Do you answer the door or not?

[Kurt S.]

I carry around the house all the time in any case. I'm generally just too lazy to answer the door so they usually go away. Ed McMahon don't wanna give anything anyways and the UPS people know where to leave packages. If it keeps up I'll look out the front windows and see what's up, and deal with it from there.

 

[Kevmo327]

As I have a 13 y/o son there are always people coming to my door but the way it is set up I can usually see who it is before I open it.

I also have a yellow lab that barks his fool head off every time the bell rings...wheil my wife would like to shut him uo I do not see this as a bad thing.

On a sidenote, around x mass, about 9:00PM bell rang and i stupidly opened the door (I know HUGE error) and found my self face to face with a very large balck man. First thing I did was to step outside and shut the door behind me, locking it i the process so my wife and kids where a isloated. Then I asked him what he wants...got the "trying to rasie money BS and he got very aggressive when i said no thanks. I finally asked him to leave and watched him walk away...Yes, I know I got lucky....well, about 2 nights later, same time, door bell rings, I did not have tome to go get gun so I grabbed a carry knife and went to door...group of young kids...I carefuilly opened door with knife in hand concealed and they started singiing carols to me...the rev across the street sent them over

 

[Hot brass]

I usually go to answer the door prepaired. I prefer not to answer the door.

 

[thebaldguy]

Our friends and family know to call first. Nothing bugs us more as when people show up announced when we are enjoying some time together. We can look through the window to see who's out there before we open the door. Years ago in our neighborhood, there were a rash of burglaries. The theives would knock on the door, and if no one answered would bash the door in and help themselves. If someone answered the door, they would ask for "John" or someone, and then apologize for having the wrong address.

We had an almost scary incident last summer at 4:30 am when some drunk college student was pounding on our side door. Evidently he was staggering home from a nearby party, and he had just been bitten by my neighbor's dog doing some early morning business. My neighbor doesn't have a fenced in yard; he just opens the door and lets him out to do his business in the morning wherever he wants. This is illegal here in Minneapolis. The dog is big but friendly, and leaves NFL lineman sized turds on others peoples' lawns. We toss the monster's monster nuggets back into the neighbors' yard. I sleep like a rock, but I woke up for this one:

(drunk college student pounds on door @ 4:30AM)

girlfriend(through door): What do you want?

drunk: Your dog bit me!

girlfriend: We don't have a dog!

drunk: You have a fenced in yard. Your dog bit me!

girlfriend: We don't have a dog! Talk to the neighbor!

drunk: (In a more angry tone now) Just open the door! Your dog bit me!

girlfriend: I'm not opening the door!

(at this point, thebaldguy gets out of bed, opens the safe, and obtains a pistol)

girlfriend(In a very angry tone): Get out of here before we call the cops! Talk to the neighbor!

Drunk now walks over to the neighbor's house and pounds on his door. Neighbor gets into arguement and denies his dog bit anyone, even though the description of the dog matches his. Neighbor closes his door, and the drunk staggers off.

Only in the city.

thebaldguy

 

[Mannlicher]

If the door bell rings, I check from a side window first, to see who it is. I don't open the door, if I do not recognize the person. I can use a speaker outside the house to tell the person there that I would like them to leave my property, and do it quickly.
I almost always carry a handgun in the house anyway.

 

[jobu07]

What do all you guys who dislike solicitors think about young clean cut college kids carrying a clipboard who are collecting signatures so their boss can run for political office (their boss is a republican or conservative of course)? I've done htis quite often and it's amazing how friendly folks get with me. Should I be a malicious evil no-goodnick it would be very easy do the bad deeds. I've only been met by a gun at the door while collecting signatures once. And what a gun it was!

 

[Havegunjoe]

I have a side window to the front door and a very noisy dog.

I have a side window I can look out while I have my gun drawn and ready. No one rings my door bell after say 8:00 PM, and I mean never. If it happens I am always cautious. I Never open the door, and they can hear my Lab going nuts. That usually backs them up a few paces.

I knew a man years ago that let some creep in with the old my car broke down story. There were two of them and they cut his throat after tieing him up. No reason to let a stranger in as far as I am concerned.

One suggestion to the fellow with the glass door, I saw an inexpensive camera and monitor system at Menards once. Two cameras and a black and white monitor for about $250. You could view your doorway from another room before deciding to answer.

 

[1911austin]

Bean...if someone, salesman or otherwise, followed me or my wife into our house uninvited, they would be met with force for sure. I'm not saying I would fire, but they would have no doubts at all that they were not welcome and that it was unacceptable to go into my house without an invitation, and they would get to experience looking down the barrel of a firearm! Sometimes I can't believe the nerve of some of these "salespeople." My neighbor had an altercation with one a few months ago while I was not home. I don't want my wife to have to deal with anything similar.

I have had a few pushy salesmen. Anyone ever just waltzed into my house the minimum amount of force they would see is waiting for the police at gunpoint.

 

[duckslayer]

jobu, if anyone comes to my door, I will almost always answer it. I can look out the window and see who is there first, however. If it is a teenager or older, I am armed (usually concealed, and my foot is braced against the door so they cannot push it open. If it is the local boy or girl scout troop(I like those cookies about 20 lbs too much), I usually feel fairly comfortable that they won't accost me. If it is someone trying to sell me something, I ask them to leave, politely the first time, and progressively less politely if they don't take the hint. If you showed up with a petition for someone I thought might be OK, I'd probably sign it for you and I might not even shoot you Luckily, we don't get too many people where I live now, and the pushy kid from superdupersucker vaccuum company hasn't been back.

 

[Ben Shepherd]

I look out the frontroom window which overlooks the porch before going down to the door. If I don't know you, I don't open the door period.

I'm not a paranoid recluse or anything like that. But you know what? I work a 60+ hour six day week, every week.

Therefore: What little time I spend at my house not asleep is MY TIME, and I won't waste it answering phone calls or front doors for no reason.

 

[triggertime]

Unless you are a mailman, Fedex or UPS or a neighbor telling me that my house is on fire, I will not answer the door. If you are a friend who has 'dropped by' unannounced, you know better. Everyone else is ignored.

Not too long ago, a young black male wearing a white t-shirt and pants hanging off his hindquarters shows up on my doorstep and bangs on the door for 15 minutes.

I looked out the window and spied a flat black Toyota Camry with blacked out windows and flat black rims parked at the street in front of my house.

Since I don't recognize the car and since I don't socialize with folks who look like drug dealers, I ignored it.

After about 5 minutes, I thought he'd go away. Nope.

By the time 10 minutes passed, he's still there and I'm heading toward the
870. (even though I was already wearing a .45 and had a .357 snub in my pocket)

After about 15 minutes, I have the 870 in hand and I'm targeting the front
door from an angle waiting for captain baggypants to begin busting his way in.

Curiously, the banging suddenly stopped and he walked back to the car parked at the street. He turned and looked at the front door for quite some time before getting back into his car and driving away.

I was unable to get a plate number. Wonder what he wanted?

 

[bean357]

heh...captain baggypants...lol
Good job on being well prepared
I've learned that I need to be

 

[MilsurpShooter]

99.999999999999999999999999999999999999999% of the time if someone knocks on my door, I know who's on the other side. The odd times that I get a knock and am not expecting it, well that's the reason the Bayonet has a leather frog

 

[wheelgunslinger]

I currently reside in the hood. I answer the door, but ask who it is first.
I have a big wooden deck outside the entry door to my place, and can hear someone stepping up onto it (unless they are a ninja...) and this puts me on alert.
Otherwise, I don't sweat it.
My .45 colt wheelgun stays near me or on me most of the time anyway.

 

[JohnKSa]

Her initial response was to not even approach the door, but I feel that this is the last thing you want to do. Many burglaries start by casing the home, and may include acting like a solicitor to confirm whether someone is home or not.

That's exactly why I put up the no solicitors sign. The idea is that if someone knocks now you have a pretty good idea that something's up.

 

[one45auto]

Whenever I answer the door I glance through the peephole during the day and the foyer window at night. I also have my Smith&Wesson Model 642 in my hand. If the visitor turns out to be someone I know, the little Smith goes into a back pocket or gets dropped in the front of my robe with no one the wiser.

 

[Zaire]

The nly people who can knock on my door are thge neighbors right acroos the hall. Our brand new apartment building had 2 floors and 4 units. I live upstairs. To get upstairs you have to come up the steps through a hallway, good thing is, the doors at the bottom can't be unlocked but with a key from the outside. 2 locks on each bottom door, with windows to see out of. I can turn off the light to look down and see who it is and they can't see me. There is also an intercom. The door to our apartment also has 2 locks, as well as the balcony door. The down stairs apartments aren't nearly as secure. I even got those alarms from wal mart that you put on the door and they are LOUD. No peephole on our apartment door though, only the neighbors can get up there to knock, but I still have my P90 behind my leg.

 

[zogorion]

I've had 2 really strange, "should I open the door, or not situations." The first happened when I was in high school. About 0345 hrs I heard a pounding on the door, looked out my window to see an unfamiliar car, didn't have a dedicated HD gun, so I loaded my 28" bbl Winchester quail gun with 00 buck, the pounding was still going after 2-3 mins, so I woke my dad up and said some guy is at the door trying to beat his way in here, dad wasn't too impressed and went back to sleep, I proceded to look through the peep-hole and see some guy about 18-21 yoa probably under the influence of something, I then opened the door with the Win. tucked under my armpit, he looked at me, looked at the Win. looked at me again, and I think possibly started soiling himself as he sprinted back to his car, they burned tires leaving our community that night.

The other really strange encounter I had was just a couple of months ago, I was alone in my apartment, I think the roomie was out of town, but her Min Pin stayed with me, he's little, but doesn't like when people knock on the door. I look through the peep-hole again with my Sig 228 in hand and my 870 Police 7 feet away, to see a guy, probably 25 or so, kinda shaggy. I ask through the door, and above the dog yipping who he is, he just says "Frank." Nothing more. Then I say, "I don't know any Frank." To which he replies "They sent me out to talk to all the married military folks in the area." There's a lot of military where I live if you all were wondering. I replied "Sorry, not military, not married." He stayed for a second, then walked directly to his car and left, apparently They didn't know that virtually all of my neighbors are military, and most of them are married to boot. Very odd, glad I didn't just yank the door open like i usta could back home in Texas. Also very glad I have plenty of feedback for anyone who tries to unlawfully gain entry to my abode.
-Orion