My wife and I live alone in suburban/rural Maine with a young small dog. We never get visitors without warning. So tonight when we got a knock on the front door at 6:30 (late dusk up here now) while I was doing dishes I grabbed the S&W 642 and asked my wife to grab the dog and secure herself with him.
She could see a kid with flyers hanging out of his pockets on the front porch. Our motion sensors lit him up well. I insisted that she get the dog and looked out another window and confirmed that he was alone, young, and four feet from the front door.
After she had the dog in another room I opened the front door with my left foot and shoulder behind it at about 45 degrees and the 642 in my right hand behind my back. I kept my body weight behind me and the gun behind my back while I curtly answered his questions about who I was voting for and then took his flyer with my left hand.
In the end it was just a small, 20 something political volunteer. In retrospect I kind of have to admire the courage that it must take to knock on strangers doors in the middle of nowhere. I never brandished, but did I overreact?
She could see a kid with flyers hanging out of his pockets on the front porch. Our motion sensors lit him up well. I insisted that she get the dog and looked out another window and confirmed that he was alone, young, and four feet from the front door.
After she had the dog in another room I opened the front door with my left foot and shoulder behind it at about 45 degrees and the 642 in my right hand behind my back. I kept my body weight behind me and the gun behind my back while I curtly answered his questions about who I was voting for and then took his flyer with my left hand.
In the end it was just a small, 20 something political volunteer. In retrospect I kind of have to admire the courage that it must take to knock on strangers doors in the middle of nowhere. I never brandished, but did I overreact?