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New Lesson learned

2K views 15 replies 14 participants last post by  dimmak 
#1 ·
This just happened to me as I was perusing through the forums this afternoon.

I was sitting at my computer in the basement reading through my favorite forums (this one :danceban: ). My 2 year old is asleep in the next room.

Suddenly I heard a vehicle pull into the driveway. I looked out the window to see it was a strange van. Now I have a 180 ft deep driveway with a 6 foot fence surrounding my whole lot. Unknown people do not just pull all the way into my driveway for fun.

I instantly go into full alert. My dog is instantly on alert as well, but stays quiet because the child is asleep. I immediately move up to my masterbedroom loft, where my glock 23 is secured in a bedside vault. (reference that I have a child, my firearms are always secured) The dog does as she is supposed to do and moves up to the main floor, but stays near the stairs so that she can respond to the back to the basement if need be.

As I retreive my gun and an extra mag, I begin moving back down the stairs to the main floor. I take a good breath and quickly run through my mind all things I need at the immediate moment, and I swear under my breath as I realize I forgot my phone at the computer. Despite that, I still move forward to check the driveway through the window and then the rest of the property. It turns out that someone was just turning around and had allready left. I will still be cautious now because I may have just been cruised by a BG. I tend to err on the cautious armed side since in the time we have lived here we have had an attempted break in, a visit by a drunk man, and a visit by a meth head.

I guess what bothered me, and I take as a lesson learned, is that I forgot my phone. I try to keep the option of calling in the calvary on me at all times. Everything else went smooth for such an immediate call to action. No nerves, shaking, loss of motor action.

Your thoughts and opinions?
 
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#3 ·
I think that forgetting your phone is the lesser of two lessons here. The larger one is the amount of time it took you to retrieve your weapon. If this had been a kick in the door home invasion, you might not have retrieved your pistol before the BGs entered your house, much less gotten back down to the basement.

I understand you don't want to leave it lying about with a two-year old in the house, but your hip is just as safe (if not safer) a place for your Glock than the gun vault.
 
#4 ·
I understand you don't want to leave it lying about with a two-year old in the house, but your hip is just as safe (if not safer) a place for your Glock than the gun vault.
Agreed. I'm armed when I'm home. You really just never know.
 
#6 ·
You all are right and that would be the norm. In the case of today, I have not had the opertunity to leave the home, and consequently, had not armed for the day. Therefore, I moved to where the most readily accessable firearm was when I needed it.

Upon reflecting, I think what I take away most was a reminder that murphy knocks at the most inopertune times.

Oh yea, right now I am armed. :hand5:
 
#7 ·
It is sort of presumptuous to say that he would not have had time since we don't know how long it took him to get the gun in hand nor do we know how long it would take for a BG to get out of a van, bust through a door, disable a dog, and then pose a threat.

My advice would be to install a gate. That way you won't be bothered with false alarms.
 
#8 ·
+1 on the being armed at all times.

Once while sitting in my living room, I noticed a guy inside my fenced back yard. It turned out he was doing a routine inspection for the home owners association.

But it made me realize that if he was a bad guy wanting in, it would have taken him only a couple of seconds from when I noticed him to be at the back door kicking it in.

Call me paranoid, but I am armed as soon as I get out of bed - even before I shower.

Also, while the suggestions about alarms and gates would help with the false alarms, they won't help with a steathy bad guy.

The original poster said it best about Murphy. He doesn't take appointments and he always seems to show up at the worst possible time.

Stay safe; stay armed.
 
#9 ·
Always Armed At Home...

I feel that a weapon on my hip is safer there than anywhere else for several reasons...that aside...

It appears, from what you have said, that you did what most of us would have done for 'prep'...but one thing arouses my suspicion...:confused:

Why would the 'visitors' pull ALL the way down the 180' driveway just to turn around? Something smells funny here...:scratchchin:

I would be talking with my neighbors about this one as well as watching for these same fellas for a few weeks all around the local area...I might even mention it to the cops. Sometimes small clues are all the cops need to see the ENTIRE picture.

OMO

Stay armed...stay safe!

ret
 
#10 ·
Why would the 'visitors' pull ALL the way down the 180' driveway just to turn around? Something smells funny here...:scratchchin:
Had to do exactly this, some weeks ago, on a high-speed country road that had zero room for turning around. The lane I turned onto had ditches on either side. Only way was to head to the end, turn around, then exit. Likely, the owners of the home at the end of that lane felt similarly, but it was the only way to do it.

So, this situation was apparently similar. Kudos on elevated "radar," though. It's what keeps you safe.
 
#11 ·
Being the target of a stalker, I understand the paranoia. I also have been forced through a dry run scenario that turned out to be nothing, but proved invaluable for bringing my attention to details that I would have missed had it turned out to be more.

SonofASniper, did you notice a sort of time lag? Hick's law states that whenever you add a possible response to a given stimuli, you add 50% more time. More possible responses = more time to decide choices. Especially with duress. Did this happen to you? It did to me. Just curious.
 
#12 ·
That sort of thing happens a few times a night here. I am always alert, and so is my dog. I always stand int he dark and peer out to see if i recognize the car. I have my mossberg handy just in case. I figure my door is pretty flimsy so if i had to i could pound anyone before they could get in. I have hearing like a bat despite forgetting to ear ear plugs all the time while shooting, and i am always alert scanning my suroundings. Im kinda paranoid to so that forces me to always be ready for something to happen.
 
#13 ·
I instantly go into full alert. My dog is instantly on alert as well, but stays quiet because the child is asleep. I immediately move up to my masterbedroom loft, where my glock 23 is secured in a bedside vault. (reference that I have a child, my firearms are always secured) The dog does as she is supposed to do and moves up to the main floor, but stays near the stairs so that she can respond to the back to the basement if need be.

Why is it that you do not keep your gun and your phone on you?

That would address a lot of potential problems.

What if they had parked the van far away and crept up on foot undetected and were bashing in the door first thing you knew of them? Still time/opportunity to get to the gun in the vault? Still time to locate your (where they hell'd I put it?) phone? Why chance it?
 
#15 · (Edited)
Potential mother rant....

I think you did well and shouldn't kick yourself too much for forgetting your phone.

I don't have kids yet, but hopefully they will be coming along sooner rather than later. Still, the thought of someone hurting my child makes my shoulders tense and my teeth clench.

Not that even if it were a bad guy, they would be after your baby, but at times, when things go wrong, kids are a great negotiating tool to grab.

In your post you said that your child was asleep in the next room, but you didn't mention checking in on him, or pulling the door shut and locking it before your proceeded to get your gun. I'm not saying you didn't do it, you just didn't mention doing it. Because had it been a BG and you were upstairs while he broke in and was between you and your baby, I would hope your child would be secured at the very least but then again, I don't know the layout of your home. I'm just a potential mother throwing things out there.

My husband and I have considered this carefully in our preparation for parenthood. Our plan (to date) is for some kind of an intercom system from our room (or any room) to their room(s). When a code word or certain alarm is made over the intercom the kids will be trained to immediately close and lock their doors (deadbolts on the inside of their bedroom doors with the only keys in mine and my husband's possession). At which point they can return to the intercom and communicate with me or their father. Under absolutely NO circumstances are they to open the door themselves. Mommy and Daddy have a key. When all is clear we (my husband and I) will come and unlock the door. Even if the person at their door claims to be a police officer, or even claims to be us, they are not to open the door.

We are still working on the finer details, but that's the general plan at this moment.

I know that your child is too young to understand those kind of instructions, but having a plan for family should include their participation so that you don't have to put yourself through further worry and risk by trying to reach and protect them (which any concerned parent would try to do anyway).

I know it's just a fictional book, but in the book "Red Dragon" the BG comes into homes via their sliding doors, goes directly to the parents bedroom, kills the father, disables the mother and then goes to the rooms of the children and executing them. In the book, one of the children is dragged from hiding under his bed before he is killed.

I can only hope my children are trained enough to protect themselves at least to the point of immediately locking their door when feeling threatened, because Mommy and Daddy can't always come to the rescue. I learned that lesson the hard way over and over again when I was young and I won't let my children have to go through it as well, not if I can help it even in the slightest of ways.

I also want my children who are too young to understand getting up and locking their doors to be close enough to where I can go to them and protect them and if I'm alone, at least reach in the room, lock the door and proceed knowing at least that a BG is going to have to go through me (a mama bear) and a locked door before he gets to my child.

Like I said, I don't know your homes layout or your thoughts on this, but it's just a potential Mom putting out some feelers.

I still think you did well in your alertness and quick response and cool control. (where is that little thumbs up smiley?) :smile:
 
#16 ·
Possibly get the M1A out next time.....

+1 on wearing your pistol and installing some sort of gate....

Cell phones are a must,so you may wish to get a belt holster for yours, so thats one less thing to worry about.....

Glad everybody is ok....
 
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