Wife calls and says man at door wont leave.

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I got to be honest...unless OP can state otherwise, the AT&T guy had a valid reason to be at the house & I really don't see an issue with her speaking w/him. Obviously, she felt the same way...I seriously doubt he bullied her to call her husband.

ps- not my profession and I have hated AT&T since college(sorry grudges hard to let go AT&T)

I mean if you don't recall a package being delivered...does one not answer door as well thinking delivery guy's uniform and truck might be false?
 
Going back and reading the first post, it strikes me as "all I have is a hammer, so this must be a nail."

She didn't need a gun. She didn't need you. She didn't need the police.

She just needed to close the door.

Then let him leave, or not.

Guns are not magic wands, and are not always the answer.
 
Yes, the AT&T guy had a valid reason to be at my house, he was selling services offered by AT&T. I have no problem with that. What I do have a problem with is when my wife calls me and says "a large man on the porch won't leave until he talks to you." I was an hour or so away from home and my wife was by herself with a giant at the front door.

Luckily this was a benign incident but what if next time it is not? That is why I started this thread, not because AT&T bothered us. I was asking advice on how I can get my wife to be better prepared for these types of things and not calling her husband that is an hour away and unable to help her.

If this guy meant harm and was just wanting to talk to me on the phone to verify that my wife was in fact home alone he would have succeeded. The guy hung up on me after I told him to give the phone back to my wife and leave my property. In the few seconds it took to call her back I was terrified as to what may be happening to her.
 
OTOH, the gun that is on your person is not available to any of the above.​

Hi, folks. Been a while, but I'm still around from time to time. :-)

For me, what MLeake said pretty much says it all. Correct me if I'm wrong, Pax, but wasn't concern that one of your (then young) children might get hold of a gun without you being present the reason that you initially decided to always carry? I don't have children, but they do visit my home, so the same precautions need to apply.

I feel as Pax does about the psychology of carrying always vs. sometimes. Unless I am going somewhere where I'm legally unable to carry (the post office, a government building, or California) <sigh>, I carry. That way, I don't have to think about bad things happening except when I'm practicing with the gun or otherwise thinking about what to do about those bad things. For me It's simply a better mindset, as well as better security.
 
Your wife just needs to be more careful about who she opens a door to. She doesn't have to be paranoid. When the UPS guy shows up in uniform, with a shiny new UPS truck parked outside, and the package you ordered from Brownell's she could answer it. If a guy shows up in a UPS uniform driving a Honda, and has an unexpected package... maybe not so much.

When in doubt, just don't answer the door. And if the situation is out of hand, call the police first, your husband second.

As for carrying at home. Not the big deal that some people make it out to be. I have a S&W J frame in my pocket from the time I wake up until the time I take a shower and go to bed. I move it, with my car keys and wallet, when I change pants. Some people arm themselves to go to the corner store or bank. I don't make all those "paranoid" moves, because I'm already armed.
 
I think people are missing a major point, here. The issue isn't whether the guy initially looked wrong, the issue is that the guy ultimately acted wrong.

Refusing to leave the property is trespass; refusing to leave, when one is a large male, and the resident is a small female, can seem like something worse than trespass.

The AT&T rep was in the wrong for refusing to leave the property, period, end of story.

All you guys saying "no big deal" are full of it... if it had been your wife, and a large male refused to leave, I don't believe for an instant you would be so cavalier about it.
 
It sounds as all you and your wife had was a pushy sales rep, Pain in the ass yes, but NOT a threat to her life..
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But they're getting worse all the time, on the phone AND on the porch. Last I had here was told from my chair, since screen door was only thing between us, "Not interested." He replied, "I can understand, sir, but if you would just..." I got up and confronted him, saying "What part of no don't you understand?" He argued that I didn't seem to understand....at which point I opened the door, got in his face and shouted GET TO HELL OFF MY PORCH BEFORE I THROW YOU OFF! He got the message, was giving me horrified looks while writing in a book, hopefull writing customer is an AH, do not visit. We've gotten far fewer visits since. I'M NOT INTERESTED DAMMIT!, is generally the last thing I have to say on the phone, also. It's gotten so old, it's taken pestering to a whole new level. Up north, since the front door is in another room, I simply don't answer it.
 
I'm going to relay a conversation I had with my 10 YO the other morning.

I have a bunch of folders that I keep in a kitchen drawer. As I was putting one of them away, my boy says to me - "Dad, you keep all those knives in that draw, what if a BG broke in, found them, and tried to use one against one of us?".

I patted to the pistol I was wearing. . . His reply - "ok, got it."

It cracks me up that a 10 YO gets it but so many think that carrying at home is a sign of paranoia.

So, if someone was attempting to break in (or broke in) to my house or there was an issue in my backyard with coyotes attacking our pets/kids - how long would it take with the adrenaline flowing to open the safe or even open a "quick open" security box???

Someone wrote that they are in condition white at home - yes, condition white is a wonderful thing at home, but condition white is a very bad thing when the do-do hits the fan and your gun is upstairs in the nightstand or safe. The gun on my side allows me to be in condition white at home while letting me go to orange and armed in a second.

Carrying at home for me is no more a task than clicking in my seat belt when I get into a car. If carrying at home isn't for you, then by all means, don't.
 
Up north, since the front door is in another room, I simply don't answer it.
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It's not terribly uncommon for burglars to knock to determine if anyone is home and if they get no answer, to attempt entry.

Awhile back, I put up a No Solicitors sign--not because I think it will keep burglars away but because it reduces the incidence of people knocking on the door tremendously. Now it happens so rarely that 1.) it's not a major hassle to at least get up and check it out. and 2.) I don't get too complacent about it.
 
It cracks me up that a 10 YO gets it but so many think that carrying at home is a sign of paranoia.
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A 10 YO is still young enough to believe that you know what you're talking about, even if you don't.
 
I generally don't look to a 10 year old child's fear of "bad guys" for decisions about firearms or OPSEC. Why is your son so paranoid in the first place? Seemingly he picks up up your behavior. No way to live a life. If you are not geeked-up to condition yellow when you are wearing a hand gun, then you do not understand the whole Cooper condition scheme. I for one would like to relax at home. Therefore, I have fences, dogs, lights, barriers, etc. Common sense.
 
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It cracks me up that a 10 YO gets it but so many think that carrying at home is a sign of paranoia.

A 10 YO is still young enough to believe that you know what you're talking about, even if you don't.
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LOL! Touchy are we? It doesn't matter if you don't believe in house-carry and I never said everyone should do as I do. Thank Gawd for free will, eh?
 
jmortimer
I generally don't look to a 10 year old child's fear of "bad guys" for decisions about firearms or OPSEC. Why is your son so paranoid in the first place? Seemingly he picks up up your behavior. No way to live a life. If you are not geeked-up to condition orange when you are wearing a hand gun, then you do not understand the whole Cooper condition scheme. I for one would like to relax at home. Therefore, I have fences, dogs, lights, barriers, etc. Common sense.
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Nor do I. He picks up on the evils in our world because a couple of home invasions happen nearby - like 1 mile or so. We've had guys working in twos trying to con their way into homes in our development. We do talk about it at the dinner table. If that is feeding a 10 YO's paranoia, so be it. At least my boys are armed with knowledge.

I live in a decent development, however, crap is only a mile or so away. No, I can't move. I really would like to but their mom is less than a mile away and she ain't moving. I would also lose about $100K on the house.

No, I am not "geeked-up" to condition orange when I wear a gun. I wear a gun because I prefer not to be in condition orange at home. I too, have fences, lights, alarm systems, surveillance cameras, security bars, & dead-bolts in addition to firearms. Yes, it is common sense. Remember, we all live in different worlds. Some more different than others.
 
1 old 0311-1 said:
You really need to tighten her up on security. In 2012 going through life like that you WILL be a victim. Good luck.
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Give me a break.

99% of everybody goes through life like that and they're never a victim.
This isn't Somalia.
Being prepared is one thing, "you WILL be a victim." is quite another.
We measure violent crime in X per 100,000 numbers and "X" is a small number. In 2011, it was about 386 per 100,000 people. That's a 0.38% chance.
Considering that a SIGNIFICANT amount of that violence was gang/drug related and a significant percent more isolated to "trouble" areas, we're a long ways from "you WILL be a victim" nonsense.
 
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