Don't open your door to see who is there!

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vito

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Most readers of this forum know better, but an older couple who live fairly close to me, in a very safe and seemingly crime free neighborhood, were robbed and the husband shot today. Police reported that two young black males knocked at the home of the older couple, and the man opened the door to ask what they wanted. A struggle ensued, the man was shot, his wife battered, and the house ransacked before they fled. Why would any sane person open his door to two strangers? I rarely have anyone come to my front door, but when my door bell rings I am pretty cautious about even coming to the door. If its after dark and I'm not expecting anyone, I am armed as I approach the door (which is largely glass so I can see who is there, and there is no close in place for someone to hide). Hope the police catch the two thugs quickly. I'm thinking of installing close circuit TV so I can see if anyone is outside my garage door now. What a great world we live in.
 
Stories like this are far too commonplace. I don't answer the door without being armed anymore, and my weak hand is holding 150 pounds of silent but interested mastiff.
I heard once that a man will rarely kill to get something he wants, but will always kill to keep what he has. I think that's accurate and I hope the bad guys remember that if they come snooping.
 
Home invasions are not uncommon in San Antonio ... but neither are shootings of invaders by the homeowners. Out here in the Hill Country, crime is lower... but when it happens, police are farther away.

I answer the door armed. Still, that's no guarantee of safety, as drug addicts rarely thinks things through clearly.

Y'all stay safe.
 
I've been trying to home carry more often. Obviously you read enough of these stories and it seems like it's happening everywhere, but I'm sure it's still pretty statistically unlikely. I still only answer the door armed, and chastised my wife for just opening the door to a stranger the other day. Makes me think about getting one of those metal security/screen doors since she's still anti-gun. It would at least buy her a second to grab her phone hopefully. Thankfully our dogs (especially our german-shepherd/corgi mix) sound fairly agressive, and would hopefully deter someone looking for an easy score, even if they'll roll on their backs for a rub as soon as the stranger gets inside.
 
Same here; used to put mine on the counter when I walked in the door but after someone was knocking on my door late at night (turned out to be a neighbor telling me the garage light was on), I sat there thinking about the potential downside and now it's always there. My wife thinks I'm a bit too cautious at times, but I know it makes her feel safe. She finally admitted last week that when I'm traveling she takes her lady smith from the hand safe and puts on the nightstand next to our bed.
 
Did you read the latest Armed Citizen account of the fella that left his wife inside and went outside to find the bad guy who had attempted a pre-dawn break-in thru a window? NRA should not have flaunted that one.
 
I worry about my father, he opens the door all willy nilly whenever anyone knocks or rings the bell. He has lived in condition white his whole life and no matter how hard I try, he will probably continue to do so. I did manage to get him to start to lock the doors now though, so there is hope.
 
Agreed btg - never venture beyond your defensive position unless an ABSOLUTE necessity (e.g., come to someone's aid/defense).
 
Be careful about visibly carrying a gun to the door.

Sometimes the local Sheriff's Dept. sends a car due to a nuisance false signal in the security system, which had already been in the house more than a year. This system has bugs which sends signals out for no apparent reason, when we are out of town. Lot's of "crying wolf".

I told the two officers that an hour before they arrived, the doorbell totally unexpected, the SKS had been carried into the house (through the garage entry).
 
vito said:
. Why would any sane person open his door to two strangers? .
Click to expand...

Those are the same people who also ask you "Why do you need a GUN?!?"

Naive.

Sadly those two learned the lesson the hard way, but unfortunately, sometimes the hard way is the only way these people will learn that their view of the world is... flawed.


PS - I never get unannounced visits from anyone I know, so if someone bangs on my door after dark, I'm reaching for the Mossburg and then waiting to see where the situation goes from there.
 
I answer the door with a gun. I cook on the grill with a gun. I do yardwork with a gun.

Sadly, it is not a guarantee of safety just to be at home.
 
I'm sorry...maybe it's just where I live, but I do NOT answer my door with a gun. I live in the middle of nowhere with a handful of nearby neighbors and we all have guns and shoot out in our backyards. Now obviously if I get a knock on the door at 2am...this may be a different story, but just in the middle of the afternoon? Umm...no...it's usually the mail lady dropping off a package that won't fit in the mail box. I guess, at least where I live, I have drawn a line on being that cautious. To each his own I guess...

I did scare my father-in-law pretty good not too long ago however. I got a new handgun and was just doing some dry firing watching the tube and he walked in the house (family doens't knock around here lol) and the first thing he sees is me spinning around to see who is coming in the door with a gun in my hand (didn't point at him...it was still aimed at the floor). I just kinda chuckled and yelled "bang!". After the initial "oh crap" look...he laughed. He still opens the door without knocking but always yells "don't shoot!" to let us know he's there. lol
 
X-JaVeN-X said:
I'm sorry...maybe it's just where I live, but I do NOT answer my door with a gun. I live in the middle of nowhere with a handful of nearby neighbors and we all have guns and shoot out in our backyards. Now obviously if I get a knock on the door at 2am...this may be a different story, but just in the middle of the afternoon? Umm...no...it's usually the mail lady dropping off a package that won't fit in the mail box. I guess, at least where I live, I have drawn a line on being that cautious. To each his own I guess...

I did scare my father-in-law pretty good not too long ago however. I got a new handgun and was just doing some dry firing watching the tube and he walked in the house (family doens't knock around here lol) and the first thing he sees is me spinning around to see who is coming in the door with a gun in my hand. I just kinda chuckled and yelled "bang!". After the intial "oh crap" look...he laughed. He still opens the door without knocking but always yells "don't shoot!" to let us know he's there. lol
Click to expand...
A thankful existence, no doubt!
 
My neighborhood is very safe. I don't draw a bead on the UPS or Papa John's guy. However, if you aren't being expected.... expect to be easily shot if your intentions are not honest.
 
I bought a security camera from harbor freight for about $40. Its outside above the front door and connected to the tv in the living room. When we get an unexpected knock at the door we just flip to the camera channel. It has audio, nightvision, color. Extremely helpful and peace of mind for me and the wife. We live in a decent neighborhood but you can never be too careful these days.
 
Was driving home one night while it was snowing when I saw a cat in the middle of the parking lot under a cart making all kinds of noise. I wrapped it in a hoodie I had and put it in the car. I dont think the poor thing would have survived the night. Anyways, noticed the tag had a nearby address, so I took it there. When the owner came to the door, he had his gun pointed at me. All I am saying is to just use a holster. Not everyone is out to get you.
 
Sorry for the elderly couple. We had a case near where I live in which a person that had been hired to,do some yard work came back a week or so later. The elderly couple knowing the person opened the door and a home invasion happened. I point this out because I can see where even more folks may let their guard down in a situation where you sort of know the person. As for me, I go armed but kept out of sight and talk through the door bat some point in the near future I'm going to install an intercom.
 
I live out in the country, not in the boonies, but not in the city either. I've had the doorbell ring at 3:00 a.m., once when a guy had wrecked in the ditch in front of my house after trying to avoid a deer, and another time when my neighbors horses got loose and another neighbor came to see if I could round them up. I didn't take a gun with me either time when answering the door but I would now. Times have changed. A man was killed in his garage about 4 miles from my house a few months back by four men who followed him and his wife home from a party. I was talking to my UPS delivery man a few months back and he said he had just dropped a package off at a house down the street where the loon came running out shouting "I'm gonna pop a cap in your a$$!!" You never know about your neighbors or what may show up at your door.
 
X-JaVeN-X,
Answering the door with a gun doesn't mean drawing down as soon as you open the door. Me personally, my gun is in the holster on my hip where it lives while I'm awake. Of course I don't open the door unless it's a friend, the mail/UPS/FedEx worker or an occasional chinese food delivery guy.
 
I live in a town home. I have a balcony above the front door. If I'm not expecting someone, I don't make the trip down to the first floor. Instead I answer the door by going out to the balcony. It throws people off. We get a lot of magazines sales around here, which I think are a front for people to "case" your house. It is really easy to tell someone you aren't interested when they are looking up at you from 20 feet below. I can also easily glance down from the second to the first floor and look through the glass in the door to see who is there. The stairs from the first to second floor, and second to third, make an excellent shooting gallery with me on the high ground. I love this house... only problem is that if my wife or I get cornered on the third floor, there is no easy way out.

If you have glass in or near your door, get a double deadbolt (a deadbolt with a lock tumbler on the inside as well as the outside, rather than a thumb turn on the inside). Keep your doors locked, and don't open the door for someone you don't know.
 
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