    • This argument is irrelevant in “castle doctrine” states. The law states explicitly that you CAN’T be charged when using a firearm to defend against a home invasion [based on certain guidelines which vary from state to state]. No matter how psychotic a DA is [and many of them are little more than government paid mobsters] if you stay within the guidelines of your state’s castle doctrine, having this sign is just fine.

      Also, you might be surprised to know, even some very “anti-gun” states such as California have castle laws, so these signs do have broad appeal / applicability.

      • Yeah, we hear that sometimes.

        Thanks for the factual support. 46 of 50 states have some form of the Castle Doctrine on the books. As you mention, each state is different. In Texas, self defense may include (with restrictions) protecting property. Others, the terms self-defense is much narrower.

        Every gun owner should know the specifics of their state’s self defense laws.

      • You may want to check that. Judicial precedent and jury instruction are the practical reality wjen in comes to interpretation of the law. For instance, the written gun laws for self defense in California are some of the most lax, however, case law, judicial precedent, and jury imstruction make it a very sketchy place to be defending yourself in a shooting incident. I highly recommend mitch vilos excellent work the gun laws of tge 50 states, and checking out the armed citizens legal defense network.

    • Cops are not DAs.
      They are not even lawyers.
      And if they were they still wouldn’t be your lawyer.
      It takes really exceptional crimes for them to even be investigated let alone indicted. And it takes a BART shooting (suspect face down, handcuffed with multiple officers kneeling on him, shot in the back of the head) with half a dozen films of the crime to even get “negligent homicide”. Someone who is immune from prosecution can say a lot of things.

    • I won’t buy this sign or post any other similar sign on my property because I WANT these thugs to just try my house. It will be the last time they do.

  2. As a gun owner, I really wouldn’t want signs in my yard advertising “Hey! This house has guns! Come rob me while I’m at work!”

      • Oh I’d definitely buy one for in my man cave, but that’s about it. They’re more novelty signs than anything.

    • Exactly my thinking. No need to advertise that you have expensive, shiny things that go boom inside your house. No one can be home 24/7, and unless you can afford to drop a serious bundle of cash on a safe, your guns are definitely not safe from determined criminals who have prior knowledge that the house they intend to rob has guns (and by extension probably a safe).

      • I moved to the midwest a number of years ago from Colorado (I’ve since moved back). I lived in an area where there had been exactly zero break-ins within memory-at least 20 years or more. Within a month or so of moving in, my door was kicked in and the place ransacked. I lost a rifle, a shotgun, and a .22 pistol that weren’t in the safe.

        The cops were very open about the fact that the 4WD truck with the camper on the back and Colorado plates (which I hadn’t had time to change yet) on the truck in the driveway probably attracted the BGs to the house, assuming I had guns.

        I’ve taken that to heart.

        They did arrest the BGs within about two weeks, but the iron was never recovered.

    • Your assumption here is that any potential intruder would have magical intuition that would tell them no one is home. That’s the fatal flaw in all the arguments against these signs. Unless you also have neon lights on your house that say “I’m currently away at the store,” the signs can be an effective deterrent.

      Also, bear in mind, this also makes ANYONE potentially in the house a THREAT to an intruder. For example, if an intruder thinks that only your wife or daughter is home, with a sign like this the fact that the current inhabitant isn’t physically strong or intimidating becomes a null issue, because a 14 year old teenage girl [given some practice] could just as easily shoot the intruder as a 45 year old man.

      Honestly, it seems like the 2A community, when discussing these signs is falling for the fallacious “a gun is more likely to get taken from you than help you” argument that every gun grabber spouts to justify confiscation.

      • It doesn’t really take “magical intuition” to determine if a house is empty. Professional burglars are smart and patient.

        • The vast majority of burglars are not professional and while there are many that are, and I think we should be prepared for all types of crimes, a sign like this would deter the vast majority.

  3. I used to have an NRA decal on my car and home. No longer. Turned out this attracted crime where I lived, rather than deterred it. It said, “I have stuff you really want, just make sure I’m not home when you break in” or “break into this car because you just might score a weapon.”

    I do have signs & stickers for my alarm company in various places. This is proven to deter criminals — especially if they’re casing a neighborhood or a block and your house looks a lot like your neighbors’ except you likely have an alarm. A lot of people do get these signs and stickers despite not having an alarm and, indeed, I kept mine even after cancelling my alarm service. Your house doesn’t really need to be burglar-proof… just less enticing than the houses next to you. Sort of like the bear attack & being faster than your friend thing.

    I FULLY believe that Ready To Defend’s signs WILL deter some criminals. I also fear that it will encourage some. I’d rather not display anything that advertises or suggests what I may own inside of my house that a criminal might want.

  4. This is not a sign you want in front of your house if you are involved in a questionable shoot.

    To quote Charles5 – “Discretion is the better part of valor”

    • Could you have imagined the fallout if George Zimmermann had an NRA sticker on his truck or a 2nd Amendment T-shirt on?

      I’d rather not give the prosecutor more ammo (no pun) to throw my ass in jail.

  5. Eh. Nobody’s forcing anyone else to have the sign. I fully see how they could be taken poorly by a hungry prosecutor, and see both sides of the argument for and against. I wouldn’t have one. I even kind of think it’s ill advised. But whatever, man. It’s your house.

  6. A very gentlemanly and elegantly written letter. However, I would err on the side of what Mr. Leghorn said. I’d prefer if people didn’t know I had guns. Not that I’m particularly worried about being robbed while I’m at work, I just don’t want to advertise that there is the remote possibilty of there being anything worth anything inside.

    Now if you made a sign that had an arrow pointing to my neighbor’s house that says “disarmed wealthy liberal gun control proponent,” I might just bite to make up for the dirty looks I get when loading up my truck to go to the range. Quere: I wonder if that would somehow make me liable if something happened to them? Meh \shrug/

  7. I would rather have a handgun control sign (pun fully intended) in front of my house as a bit of deception. Nobody will break into my house to steal my guns.

  8. A sign that tells the responding LEOs “armed guy inside who will shoot intruders on sight”?

    A sign that a DA will tell a jury means I’m a trigger-happy vigilante?

    No thanks. The bad guy’s warning is the closed front door, in a semi-rural part of a very conservative county in a mostly-gun-friendly state (recent silliness notwithstanding).

  9. I have a Jesus Fish eating a Darwin critter on my bumper of my RV, I bought it from some missionaries. I thought it provided good cover, praise the Lord and pass the bean dip.. I might have to order a bunch to sell at the gun show, bet they would sell like hot cakes.

  10. In St Louis, vandals are known to break into cars in parking lots with pro-gun stickers (ie, NRA, etc) during the cardinals games. I don’t mark my vehicle in any way – why draw attention? I have an alarm sign at home, but I do have an alarm.

  11. As the founder of said company and whose wallet depends on my buying these things (which will attract gun thieves and hand the nails to the media to crucify me should I ever shoot someone), I have to say that your advice is BS.

    I will rely on a security system and the element of surprise.

    • I’d advise against that if you are not a Marine…for the same reason I would advise against putting a Trident logo on you vehicle if your not a SEAL. Personally the only stickers I have on my beat up old pickup is an American Flag and a “Who is John Galt?” decal on the bumper…any allusion to military service only invites conversation and repetitious “thank you for your service” comments, which I prefer to avoid. YMMV.

    • Only thing I have on my car is a little oval with “7.62” in it. I’m pretty sure that almost everybody thinks I run, but not well enough to do a marathon.

  12. I call BS. The evidence he gives, “I’ve spoken personally to hundreds of LEO’s including Sheriffs, PD Chiefs and many more street cops who disagree with your assessment . . .” is only anecdotal with nothing to back it up.

    When I was a student I spoke to many teachers who told me that I was the best thing since sliced bread. So, that’s enough proof for me and the world that I am the smartest man alive.

    These signs are for hacks looking to get burglarized or be prosecuted by overly zealous DAs. Go sell your tricks to those ready to fall for them.

  13. A sign, so to speak, of an older, less wise mode of thinking. I have a doormat (cheaply made, it turns out) that says, COME BACK WITH A WARRANT. There is, or used to be, not sure, a county cop at the other end of my building. As far as I know, he never noticed it.

    I agree that these signs have the potential to wreak more havoc that improve matters. How about, “70% of this neighborhood is armed. Feeling LUCKY?

    • Why would you have to warn a burglar that it’s bad for him to break into your home? Doesn’t he already know that?

  14. Feh on the sign. Just leave the BG’s body on the lawn and the rest will get the message.

    Okay, I’m kidding. You should never leave the BG’s body on the lawn. It burns the grass worse than dog p1ss.

    • And it attracts buzzards. The buzzards would be constantly ringing my front yard motion detector. And, have you ever had buzzard crap burned into your car’s paint job?

  15. Years ago, a friend of our family had an NRA sticker on his car window. Had a matched pair of Midas Grade Browning shotguns stolen out of the car one afternoon when he stopped for lunch on the way back from the range…

  16. Welcome to good ol’ San Antone! Probably the only time I’ve ever welcomed a California immigrant… I’ll be checking out their site now…

  17. Add me to the list of people who has no interest in a sign like this. Not only is it an advertisement of expensive goods inside, it is just too passive aggressive for my tastes. Reeks of ITG syndrome.

    If I were to have a sign it would be alarm company decals and a loud dog to back that up. My firearm is a last resort solution to protect me and my family; my stuff is why I have insurance.

  18. Ditto. I don’t even post NRA decals. I don’t want to advertise what is likely to be in my home.

    That being said, they should make those signs without simulated bullet holes, so you can take it to the range, and put a nice group on it yourself. That would be an eye opener.

    • We once had some questionable neighbors who had even more questionable friends coming and going.

      Before I left for a deployment I took the family to the range. While I was gone, the front windows of our house featured a pair bullet riddled silhouette targets that said “His” and “Hers”.

      Yeah, a prosecutor may have questioned the motives of the hysterical momma with a .40 defending herself and her daughter. Turns out she never had to use it.

      • Scott,

        Your bullet-riddled silhouettes say the same thing. Sounds like the questionable neighbors didn’t think it was worth taking the chance.

        That’s the idea.

        When we are not a victim of a crime, we’ll likely never know if it was because we did or didn’t do something.

        Ayoob, Kenik, Hayes, and every other reputable professional say the same thing: The best gun fight is the one you don’t get in.

        Our individual methodology for avoiding a gun fight is irrelevant. If we accomplish the goal – we win.

        That’s the idea.

  19. All the people posting how it is such a bad idea probably think open carry means you will get shot first.

    Bunch of boogy men rule their minds.

    Last I checked he is making money on his product, so its a safe bet you are the minority in your paranoia and day dreaming all day long about the absolute worst case situation happening.

    I’m glad I don’t walk outside everyday and worry if a 747 is going to land on me.

    • My thoughts exactly. Wee wee dribbling all over these comments. You either live with confidence, or you don’t.

  20. First “always vote Republican! Even for the ones like Mitt “Mass AWB” Romney!” and now this. Mr. Farago, your posts of late have left something to be desired. Perhaps stick to awkwardly linking supermodels?

  21. Yeah, I get where Mr. Miller is coming from. He’s sort of postulating that his handy-dandy little signs are on a par with the myth that the sound of racking your 870 will send the bad guys scurrying. Please let me know how that works out for you. Then there’s that old profit margin bit, exploiting the rubes kind of thing. Wicked awesome. Never forget the LEO bell curve. Mr. Miller wishes to capitalize on the sector of LEOs that don’t really get the fundamentals of OPSEC.

    Look, if you’re the kind of person that thinks these kind of gimmicks will keep you safe, well, I hope that it works out for you. Please understand that there is immeasurable value to being the “Gray Man”. Don’t be a chump, don’t be a fool, don’t advertise; put your balls back back in your pants and fly under the radar. Little or no good will come from proclaiming to the world what an awesome, high speed, low drag operator you are.

    • And we know that the sound of a shotgun being racked does or does not deter shooters and is a myth how? The overwhelming number of videos on site like LiveLeak and Youtube where DGUs are captured on surveillance cameras show that bad guys indeed scatter the moment some good guy/store owner/etc. responds with a gun, even if they merely point it at the bad guy.

      Sure, there are anecdotes to the contrary, but they are more anecdotal than typical.

  22. Imagine a gun owner, living in NYC or San Francisco, who likes to relax at home wearing his favorite worn-in sweatshirt that just happens to have the logo of the Confederate Flag on it. The gun owner may or not be a racist. However, if that gun owner shoots an African American home intruder in self-defense and the home owner was wearing his favorite sweatshirt when the cops arrive the perception by a liberal urban gun-phobic public and government could cause the case to go to court when otherwise it might not.

  23. My favorite is still a handwritten note taped to the door saying

    Honey, the snake got out again. Please be careful when you come inside

  24. i’ve had mine up on the back ally fence for 5 years now…I don’t plan on removing it….then again I live in Texas

  25. Cops are not lawyers(mostly) and most look at things only from a “cop” perspective of getting the perp and then let the courts handle it. I trained cops in use- of -force law for 7 years. I heard some stupid attitudes and ignorance from a few. I’ve even heard a cop(or two) tell citizens that “If the burglar falls outside the window, drag him in.”.
    As a lawyer and nationally certified LE use-of-force trainer, let me warn you that these kind of signs show prior intent to kill that a prosecutor or plaintiff’s lawyer will be salivating to get you on the stand and shred you in front of a jury. Besides, these signs are ads for any burglar who sees them, or the ‘gummint” gun -grabbers to find you easily. Laugh at these type signs, t-shirts, and stickers at the gun show, but leave ’em on the table!

  26. I am a prosecutor, and if your case is at the point where I am even considering what kind of sign you have, it means you probably messed up…

  27. “(fine except for the part disparaging Ready To Defend)”

    Come on now, I wouldn’t call what was previously said “disparaging” in any way. What I recall from the article was the author advising against using your signs and the reasoning for his recommendation.

  28. I like this door mat:
    http://www.readytodefend.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=43_40&products_id=119

    I’m thinking about buying it after reading this article.

    Furthermore, to those that argue that it advertises you have guns… I don’t think it is that big a deal. There are more guns in the US than people and there is a good chance if you break into any home they likely have a gun (at least it is here in the south). Having a sign like this indicates more than you just having guns – but also that you are willing to use them.

  29. Perhaps you could cite a case, ANY case, where an “Only One” was treated the same by the System as the peons they “Serve And Protect”?

    Can you honestly imagine the great unwashed, ever blindered to government lawlessness, believing an ambulance chaser’s attempt to portray a cop as a Tea Party ‘vigilante’?

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