With the holiday shopping season upon us, I want to concentrate on some simple, overlooked ways to keep our families safe.

The first is the use of code words that instantly explain certain situations that could be dangerous.

One example could be: You’re in a restaurant having dinner when you notice two guys walking through the parking lot carrying suspiciously long packages. How do you get your family safely out of there without a bunch of questions? You do it with a code word developed for the situation.

The code word used between my wife and myself for this type of situation is forthwith as in: “We need to leave, forthwith.” That simple word tells my wife that we need to pick up our child and leave immediately with no questions asked.

Another code word we use let’s my wife tell me that there is something that she wants me to pay attention to. It could be as simple as a burly guy looking too intense, but if my wife wants to point something out to me she says assess as in: “Assess that guy coming from my left.” This tells me that there is something I might not have noticed, since nobody can see in all directions, and that I need to determine if this is a potential threat and my response to it. Most of the time it’s nothing in both situations, but while I’m willing to risk my life for another, I will not risk my family’s. My job is to keep them safe.

Now for full disclosure, I cannot claim "forthwith" as my own. I learned that one from Tom Gresham, host of Gun Talk, who learned it from self-defense guru Massad Ayoob. And from forthwith emerged assess, which I do claim as my own. I’m even developing some others to teach my little girl as she comes of age.

Next, I’m going to discuss a pet peeve of mine that they show all the time on T.V. and in the movies that can be prevented with a very simple habit.