Opening the door to unexpected visitors can go very wrong.....

You can answer without putting yourself at risk.....

 

Perhaps there is some semantics involved here. ‘Answering” the door doesn’t mean you have to open it. I have a Ring doorbell and can see and speak to the person without opening my locked and reinforced door. I’d rather respond to a visitor than ignore them. That way they won’t assume the house is vacant and attempt a break in. By responding, I don’t consider the action to be putting myself at risk. YMMV

 

I need to add a camera or two!

 

That is my preference also. Use the darkness to observe and take notes. Cops LOVE it when you give license plate numbers.

 

When I go to NOLA I wear a G19 and a frown. There’s some bad juju that goes down on the regular in that place.

 

Since you have a peephole you could install a 100-watt equivalent bulb by your front door, then you would be able to see who's there.

 

If someone is knocking on my door then they've either climbed over my fence or bypassed my gate opener... .

 

I got a doorbell camera (mounts where the doorbell was and uses the power for the doorbell) a few years ago and have been very pleased with it. If I'm in the garage on the other side of the house, I can see who's at the door with my phone and talk to, or ignore, them. Cloud storage recording too. The only hiccup is sometimes it's slow to respond over the WIFI and I've spoken to friends with other brands who have had similar delay issues.

 

Darwin gets cheated when you do this. That said, why is this Still having to be told to adults in 2021?

 

I dont answer the door for anyone. Il yell at you from inside. That's it. If you have business with me you have my number. Other wise pound sand. If someone claims to be a leo call 911 and verify. Car broke down? Ill call the Sheriff's office. Selling something not interested. Here to pick up my daughter? Well son better luck with the next girl.

 

Meter readers still physically check your meters? Around here they ride in a truck and scan from the street, been that way around 20 years

 

Small town that supplies the utilities; they use a beat up Kawasaki mule to go around the neighborhoods, but every meter get read by hand - gas, water and electric. The electric comes in from the back of the house, the others in the front

 

EXACTLY! Well stated Kleanbore!

 

My wife has a very nasty growl, behind which is a .32 pistol that she is very comfortable with, so........

 

I rarely answer my door. Not because of security. I just really don't want to talk to anyone.
The people close to me know to call first. Everyone else can just keep walking.

 

My door bell stopped working after the last hurricane. I have a sign hanging on my front door........No Soliciting.
My dogs bark at just about everything.
Plus, with the pandemic I don`t open the door for anybody.
I`m good

 

This past June I moved back in with my parents (who are 88 and 89 respectively) as their caregiver. They'd asked me the year previous if it was something that I might do. Being single and retired and with no ties where I was living, I agreed. Their home is very large (has an elevator between the floors) very old (still has the carriage house next to it) and is located in an affluent neighborhood in our small Ohio town. After spending some time here and getting the lay of land as it were, I thought it prudent to buy a self defense weapon. I'd previously owned handguns but sold them when I moved to Ontario. The thought of having nothing more than a baseball bat to protect us in case of any unforeseen 'incident' didn't really make me feel all that warm and fuzzy inside so I did my due diligence and research and purchased a Springfield Hellcat. I told my folks (who've never owned guns) that I purchased it (and I was quite frank) that it's not because I didn't trust anyone it's that I just don't trust anyone. Ohio has been hit hard by the opioid and methamphetamine crisis and close to 90% of the jail populace is there on drug related charges. My father's reply was "I feel better." Since that and a few other firearm purchases (hey, this old geezer's a gun guy at heart), I've been to the local range a few times, practiced, signed up with the local gun club, am getting my ccw and registering with the local sheriff's dept. and doing reading and research on all sorts of safe firearm practice, home security and the like. I'd prefer to be proactive than reactive in my approach to the health and well being of my folks and myself. We do have multiple ingresses into the home and alarms, but I don't necessarily need any unpleasant 'surprises' regardless of the time of day.

 

That could have been a very bad day for all of you.
Oddly enough, back in the mid 70s when I was in a ground floor off-campus apartment, I too was awakened about 1 or 2 a.m. by somebody pounding on my door, I barely cracked the door after turning on the outside light and stuck the tip of a Ruger .22 pistol out the crack. Some "linebacker-sized" drunk thought he was at his friend's apartment (they were on the 2nd floor) and backed off and sobered up a bit and apologized and went on his way.
On my next trip home, I traded that .22 (still miss it) and got a .380 (still have it) instead.
That is the only time (so far) that I have answered the door with a gun in hand.

 

Maybe I’m in the minority, maybe it’s just where I live, but I can easily count on one hand the number of times someone I don’t know has knocked on my door, excluding UPS & FedEx and the like. I can’t ever remember it happening after dark.


Now I have checked the door (and/or yard) with gun in hand more times than I can count, and I’m sure I’ll do it again.

 

Opening a door and/or venturing outside with a gun puts one at a disadvantage as a homeowner.
One is naturally sacrificing both concealment and cover plus arguably element of surprise as well.