Answer the door

Isn't there a component to brandishing that involves "presenting a weapon in a manner calculated to intimidate" ? If yes, then it sounds like you're not brandishing, if they can't see your weapon.

Someone ask Frank Ettin. HE'S alleged to know about such things.
 
In Kentucky if I answer the door with a gun in my hand and at my side is it considered brandishing?
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Why would you want to do that?

If your purpose is to instill concern of some kind into someone who has not been unlawfully attempting to enter, you might well encounter legal difficulties.

But should someone at the door really pose a dangerous threat, that gun in your hand would not really be likely to stop them timely.

Far better to not expose your self to the risk of being shot or stabbed.
 
Only way to see who it is and I still have another door that is locked in between me and the visitor. Besides, I didn't ask if I should go to the door, I asked if it would be brandishing.
 
Posted by Doug Ridley:
Only way to see who it is ...
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Really? Can you change that? How about adding a camera or an intercom?

...and I still have another door that is locked in between me and the visitor.
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Is it bulletproof?

Besides, I didn't ask if I should go to the door, I asked if it would be brandishing.
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I answered that in the general case.

Do you have any idea whether "brandishing" is unlawful in Kentucky?

Absent a lawful justification passed on immediate necessity, from the standpoint of legality only, I would be more concerned about charges of menacing (intentionally placing another person in reasonable apprehension of imminent physical injury) or wanton endangerment (wantonly engaging in conduct which creates a substantial danger of physical injury to another person).

Not every jurisdiction has a law about "brandishing".

If your visitor is unaware of your holding a firearm and remains so, you would probably not be putting yourself in any kind of legal risk, in my opinion, which is worth what you paid for it.

So, the obvious question is, why would you ever go to the door with gun in hand in the first place? When you draw a gun or pick it up, you should have already thought about the question, "just what it is that I intend to do with this thing?".

Would you expect to threaten the person at the door with it, should you decide him to be unwelcome? That would open up all kinds of legal problems for you.

Or would you take it for the purpose of using it, should the visitor start trying to enter your abode unlawfully and with force? If that's the purpose, standing in front of the door is just about the worst place in which you could put yourself.
 
I've answered the door armed before (already wearing the holster) but it begs the question why to have it in your hand instead of holstered on your strong side where you can reach it quickly if need be?
 
In Kentucky if I answer the door with a gun in my hand and at my side is it considered brandishing?
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This response doesn't reflect Kentucky law. In fact it doesn't reflect any law at all. It does reflect how police, prosecutors and courts can work.

In my area, some POs express their creative side if they want to give someone with a firearm a rash. Seeing a firearm being handled by you in any way can become brandishing. (The specific case I recall is a man placing a bolt action rifle, bolt removed, into the trunk of his car.)

Prosecutors have their own vocational pressures that may not involve taking the time to understand why you aren't such a bad person. Lots of judges are former prosecutors who haven't quite broken the habit of believing PO testimony.

Your front door defense plan may want to account for the risk that answering the door pistol in hand will be misconstrued.
 
You are perfectly capable of seeing who is at your door without any objects at all being grasped by your hands.

Unless you have cause to display a firearm before a visitor, you're on thin ice.

Are they pounding on the door and demanding entry? Are they attempting to break it in and gain entry? Then you call 911 and arm yourself. Until then, it's the Girl Scouts selling cookies. or a Jehovah's Witness. Display a firearm in their presence at the door, you can expect the Sheriff to pay you a visit a little later. Bet you'll find a way to answer the door without having the firearm in your hand then.
 
if I answer the door with a gun in my hand and at my side is it considered brandishing?
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I don't consider this question out of line.

I appreciate the folk chiming in about alternate ways of finding out who is at your door than opening it up.

I suspect nobody is going to give you a yes or no answer. The general take away I'm getting from this that most people don't think it's a good idea.

If somebody CAN answer it I'd be interested even though I'm not in Kentucky.
 
Why would you want to do that?
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I was awakened about an hour after falling asleep for the night, by a pounding on my back door. Strange that someone would be at my back door, and there is no way to see who it would be, there is no view. I slipped on my lounge pants and grabbed my DC from the nightstand before going to answer the door. I asked twice who was at the door and received no answer.
I don't think that having a pistol in my hand when I did open the door was in any way out of line. I also don't think that Tammy was surprised to see it in my hand. She had been in Colorado for a week and wasn't due home until the following day. She drove home early and wanted to surprise me, but not by letting herself in the front door unannounced, knowing that my DC would be on the nightstand and I was in fact asleep already.
Smart and beautiful that girl is! :p
 
A man down in Florida did what OP is describing. Police were banging on a door looking for a suspect who they thought ran into that apartment. Innocent dude answers door with gun in hand.

He's dead.
 
Probably not an all-time record, but so far we have eleven responses, and not ONE has even attempted to answer the question.

The question was:

"In Kentucky if I answer the door with a gun in my hand and at my side is it considered brandishing?"
 
Thanks Aguila. You are right, that is all I really wanted to know. But I think I did find my answer in all that. Thanks to all.
 
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Posted by Aquila Blanca:
...so far we have eleven responses, and not ONE has even attempted to answer the question "In Kentucky if I answer the door with a gun in my hand and at my side is it considered brandishing?"
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Would the answer "no" be helpful?

Might the OP like to know that that would be because "brandishing", in that context, is not defined in Kentucky law, and that is therefore not a crime?

More importantly, might the OP, and others interested in the answer, be well served to know that it might well be considered menacing, or wanton endangerment, under certain circumstances, and that those are crimes in Kentucky?

And yes, that point was addressed.
 
AB said:
Probably not an all-time record, but so far we have eleven responses, and not ONE has even attempted to answer the question.

The question was:

"In Kentucky if I answer the door with a gun in my hand and at my side is it considered brandishing?"
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Likely for very good reason.

Unless one of the respondents is a Kentucky attorney with pertinent criminal experience, they've not much of a place answering the question posed. As OM notes it may not be a question the answer to which is well rounded legal advice.

Is murdering your mother-in-law with a chainsaw considered tax evasion in Idaho? Probably not, but that doesn't make it a good plan.
 
Generally speaking, the law frowns upon threatening another person, and displaying a weapon in any form is usually considered a threat. Regardless of what I think the laws in my state allow, I follow a simple and universal philosophy, which is do not draw, touch, show, or even talk about your gun unless you honestly believe you or another are in imminent danger of serious harm. Just pretend you don't have your gun with you, even in a heated argument, until the threat escalates to true fear for your life. And make sure you don't contribute to the escalation or you could lose your self defense argument. Firearms are a tool of last resort.

If you feel safer bringing a gun to the door when a stranger knocks, just keep it out of sight until circumstances require you use it. A better approach, in my opinion, is to have peep holes in your doors, and strong door chains secured with long screws to slow down someone trying to shoulder their way in and allow you some time to retreat to a nearby hidden firearm.
 
OldMarksman said:
Would the answer "no" be helpful?
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No, but answering a different question than was asked is also not helpful.

Might the OP like to know that that would be because "brandishing", in that context, is not defined in Kentucky law, and that is therefore not a crime?
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Yes, that would be helpful.

It happens that I know more states do NOT define "brandishing" as a criminal offense than do. But the question was specific to Kentucky and I didn't know about Kentucky specifically, so I didn't answer.
 
Wow...folks around here tend to get their panties in a wad over the slightest of things.:rolleyes:

I thought the OP had a legitimate question.
 
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