Clearing the House Story - 1 week ago.

[hexidismal]

Let's go back to a night about a week ago. My girlfriend and I were settling into bed around 1am or so, here in upstate NY. After a few minutes down, she said to me "Did you hear that ? It sounded like a voice or something". I tiredly grumbled back "No, I didn't hear anything", which probably sounded something more like "Nmmfh, mmy din hmm anythimmf". 20 seconds later, there's a loudish thumping sort of noise which did very much sound like it was coming from the upstairs loft section of our apartment (we have a very big, nice apartment, and no pets or anything). I suddenly shot up and said "But I did hear that !" I jumped awkwardly out of bed naked, tried as best I could to clear off the sleepiness and grabbed the always loaded P345 out of my night table. I thumb cocked the hammer for single action, assumed as good a shooting stance as I could muster, and aimed my weapon toward the bedroom door. I then waited .... After a few minutes of waiting, and hearing nothing else.. my girlfriend, believe it or not, always full of both sarcasm and optimism simply made some crack about how funny it was that I was doing this naked, and put her head back down to go to sleep... *sigh* ..well, I love her anyway. So.. I was not quite so content to get back in bed just yet, but having heard nothing else, niether was I ready to call the police to my house. So, I decided to very carefully clear my own place. ( Now, I should mention becuase THR readers will wonder, that the moon was high and our place is chock full of skylights and large windows, so I had no particular need of a flashlight). So, I crept very slowly and as quietly as possible from room to room, carefully approching and inspecting doorways or possible shadowed corners, all the while with my trusty .45 in a lowered combat ready two-handed stance. Now mind you, I didn't think anything was there, but of course I'm playing it safe. Finally I come to the stairs to the loft area, which is where I assumed the original noise had come from. I continue up the stairs in much the same careful fashion, being sure to cover uncleared area. Once in the loft office room, which has a sliding glass door and a small porch, I can see very clearly that there are no threats. The house is cleared, so I decock and fully lower my weapon. Suddenly, movement and a noise in the corner of my left eye, at the porch door !!!! I whirl toward the door and try to aquire a possible target !!! I see... nothing .. until suddenly a racoon, the second of two I now see, falls jumps from the roof onto the small porch area.. "Ah jeez" I proclaim .. lowering my weapon and going annoyed, and more fully awake than I even usually am when I'm awake, back to the bedroom. There I see my girlfriend happily snoozing away .. Grrr .. well, Im awake, I might as well go read some THR threads ..

True story. And since I was totally nude in all this , I guess if there had been an intruder, he would have come face to face with my weapon .. and erm.. well.. my weapon .. hehe

 

[english kanigit]

No, it's your weapon and your gun. See the difference?


I thought so.

ek

 

[Deer Hunter]

Haha, thanks for the laughs man! I've had simular experiences, albiet I had boxers covering my "gun" and no girlfriend waiting for me back in bed.

Some people just have all the luck.

 

[XLMiguel]

I've had a similar experience. My wife later wondered whether the intruder would have been more upset from looking down the bore of a .45 or by the sight of the big, naked porky guy holding it

 

[Azrael256]

Some people just have all the luck.

No kidding.

My only critique would be cocking the hammer. I would not have done that. I'm sure you were careful, but trigger discipline is one of the first things to go when things get really tense. I like having that longer DA trigger pull or a SA trigger pull with a manual safety.

Just my $.02, and if you're careful of the four rules it shouldn't matter.

 

[Eightball]

My only critique would be cocking the hammer. I would not have done that. I'm sure you were careful, but trigger discipline is one of the first things to go when things get really tense. I like having that longer DA trigger pull or a SA trigger pull with a manual safety.

DA revolver, anyone?

 

[BobMcG]

My only critique would be cocking the hammer. I would not have done that. I'm sure you were careful, but trigger discipline is one of the first things to go when things get really tense. I like having that longer DA trigger pull or a SA trigger pull with a manual safety.

+1

In addition, never naked 'cause I slip into body armor kept close at hand under my side of the bed before I investigate things that go bump in the dark.

 

[jason10mm]

I've done similar things before, always with no result for my efforts. I think it would be smarter to just yell "I'm awake and armed!!!". So long as assassins are not coming for you, that would probably work. Of course it sounds silly and I can't be like that in front of the wife

If I really thought there was a guy in the house, like I could hear talking or real movement, not that ill-defined "thump", I would stay in the room and start calling the po-po. I could open one of our windows to trigger the alarm or use it to evac if the alarm was off or disabled.

 

[XDKingslayer]

Ah jeez" I proclaim .. lowering my weapon and going annoyed,

Don't feel bad dude, I was ready to shoot the space shuttle the other day.

I was just reaching over to hit the snooze alarm and it sounded like someone was trying to kick in the front door. Hard to because it made things in the house rattle, then followed by another smaller bang.

It was the sonic boom created by the shuttle returning.

 

[oldfart]

I had a similar situation awhile back. I made it a bit safer by utilizing a hand-mirror to see around corners without exposing myself (perhaps I should re-phrase that... oh well) to potential bad guys.

 

[XDKingslayer]

Gives a whole new meaing to "point and shoot" huh?

 

[spooney]

I have been ready to kill my parents pool heater in the past. My g/f and I were staying at my parents house and they were running the propane heater so everyone could swim the next day...well about 2:15 I hear a pronounced "WHUMP!" sound whilst coming back from the bathroom and I realize it is right out side my window, I go to the nightstand in that room and grab my G27 and start heading outside, I get around the corner of the house and hear "WHUMP!" and I spin around and kinda scream a little and see the fire in the heater unit as it has kicked back on. I felt like a total moron.

 

[MachIVshooter]

Dogs are the best way to avoid these unecessary scares. Humans interpret noises in too many ways, and our imaginations run away from us. Dogs, however, are not fooled by something falling off a shelf, the wind blowing a door shut, etc. But if someone is in your house, they will let you know (in our case, the cat does too). I have always rested easier with a dog. While bumps in the night still get my attention, I do not fly out of bed ready to drop the hammer if the dogs and cats remain calm. OTOH, if they go apesh*t, I know it's the real deal.

 

[vynx]

Yep, dogs make great alarms - after awhile you can even tell by their bark how serious it is or what it may be.

The guy walking outside our fence gets a totally different bark than someone coming into the yard.

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

I was ready to shoot the space shuttle the other day.

HAHA! That's something ya don't hear everyday. Good thing you didn't have a .50 cal because according to the people that know nothing about firearms you would have downed that sucker!

 

[KnightHawk67]

I had a Schnauzer when I was growing up, slept on my bed. When he heard something that caught his attention, he would let out a low, nearly imperceptible growl & stalk out of the room. After checking out the house, he would hop back into bed & go right back to sleep. If he DID find something amiss, he went off like all the Hounds of Hell. In 15 years, he did that once, and it scared me, and I knew it could be coming. I can't imagine what a would-be bad guy would have thought. Maybe something like: "HOLY CRAP!! RUN!!", which suits me fine.

I now have another of the same breed, great guard dogs, and a great companion. I just can't see a guard cat (unless it was something from the jungles of Bengal).

 

[3jaw]

Now, I should mention becuase THR readers will wonder, that the moon was high...

In more ways than one!!!

 

[BIGDADDYLONGSTROKE]

I dont think I would ever need a weapon if a BG got into my house, because im pretty sure they would shreek in horror at the sight of my naked extremely white @$$ and after they fainted fell down and hit there head on the any number of useless crap my wife has lying around the place, I would just simply ziptie and wait for the cops. (getting dressed first of course)

 

[Tom Servo]

I dont think I would ever need a weapon if a BG got into my house, because im pretty sure they would shreek in horror at the sight of my naked extremely white @$$ and after they fainted fell down and hit there head on the any number of useless crap my wife has lying around the place, I would just simply ziptie and wait for the cops.

Of course, in today's society, you'd be arrested for indecent exposure (possibly conspiracy to commit indecent exposure), and you'd be sued by the intruder for sexual harassment and negligence for the things he bumped his head on. Better to just come out with ALL guns blazing!

 

[Axman]

I had a similar experience with some noises on my roof (I live in a mobile home). I carefully opened the back door with my 9mm in hand and a big gray tomcat jumped from the roof onto the porch rail then disappeared into the night. Kitty almost bit the dust that night!

 

[2TransAms]

Good stories,everyone! I once thought someone broke into my garage and was swiping all my tools...turns out it was a panicked squirrel looking for a way out. Musta got in when I shut the garage door...he didn't seem too scared of a .45 either. City squirrels know you can't touch 'em.

And yes I do have a black lab outside,and a Jack Russell in the house that thinks she's Cerberus.

 

[armedandsafe]

I was lying in bed with a migrain headache one day about 15:00 when I heard smoeone try the front door. I ignored it until I heard the back door rattle. I rolled (literaly) out of bed and grabbed the pistol, when I heard someone coming over the fence to the bedroom window. I turned toward the window and went into a one-knee Weaver coruch and faced a young girl, just as she dropped off the top of the fence. She screamed and I grunted something. She went back over the fence MUCH faster than she had come in and I heard her running across the carport and out of the neighborhood.

My youngest son later told me she didn't know whether to be more bothered by the fact that I was pointing a gun at her or that I was buck-azzed nekkid. She thought that was his bedroom she was sneaking into.

Pops

 

[briney11]

My wife heard noises in the basement one night so I go and grab my 9mm Ruger. I let my German Shepherd out of her kennel, opened the basement door and yelled at the top of my lungs, "I've got a loaded gun and a German Shepherd, so you better either drop any weapons and put your face in the ground or go out the way you came in and don't look back!!!" Well, it was a bird. But at least I felt cool for a couple of seconds. I let the dog go down first. She perked up the second she got down the stairs and the hair stood up on the back of my neck. Good thing it was a bird.

 

[Eightball]

My youngest son later told me she didn't know whether to be more bothered by the fact that I was pointing a gun at her or that I was buck-azzed nekkid.

Now, that is quite a quandary--

Who here would be more freaked out by having a gun pointed at them than by having........a gun pointed at them?

 

[OpFlash]

Of course the real question is why were you already practically asleep just a couple minutes after hitting the hay with your GF?