Beating on the door at night

[CarolinaSig]

So last night as my wife and I were watching some television around 10pm there's a loud banging at the front door. We normally do not have visitor,s especially that late at night. I quickly retrieved my handgun from the safe in my night stand. I only have one gun and have a 2-year-old at home so my wife is not comfortable having it out of the safe. She's always said if something were to happen, I'd never be able to get to the gun in time.

As soon as I heard the sound the gun was in my hands with a round in the chamber within 20 seconds. I took a defensive position at the front door for a few minutes and then called the sheriffs office who sent out a deputy.

When he arrived 35-40 minutes later, we checked around the house and found nothing and he said he was going to check our neighborhood. While we had a light on at the front door, he suggested we have more lights on. I think we're going to replace some of our outside lights with some motion-sensing lights soon.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Inspector71]

It only took the deputy 35-40 minutes to arrive after the call? WOW! I'd be headed out looking for a HD shotgun this morning.

[pacman]

did anyone look out of a window to see who it was?

[CarolinaSig]

My wife looked out of the closest window while I was at the door after a few minute but did not see anyone. Unfortunately, we do not have a window where you can see the front door. We do have a small peep hole but I did not see anyone.

[pacman]

Ahh yeah, that would make it kind of tough. Hopefully it was just some kids screwing around.

No flaming brown bags of dog poo? :)

[Mike1956]

I usually answer the door whenever someone knocks.

[Brady]

Go to Radio Shack and get a cheap video system for the blind sides of the house, and wear or pocket your gun, even at home.

"When seconds count, the police are just minutes away".

[Sig35seven]

Did you say..."who is it?" without opening the door? Maybe it was a neighbor.

[oneshot]

I usually answer the door whenever someone knocks.

^^^Careful Mike^^^^^^^^

There are noobs lurking about, who may not fully understand your whimsical fun-loving side!!

Go to Radio Shack and get a cheap video system for the blind sides of the house, and wear or pocket your gun, even at home. "When seconds count, the police are just minutes away".

^^^^^^Have your pistol/HD firearm ready to deploy in seconds.^^^

If you are able to get to it, and effectively be ready to use it in the time frame you mention, you could have been in serious trouble.

What if they didn't "knock", or what if they crept in through your bedroom( where you said the pistol was) window, how are you gonna protect you and yours, under those circumstances?

[Mike1956]

^^^Careful Mike^^^^^^^^

There are noobs lurking about, who may not fully understand your whimsical fun-loving side!!

I thought it was a whimsical, fun-loving post. Are you telling me there really are people who behave as the OP outlined in his post when there is a knock at the door, and then recount it on a gun site?

[C hawk Glock]

I usually answer the door whenever someone knocks.

Do you greet them with Tea and Muffins too? LOL..... Your post cracked me up!

[1911srule]

Interesting, last night at 10 pm we watched a new episode of "What if" that addressed this type of home invasion scenario. I'd say 20 second armed response time is way too slow if door was kicked in judging from what we saw.

[RevolvingMag]

It only took the deputy 35-40 minutes to arrive after the call? WOW! I'd be headed out looking for a HD shotgun this morning.

Academy sells a really great looking Mossberg 500 .410- 3" chamber- for about $250. Only thing I don't like about it is that it comes with the 24" barrel- not the 18.5". But, still, get the 18.5" for another ~$100 and be well set up for less than $400. Birdshot at 15' does some pretty nasty stuff to anything.

[tacmansgirl]

Have you thought about getting a motion sensor around your home????

[KimBobTex]

2 lessons learned here ...

1. 20 seconds to get armed is WAY TOO LONG!! If the BG's "BURST" through the door with no initial warning of knocking or incessant bell ringing, you're SOL !! I don't know about your floor plan, but mine is such that such an entry immediately places the BG's between me in the living areas, & my bedroom ... I would have to get through them to get to my gun in your scenario ... not acceptable.


2. You're local LEO response time of 35-40 minutes, means you are TOTALLY on your own for home defense. All that will be left for the LEO to do is call the Coroner & complete paperwork. Who the Coroner gets called for is up to you, hopefully the BG.

Be thankful last night was just loud knocking & not loud bursting through the door. Use this opportunity as a second chance to re-think your HD setup. I know the "kids" factor is a complete game changer & eliminates many options, but hopefully you can come up with something better than what you described what happened last night.

The loud door knockers & bell ringers are usually your daytime burglars that want to ensure (as best they can) an emptly house & don't want confrontations, just your stuff. The late night crowd that "crashes" into your home with no advance notice of knocking or ringing, do so knowing up front the likelyhood of occupants at home & don't care. They are usually expecting & ready for confrontations, & you have to assume they don't want to leave any witnesses behind .... they're the dangerous ones, the worst case scenario that your HD has to be prepared for.

Stay safe!!