This has been discussed at length many times, but I just read an article that had a couple of gems I have not seen worded this way before:
Training with your firearm for months can make you seconds faster, putting a security plan together takes much less time, but can give you minutes of advantage.
In addition to retreating to the barricade/safe room, locking the door, announcing you have a gun, and calling 911, they suggested hitting the panic button on your car.
I honestly had not thought about hitting the car alarm. This would also be handy if you see someone sneaking around outside your house, even better if they are sneaking around your car.
The car alarm has been part of my plan. If you have neighbors you trust let them know that if they hear the alarm that you believe you have an intruder.
I’ve always used that one - which is part of the reason people ignoring their random car alarms annoys me. I used to have neighbors who would leave their barking dog out all night and let their car alarm go off. No they were not deaf, but they were rude and could tune out those noises somehow.
I don’t want anyone ignoring my car alarm going off in the middle of the night.
Isn’t the car alarm more for scaring the guy away than getting help from a neighbor. I wouldn’t expect anyone to come help me in the middle of the night. Just waiting for the coppers to show.
I agree with both @Dawn and @Brad, I see the car alarm providing multiple purposes:
Scare the perp(s)
Give the Police a clear marker which house just called 911
And like @Greg1 said, if you’ve discussed it with your neighbors, they will hopefully recognize your car alarm doesn’t go off without a reason.
Edit: I think the reason the car alarm grabbed my attention is because my house alarm has four legs and deposits land mines in the back yard - first you step in it, then you say it
