Drew entering my apartment yesterday...

[paaiyan]

Monday, May 30th.

Background: I moved into this apartment right at a month ago to begin preparing it for my then-fiance to move in after we got married. I left on the 19th to stay with my parents in the city we were getting married in. Got married on the 21st, went on our honeymoon and we both returned to the apartment on the 28th. We spent the larger part of the weekend back unpacking the rest of the things she brought back and organizing.

Our apartment is on the third floor and has only the front door as a viable entry point. It has a sturdy deadbolt and no lock in the door handle.

The story: Monday we decided the place was clean enough to go shopping for a dining room table. We went about 6 different places and finally found one we liked, but decided to wait to get it. We had made a Sonic run at some point during our shopping around so I had a drink in my left hand, keys in my right when we approached the door. There were no *obvious* signs of forced entry that would tip me off to anything unusual, as I didn't hesitate to insert my key. I put in my key and turned and the door opened. I did not manipulate the door handle in any way.

I'm quite proud of how both my wife and I reacted. I didn't think about what I did, my M&P .40c just found its way into my hand, finger alongside the frame, without snagging on my shirt or any other trouble unholstering. With my left hand (Sonic cup still firmly in place) I swung the door to the left slowly and entered slicing the pie to my right as I came in. Did the same when I swept the kitchen to the left, and the bathroom and bedroom straight ahead. My wife stood by the door until I motioned her in after holstering.

The cause of the problem: After a second or two to calm down, I grabbed my keys from the door and stepped outside. I secured the deadbolt and tested the door which did not open. I put my key in and opened the deadbolt and the door swung open. If I turn the handle to test the deadbolt and don't pull the door afterward, the handle's latch catches on the lip of the door frame and doesn't snap closed, though the deadbolt remains secure.

Lessons learned:
1. Know thy security features and their quirks intimately, lest ye be fooled into thinking what is not true is.
2. Train yourself. It turns into habit. I am not an LEO or military, nor do I wish to be. My own in-home training kicked in, however, and I didn't have a single conscious thought from the time the door swung unexpectedly until halfway through clearing the second room. I learned two things from that.
a. I now know I can successfully draw my sidearm from my CBST without thinking and without a hitch in a moderately stressful situation. No stuttering to grab it, no catching on the t-shirt, no mishandling during the draw. I've practiced this quite a bit and it's apparently paying off.
b. I now know that I can clear a room pie-slice style with a fair amount of skill and do it in a way that I think was safe and effective. This, I think, mostly comes from paintball... Yeah I know, but it apparently works.
3. Train your family. My wife does not yet have her license to carry, and so did the best thing she could. Stand out of harm's way ready to run and get whatever help she could should the worst happen.
4. Let go of the Sonic drink. It's not worth it man.



Critiques welcome.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[ArkhmAsylm]

You had me laughing at #4! Reading the story, I expected you to say that your slush had ended up on the floor...

Good general test of your preparedness, though.

Congrats, newlywed!

[Stubborn]

BRAVO! Solid training turns into instinct when it's needed or applied. Funny how that works... Glad everything turned out to be cool.

[Backnblack]

BRAVO! Solid training turns into instinct when it's needed or applied. Funny how that works...

Agreed 100%, Glad it was nothing..

[archer51]

Sounds like you did good. However I can't agree with point 4, I LOVE my Sonic cherry limeade slushes!

[jwhite75]

I tend to think I would protect my Cherry limeade too..or at least have my wife hold it for me....

[paaiyan]

Sounds like you did good. However I can't agree with point 4, I LOVE my Sonic cherry limeade slushes!

Yeah, I know... Mine was just a regular cherry limeade, not a slush. I'm sure in retrospect it was quite an amusing picture. Right hand holding my M&P .40c, left hand holding a Route 44 Sonic cup. I must have looked awful intimidating...

[Thunder71]

So did your fiancée think you were nuts or is she all into it as well? My wife would probably roll her eyes and push me out of her way.

[paaiyan]

She took a class and all she has to do to get her license is fill out the paperwork. She was waiting until we got married so she wouldn't get her license, then immediately have to change her name and address. The cool part, I didn't even have to convince her to get hers, she wanted it before I met her.

I'm a little more gung-ho than she is, but if push comes to shove I can guarantee you she's not going down without a fight. That much I know. One of the first gifts I got her was a better can of OC spray than she had before, she still carries it to this day.

[Ianator]

Sounds like you did a good job. And congrats on the wedding! We had a similar situation. My wife calls me and tells me that she can't get in the apartment. (we too have the lock set up you do.) She confirmed she put the key in and felt it unlock but she said it felt like the deadbolt was locked (from the inside!!) I quickly told her to get the heck out of there - away from the door. I didn't want her anywhere near that thing when or if someone came out. She left and I came home. Went up and walked right in with my key, cleared the house....nothing missing... We will never know. Luckily, we are moving in a week.

[MitchellCT]

4. Let go of the Sonic drink. It's not worth it man.

Critiques welcome.

Some things are conditioned, and that's one of them.

I once had a BIG dog coming at me long before I got into formal training. My suit was buttoned.

I did a very quick unbuttoning of the jacket, then secured a grip on my gun...

Thinking back, dam...It was just one of those things that happened which would have cost me dearly if the time factor was shorter.

I've been their with you man. Today, I'd beat myself to death if I did something like that...

But...Got the T-Shirt...or should I say, sport coat...

From someone who's done what you have done before...You done good.

[babarock]

You did fine and kept your wits about you. My only question is did you have any second thoughts about clearing the apartment by yourself? Considering all the circumstances and I've always heard clearing a house is a high risk activity, I might have considered backing away and calling for backup.

[smolck]

I drew down on my neighbors cat once. It happens. (last chance for that garbage thief, next time we see if a Gold Dot in .45acp takes all 9 lives or not!)

[shockwave]

Another downvote here for #4. The Sonic slush is a weapon. It's in your hand. You can launch it at a threat. Most people, some frozen slush drink comes busting all up and in their face, they're going to flinch, duck, do something. Gives you a bonus couple of seconds to get a two-handed grip and aim.

[INccwchris]

Good job on not dropping the slushie, couldn't have a party foul on our hands