recent incident at my home

[chiefjason]

There is a word screaming out at me that you need. Confidence!

Confidence in your weapon.
Confidence in your ability.
Confidence in knowing what you can legally do.
Confidence in knowing what you can and will do.

This is a good place to build some of those things. There are a lot of what if's and might haves in your post. Personally, I made a decision a while back to carry while home. In my bedroom the gun is in a holster in the nightstand drawer along with my light and an extra mag or two. My wife has a light, cell phone, and her pistol is close by with extra mag. The shotgun is in the corner. It's the first step in the plan. Where are the tools at?

Some of the things I have told my wife.

Don't open the door.
Do let them know you are there.
If they say they need help, that's what the cops are for. Unless of course they are our neighbors.
If they start kicking the door, shot them before the door gives way. It's actually the best legal action in NC, prevent the entry.
If they make it in, shoot them. She's small, disparity of force is a serious consideration for her. So are the 2 girls in the house, if they are there.

We also took some proactive steps to buy time if someone tries to get in. We installed longer screws in the hinges and kick plates to anchor the door to the studs. We have kick bars on the outside doors. Lock the screen doors too. Basically, make it as hard as possible for them to get in. It buys you time to get ahead of the curve on them.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[rickmn50]

One of the simpliest things to install that will scare the hell out of anyone on your porch is a cheap intercomm system. You can pick one up for about $100 at Home Depot. Get on that and yell "what do you want?". If that doesn't scare them off then chances are you will have to go to phase 2 or 3. You determine what those are.

[Giffordd]

Let's see, I have a shotgun with 00 buck behind the front door, 40 cal in the kitchen drawer, and a 45 and a shotgun in my bedroom.Thankfully I have yet to use them other than practice, practice, and practice.

[Eagleks]

What is your objective here ? To keep them out of your house, and protect yourself , right ?

1. Call 911 and tell them someone is trying to break in.... they'll hopefully hurry.
2. Have the gun on you, but don't use it.... there is no threat. Don't open the door and go outside, don't confront them outside, do not open the door at all...... don't shoot thru any doors either (bad bad bad idea).

3. Don't be waving a gun at people to scare them off, unless you want to go to jail.

What you did worked, so what's wrong ?

[Stetson]

I can tell you there's nothing that pisses me off than being a victim of a crook ! If you think your insurance company your friend bend over it aint so! By the time I
got done being the victim I was out $4200! The crook spent 7 days in the can at
the rate of 600 bucks a day thats dam good rate of pay for damage reduction.This
was one of the driving reasons why I got my CCW.

[chiefjason]

To address the shoot through the door issue. Know what your state laws are. As stated earlier, it is one of the best, and most defensible, ways to deal with a break in in NC. Because it is codified in law as reasonable. Want to know what's not codified into law. Your ability to shoot someone simply IN your home in NC. Say what you want. Before my door gives way, there will be holes in said door. And I have a very good idea of where I need to be to avoid the neighbors. Once they breach the door, according to the law, I have to prove they are a threat to my life to act. Pretty dumb if you ask me. But till we get a Castle Doctrine, this is what NC law says. Know what your state says though. Pay special attention to the words "prevent a forcible entry."


(a) A lawful occupant within a home or other place of residence is justified in using any degree of force that the occupant reasonably believes is necessary, including deadly force, against an intruder to prevent a forcible entry into the home or residence or to terminate the intruder's unlawful entry (i) if the occupant reasonably apprehends that the intruder may kill or inflict serious bodily harm to the occupant or others in the home or residence, or (ii) if the occupant reasonably believes that the intruder intends to commit a felony in the home or residence.


FWIW, breaking into an occupied dwelling IS a felony in NC. But strangely, that felony does not seem to apply. I will say that the "reasonably believes" part is given a lot of leeway though.

[deafdave3]

If I was home alone, I would grab my favorite gun, the phone, and go in my bedroom, lock that door, then hide in the closet while talking to 911. Nothing in the house is worth your life or the BG's life (you'll suffer severe emotional trauma if you end up taking someone's life, no matter the situation). Now, if the closet door opens and I SEE THE BG, then I will point my gun at him, quickly. If he approaches me or if I see a weapon, I will shoot. This is what I would have done.

Now, I am deaf, so in reality, I never would have heard anyone knock, ring bell, or break in. That's a fear I live with every day.

[Backroad]

Agree with EAGLEKS. Call the PD first, then sit down in your easy chair with your weapon of choice and wait.

al

[yoyomeng]

To each his own...

I've worked very hard for the life I have and I'll be damned if I'm going to let someone take it. I'll have to accept the consequences of my actions legally and emotionally, but I've been walked on before and that causes emotional trauma too. It won't be happening again.

[sentioch]

Although you are not required to give the would-be thieves a warning, it is a prudent measure. Most importantly they will probably leave when they realize you are home. The only reason they picked your house is because you had no car in the driveway and they thought it would be easy to case the place.

If you can get them to leave without having to shoot them, that's infinitely better than having to shoot them, even if you are justified under the law to shoot them. If you shoot them, you will have to go to trial, it will cost you a lot of time and money to defend yourself, you may get into the news, the lawyers might argue that you weren't actually justified and you might end up getting locked away in prison. The other thing is that you save a life, you don't have to have it in your conscience that you shot to death a couple of kids. Finally, you are putting yourself at more risk when you try to use deadly force because they will fight back harder to defend themselves as well!

For this reason the intercom system and alarm system are both good suggestions. The alarm system is a passive deterrence that may make them just skip your house entirely. If they are trying to break in and you notify them over the intercom that you have called 911 and that you are armed, they are probably going to scram immediately.

So, in this order:
1) Install alarm system before event occurs

2) When you see the thieves, grab your loaded gun

3) Call 911 either by using the alarm system or calling in

4) Get on the intercom and tell them that the police are coming and you are armed, and they better get the hell off your property if they want to live to tell of it (you don't need much justification to verbally threaten their life). The other nice thing about the intercom is you don't reveal your position to them, which will make it much scarier and dangerous for them if they still try to break in because you could be hiding anywhere with your gun.

5) Remain hidden inside with your firearm, and if they attempt to break in after hearing you over the intercom, attempt to shoot them before they enter the house or as they are entering. At this point you've already given them a warning so if they are still trying to break in, chances are they really do want to cause you physical harm.

[Thanis]

I have tried to address some of my feelings in bold above. The bottom line, IMO, is that you must seek and get professional training and continue to train train train IF you intend to carry a weapon or keep a weapon in your home for Self Defense purposes. JMO

This may come off wrong. Training / practice and just thinking about how to defend yourself is important. Safety is critical.

Other then that, it is not rocket science.

Have a firearm ready for SD. If you don't want to have it chambered, there are + / - to that, but no real reason not to have the mag in the gun. Maybe get an easy access safe, but you have no children, just have it handy and hidden IMHO.

Lock your doors. If you come home and you have been broken into, don't enter, call 911.

[ctsketch]

This may come off wrong. Training / practice and just thinking about how to defend yourself is important. Safety is critical.

Other then that, it is not rocket science.

Have a firearm ready for SD. If you don't want to have it chambered, there are + / - to that, but no real reason not to have the mag in the gun. Maybe get an easy access safe, but you have no children, just have it handy and hidden IMHO.

Lock your doors. If you come home and you have been broken into, don't enter, call 911.

if you live alone like the OP...no reason to not have it loaded.

[tcox4freedom]

I would advise:
1. Alarm System
2. Motion Lights
3. Intercome system is also a good idea.

Locking yourself in your bedroom and calling 911 is also good advice; (since you live alone).

Keeping a HD firearm loaded and accessible GREAT advice!

Buying a $99 safe from WW and keeping your shotgun in it while you're away is another good idea.

[old grunt]

The "happy ending" is what counts. No break-in,no confrontation. I do think you should consider an alarm,dog or both as your perimeter "defense" and have those weapons(especially the 870)more accessible. Just my $.02. Keep the faith brother!

[fredgarv]

thanis, yes I have the ruger now loaded with my ten round mag full of hollow points. loaded with the mag but requiring me to cock it for the first shot. no round in the chamber. this gun has a small bar riding along the top that says "loaded when up" and it pops up when there is a bullet in the chamber. great feature. but I don't rely on anything and always make sure by sight that there is no bullet in there.