What would you have done.....AKA Bluffing

X

XavierBreath

New member
I've read so many hypotheticals here, I have to submit one of my own.....although it's not hypothetical.

We live in an older residential neighborhood. I was in the back of my house one night, as usual, on the computer. My wife was in the shower, down the hallway to the right of the living room. I keep a 12 gauge at each end of the house, and my carry gun was on my desk beside me. I was expecting a long time employee over to discuss a job the next morning. It was around 8:00PM and it was just after dark. My porch light was on.

I heard a knock at the door, and because I was expecting my employee, I left my loaded 1911 at my desk in the back of the house. I usually carry it to the door, or have it on my person. This time I went to the door unarmed.

I did not look out the peep hole. I opened the door, and a young man was there who I did not recognize. Let's just say he did not fit the neighborhood profile, and I had a severe apprehension about this one. He asked if he could use our phone. He said he was out of gas, his daughter was sick in his car and he needed to get to the hospital. I had my right hand behind the door, as I usually do to conceal my handgun, that was presently in another room.

I told him no. I looked him square in the eyes and told him "You are at the wrong house."

The man did not expect this answer, and about the time he said "What do you mean?" my wife, hearing the knock, and strange voice, peeked around the corner of the hallway. The guy on the porch could not see her, but for whatever reason, she screamed, as she usually does when frightened.

Not expecting her, or her scream, I jumped and looked her way. My right hand was still behind the door. I shouted at my wife "Put the damned gun down!" Of course she had no gun..........

She shouted "Gun? What gun? There are no guns here!"

My heart sank as I quickly looked at the man again, with my hand still behind the door, and growled "You are at the WRONG ******* house."

He got the message and left my porch cursing. To this day I do not know if he suspected I was armed, that my wife was lying, that I was a LEO or that we were running a meth lab, or we were just plain crazy. He did get the distinct impression I knew something he did not want to find out the answer to. My bluff worked despite my wife, and I will NEVER answer the door again without a gun.

FWIW, my apprehension was confirmed a month or two later as he was arrested for home invasion.

Other than the obvious, always carry a gun, and train the wife to respond better, what would you have done in the same circumstances and with that wife's scream?
 
Well if bluffing is all you got and you got a good poker face then do it.

Strangers around my place are very rare; we’re way off the beaten path, down a long drive. If someone comes knocking I will go to the door armed, secondly for the simple reason I’m a LEO living in the county I police so folks could find where I live, come to the door needing help, with troubles in tow etc…

Guess you learned a lesson
 
More importantly, teach your wife what to do and/or say in a similiar situation. Not a slam on her, however she almost screwed up your quick thinking plans. They usually do, unless you give them some training, etc too.
 
Close & lock the door and then turn around to face your wife, then tell her sternly -- "One of these days, Alice! POW! Right to the moon!"

(This humor will be lost on the youngsters here.)

I've found that waiting a while then having a serious discussion about the scenario usually works. Just be happy she's not like a friend's wife who has the disconcerting habit of not being able to keep her yap shut about certain things. When friend's neighbor starting bashing his own car with a tire iron in a drunken rage and screaming he slipped his Colt Commander under his shirt to investigate. Standing on his lawn content to watch the guy bash his own car, just as the cops drive up his wife yells from the front door "Come back in and put your gun away!" :eek:

(No harm done, cops didn't hear. But he said he was tempted to spell divorce C-O-L-T for a moment).
 
Bill how young is a youngster, I enjoyed watching Mr. kramden(sp) The bowery boys, I ordered a slo Gin with tonic water at a bar, the bartendress replies a lot of ladies like those, I jokingly slap the bar, and tell her to put it in a dirty glass. :) Chaplin, abbot & costello, the classics are that way for a reason, I am surprised there is not a network devoted to them, any more LAW & Order on TV, and I will go insane.

PS

As to the situation, you took a potentially bad situation, and got out of it. My wife chooses not to believe bad things happen. She does not want to hear of plans or deal with things. I know bad things happen, usually to good people. It sound as if a good sit down, back my play talk is the only thing that needs going over. We do have a locking "storm door", on both doors, so a push in attempt, will take time, I am thinking of installing some motion sensor lights, that may help. Standing to do it is a problem, and hands over head is worse, but I guess a home invasion trumps discomfort.

Was this this guy's MO, or was he just "casing" you for a later date.
 
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I would have told the guy that I'd call the police and an ambulance for him and he should wait on the porch until they arrived, then locked the door and called the police and an ambulance. As far as the wife screaming, I would have said "Don't worry Dear, I'm not going to shoot him yet."
 
I don't know if he was casing or not, perhaps so, but I had a strong feeling that if I allowed him through that door I would be in a fight for my life. I briefly thought about just slamming the door, but I also had a strong feeling that if I tried to slam the door it would be blocked and and again I would be in a fight for my life. Maybe it was the way he was standing, the look he gave, I don't know. I am not shy about slamming the door on people who invite themselves to my porch, but this one seemed prepared for that door slam, and prepared to meet it with force.

I feel that I made the man uncertain about what he was about to get into. My wife's scream really jarred him, as did my response to her. Her response back to me, eventhough it was a negative, did not negate my original "Put down the gun" response. In fact, it may have heightened it. At the very least it caused him to loose the initiative, he became uncertain about his target, and his plan of attack was not unfolding as he thought it should. He had to retreat and regroup.

As far as I know, he worked alone. He had a history of home invasions. At least that was the story after he was caught. I am not sure where the case is at the moment, but he beat, tied up and robbed an elderly coupleabout a mile from our place. My wife and I are not exactly elderly, but we are not spring chickens with the kung fu grip either. Fighting to get to a gun would have been my only recourse, unless my wife did the same.
 
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I'm the 'crazy gun guy' in my neighborhood, so hopefully I won't have to worry about that stuff. :p

But, I'd like to think I would have told him hold on a sec, lemme get the phone, and pushed the door shut. I would have then got my gun ASAP.
 
XB, I think you kept calm, assesed info quickly, showed aggression, but not enought to warrant a violent respone, but enough to confuse. Looking back, what do you think, you could have done differently? or wanted to?
 
The wife screamed because you were talking through the doorway to someone outside on the porch? Tough neighborhood.

I'd go with the - "lemme get the phone, close the door and retrieve phone and gun" responses. But what you did worked, a lesson was learned, and all turned out well. No problem with that.

Work on the screaming for no reason - draws unwanted attention, kinda like sharks to blood. But understandably it was probably something beyond your control. Screaming usually is, though it can be quite the tool when used properly.
 
I'd have kept one hand surreptitiously on whatever pistol I was carrying at the time, (always at home), and extended my cell phone with the other, just to see what he'd do.
 
Slammed the door in his face right off.

(With hand still concealed behind door) "Let me put this pistol away first - I know they scare some people ...". Shut door. Return with shotgun (which scare most everyone).

"Oh .. (chuckle) I thought you were the police. They're on the way down here about some jerk that keeps calling us ........ Hey, come back! I thought you wanted to use the phone!? I Hope your daughTER IS OK !! You WANT ME TO CALL AN AMBULANCE!?

As for the wife's scream, probably the best thing would have been - provided it was clear she wasn't screaming about something you had not yet noticed elsewhere - to have ignored it completely and kept right on deadpan.
 
Let me reiterate.

I briefly thought about just slamming the door, but I also had a strong feeling that if I tried to slam the door it would be blocked and and again I would be in a fight for my life. Maybe it was the way he was standing, the look he gave, I don't know. I am not shy about slamming the door on people who invite themselves to my porch, but this one seemed prepared for that door slam, and prepared to meet it with force.
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weldonjr2001, I had no gun in my hand, or even within 30 feet. That would not have been an option. I feel sure I would have been fighting the BG, and if I was more concerned about getting a gun than incapacitating the BG, I would have died.

Yorec, the wife screamed because she was wrapped in a towel, and about to step out into view when she realized I had the door open talking to someone. My response really confused her. She now knows that response means GET the damned gun! :) I have tried my darnedest to get the wife to stop screaming. She does it in movies, when I'm driving, :p , basically anytime she feels apprehension. For twenty years I have tried to stop this, but it is a reaction I cannot weed out of her. Believe me, I've tried. I get tired of jumping from her scream everytime a suspenseful moment comes in a movie. I've learned to ignore it while driving, I had to. Getting a new wife is not an option. It's ironic that in this instance, her scream and response threw enough craziness into this encounter that the BG felt his plan had to be abandoned. In a lot of ways, on refection, I credit her with his retreat.

Dan, I really cannot think of what I could have done better given the situation I was in. The best I could do was use my wits, they were all I had. That is why I posted here about it. The thing that bothers me, is I had no fallback plan if the bluff did not work. Bluffs are like that. If he had busted in anyway, I would be in a fight for my life. Right then, right there. There would have been no running for a gun. The gun was to far away. I suspect he had a knife, at the least. I now believe my apprehension was in how he was standing, at a 45 degree angle with his right hand concealed behind his thigh. I have little doubt there was something in that hand.

edited to add: One thing that I believe is criminals are not smarter than the general man. In fact, they are usually stupid. The fact that they are criminals in society shows that. The reason a criminal can outwit and victimize the honest person is simple. The criminal has a plan. The criminal knows what will happen 90% of the time, he can read people extremely well, picks his victims carefully, and is prepared for another 9%. It's the 1% that throws him for a loop. Ever notice how criminals never accidentally attack each other? Statistic say that they should, at least 30% of the time, yet they never do, except on purpose. This guy was prepared for a physical attack. He thought his plan was foolproof. At my house, He was not attacked, but his plan was, and he suddenly was looking at that 1%.

Since that night, I carry a gun to the door, either concealed or in hand. I use the peephole. I have considered putting a webcam outside the door so I can check it from the back of the house. That would save me a lot of steps with the Jehovah's Wittlesses.... :p
 
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:eek: Well, you were lucky! I, too, have had a home invasion that I consider myself equally lucky to have survived. (I was actually uttering a final prayer when I was suddenly reminded that I owned two Pit Bulls – I mean, for a brief moment, that guy definitely HAD me; and we, both, knew it!)

Anyway, your wife and mine sound a lot alike. That’s why I am NEVER out of reach of, at least, one gun while I’m at home. There are side steps on our front porch that allow someone to knock on the door without being in full view. Whenever my wife answers the door without really looking (The way she often does.) I simply move closer to the gun as the door swings open.

It’s been my experience that two things, more than any others, will get you into really serious trouble – really fast: First, you have to be able to INSTANTLY DISCOUNT all those thoroughly ingrained good social manners you’ve acquired over the years. Good manners WILL get you killed! (Yes, this means that you should have immediately slammed that door and dove for a gun.)

The second thing you always have to keep in mind is an appropriate use of, DISTANCE! This is because distance is the TRUE MEASURE of reaction time. It may sound like a ridiculously simple concept; but, it’s not. The proper use of distance starts with a, ‘forced demand for preparation’ (Both physical and psychological.) that begins whenever you are approached, and concludes by instinctively keeping the other guy, just, beyond arm’s reach and off your body centerline.

By the way I’m too old, now, to have to do it all myself. That’s why I like to keep a large Pit Bull around as backup! She’s a powerful beast, who takes up half the bed, and is (sometimes) like living with a rhinoceros; but, after what once happened to me, I’m glad to let her hog the covers or growl at me whenever I roll over on her! ;)



PS: If you're going to use, 'fire extinguisher guns' around your home, then, be aware that there should be no more than 12 feet between you and any stashed piece. IT DOES NOT MATTER whether or not a BG is able to get to one of your guns; you should, always, expect (even require) the other guy to be armed.

Personally, I don't care if a BG comes at me with one of my own guns - From where I'm standing, it's just that much less I have to take into consideration. (I'm more worried about the first burst taking out the BG, AND the dog on a fast forward rush!)

Oh, yeah, don't use that peephole - It's a sucker play! :D
 
I guess my only comment would be, "Thank You, Lord", for His protection. You certainly were in a bad place, . . . and thankfully, your wife came "screaming" to your rescue.

We just had a home invasion in Columbus over the weekend (2 bgs, one with the wife, other took husband to bank for big $$$$$$). Fortunately for the innocents, they came out OK, . . . but this is beginning to become much too commonplace. I'll be answering our door more often from here on out with my .45 in my hidden hand.

I guess we should all be glad we still have our firearms, . . . not like South Africa and Australia.

May God bless,
Dwight
 
the wife screamed because she was wrapped in a towel, and about to step out into view...
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Ah, well who could blame her then, lol! :D Next time close the door ya ignorant sod!!!

;)

(Like I said before, screaming can be a most useful tool if used appropriately. Not a bad thing at all. Well, maybe on a constant basis at the movies like you described... :rolleyes: )
 
I'm sure we have all heard the sage advice of never bluff.

Never is a very strong word.

Slamming the door is the obvious solution to all of us who were not there. I believe you were "right on" when you read his body language, attitude, or whatever, that suggested he was prepared for this contingency. Slamming it shut would likely have brought a rapid escalation of the scenario.

I believe the combination of the bluff, coupled with the comedy of errors with your wife, did indeed get inside his decision cycle. I wholeheartedly concur with your analysis of the criminal mindset, and could not have said it better myself.

I give you an A-. Thank you, sincerely, for sharing this. :)
 
There have been numerous reports on the web, in newsprint, about this kind of stuff. Guy says he needs to use your phone - his kid is sick, or the sound of a crying baby at your door, etc etc.

I'm such a paranoid dude normally, if they change my UPS guy or if my post man/person is different, I grill them worse than the FBI.

Glad you made it out unscathed. Next time, you may not have a next time!
Be prepared.
 
LOL ... your wife wouldn't be a redhead from the S.F. bay area would she?
I used to date someone like that -- screamed at the most inopportune moments and would scare the bejesus outta me.

I think this just needs to be a lesson for you to examine and learn from. It turned out alright but it could have been better. How did the situation arise? Because you gave in to human nature and assumed that the caller at the door was the expected party. Because no plan exists between the two of you for an unarmed scenario in the house and you don't have an alternate weapon in a retreat path from the front door (come to think of it, neither do I... where is that old baseball bat?). Hell, one of my elderly aunts has kept a quartet of knitting needles on her hall table just for such a situation (and she's an ornery 92 years young!).

Live and learn.
 
Since it is going to be impossible to have a gun, with you 100% of the time, if it is safe enough, put a gun by the door. I had a key ring holder, that had a small shelf, and could have had a BUG hidden in it. The other thing might be an umbrela stand with a SG, put a large sock, or a cover for a golf club on it. Getting a SG into play seems a little harder, than a handgun.

Even though I have a pit mix dog, I do not train it to be aggressive , I train it the exact opposite. They automaticall euthanize, all pit mixes at the Detroit Humane Society.
 
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