A scare that made me think

[Zaydok Allen]

A few thoughts.

Lock your doors whether you are home or not.

If it's only you and your wife, and you don't need to worry about anyone messing with it, keep loaded guns in the areas of your home you are in most. I keep a 45 next to the bed, and a 7 shot .357 next to the arm chair. Keep them loaded or easily and quickly loaded. If you have grand kids, just put them away when they are there.

If you are expecting someone, obviously there is no need to answer the door with a gun in hand. If I'm expecting someone, I leave the shade open so I can see when they get there. Otherwise the shade is closed otherwise a potential intruder can see where you are.

If someone does knock unexpectedly, grab your gun, get it chambered or loaded if neither isn't already accomplished. And....

The preferred approach is to answer from a position that would not put you at risk.

I yell "Who is it?" from 6-8 feet away from the door with the gun ready to be leveled and fired very fast. You don't want to be too close or a kicked in door will hit you and may stagger/knock you over. If your door is kicked in, first verify it isn't the police visually. Cops should inform when they knock. If it isn't a cop, open fire on the intruder. Have a reload near the gun.

Just my way of going about it.

First things first though, lock the door.

 

[Warp]

There are a handful of items a guy should have with most of the time when out and about.
- wallet
- cell phone
- knife
- flashlight
- gun

. . . At home -
- cell phone
- gun - doesn't have to be a cannon

I know lot's of folks will say lock your door, but the truth is when you're running in and out of the house doing yard work or small projects, for example, it is unrealistic.

I use the back door or the garage door to run in and out, not the front door. I don't like leaving the front door unlocked.

Don't know if that really makes a difference, of if the difference is even good or bad, but that's one thing I do.

 

[JustinJ]

It was NEVER a good idea to leave one's door unlocked. It was not safer to do so back 'whenever' either. The days of unlocked doors aren't gone, they never were.

 

[kwguy]

Same goes for garage doors.

It can happen in any neighborhood, even in nice suburbs. Home invasions are often done in that way. Catch an unsuspecting resident off guard and overwhelm them with force and speed. Once you are caught outside of your 'decision / action' cycle, it's tough to regain the advantage.

 

[Armored farmer]

The coded electronic locks make it much easier to lock up. The whole family knows the code. No more fumbling with keys for us.

 

[gamestalker]

My doors are always locked, have a weapon on me or within reach, and a sign on my gate that this is private property, no trespassing. And I never, ever answer my door unarmed.

GS

 

[riceboy72]

Now that the days are longer and the weather's warmer here in Washington, I enjoy leaving the front door open until dusk with the storm door locked. I did it last year, and it really helped me enjoy the evenings with my family.

I've slowly learned to not carry a pistol with me all the time while at home, especially when I'm relaxing on the couch with my wife, but one is in reach when we're downstairs. But essentially if we're home, and the front door is open, the storm door is locked. If it's in the late fall through early spring, the front door is shut and locked. The garage door is never left ajar, either, unless we're working outside and in the front area.

Had a solicitor last week ring the doorbell around 6 pm. My daughter was on her way down the stairs to answer the door but she saw me go and tell the lady we were eating and weren't interested, even though we weren't eating and didn't give her a chance to tell us why she was there. She now knows to not answer the door at all.

 

[Carl Levitian]

[Quote; If we're home the doors are unlocked and the closest gun is in a locked gun safe in the bedroom. Same conditions that I grew up in back in the 50's and 60's.

Crime rates have been dropping since the 90's and are currently the lowest they've been in over 40 years.

what is everyone so afraid of? Is it because of the internet and 24 hour news channels that HAVE to play up all the bad news possible to try to get viewers?

In my community, all the grandkids and neighborhood kids are in and out, playing and visiting around the neighborhood. I can't imagine being so paranoid that my young child has to knock on the door of their own house, then wait for me to come to the door with a gun before they can get in.]
__________________

Richard Ramirez, also known as the Night stalker serial killer, looked for unlocked doors/windows. In the case of the "Cold Blood killers, Perry Smith and Richard Hickock who killed four members of a farming family in Holcmb Kansas, they used an unlocked door.

The list of serial killers who use unlooked doors is a very long one. In the end it all comes down to how much do you care to protect your family?

It's not paranoid, but accepting that this in not Peewee's playhouse or Mr. Rogers neighborhood. It's the real world, and if you don't take some basic precautions, you may end up a statistic. All it takes in one whack job to come roaming down your street one evening looking for an unlocked door. How many people will never know how close they came because Richard Ramirez found their door locked?

 

[Zaydok Allen]

The days of unlocked doors aren't gone, they never were.

Exactly.

Crime rates have been dropping since the 90's and are currently the lowest they've been in over 40 years.

what is everyone so afraid of? Is it because of the internet and 24 hour news channels that HAVE to play up all the bad news possible to try to get viewers?

That's true, and great! However, IF somone decides to victimize you or your family, don't you want to be prepared?

In my community, all the grandkids and neighborhood kids are in and out, playing and visiting around the neighborhood. I can't imagine being so paranoid that my young child has to knock on the door of their own house, then wait for me to come to the door with a gun before they can get in.

We don't all live in your community, and to assume that everyone's living condition is as apparently safe as yours is erroneous. Not everyone lives in the same type of environment.

Things were in my neighborhood as a child, very similar to what you described. We kids were running around the neighborhood all day in summer, and I grew up in a suburb of a major city. As I think back, I think it was unsafe. While violent crime is down, when a home invassion does happen, or a burglary, the potential is very high for you or your family to be harmed. The chances are slim, but many of us believe you should be prepared all the time. If I had kids, I'd expect them to be coming in and out, and I would keep my gun concealed and on my person. But they would get the same talk I got as a kid.

"If you and your friends want to run around the neighborhood that's fine. Stay out of the street. Ask before entering your friends home, never just walk in. If an unfamiliar car drives by, stay away from it. If someone in that car does anything weird, or tries to talk to you, RUN home, or to your nearest friends house with them and go inside and lock the door."

My parents were catious,but not paranoid. They just weren't gun people. I am, so I include locked doors and a firearm as part of my home defense strategy. It isn't paranoia, it's being prepared.

To be fair though, I now live in a REALLY small town, and lead a very private life. People who know me understand that, and know to text or call me before showing up. So if there's an unexpected knock, I get ready, because no one should be coming by. I don't carry to take the trash out. I just want to be ready if someone tries to come in who shouldn't.

here have also been two breakins near me in the last three years. One was a half mile away, and the other was three doors down. Consiquently, I live next to a park where children play all day in summer. Community setting really doesn't come into it. They were caught, and questioned. Turned out they were meth heads from the next town over out stealing stuff to sell for drug money. Do you think a drug addict is going to be thinking clearly or won't turn violent if they walk in and you or a loved one is standing there? Personally, I think there is a good chance they would.

If a solicitor stops by, they are turned away, with a clear message that I am not interested, and will never be, so they don't need to stop by again.

 

[kcofohio]

I agree about being prepared. And that goes both ways, as in know what your target is.
A situation happened in our house some time ago. It was late in the evening. Our teenage daughter had been in the living room working out. I went to brush my teeth as I was about to turn in for the night. When I came out to the living room she wasn't there. I thought she was in her bedroom. I was close to the door that led to the garage, when the door handle moved and the door began to open. Without a gun on me, I figured I was going to have to tackle somebody. It turns out, she went into the garage to do some running in place without telling us.
It took a bit of explaining to her that we need to know if she goes outside. And it made me think of if I was armed, I need to be sure of whom I might draw on.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

Absolutely right.

 

[akarguy]

you were being cased

had you not been home he probably would have just broken in and helped himself. these guys will try this routine several times , maybe have a buddy pretend to be a contractor looking for work, or claiming to have "leftover material" from a job nearby. all they are doing our learning your schedule and habits as well as your neighbors to find the best time to break in. do you have a nicer car or yard or is your home better kept the neighbors?? something that would indicate there may be other valuables inside? or could it be some other perceived vulnerability from the street (lack of dog, Prius in the driveway)? hopefully there's nothing making you a mark or your neighborhood an easy target and this was just some random loser looking for a quick break in and grab. anyway good to be vigilant and good luck

 

[SwampWolf]

Though my wife and I reside in probably one of the safest places in the world, our doors are always locked-save those times when I'm in and out doing lawn chores or whatever. And after dark or when we're not expecting "visitors", both of us keep a revolver behind our backs when answering the door (an auxilary "chain lock" on the door allows us to communicate without giving complete entrance to our abode without permission).

 

[justice06rr]

Lock your doors or get a dog.

Everyone's situation is different, whether you're young/old, live in a city/country, or in a "safe" neighborhood or not. Its always better to be prepared and secured vs the alternative.

 

[Baron_Null]

I think the op might have accidentally let the man know he was not white!

No but really, why do we always have to tiptoe around this stuff? He had a black man walk in his house, obviously this is not a common thing. I'm sure the same level of occurs if a white man walks in a house occupied by black folk in a majority black neighborhood.

If taken at face value, the implications of this are downright asinine.

If an adult stranger walks through my door uninvited, I'm going to treat them like an adult stranger who walked through my door uninvited. I don't qualify it based on gender or race, I qualify it based on the simple fact that they are an adult stranger who walked through my door uninvited. In that moment there are two races in my mind. The race which consists of adult strangers who walk through my door uninvited, and the race who are not adult strangers who walk through my door uninvited, and the only member of the race of adult strangers who walk through my door uninvited is the adult stranger who walked through my door uninvited.

I'm honestly not too sure what the idea behind this is. If a Mexican man waltzes through my door, am I supposed to embrace him loudly yelling "COMRADE, I AM GLAD WE ARE OF THE SAME RACE. YOU DID NOT HAVE AN INVITATION TO MY HOUSEHOLD, BUT COME! SIT DOWN AND HAVE DINNER!", while if a white or black man walks in uninvited I'm supposed to start screeching like the Invasion of the Body Snatchers? If somebody enters my house without my consent nor the consent of any of the members of the household, whether it be by accident, malicious intent, or naivety, the race of the person doesn't matter. I'm not going to predetermine the actions of the person based off of their skin color and facial features, I'm going to base my reaction to the situation like I would any other situation- by the circumstances at play.

It's one thing to give a descriptor. "A (height)(weight)(race) man just walked through my door!" vs "A man who wasn't white like me just walked through my door!" One is a physical description, and one implies a bias. Of course, one might be implying that they couldn't have been mistaken for a family member, or implying that the person is generally out of place given the demographics of their neighborhood, but one would be better served by making that distinction more clear rather than just leaving the meaning up to the imaginations of those reading.

As to the lessons learned, I live in a neighborhood where criminals often act like solicitors in order to case a residency. In a few cases over the past couple of years, they assumed that nobody was home and broke in. However, the residents of the building were home, and luckily enough for the residents, the burglars ran off after finding this out.

I always keep the door locked, whether I am in or out of the house. The only exception I make to this is when I am in immediate view of the door. While I don't believe that my house will be cased during the 3 minutes I'm at the mailbox, it acts as a good way to set a routine and keep myself from having to actively think about what I just did. At a certain point, acting instinctually to unlock my door takes less time than trying to remember if I locked it or not.

I do have family that lives very close by, and the miniature people do occasionally attempt to walk into my house unannounced, but are stopped by the locks. Some may find it oppressive to keep ones doors locked at all times, but it really isn't that much of an inconvenience, nor does it impart any mentality that I wouldn't have otherwise. If anything, keeping my door locked is more of a convenience to me than anything. I love my family, but that doesn't mean that I want them inviting themselves in whenever they feel. Little unannounced footsteps running around can get fairly bothersome at times, especially if you don't live "kid friendly" most of the time.

 

[sarge83]

The persons race made a difference to the op because it was out of place. In my very rural community there is a small town where there are are whites, blacks and hispanic, a small town of 15K people, it wouldn't be unusual. Drive 5 mins. away and you are in farm country where just because of demographics a black person or hispanic would be out of place. There was nothing racist here just the fact that it was not the norm, situation awareness.

As for the original post I live about 10 mins. out of town in the mountains. I have one neighbor my mother-in-law about 100 yrds away. Between us we own about 200 acres of property which is mostly mountains. Our road is posted no trespassing and no hunting, and the rest of the property is posted no hunting or trespassing. As another poster stated the signs are ignored and we still get trespassers and poachers. I was eating dinner one evening with the family and we had the windows open and heard hunters talking, they were shocked--just shocked when they came upon two houses from the conversation and quickly took flight before being confronted. If I am out on the property I am armed.

If we answer the door we are armed and if during the day front door is opened the dogs are out and the glass/screen door is locked. If friends or relatives come to visit they call or will announce themselves as they are coming up on the porch loudly. And a firearm is on me 99.9% of the time or within a few steps anywhere in the house. Paranoid? No. Prepared. Is it paranoid to have car, homeowners, health or life insurance? Or to wear a seat belt?

I love my wife, kids and mom too much to not be ready to defend them at any moment. If that makes me paranoid so be it. The only utopia I expect is heaven, it's not happening here on earth, that is just reality.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

Of course, one might be implying that they couldn't have been mistaken for a family member

I think that's all the OP meant, he just worded his comment poorly. The bottom line is that an uninvited PERSON, regardless of age or race should not be entering anyone's home uninvited. The first step to keeping uninvited people out of your home is to have your address clearly visible and keep your doors locked. A defensive weapon of any kind should be the second tier of protection, and the first tier should be a barrier. i.e. a locked door

 

[herrwalther]

I always answer the door armed, as I don't take off my firearm until bedtime. The only time I ever got in "trouble" was when I was living in an apartment and heard a knock at the door at about 7AM. I threw on some pants, no shirt, and slipped a handgun in the small of my back in my pants. Turned out to be the landlord who dropped by to ask for my help in a few weeks with renovations. To which he commented if I was scared. This apartment was in a large suburb of a large violent city with break ins happening daily.

 

[we are not amused]

If we're home the doors are unlocked and the closest gun is in a locked gun safe in the bedroom. Same conditions that I grew up in back in the 50's and 60's.

Crime rates have been dropping since the 90's and are currently the lowest they've been in over 40 years.

What is everyone so afraid of? Is it because of the internet and 24 hour news channels that HAVE to play up all the bad news possible to try to get viewers?

In my community, all the grandkids and neighborhood kids are in and out, playing and visiting around the neighborhood. I can't imagine being so paranoid that my young child has to knock on the door of their own house, then wait for me to come to the door with a gun before they can get in.

I tend to agree with you. Most communities are safer now than in the past. Certainly the amount of crime is down locally where I live.

On the other hand, there are bad people out there, and some of the precautions I have heard are good ideas.

But the idea of meeting everyone who comes to my door with a gun in hand strikes me as a bit paranoid. And the bit about children coming and going is well taken. I certainly never lock the house when children are around, getting up to let them in all the time is just too much effort!

I keep a gun or two loaded around the house, but that is mostly for a night time breakin, or coyotes, wild dogs or other critters in the yard.

 

[Potatohead]

I answer the door with my pistol. I mean it's holstered, I dont answer the door waving it around like Billy the Kid, but I dont let anyone answer the door here but me..and not until Im armed. Reason being: I know the time I dont have it will surely the be the time I need it. Life just seems to work that way. (for me anyway)

 

[Warp]

How many of you feel as though you have to OPEN the door in order to answer it?

How many of you have something installed such that the door can be opened a little bit to converse or hand an item through, but not opened far enough for a person to get in/out?

How many have a security door outside of the main door that can be locked and also allows conversation or possibly handing something through without letting a person through?


In my opinion, if you aren't comfortable opening the door to a stranger without having a gun on you...you shouldn't be opening the damn door to begin with. It's kind of like that rule about carrying where you aren't suppose to go somewhere (because you are armed) that you wouldn't go if you were unarmed.

 

[Delford]

Being a person who wants to be liked, I tend to open the door. Rarely do strangers ring the bell. If they do I can see through either side light and identify them. My doors are always locked and deadbolted. I was reminded the other day that I need to have my handgun at hand always. The doorbell rang and our dog went ballistic, which for him is normal. There was a young thin black male. Between the barking dog, my imposing size and hearing the deadbolt being thrown, I wasn't worried about an intrusion. My 870 is around the corner and my .45 close to that but neither were in my hand. The man asked for someone unknown to me and we're somewhat isolated so I was slightly suspicious. I'll be careful to have the .45 with me going forward.

 

[samort457]

In the past six years we've lived in our house there have been two break ins on our street, our car has been broken into in our driveway, our neighbors house was busted for being a meth lab, and there was a dead body found in the dumpster behind the gas station right down the hill. So we have our fair share of stuff happen, but we still only lock our doors at night and when we're gone. And my question is this, if how can criminals look for unlocked doors except physically checking, which is stupid because then you let the person knwo that your there.

 

[leadcounsel]

Locked doors and windows are minimal effort and also help to demonstrate whether a person entered lawfully or unlawfully.

 

[420Stainless]

When I was younger I used to keep my door unlocked. Neighbors were always popping in for a visit or a beer or something, so I just left it unlocked when I was home until it was time to go to sleep. One night I was sitting on the couch dry fire practicing with my 1911 when a complete stranger walks through the door. You should've seen the look on his face when he saw the 1911 in my hand! I was completely defenseless other than having a blunt weapon in my hand, but he didn't know that. Turns out he lived in an upstairs apartment and just wasn't paying attention to which level he was on.

Since then, I've always kept my doors locked and even put storm doors on my house to add an extra layer. Most times I don't worry about arming myself before answering the door if its daylight, I just look out the window to see who it is before opening, but always will after dark. Even then I turn the light on and look out the window first before opening any doors. If I don't recognize them I'll only talk through the door, I won't open it.