recent incident at my home

[fredgarv]

Ok, I was home alone on a saturday, car gone from the driveway cause it was in the shop. somebody rings the bell at 6:30am. I wake up thinking this is odd, so I get up and look out my peephole. great device to have! it's two kids age 19 or so, with a crappy fiero in my driveway. as I'm looking through the peephole, one of them starts walking around the back. (I'm in a very nice quiet suburban neighborhood where I routinely leave the house on a nice day without even locking it up, some rich people live along the bluff view houses, and some average people live accross the street in older houses, like me)

ok at his point I'm a little scared and not sure what to do. I have a shotgun but by the time I go get it and load it etc he could be already in my house. I look out my sliding glass door and see him carrying a tool of somekind i his hand. he's just wearing a t-shirt. he's looking to break in with this tool somewhere. so I think I've got to do something or he will be in my house. so I carefully slide open the sliding glass door and he goes "oh, is mary here?, we were supposed to pick her up" something like that so I just say "you better get lost right now" and he and his buddy go back to their car and very, very calmly drive off like they are in no hurry.

I had a camera ready nearby and thought I'm going to get their car in a photo, but then think what if they see me taking a picture of them, and come back to get me, so I wait until they are driving off and run outside and snap a picture getting about half a plate since it was blurry due to my nervousness. I call the cops right away and they show up and take the photo. later I called them and asked if they were able to identify them and they just gave me the run around so I never knew if they got them or not. but I figured that even if I had managed to tie them up and have the cops take them away, the buggers would probably just be let go the next day and then they might come back pissed at me. given our great system of justice.

so this was before I had a hand gun. say I had had my ruger SR9c handy. I could have pointed it at them from the door, and really scarred them, or if I had slept and been lazy and not gotten up like I normally would have done, and they both got in my house thinking nobody was at home. I keep my bedroom door locked, so I would have had time to get the gun. what best to do? I don't want to get robbed, but what if they had a gun too? I go out there and confront them with my gun. maybe they leave, maybe they get scarred too and start to shoot. one person I know said he would keep the door locked, and start shooting through the door, and the wall, to let them know what i've got. or just do nothing unless they try to get into my bedroom? but mainly I was wondering if at the first part of this, to open the door with my gun and tell them to scram or not? I don't think they had any guns at all, but they did have some sort of knife, or sharp tool to break in. just wondering what sort of options does one have here and what type of ramifications? I mean if they really wanted to they could have charged me and overpowered me. now, I have a remington 870 pump with 00 buckshot, and my ruger with a 10 round clip of hollow points. but I don't wish to shoot people but feel I could if they were threatening me directly. I have practiced with the ruger and know the gun pretty good. it's a great gun by the way, just feels really comfortable and happy in my hand.

this is a great forum so thought I would post this real life instance of what happened to me a year ago or so. thanks

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[sniper58]

1. DO NOT open your door to strangers - armed or not!
2. DO NOT shoot through said door!
3. DO NOT brandish your weapon (pistol or shotgun) unless you intend to use it right then and there. All the punks have to do is call 911 and say some crazy person just pointed a gun at them. You are now on defense (the kind that may cost a lot of time, money and other bad things).

Having said that, you are now better prepared, practicing (often - I hope) and have better situational awareness. As Ret will soon say [sic] say armed, stay safe (he's better with his words than I'll ever be).

Welcome to the Forum - glad you are aboard!

[yoyomeng]

Well i think one thing for sure is to not go outside and confront them, that could be very dangerous. I would doubt they'll be back since you confronted them verbally. But if they did I'd call the cops and be ready if they do come in. Don't know what else to do but am interested in seeing others opinions.

[Sejune]

I have a shotgun but by the time I go get it and load it etc he could be already in my house.

This is the first problem I would remedy. Why have a shotgun for home defense if you can not readily access and use it when needed for home defense?

If some unknown teens drive to my house, with my driveway empty, and one gets out of the car and goes to the backside of the house with a tool in his hand, and I'm in the house, in your scenario, I would have called 911 on my way down to the back door, and since my back door is a sliding glass door....He would meet me in the back with my handgun pointed at him, if he was making effort to break in...Well, I would stop the threat.

[1911PKR]

Go back to your bedroom, grab your handgun and call 911. Get behind cover (not under the covers). Pull the bang switch on the weapon IF the door opens and it's the BG.

If you care to "venture out" and greet the BG's, you MAY get shot and that's goin' hurt, maybe even kill ya.

[fredgarv]

yes after this, I kept my shotgun loaded under my bed. but this is another question. I know it's a fine line. I live alone, no kids but I worry a bit if I keep a loaded gun even hidden a bit, what if somebody breaks in the house at 4pm half an hour before I come home from work, they find the loaded gun, are carrying it around intending to steal it, then I come home and surprise them? I realize this is not a likely scenario though. so now I keep both guns handy, but unloaded with the magazine close by so I can load it quick. I mean this thing that happened to me was the first time in 20 years of living there that something happened. but, a year before this one, somebody tried to break into the house just accross the street from me, in broad daylight. later turned out to be meth heads that lived a few blocks away in a beater rental home that the cops had been to a few times already. but this is extreemely rare around here. to keep the guns loaded and hidden away? or unloaded with the ammo hidden close by?

[BugDude]

All you had to do was ask them what they wanted through the door, they would have made up a lie and left. They would now know that they can't bank on no car in the driveway equalling nobody home. Consider a home security system for the times when you are asleep or not at home. A sticker on your storm door or front window indicating a security system may or may not be a deterent. People like that are looking for easy no hassle targets.

[BugDude]

Try a gun lock on your shotgun when not at home. Trigger guard lock or a cable lock for a pump shotty. You can even run the cable through a metal bed frame so the gun can't be easily stolen.

[reyno2ac]

Go back to your bedroom, grab your handgun and call 911. Get behind cover (not under the covers). Pull the bang switch on the weapon IF the door opens and it's the BG.

If you care to "venture out" and greet the BG's, you MAY get shot and that's goin' hurt, maybe even kill ya.

Exactly what I would suggest doing

[1911PKR]

No kids? LOADED AND CLOSE BY BROTHER!!!

damn...

And go buy a tac light too!

[First Sgt]

Ok, I was home alone on a saturday, car gone from the driveway cause it was in the shop. somebody rings the bell at 6:30am. I wake up thinking this is odd, at this point you should have been arming yourself if the doorbell ringing at 6:30 a.m. was so odd so I get up and look out my peephole. great device to have! it's two kids age 19 or so, with a crappy fiero in my driveway. as I'm looking through the peephole, one of them starts walking around the back. (I'm in a very nice quiet suburban neighborhood where I routinely leave the house on a nice day without even locking it up I don't care how nice the neighborhood is or how quiet it is, in today's society you need to ALWAYS secure your home, some rich people live along the bluff view houses, and some average people live accross the street in older houses, like me)

ok at his point I'm a little scared and not sure what to do doing nothing should NEVER be an option. Call 911, fetch your weapon regardless of how far behind the power curve you might be, DO SOMETHING. I have a shotgun but by the time I go get it and load it etc he could be already in my house. I look out my sliding glass door and see him carrying a tool of somekind i his hand. he's just wearing a t-shirt. he's looking to break in with this tool somewhere. so I think I've got to do something or he will be in my house. so I carefully slide open the sliding glass door NEVER open your door for any reason to a stranger...NEVER. If you must speak to them, speak through the door, not through an open door and he goes "oh, is mary here?, we were supposed to pick her up" something like that so I just say "you better get lost right now" and he and his buddy go back to their car and very, very calmly drive off like they are in no hurry.

I had a camera ready nearby and thought I'm going to get their car in a photo, but then think what if they see me taking a picture of them, and come back to get me, so I wait until they are driving off at this point be a good witness, get description of auto and visually observe plate if possible and write it down, provide info to responding LEO and run outside and snap a picture getting about half a plate since it was blurry due to my nervousness. I call the cops right away and they show up and take the photo. later I called them and asked if they were able to identify them and they just gave me the run around so I never knew if they got them or not. but I figured that even if I had managed to tie them up tie them up? as in tie the two kids up that you confronted? not sure what you mean. You are at a definite disadvantage if you are not armed, and if you are armed, you hold them at gunpoint, if they have entered your home, if that's what you choose to do, but do not attempt to secure them by yourself...wait for responding LEO's and have the cops take them away, the buggers would probably just be let go the next day and then they might come back pissed at me. given our great system of justice.

so this was before I had a hand gun. say I had had my ruger SR9c handy. I could have pointed it at them from the door, and really scarred them if you draw your weapon, resolve in your mind that you will use it, NOT just point it. You MUST seek training, professional training, and then TRAIN TRAIN TRAIN, or if I had slept and been lazy and not gotten up like I normally would have done if in your mind you realize that it is out of the norm for your doorbell to ring at 6:30a.m., then to just lay in your bed and do nothing is/would be the height of stupidity. You're SA should have already set off the alarms that something was wrong. React to the situation , and they both got in my house thinking nobody was at home. I keep my bedroom door locked nice quiet neighboorhood and you lock your bedroom door?, so I would have had time to get the gun. what best to do? If you are at this point, and consider your bedroom a saferoom, call 911 and stand your ground. Do not attempt to clear the house on your own unless trained to do so, and even then with unknown numbers in your home it would NOT be advisable I don't want to get robbed, but what if they had a gun too? I go out there and confront them with my gun. maybe they leave, maybe they get scarred too and start to shoot. one person I know said he would keep the door locked, and start shooting through the door stupid is is stupid does...Not a good idea, and the wall, to let them know what i've got. or just do nothing unless they try to get into my bedroom? but mainly I was wondering if at the first part of this, to open the door with my gun and tell them to scram or not? If you open that bedroom door, you had better be prepared to use what's in your hand and not give verbal commands like Scram I don't think they had any guns at all operative words "don't think"...not something I would bet my life on, but they did have some sort of knife, or sharp tool to break in. just wondering what sort of options does one have here and what type of ramifications preparation and training is the key...YOU MUST begin your education on the laws of your state AND you MUST begin your training NOW, before you have another situation such as this? I mean if they really wanted to they could have charged me and overpowered me with a weapon in your hand and the proper training, I would venture to say it would not have been a wise move on their part...You MUST be mentally prepared to take the necessary actions to defend your life even if it means shooting someone. now, I have a remington 870 pump with 00 buckshot, and my ruger with a 10 round clip of hollow points. but I don't wish to shoot people but feel I could if they were threatening me directly you had best have more than a "feeling" that you could shoot, you better be "able" to shoot to defend your life. I have practiced with the ruger and know the gun pretty good. it's a great gun by the way, just feels really comfortable and happy in my hand.

this is a great forum so thought I would post this real life instance of what happened to me a year ago or so. thanks

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

[fredgarv]

911 that sounds like the best thing. half the time I don't keep my cell in my bedroom with me. (don't want work calling me waking me up when I have overslept for work! or calling me in on my day off!)

so, in my case I did get up and told them to get lost, which worked, so say I had stayed in my room with my gun, and hear them stealing my stuff. now I don't give a crap if my computer gets stolen or some lousy dvd's. so you have two options here, stay in the bedroom and if they come in, confront them, or do what i did and go out there and see them and sort of confront them before they get into the house? I suppose both methods could be good, or very bad. I doubt it will ever happen again but I wanted to get peoples opinions on this great site. thank's to you all!

I just got my concealed carry permit here in washington state. just today in the papers was a story of a woman walking alone and two people from the southern areas of the continent came up to her and asked her for her wallet, she gave it to them and they were nice enough to stab her in the back. fortunately she didn't get hurt to bad thank god. but as I read this I thought wow if she had had a gun, and was trained to use it properly, it would have been very different most likely for her. I sure do believe in the right to carry and that's one reason I decided to get one before any even remote possibility that the current administration and their friends might just attempt to keep people from being able to buy or carry a hand gun. since it seems now we want to emulate europe in most other things.

yes I did get the security sticker and put one on all doors.

[Rabbitcreek]

An unloaded gun does you no good. You cannot be sure you can get to the gun and ammo quickly enough when you actually need access.

Most residential burglaries take place during the day when no one is usually at home. That is why they knocked on the door, to see if you were there. As Bug said, answer them through the door, preferably with your loaded gun in your hand. Loaded meaning the chamber is loaded, if it is a semi-auto.

You can never guarantee that your home will not be broken into and your stuff stolen, but there are things you can do to your home to reduce the chances of a breakin.

[fredgarv]

first sgt, thank you. sound advice. I have been looking up books on this very subject. I have read about the laws in washington and have been doing lots of research. my comment on tying them up was just a theoretical situation where say I have them in my house, with the gun pointed at them, police on the way since I have called them, now of course it would be stupid to attempt to tie them up at this point I shouldn't have said that as I would not try to actually do this, but was just meant to point out that if I had them and the police came and arrested them, being youths they might just let them go after a day or two anyway. I would want them to have to pay for what they did by spending some time in jail, but trying to "hold" them until the police arrive might not be the best thing to do.

[zacii]

You've been given some good advice.

If you have no kids, then your shotgun should be ready to go, whenever you're at home. Lock it in the safe when you leave.

There is no reason to not have a sidearm, while at home. In fact, you just posted a good reason to have a sidearm.

You need some professional training. They can help you with your mindset, how and where to draw your line, and how to effectively employ your self defense weapons.

Always be armed. Always have your cell phone within arm's reach, or on your person. If you don't want your employer bugging you, that's what caller ID is for

Before an incident occurs, you have to make the decision what' worth livin' and dyin' for. That's so personal, we can tell you our decisions, but you have to make your own. It's between you and your conscience.

Stay tuned, I see a lot of people reading this thread, whom I know are loaded with good stuff to tell you...