Scary incident last night...

[newhunter1]

First let me just say that I have been on here looking at different situations and incidents. I never, ever in my life thought I would post an incident on here. I live in Illinois where carrying will land one in jail for years.

Last night my wife, my two little boys, and I came home from almost a 10 day vacation to Florida. We arrived around 8 pm and started unloading the truck. I had disarmed upon entering Illinois, and forgot to arm myself as soon as I got home. After the truck was unloaded I grabbed the pistol and shotgun, took them upstairs and did not load either.

My wife and I sat down after unloading the truck, tucking our boys in and just rested. After an hour or so my wife went to bed and I was left downstairs.
The young lady who watched our home while we were on vacation went with our church group to go camping...so I thought she wasn't coming to drop off the keys. About two hours (11:15) after my wife goes to bed I hear my front screen door open and then someone trying to get into the house. I at first thought it was my housesitter, so I jumped up and grabbed my shorts. (sitting in skivvies) Then I heard a loud boom...two in fact. Someone was trying to get into my home...I yelled (still thinking it was my house sitter) "Don't come in here...hold on!!) then it the screen door slammed shut and I realized then it wasn't my house sitter. I ran upstairs, grabbed my .45 and loaded it, grabbed my surefire and went down stairs. I made sure no one was standing out there, opened the door and scanned the front yard with my surefire. I then went to another window and scanned the back yard and my truck. Went back to the front door and see someone about 50 yards down the road walking/jogging across the street. He was a medium build black guy in his teens or early twenties.

I made sure that my house alarm was on instant and went to bed..went to work for a couple of hours and came home. This when I see the two foot prints and a large crack in my door panel. I must have scared them off when I yelled...good thing too as I only had my knives on me with my shorts. I can only assume that God took care of me there...now I will always carry on me while at home. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. My wife is now a believer in me being armed at home...she tolerated it at first and now she wants her shotgun back upstairs and wants me to train her how to chamber a round. I've taken her shooting with it and she's good with it.

Now I have to buy a new door so i'm waiting for the door guys to come and install a metal door for me...going to cost me close or just above 500.00 to make sure my door is solid and reinforced, but I'll pay that and so much more to make sure my family is safe.

This has made me so mad today...thinking "what if" without my .45. I would have made them pay dearly to get past me, but at what cost. Never again.

Advice is accepted and asked for...

NH1

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[newhunter1]

I called the Alton police and they came out and filled a report. Said there is nothing they could do simply because I did not see the person, and that my description of the person I did see described about 98% of the teens and young adults here in Alton. Plus, since I didn't see their face there is really nothing I could do. I stated to him that I would do everything in my power to keep my family safe and that if they get into my home...it won't be a good turn out. He stated to me..."if something like that happens and the criminal is dead then there isn't a cop in Alton that would mind or care." I'm glad to hear that and Illinois has a good castle doctrine, but I'm afraid of the DA of the city might not see it the same way...but I will stop any threat to my family.

[jhh3rd]

Well, we all feel safe and comfortable in our homes. It is a shame when someone tries to burgle your home. I am sure your and your wife's vigilance will be amped up to a higher level. I am glad no one was hurt and hope it was just a one time incident. john

[Spec]

A learning experince for all of us that just because being in your castle doesn't mean you are 100% safe. I am armed around the house 98% of the time. The other 2% the Mossberg or S&W are very close by.

The McDonald v. Chicago case just ruled in favor of Citizens and their guns what is going on? I thought you could not own a Handgun in chicago, how come you have one already? I'm confused, you were armed then unarmed? do you have a CPL? You brought your firearms with you while on vacation in florida?

[carguy2244]

Why did you go to bed with your weapons unloaded?

[ChuckAZ]

Next time do yourself a favor. Dont open your door, stay inside your house and call the police. Dont go searching for anyone, its going to sound really bad to a jury when you are asked why you hunted out the guy outside of your home.

Your outside, you lose the safety of your house and having a barrier between you and him, second you left your family all alone inside, the guy could of broken in the back door as you are out front and hurt your family.


Trust me I know, I made an error one night of answering my door when someone knocked on it, I thought it was my friend coming over since I was expecting them at a late odd hour. Well I wasnt paying attention didnt look out the door first, as soon as I opened the door I had someone trying to push it open and rush me, I realized quickly it was not my friend. End story and best advice from the police was to never open the door if you dont know who it is and just to call them. Guy was drunk and had the wrong apartment and apologized, police let him go and i was fine with it. As to why he tried to push the door in I have no clue.

[Spirit of 76]

He (the LEO) stated to me..."if something like that happens and the criminal is dead then there isn't a cop in Alton that would mind or care."

I'll bet there'd be a lot of whore lawyers who would care, though.

[SpencerB]

Glad you and yours are alright, now lesson learned and never again will you be unprepared! Stay safe!

[grady]

Advice is accepted and asked for...

Never, ever forget what happened, nor what could have happened had they gained entry.

Never, ever renege on your commitment to always be armed at home, no matter how comfortable you feel, no matter who disagrees or argues with you, no matter who rolls their eyes at you, no matter who criticizes or discounts your decision to be armed, no matter what.

Never forget.

Never renege.

Ever.

Set it in stone, from this day forward.

[SpencerB]

Never, ever forget what happened, nor what could have happened had they gained entry.

Never, ever renege on your commitment to always be armed at home, no matter how comfortable you feel, no matter who disagrees or argues with you, no matter who rolls their eyes at you, no matter who criticizes or discounts your decision to be armed, no matter what.

Never forget.

Never renege.

Ever.

Set it in stone, from this day forward.

100% agreed!

[rottkeeper]

Never open the door and don't stand in front of a window... you make yourself an easy target, specially if there is light behind you. Take cover in a safe place and call 911.

[newhunter1]

A learning experince for all of us that just because being in your castle doesn't mean you are 100% safe. I am armed around the house 98% of the time. The other 2% the Mossberg or S&W are very close by.

The McDonald v. Chicago case just ruled in favor of Citizens and their guns what is going on? I thought you could not own a Handgun in chicago, how come you have one already? I'm confused, you were armed then unarmed? do you have a CPL? You brought your firearms with you while on vacation in florida?

First I am no where near Chicago...I'm just north of St. Louis so the Chicago laws do not apply to me. I have a Florida CCW that I use when I travel to Missouri, or other states that take the permit. I was armed while in Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida as well as the return trip. 2 miles out from the Illinois border I unloaded my .45 and locked it up.

Why did you go to bed with your weapons unloaded?

I didn't go to bed...I was up watching t.v.

Next time do yourself a favor. Dont open your door, stay inside your house and call the police. Dont go searching for anyone, its going to sound really bad to a jury when you are asked why you hunted out the guy outside of your home.

Your outside, you lose the safety of your house and having a barrier between you and him, second you left your family all alone inside, the guy could of broken in the back door as you are out front and hurt your family.


Trust me I know, I made an error one night of answering my door when someone knocked on it, I thought it was my friend coming over since I was expecting them at a late odd hour. Well I wasnt paying attention didnt look out the door first, as soon as I opened the door I had someone trying to push it open and rush me, I realized quickly it was not my friend. End story and best advice from the police was to never open the door if you dont know who it is and just to call them. Guy was drunk and had the wrong apartment and apologized, police let him go and i was fine with it. As to why he tried to push the door in I have no clue.

Great advice...I will admit I was thinking...part of me was thinking this was Crystal, another part of me wanted to be sure that Crystal wasn't out there and lastly I was wanting to make sure everything was secure. I will however call the police...I can only say I was tired after driving in from Panama City Beach and really was tired.

[Bark'n]

newhunter1,First of all, that would scare the bejeezus out of anyone!

Second, it always, always, always happens when you least expect it! You just finished around 1,000 miles on the road, you're exhausted, yet probably still wound tight from the road, you got sloppy by not prepping your "emergency life saving tools" (guns) as soon as you got home, and you just wanted to sit down and decompress! This is the prime time for "Mr. Murphy" of Murphy's law pay you a visit. Look, you have to constantly be aware of the "Murphy Equation" in all aspects of your defensive strategy. I'm a firm believer that Murphy is a real entity. In fact, I consider Murphy to be my friggon co-pilot! I count on him to always screw up Plan A. In combat, planning for the Murphy factor is what keeps you Alive! No matter how exhausted you are, or how frazzled your brain is, always keep your guns at the ready! You live in Illinois, so you have some pain in the ass rules you have to abide by when out and about, or traveling in and out of the state. You know that, so don't get complacent. Suck it up and do what you know you have to do. Load those guns and get a gun back on your hip as soon as you get back home. Okay, enough on that.

Third, ChuckAZ hit the nail on the head and gave some sound advice! Your castle is your fortress, don't wander around outside. No matter the urge you have to either catch the guy or at least be able to see him in order to identify him, you want to fight that urge. Bad things happen outside the confines of the home. You maintain a superior advantage when you fight from an ensconced position. You lose that protection when you leave the fortress and venture outside. Just a year or two ago, a news story was posted here when a man went outside with gun in hand to investigate a prowler. He was ambushed and killed when he went around the corner to check out the side of his house. By the way, what did you gain when you went outside on this incident? Absolutely nothing of value in helping you or the police identify the prowler, but the risk was your life! So, I hope this helps put things into perspective.

All in all, I think you surprised the guy by calling out and scaring him off. No doubt he was planning on coming in. Whether he knew you had been out of town and thought you were still out of town or whether he knew people were inside and he was coming in anyway, you'll never know. But home invasions where the perp knows the home is occupied are bad things and usually don't end well for the homeowner if they are anything less than completely prepared.

Good thing getting a reinforced steel entry door. Yeah, they aren't cheap. After you get that paid for, do a security check on the rest of your home and fortify all points of entry.

Lastly, dude, you are so close to Missouri, why don't you just move here? You're right across the river for crying out loud. You'd still be close enough to probably keep your present job. Anyways, I'm just throwing that out.

It sounds like you are a real safety conscious man and would do everything to protect your family. So don't blow it by letting complacency creep into your life. You have to be on your toes all the time!

Take care and stay safe buddy! I'm glad everything turned out okay.

The McDonald v. Chicago case just ruled in favor of Citizens and their guns what is going on? I thought you could not own a Handgun in chicago, how come you have one already? I'm confused, you were armed then unarmed? do you have a CPL? You brought your firearms with you while on vacation in florida?

Handguns are not banned in all parts of the state. Mainly Morton Grove and Chicago. This man lives right on the Mississippi River bordering Missouri. There are handguns allowed in virtually the whole state except for Chicago and Morton Grove. So, it's not a surprise he owns handguns. He just doesn't have any provisions in state law to have a ccw yet. But sheriff's in other counties outside Chicago and Cook County are starting to support ccw.

And hell yeah, he takes guns with him on vacation. You ever see what Grady takes with him when he goes on vacation. I don't travel ANYWHERE without guns. Especially when on vacation or business trips.

[newhunter1]

newhunter1,First of all, that would scare the bejeezus out of anyone!

Second, it always, always, always happens when you least expect it! You just finished around 1,000 miles on the road, you're exhausted, yet probably still wound tight from the road, you got sloppy by not prepping your "emergency life saving tools" (guns) as soon as you got home, and you just wanted to sit down and decompress! This is the prime time for "Mr. Murphy" of Murphy's law pay you a visit. Look, you have to constantly be aware of the "Murphy Equation" in all aspects of your defensive strategy. I'm a firm believer that Murphy is a real entity. In fact, I consider Murphy to be my friggon co-pilot! I count on him to always screw up Plan A. In combat, planning for the Murphy factor is what keeps you Alive! No matter how exhausted you are, or how frazzled your brain is, always keep your guns at the ready! You live in Illinois, so you have some pain in the ass rules you have to abide by when out and about, or traveling in and out of the state. You know that, so don't get complacent. Suck it up and do what you know you have to do. Load those guns and get a gun back on your hip as soon as you get back home. Okay, enough on that.

Third, ChuckAZ hit the nail on the head and gave some sound advice! Your castle is your fortress, don't wander around outside. No matter the urge you have to either catch the guy or at least be able to see him in order to identify him, you want to fight that urge. Bad things happen outside the confines of the home. You maintain a superior advantage when you fight from an ensconced position. You lose that protection when you leave the fortress and venture outside. Just a year or two ago, a news story was posted here when a man went outside with gun in hand to investigate a prowler. He was ambushed and killed when he went around the corner to check out the side of his house. By the way, what did you gain when you went outside on this incident? Absolutely nothing of value in helping you or the police identify the prowler, but the risk was your life! So, I hope this helps put things into perspective.

All in all, I think you surprised the guy by calling out and scaring him off. No doubt he was planning on coming in. Whether he knew you had been out of town and thought you were still out of town or whether he knew people were inside and he was coming in anyway, you'll never know. But home invasions where the perp knows the home is occupied are bad things and usually don't end well for the homeowner if they are anything less than completely prepared.

Good thing getting a reinforced steel entry door. Yeah, they aren't cheap. After you get that paid for, do a security check on the rest of your home and fortify all points of entry.

Lastly, dude, you are so close to Missouri, why don't you just move here? You're right across the river for crying out loud. You'd still be close enough to probably keep your present job. Anyways, I'm just throwing that out.

It sounds like you are a real safety conscious man and would do everything to protect your family. So don't blow it by letting complacency creep into your life. You have to be on your toes all the time!

Take care and stay safe buddy! I'm glad everything turned out okay.




Handguns are not banned in all parts of the state. Mainly Morton Grove and Chicago. This man lives right on the Mississippi River bordering Missouri. There are handguns allowed in virtually the whole state except for Chicago and Morton Grove. So, it's not a surprise he owns handguns. He just doesn't have any provisions in state law to have a ccw yet. But sheriff's in other counties outside Chicago and Cook County are starting to support ccw.

And hell yeah, he takes guns with him on vacation. You ever see what Grady takes with him when he goes on vacation. I don't travel ANYWHERE without guns. Especially when on vacation or business trips.

You are totally right in everything you stated. As far as my guns...several of them went to my friends home to reside in his safe. I will pick them up tomorrow. My wife 870 Remington 20gauge was and is loaded with 00buck and was underneath my back seat of the truck the entire trip. In the bed was my wife's .45 long colt revolver (we have a nice camper shell on truck...tailgate locks and back hatch locks too) as well as my Rock Island .45 with three full magazines of Corbon 165 grain ammo. Currently I'm vegging out...waiting for my wife to get home with my .45 within 1 foot of me and an extra mag. I'll be sleeping downstairs tonight on the couch with my .45 and three full mags...my wife will have the 20 gauge and should she here the alarm go off, my .45 going off she is to go inside the boy's room with the shotgun and wait till she hears my voice. If she does not hear me call out and someone enters the door to the boy's room then that means they have gotten past me (hopefully many or all will be down and no longer a threat) or that I've been wounded or killed as well. She will have her phone (and my phone), and will be calling the police as the Brinks (now ADT) will be calling my phone.

I've instructed her that if she does not hear my voice telling her everything is ok then she is to shoot anyone that comes thru that door. I've instructed her to take cover...showed her what and where cover is. The boys will be covered and concealed while she has the shotgun trained on the door. I've instructed her to be on the phone with the police, what she is wearing, where she is at, and what weapons she has with her. She knows not to come down stairs until she hears from the police dispatcher that cops are on scene and that she hears from the police officer to not shoot them.

Hopefully, she will hear all this from me, but I know that things can and will go south. I'm prepared now...won't let that happen ever again.

Also, to answer your question about why don't I just move to Missouri...Man I wish I could. I teach in Florissant and won't lose the job...but when i bought this house we took another loan on the house to make repairs...we are just to much upside down right now. We've been in this house just under 6 years and the repairs we've made make the house more valuable than those around us. We would really lose money in selling the home. Plus crap like this whappen in Missouri too.

[searcher 45]

Never, ever forget what happened, nor what could have happened had they gained entry.

Never, ever renege on your commitment to always be armed at home, no matter how comfortable you feel, no matter who disagrees or argues with you, no matter who rolls their eyes at you, no matter who criticizes or discounts your decision to be armed, no matter what.

Never forget.

Never renege.

Ever.

Set it in stone, from this day forward.

!00% in agreement!!!

This is how I live and feel good about it!!!