Stranger at your door late at night -- do you grab your gun?

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FUD

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Let's say that you and your family are in bed when you are awaken from you sleep by someone ringing your doorbell. Do you ...

[1] Ignore it? If so, for how long and what do you do if he doesn't go away?

[2] If you decide to answer it, do you bring your gun along?

If you don't bring your gun and the person has evil intentions, you could be at a serious disadvantage. However, if the person is in real need of help, greeting them at the door with a firearm might not be a good idea. This raises another couple o questions ...

[3] If you have more than one firearm, do you bring out the full-size gun or a smaller size firearm that you try to conceal as you answer the door?

Just to clarify, for those that think I'm walking around with a dark cloud over my head, this is just a "information" question for discussion/learning purposes only (despite the fact that I'm posting this question at nearly one in the morning) and I won $4.50 in the lottery this morning ;) -- I did, however, buy $10 worth of tickets :(.

Share what you know, learn what you don't -- FUD
fud-nra.gif
 
I have thought about that situation as well. One complication for me is that the neighbors all know that I work at the hospital in trauma, and come to me for medical advise all the time.(my usual answer is "yes, you should get that checked out") I tell them to never hesitate to call or come get me if they need help. I don't want to come to the door waving a gun around and scare them half to death.

My plan is to bring my gun with me and call out "who is it" from a few feet away from the door while crouched down. If it is friend, I place the gun close by but hidden. If it is foe, I back away while still low and tell them that I have a gun, will fire, and they must leave fast or be shot.

Kiffster

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Sig 229 .40 - When you care enough to shoot the very best!
 
I bring a gun when I answer the door at ANY time, not just at night.

You never know when the Mormons are going to be out and about. :)

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Beware the man with the S&W .357 Mag.
Chances are he knows how to use it.
 
On New Year's day, a knock on my door was answered with the rack of a shotgun. I just don't expect visitors at 1:30 a.m.
 
I will of course answer the door though grudgingly. I will also take my gun with me. Probably the dog too. As far as scaring someone by doing so, I think most people that are banging on your door at a non decent hour probably have it in the back of their mind that you could be armed when you answer the door. If they need help and have no ill intentions they have nothing to fear. If they are goblins they can have the business end of my Glock.

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Remember, Wherever you go, there you are.
 
I have a video monitor on the front door, but I would never open the door late at night for a stranger. You can offer to call police or a tow through the door without opening it. A motion sensing light is also a good idea. My Benelli M1 is usually loaded and ready in the hall closet 7 ft. away and my P7M8 is in my hand behind the door frame.
 
At night, always armed.
I don't answer the door for anybody I don't recognize. If they don't leave of their own accord I report a tresspasser, since the whole place is posted. The only exception would be if they were screaming for help then I would of couse be armed.
 
I am armed even when I answer the call of nature late at night, what more of a stranger at my door. If he needs help I'd call the police or who ever he wants me to call but I won't open my door for him.

vega
 
I`d say it depends on what you can see. In my case I can see the front door and driveway from my living room and 2nd bedroom windows. I can also slip out the side door by the garage and come up from behind. Probably not a good idea but an option. If I`m suspicious, I`ll call 911 at least to cover myself before I do anything else.
What`s good about my situation is in order to get to my door, one has to trespass as I`m surrounded by private property with a posted access road. :D
I just replaced my front door with a more secure one so if someone tries to kick it in, they`ll be delayed and even as I type this, I have my .38 DS in front of me. Probably not going to happen but why not?
 
Always have the gun handy. Would play opening the door by ear. First would be the reaction of the dogs. If they are trying to beat the door down to get at the person to eat them..... No I would not open the door, from a point of concealment I would ask what they want and if I could call the police, tow truck etc for them. If the dogs are sitting there wagging their tails... then I know it’s a friend in trouble. Would still be cautious until I identified them. But hey, all my friends know that both the wife and I are armed and know how to handle them very well. They also know the procedure to gain entry.

This does not happen that much late at night, but I have had around 10+ stop by during the day... If the wife is home, I'll generally go out to investigate without a gun, after assessing the situation from a point of concealment. While I'm out there I am being covered by the wife.

Once had a motorcycle club stop by with a broken bike. There were maybe four or five who pulled in our driveway, one walked up to the gate while the rest stayed on their bikes. The dogs would not let him open the gate, but they were not going nuts. I could see everything from our bedroom window. I strapped my .357 on while the wife grabbed the rifle and stayed in the bedroom watching from an elevated concealed position.

The front gate is at the front of a little covered patio with the garage on one side and the house on the other. Both sides of the gate are spaces of about 6' with thick walls that tie the house and garage together. More like a hallway than anything. Well anyway, I then proceeded to the gate standing off to one side so that I was always mostly concealed. Asked what they wanted in a friendly tone. Sit there and talked to the guy for a few minutes until I felt he was all right. Guess they needed a wrench and a screwdriver to work on the Harley.

When I brought the tools out for them, they finally saw the gun. They were not surprised in the least and sort of expected it. We got into a nice conversation about guns, gun control etc. Ended up getting them all a glass of ice tea to drink while they were fixing the bike. They seemed to be nice people, I even got a round of thank you's when they left. The whole time they never saw the wife who stayed at her post.

Another time a group of bicyclists were having a run down our road, maybe 2,000 or so. It was hot that day being about 95. The water station that was set up a couple of miles from the house ran out of water and juice. A couple of them stopped by the house to ask for water. They got the same treatment as the motorcyclists did. Once I found out what was happening, we put together a couple of hoses and ran them out to the road, had them move the water stop to our driveway.

See you can never be to cautious, but living out in the country, one can not let their fear over ride one's civic responsibility to help others in need. It’s part of the code of the west.



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Richard

The debate is not about guns,
but rather who has the ultimate power to rule,
the People or Government.
RKBA!
 
I've been on both sides of this one and even up the middle. I answer my door in the daytime or the nighttime for friends or strangers armed. I keep a FN Highpower in a Galco shoulder rig by the bed at night. Throw it on and the housecoat and voila!

Ever gone into a strange house at night with bloodcurdling screams emanating from within?
As a civilian?

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Byron Quick
 
Fud,

I am glad you were a big lottery winner and, more important, that this question is strictly hypothetical; we really don’t need too many more “Fud Emergencies” in the near-term. :)

Now, to answer your question, I absolutely do -- and with a five-inch, Smith 627 loaded (right now) with .357 magnum 158 grain Hrdra-Shok.

I admit this can occasionally be embarrassing, for example:
> I returned home from on Friday evening from a LONG business trip
> immediately go to bed
> knock at the door at 2200
> I go to the door with my revolver
> discover two young-teen Girls Scouts selling cookies
No fooling; this really happened. I certainly felt awkward, but they did sell a lot more cookies than they would have otherwise. :)

Regards.
 
I would certainly investigate (a discrete peek out of a dark window) before answering the door, and yes, I would be armed. My "small" gun is a .45, but my wife would be in the background with one of the "big" guns. Depending on who I saw out the window I just might answer with one of the "big" guns myself.
 
Someone recently asked Dennis... "You go somewhere UNARMED????" Well... I guess I kinda think like that too. Just because I am home does NOT mean I take my gun off. I normally carry right up till I go to bed. So if the doorbell rings... I answer it from concealment.. in condition orange. ANYTIME... Day or Night. If it is LATE... you bet.. There will be SOMETHING close by... If it s a non-threat.. they will never know about the gun. If it is a threat... they will know about it too late.

Bubba
 
When I first moved into the apartment I live in now, I was two doors down from a couple who were retailing certain Columbian Exports. Apparently the high sign was "It's the door with the Black truck parked out in front." Knocks on my door at all hours of the night were common. And I ALWAYS answered armed. One when I was exhausted. I didn't bother to conseal. I threw the door open,in my underwear, Gun in my right hand pointed straight up, next to my head where everyone could see it, and screamed "WHAT?"
I have never met a more apologetic man before in my life. I convinced him that the couple got "capped" the night before, by some "Vigalanty Group" (God I love messing with the stoned.)
BTW. The retail outlet closed down a month or so later, lack of traffic. :D

Next week; how to mess with the kids who drop acid and go to the county fair.
 
If it's the middle of the night? Absolutely.

The rest of the time I don't have to grab it cause my 1911's on my hip nearly all the time, cept for when I have to be real discreet somewhere and then it's a snubbie in a belly band.

I just think it's important to keep things simple, even when at home. If it's always on my hip, it's always on my hip (as Yogi Berra might say). The way I figure it, if you need a gun, you need it RIGHT NOW, and when you have a spouse and/or kids to protect in addition to yourself, I can start defending instead of having to first find my gun.
 
Day or night and I don't care whos sees it or what they think.That their problem not mine.
They didn't have to knock on my door now did they?

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beemerb
We have a criminal jury system which is superior to any in the world;
and its efficiency is only marred by the difficulty of finding twelve men
every day who don't know anything and can't read.
-Mark Twain
 
Always!! On Saturday night about 10:00 I heard what sounded like at least 6 or 8 car doors slamming in the front yard, my first thought was the S has HTF! :eek:
My M1A AND my S&W 5906 had their fully loaded mags quickly inserted, and I proceeded to sneak out back and into the woods on the side of the house to see what potential targets were fixing to come to the door.
I breathed a sigh of relief when I realized my "visitors" were just large fireworks going off in the distance. ;)

Most of the time I just shove a side arm in my waistband, but when I think there's more than a couple visitors, I grab whatever the situation may call for.

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"Rise like lions after slumber in invanquishable number - Shake your chains to earth like dew which in sleep had fallen on you - Ye are many - They are few."
-Percy Bysshe Shelly (1792-1822)

[This message has been edited by Outlaw1 (edited July 03, 2000).]
 
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