When someone comes a knockin'

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As far as the gentleman who got shot by the deputies, we will never be able to tell for sure if the deceased really ever pointed a pistol at them or not. We don't even know for sure if the pistol was planted. I'd like to say that we live in world of roses, but you all know we don't. Either way, it's very tragic.

As far as answering the door armed? Sure, I've done it. I've also done many other dumb things in my life. My first inkling these days would be to inquire, through a closed door, who it is. If I don't know them, I will ask them how I can help them. Where it goes from there is determined by the responses I get. Since I live in a garden apartment in Chicago, I have no lawn or belongings of importance to protect outside of my immediate dwelling. Therefore, I will not leave the confines of my abode during duress. Thankfully, and this has been this way for me for many years now, that I have no working bell to speak of and have real estate and locked doors to clear before you get to me. Nobody can even grab my attention unless they first place a call to my mobile to let me know they are there.

A couple staffers have already said it. It's very simple. Don't answer the door. I don't see the harm in asking who it is, but there is very little reason to open the door to a stranger. Maybe, just maybe, in an extreme emergency, like some guy bleeding to death at my front door (I wouldn't/couldn't refuse to help). I'll run and grab my shotgun if I've got someone trying to club my door down. However, I'd give them ample time to save their own asses by announcing that I'm shooting if they breach.
 
When my bell rings or someone knocks, I get my gun and try to get a peek at who is outside. I would never answer the door.
 
Jeez, now I know why the census workers had such a hard time.


Seriously though, I answer the door most of the time. It's usually Jehovah's Witnesses, deliveries, and utility workers, but I've even had a stranger tell me I left my car trunk open with a laptop sitting inside!
 
Gun in the holster. We have a peephole and a window with a view over our front step, plus our front door is completely in the open in front of a very busy street, so it's not much of an issue for me.
 
See who it is depending on what time of the day it is don't even answer it

I always have my pistol available when I answer the door anytime but depending on what time it is I will not even answer the door. I will take a quick glance to see who it is & if it is someone I do not know I will not answer it & watch them leave through my surveillance system.
 
Letting your wife answer the door puts her between the shooter and the target. I agree, we need to think about this.
 
I live on a major US highway in a rural area, near a midsized Midwestern city. I always CC on my property. If someone is at the door, I see who the are through the window and open the door while gun is concealed. We have had all manner of people stop, from people running out of gas to one guy that thought he was gonna camp in my front yard. Answering the door with a gun in hand is asking for trouble.
 
I am not sure why people feel so compelled to answer the door at all. Why answer the door to unexpected people? If they are a friend or family, they would call my cell or home phone. I cant tell you how many times I have walked by my front door, only to see someone (through the side lights)standing on the porch- them see me as well and then knock. I stay alert but keep right on doing whatever it was I was doing prior to them knocking.

The bottom line is that I do not want to answer the door to a stranger, so I just dont. If I ignore a knock that was intended to warn me of some dire emergency... I guess I will just miss out.
 
I've answered the door armed once in my life. That was a 2am wake up call from a knock on the door in the middle of a snow storm. Looked out the window to see a bundled up figure on the porch. Ended up being a neighbor that had car trouble on his way home.

I feel for those of you who CHOOSE to live places that make you feel like you can't answer the door without a gun during normal/sane hours of the day.
 
Posted by Nanuk: Answering the door with a gun in hand is asking for trouble.
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In more ways than one, I think.

Nor will it necessarily serve as the magic talisman people seem to think it to be if one does open the door to trouble.
 
The way my apartment is set up, I can either go downstairs and pull back the curtain on the top windowed door, or better yet look or speak from the bathroom window which is right above it (2nd story apt. with a downstairs entrance).

Hasn't happened yet, but should it be someone I don't know - I will likely not go down, I see no reason to provided it is not an emergency. I can easily call 911 or a tow for a stranger in need from inside my home, in the "can I use your phone" instances.

Just the other day a coworker told me about a time long ago when a young couple came to her door in the middle of the night with a car breakdown sob story and wanted to use the phone. They then proceeded to pass out in her living room - the car was fine, they were just both too loaded to drive it any farther. Short version: husband was not happy and they departed soon after he got home

I make it a point not to live in fear - I am not even always armed with a pistol, my best weapon is between my ears and always has been.
 
Answering the door armed doesn't mean that it's in your hand, and it doesn't mean that you have fear. Lots of times, I answer the door wearing shoes. Does this mean that I'm scared that I will have to run?

Extreme thinking can make anything seem idiotic. I think the nay sayers in this thread sound more scared than the armed people. You guys scared of looking bad? What will people think? :rolleyes:

(I wont wear a gun to the door and if I felt the need to, I'd move)...ok, then what? There you are again. You can't run from life. This is more extreme than just wearing a gun.
 
Silently make my way to my super awesome door ALWAYS with my gun in hand pointing at the door, finger off the trigger, look through the peephole.

Miami Dade County...Home invasions..mhmmm.. -___-

If someone I know, I put the gun back @ 4:00 and open up. (even then I get iffy lol)

Someone I don't know...gun stays pointing "can I help you?" and we go from there...
 
You folks might consider a screen door. It keeps bugs out and helps with insulation.
A screen door also allows you to open your front door when someone knocks and still have a barrier between you and a stranger.
http://www.larsondoors.com/storm_doors/products/3320_07
221SC03.jpg
 
I bought an inexpensive camera and monitor,,,

I bought an inexpensive camera and monitor,,,
With tax it was less that $180.00.

I live in a small very old town,,,
Rental rates are cheap so we have a problem,,,
Lotsa low-life people rent here and aren't good neighbors.

Now realize I do not live my life in a constant state of alert,,,
But some things are simply not smart things to do,,,
Like open my door to a knock late in the evening.

My cat tells me when someone starts up my deck steps,,,
The motion detector turns on the front porch light,,,
That's when I touch the "view camera" button.

I never open the door at all for someone I don't know,,,
If they have legitimate business with me,,,
They should come during the daytime.

I peeved off a deputy county sheriff when I wouldn't open my door,,,
But you know what, I don't care how angry he gets,,,
He can state his business to a closed door.

He's a cop in an iffy location for crying out loud,,,
He should understand a person's reluctance to open their door.

And yes, if it's late in the evening,,,
I will have a gun in hand if/when I decide to open the door.

Uniforms are too easy to get ahold of these days.

Aarond

.
 
Glenn Meyers writes:
Your side - once again, if you answer the door with a gun in your hand - you are just not thinking. ID the person. Call the law if doubtful.

It's really simple.
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It's too simple and too common sensical for some people.

As you wrote, even if you open the door with a gun in your hand you are behind the power curve.

Plus depending on where you live and the laws, if you open the gun with a gun in your hand and the stranger sees it, they may report you to the police and you may find yourself having to deal with the local constabulary. Maybe it is someone who had the wrong house who will claim that you pointed the gun at them even if you didn't.

A common denominator in many home invasions is that the homeowner opened the door for a stranger or strangers and then gut rushed. Sometimes they thoughtlessly opened the door without checking who it was, and other times the person on the other side used some ruse to get them to open it.

This is why you never want to open the door unless you know that it is someone you know.

There seems to be a recurrent type of messageboard post where someone relates an incident when there was a knock at the door at a late hour and the poster grabbed their trusty gun, rushed to the door, and then flung the door open, when the whole thing could have been avoiding by having a nearby window or a peephole in the door and having the entire interaction from behind the safety of a closed and locked door.
 
I had an incident where a good friend of mine decided that he would play a prank on me at 3am. I heard someone try turning my front knob (it was deadbolted). When I turned on the porch light (Identifying that I was home, and both doors deadbolted) I couldn't see anyone. I had my girlfriend go into the bathroom with her Ruger LC9. I then heard someone tapping on my window so at that point I released my German Sheppard out the patio door and my friend found himself pinned by my dog and me closely behind with a maglight and a Crimson Trace on his forhead... needless to say he sobered rather quickly and recieved quite a lecture... But on a positive note my girlfriend acted exactly as I expected she would.

If you can't identify who is at the door never open it. The only reason I broke that rule was due to the noises at my window. But looking back the moment I opened the patio door I left myself wide open had it been a real home invasion with more than one assailant and will never make that mistake again. The best offense is a good securty system and a SHTF plan.
 
That sounds bad. Can you please send an officer out to my house? Someone I don't know is knocking on my door...I think that the Police are busy enough and waiting to call them until you actually know that you have a bonafide emergency would be appreciated.

That's what the gun is for. Not a good idea to be co-dependent on the Police. If you call them for every strange noise or D2D salesman, you may get to be known as one who cries wolf and then if you have a real emergency, they may not come fast enough to be able to help you.
 
I don't think anyone is suggesting calling the police every single time someone rings your doorbell, only if there is someone suspicious outside who doesn't leave or seems to be hanging around.
 
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