When a female knocks at the door.

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most people would think twice or simply not open the door after say 10pm

why do some of the same people just easily open the door at 10am

just don't understand it.

keep door CLOSED... PERIOD.

I can look through a window and decide how to proceed.
 
Just a couple of months ago I was sitting in the living room on the computer and I heard the front door handle being manipulated. I knew the wife and kids were in bed so I went to the bedroom and got my Glock and went back to the livingroom. I verfy that the door is locked and now there is kicking and punding on the door. So I yell for my wife to call the cops and confront the person through the door telling them to leave and that if the door opens they will be shot. I hear a female reply and lookout the window to identify her( We have a neighbor that might come over if her husband showed up at the house) after realizing that I did not know her I told my wife to let the cops know that this person was kicking the door trying to get in and that I was armed and prepared to shoot if it came to that.

5 Cop cars were at my house in 2 minutes and the woman at the door was arrested on numerous charges. One of the officers saw my Glock on the coffee table and commented that her night could have been much worse if she had gotten in. This woman was saying she knew us to which the cop replied "You can thank God you are going to jail tonight because if that door had come open you would be in the morgue."

My wife thought that having the gun drawn on the door was overkill until I explained that we had no idea what or who was out there and that I will always error on the side of caution when it comes to my family's safety. She understood after that and said that she thought the gun was only if they got in the house but then she said "I guess then it could be too late."

Like most here male or female if I do not know you you are a threat until you show otherwise. If you need help say so through the door and I will call the authorities for you. It is sad that we live in times where we can be more open to taking people at their word and offering help if they need it.
 
So I yell for my wife to call the cops and confront the person through the door telling them to leave and that if the door opens they will be shot.
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Shot for what:cool: Kicking your door in? Was she a threat? was she committing a burglary? What is the governing statute in your jurisdiction ? Can you shoot someone who kicks down your door and enters without more?

WildimportantquestionsAlaska ™
 
wildalaksa
"Shot for what Kicking your door in? Was she a threat? was she committing a burglary? What is the governing statute in your jurisdiction ? Can you shoot someone who kicks down your door and enters without more?"

wait a minute. When someone is kicking in your door and then does kick it in what is the proper response? Especially after you told them you were armed?

Let us say she kicked it in because she was freaking out that someone was after her. Are you not drawing down ready to fire if she is the threat or what was following behind a threat?

In my "jurisdiction" someone kicking your door in is a major threat.

Are you against warning someone who is kicking down your door that you are armed? Are you against being armed at all when somebody is kicking down your door? Are you in a "jurisdiction" where someone kicking down your door is not cause for alarm?
 
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When someone is kicking in your door and then does kick it in what is the proper response? Especially after you told them you were armed?
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Cover, cower, conceal...and evaluate.......

In my "jurisdiction" someone kicking your door in is a major threat.
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I assume you are in gun'em down Texas, where folks can be shot for property crimes

Are you against warning someone who is kicking down your door that you are armed? Are you against being armed at all when somebody is kicking down your door? Are you in a "jurisdiction" where someone kicking down your door is not cause for alarm?
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Did I say any of that?

WildlosethetestosteronepleaseAlaska TM
 
Did I say any of that?
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Not word for word, but your post conveyed general disapproval, as did your signature "lose the testosterone please."

Let's look at this post in the TACTICS forum:

Situation: Unknown person, working the doorknob, kicking at the door, trying to get in the house.

Response: Verbal warning, call the police, and make sure a weapon is handy if needed.

How can that be criticized? I know a bit about endocrinology, and I would respectfully submit that adrenaline was much more active than testosterone in the situation, and even then MarineCorpsAT gave a considered, measured, controlled, and responsible response.

Tactically, should he have not considered even the possibility that a stranger beating on his door late at night might have unwelcome intent? Is that a time to have his gun in the safe? Should he not even have called the police. Was a verbal warning out of line?

If his tactics were bad enough to deserve your obvious ridicule, please suggest what he should have done differently.

I personally commend his actions, and hope that I will be as collected as he if I face the same situation.
 
Cover, cower, conceal...and evaluate.......
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Cover...got it. Gun in hand.
Cower...so ridiculous it doesn't even warrant comment
Conceal...in my own home. Got that covered.
Evaluate...Trying to enter my home, uninvited and after being warned of the consequences of entry. Ok...evaluated as threat.

I assume you are in gun'em down Texas, where folks can be shot for property crimes
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That's pretty uneducated, but ok. Someone trying to force themselves into an obviously occupied domicile is no longer a property crime. It is now viewed, not only by me, as a threat on the welfare of the occupants.

PS. Why the obsession with cowering? Is this a proven strategy that accomplishes anything? No. Cowering is not going to make a criminal stop. Cowering is not going to prevent, slow, or deter crime. Measured, sometimes violent, response and reaction will. Of course, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, but to suggest cowering is ludicrous at best. Most BG's won't think "Oh hell, that guy Bob just runs to the closet when we try to kick the door in. That's not even worth the effort. Let's go down to Jimmy's house, at least he'll shoot at us."
 
Ok...evaluated as threat. Someone trying to force themselves into an obviously occupied domicile is no longer a property crime. It is now viewed, not only by me, as a threat on the welfare of the occupants.
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Or.... she could be running FROM a threat (rapist, mugger, murderer), or she could be freaked out by being in or witnessing a bad car accident and looking for help.... I wouldn't expect her (he/she/them) to necessarily be doing the "logical" thing in one of those instances....

So she finally makes it into your house and..... you blow her away..... oops, turns out she's a mom of 3 that just got carjacked with her kids still in the car... oh well, anyone banging and kicking on your door should just know that they're seen as a threat, you just can't take chances withe these things. That'll teach her.
 
Or.... she could be running FROM a threat (rapist, mugger, murderer),
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Highly unlikely. Regardless, it doesn't matter who the threat is, if someone comes through my door uninvited, I will be very well-prepared to drop him/her/them in his/her/their tracks. It depends on the situation highly, and I will likely repeat this fact: if I am alone, I will be more likely to allow a strange person into the home. If I have additional liability issues, i.e. brother, gf, parents, around nobody gets to barge in the house, regardless of the reason. I have a much greater duty to protect my loved ones than I do myself or anyone else.

or she could be freaked out by being in or witnessing a bad car accident and looking for help.... I wouldn't expect her (he/she/them) to necessarily be doing the "logical" thing in one of those instances....
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BS...I would venture a guess that nearly 80% of Americans have cell phones now. You see a wreck? Ok. Call 911. Also, if I tell you "if you come through the door, I will shoot." You should take the time to explain yourself. If I didn't have any family in the home, I may let you in. If family is around, I won't let you inside, but you are more than welcome to sit on the front deck and call 911 when I toss the phone out the window.

So she finally makes it into your house and..... you blow her away..... oops, turns out she's a mom of 3 that just got carjacked with her kids still in the car...
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Hmm..."If you come through that door, I am armed and I will shoot." It doesn't get much more clear. I will make every effort not to shoot, even explaining that I will if forced to. If she is the victim of some sort of event like this, what is barging into my home going to do?


oh well, anyone banging and kicking on your door should just know that they're a threat, you can't take chances withe these things.
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If I say that you are a threat, then you are. It is my home, my family, my safety that concerns me first. Again, if I tell you to back off, you damn well better do it.

Sorry, I didn't grow up in a generation where, by and large, society was full of good people. I am 25. My entire life has seen the scams and cheap tricks that 'people' pull on each other. I am a little more cavalier when alone, but if I am surrounded by my loved ones, I prefer to err on the side of caution and throw general concern for the whole of society out the window.
 
"so the 3 masked gunmen were hiding behind the girls?"

So, out your front door, either through the door window or the (worse) peephole, you have an absolute view of ALL angles of attack, even those that might be hidden around corners?

I'm envious. I wish I could see around the corner from the peephole in my front door. My entrance door is offset to the one side of the front of my house. The house next to mine is set back, giving a very good hiding spot for someone who wants to decoy his way in.

I have a simple rule.

If I don't recognize the person knocking, I don't open the door, especially at night.

If I DO happen to open the door for whatever reason, it's with a .357 in my hand.

Think I'm over reacting? There have been a number of home invasion robberies in Northern Virginia over the years, several relatively close to my house. And with a title 13 housing development up the street that has known gang issues, you do the math.
 
Good Lord, can't you people read? He DID NOT blow anyone away! He called the police, gave a verbal warning, and prepared to defend himself and his family IF THE SITUATION ESCALATED TO A SERIOUS THREAT.

That deals with the situation very effectively. If the woman needed help, she got it from the police. If she was drunk, high, demented, or homicidal, she dealt with the police. The man kept himself and his family safe without bloodshed, and IF the woman needed help, he got it for her, and folks on here want to crucify the poor fellow. Maybe we should put him in jail for staying inside and calling the cops when he felt threatened and was unsure of the situation?

Again, this is a TACTICS forum. What tactical suggestion do you have that is better than the action taken? Is it good a good TACTIC in 2009 to open your home at any hour to anyone who knocks?

Am I having a bad day, or this getting to be a serious waste of time?
 
I'll let your own words speak for themselves on this one. I should think no further comment necessary.
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Ok? If someone is beating on my door and I tell them that entry will have some pretty undesireable consequence, like the 12-ga blast, and they continue trying to enter, there is a serious problem. It is all about location, etc. Where I live, there is almost 0 chance of someone beating down my door for any reason. I live well outside populated areas for a reason. I might have a different reation if: A. I lived in a metro area and/or B. I never watched the news and was oblivious to the crime that occurs in the world.

We are, of course, going to disagree on this subject. I will do what is best for me and mine first. That's the end of it for me. If that involves taking someone else's life, that's the price I must pay. Is it glorious? No. Is it desireable? Absolutely not. Every day, when I wake up and holster my duty weapon, I come to grips with the fact that I may have to use it today. I tell myself to exhaust all other options, but it doesn't make me any less accepting of the fact that I may be forced to end a life to preserve mine.

Way to go with the quote chop, btw. It proves nothing. Read the rest of the statement...:)
 
just don't open the door.

if someone or something seems odd then it probably is odd.

odd isn't ALWAYS threatening but still just leave door closed.

take position to call authorities and cover door.

if intruder (girl, boy, man, grandma) kicks the door in, then they will
surely see the barrel of the 20 gauge and decide accordingly.

Hopefully they will leave.

If they stay then it is for potentially harmful reasons.
 
"I assume you are in gun'em down Texas, where folks can be shot for property crimes"

Lodge this in your cranium for later access...

In quite a number of states someone committing a forcible entry into an occupied home is NOT committing a "property crime."

It is considered to be an imminent threat of bodily harm to the residents of the dwelling and can be met with deadly force even if a weapon is not displayed.

For example, black letter law in California's Penal Code:

"198.5. Any person using force intended or likely to cause death or
great bodily injury within his or her residence shall be presumed to
have held a reasonable fear of imminent peril of death or great
bodily injury to self, family, or a member of the household when that
force is used against another person, not a member of the family or
household, who unlawfully and forcibly enters or has unlawfully and
forcibly entered the residence and the person using the force knew or
had reason to believe that an unlawful and forcible entry occurred."

At least two dozen other states have variations of what is known as either Castle Law or a "Make My Day" law.

As such, there either a very limited requirement, or none at all, for the homeowner to retreat from an intruder in the home and in many of these states lethal force response is outright sanctioned against the intruder on the LEGAL premise that said intruder is, by his very presence, poses an imminent, deadly threat.
 
"Or.... she could be running FROM a threat (rapist, mugger, murderer), or she could be freaked out by being in or witnessing a bad car accident and looking for help.... I wouldn't expect her (he/she/them) to necessarily be doing the "logical" thing in one of those instances...."

Yes, and she COULD be Glinda The Good Witch of the West, or whatever that was.

ANYthing is possible.

But, are you willing to bet YOUR life, or the lives or your wife and kids, that said individual, who has just forcibly gained entry to your home, is simply so traumatized by seeing an auto accident that she poses NO threat at all?

Just who would you be more worried about in that kind of hypothetical situation?
 
As such, there either a very limited requirement, or none at all, for the homeowner to retreat from an intruder in the home and in many of these states lethal force response is outright sanctioned against the intruder on the LEGAL premise that said intruder is, by his very presence, poses an imminent, deadly threat.
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Absolutely true. That's why it's so important that each person should know whether their own state has such a law on the books, and how that law has generally been interpreted by the courts.

See WildAlaska's earlier questions, which were good ones. Do you know the law in your jurisdiction?

pax
 
Yes, and she COULD be Glinda The Good Witch of the West, or whatever that was.

ANYthing is possible.

But, are you willing to bet YOUR life, or the lives or your wife and kids,...
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No, I'm not, and that's my whole point. I'm not going to ASSUME she's there with evil intent, I'm not going to ASSUME she's selling Girl Scout Cookies. I'm going to get my family in the safe room, get 911 on the phone and arm myself. The ONLY assumption I'm going to make is that something is happening which requires LEO intervention.

I most certainly AM NOT going to stand there with a gun and wait for her to come through the door so I can justify killing her, or give her a cup of coffee, I'll let LE figure that out.

Getting the law on the phone will solve ALL possible scenarios. If she needs help, she'll get it. If she needs arresting, she'll get it.
 
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