Overconfidence + Red Flags everywhere

[Cellar Dweller]

OK, this happened about 1 hour go...

I'm watching Reign of Fire with the sound up, when I hear a knock on my front door (11:45pm). Since I'm not expecting anyone and I'm not gonna answer the door without preparation, I go for something handy.
EVERYTHING is: either locked up in a safe which is behind a uneasily-opened door + empty mags; in a range bag with full mags but I can't locate the bag; revolvers empty + ammo in another room...well, you get the idea.

In the meantime, my wife woke up to hear me banging around the basement while the knocks continue. She sees emergency vehicles outside, thought I might have been making too much noise and that a neighbor had complained and calls me to answer the door after turning on the light in the living room. I figure that bad guys aren't gonna cobble up a fire truck, ambulance and police cars so I quickly figure I better NOT grab a piece, and it's probably a good idea to answer the door ASAP.

Two policemen, and they tell me that "someone dialed 911 (my address?!?) but didn't say what the problem was, so is everything OK?" Adrenaline up, I know I sound a little shaky even though everything's fine with my house and family. I answer yes, and my wife is standing in view of them...they give me a phone # and I tell them that is not my number, then they want my name (OK by me), I'm about to invite them in for a look-see when the second cop says "wrong house" while monitoring his radio (he was off to the side, while the first was facing me). OK then...

Two FOID holders living here, so that is likely a flag. 911 call, interrupted, flag. No answer to knock within at least 30 seconds, but cursing (as I trip over my daughter's toys) and banging around, flag. C&R license, copy of application dropped off per BATF, I don't know if they file it in the trash or keep it, potential flag. Because I realized this on my way to the door, plus the fact that I had attended their Citizen's Police Academy and met some of the officers and did a ride-along and AFAIK it's a solid department is why I was going to invite them in.

Lessons:
1. Having a gun in the house (overconfidence) is useless if it isn't immediately useable (everything is now loaded with mag inserted, chamber empty or 5/6 loaded for revolvers)
2. Put toys away before dark and don't curse and throw them
3. Moving hands slowly and in plain sight is a good idea (did this)
4. Storm-door glass is hard to see thru at night until the light is turned on outside...the indoor light reflects back
5. Having the wife there in plain sight is a good idea (she did this)
6. LEO encounter in this type of circumstance is gonna get the adrenaline flowing, even when nothing is happening here...I know I sounded a little nervous, and was likely acting nervous.
7. 911 can definitely get the address wrong, so I'm not gonna count on their accuracy if I'm the one calling them

I'm still a bit shaken by this, but my wife went back to sleep (Condition White?). Overall, a
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<edit to add> Some of my C&Rs don't have drop- or firing-pin safeties; keeps the same manual of arms for all (rack and ready for pistols or pull trigger for revolvers).
I had stuff locked away, out of sight due to contactor estimates and preparing for carpet cleaner crew. Shoddy housekeeping on my part
:banghead:

 

[crewchief]

Well they probally would have been real alert had they heard you racking slides and slaming mags in.

 

[Trebor]

or 5/6 loaded for revolvers)

Why load only five of the six chambers of a revolver? If it's a modern gun made within, say, the last 30 years, it will have a block to prevent accidental discharge if dropped.

If, on the other hand, you want the first trigger squeeze to fall on an empty chamber (for whatever reason), remember that you'll want to set it up so the empty chamber will be the first to ROTATE under the hammer when the cylinder turns. An empty chamber under the hammer will still let the gun fire at the first trigger pull.

In either event, unless its a Colt SAA or clone, or a really old gun, there is not need to keep an empty chamber in a revolver.

 

[gunsmith]

why?

everything is now loaded with mag inserted, chamber empty or 5/6 loaded for revolvers

I keep a glock and revolver ready to go at all times.
I'm not racking the slide to reveal my position

Only put your finger on the trigger when you're ready to shoot,don't point your weapon at anyone your not willing to kill.

 

[jamz]

It's just terrible,isn't it? It's sad what this country is coming to, and frankly it disgusts me. Reign of Fire,I mean.

-James

 

[Jacobus Rex]

I've got a handgun lockbox with a P95 and magazines for a rifle that I keep out. That avoids the problem of not having anything handy and keeps the guns secure. Only the rifle is easily stealable or accessable but the loaded mags are in the lockbox. The pistol is ready for action ASAP and the rifle can be loaded quickly if needed. All my other firearms are stored away.

The box works well and only requires two or three seconds to enter the combination.

 

[sturmruger]

I know that is one thing I hate about talking to cops I never break the law but still sound semi nervous when I talk to one of them. I suppose they get used to that and maybe it doesn't phase them.

 

[pax]

You just discovered one of the many reasons I wear my gun even at home.

With kids in the house, I hate the idea of having loaded guns anywhere else. And I likewise hate the idea of having to hunt for and/or unlock weaponry in an emergency.

pax

 

[gbelleh]

I had cops banging on my door at 2:00am once. There had been some shady looking door-to-door perfume salesmen in the building earlier in the week so I had a Glock 26 in my back pocket ready to go when I opened the door. The cops said someone at my address had dialed 911. I told them I had been asleep for 3 hours and they must be mistaken, but they can come in and look around in they want. They left.

You're right, having guns can be a false sense of security if they're not easily accessed in an emergency. An unloaded or locked up gun is useless if you need it NOW!

 

[Rebel Gunman HK]

You really should keep your pistol with one in the chamber. Thats inviting a jam when you need it the most.

 

[TallPine]

You just discovered one of the many reasons I wear my gun even at home

Same here.

Why even have one for home defense purposes if it is not instantly accessible ?

 

[hillbilly]

I have a Makarov that sleeps outside the safe in a hidden position where I get to it quickly.

It's got a full chamber and a full magazine. Only takes the flick of a safety to be ready to go.

The first thing I always do when I get home is go open the safe and get the Remington 870 full of buckshot and put it within reach.

hillbilly

 

[Jeff White]

Cellar Dweller said;

Two FOID holders living here, so that is likely a flag. 911 call, interrupted, flag. No answer to knock within at least 30 seconds, but cursing (as I trip over my daughter's toys) and banging around, flag. C&R license, copy of application dropped off per BATF, I don't know if they file it in the trash or keep it, potential flag. Because I realized this on my way to the door, plus the fact that I had attended their Citizen's Police Academy and met some of the officers and did a ride-along and AFAIK it's a solid department is why I was going to invite them in.

I doubt if FOIDs are flagged in the 911 dispatch center. They aren't here. If there is an interuppted 911 call we are always dispatched to the address to check it out. It could be anything from someone having a heart attack or seizure and being unable to complete the call to a domestic where one party ripped the phone out of the wall. Usually it's someone misdialing a child playing or even the cat stepping on the emergency button on some phones. Here we (the police) go first. It could be where you're at they dispatch everything but that seems like a pretty expensive response to what 9 times out of 10 is an error of some type.

Jeff

 

[one45auto]

I can't imagine having a gun and not keeping it both loaded and handy - unless, of course, they're kept solely for paperweights or showpieces. Police only give me an andrenaline rush when I see them in my rearview mirror or holding radar guns on the shoulder of the highway, but then that's because I was the victim of a rather disreputable officer (to put it mildly) and a "police can do no wrong" traffic judge.

 

[rayra]

surprised no one has even mentioned this yet - to the original poster - did you even TRY to take a peek at who was knocking on your door, before fumbling with weaponry?

"I'm not gonna answer the door without preparation"
Your preparation ought to include a $5 peephole for your front door.

Considering you state you had loud volume on your TV at 1145 at night, did it not occur to you that it might be a noise complaint?

You almost fumbled your way into needlessly escalating / complicating a situation.

 

[Cellar Dweller]

Jeff White
Yep, full dispatch sent, as in: one police car (that I saw) and another drove by while talking; one fire truck, and one ambulance. Two officers at the door - and I know they ride solo so the other car was likely up the block. Next time I talk to an officer I'll have to ask what comes up on the screen - but I do live in Cook County, so they might show me as an evil nutcase

Rayra
Split-level home, I'd need a periscope to see who's at the front door from the basement I was downstairs, guns are downstairs; unlit street; neighbors' trees cut down on moonlight. A couple home invasions in the surrounding 'burbs, a few garages and houses robbed - I read the blotter in the village paper - local crime is mostly breaking into (unlocked) cars and gas station drive-aways and DUIs, but other nastier things DO happen. Should I light up the house and check the door, then go up-down-up-down stairs to fumble for weaponry and phone, or find weaponry and phone first?
TV was loud, relatively speaking. Officers said they knew I had it on from checking around the house, but it wasn't loud enough to be heard when walking up to the house.

 

[Zach S]

4. Storm-door glass is hard to see thru at night until the light is turned on outside...the indoor light reflects back

Get a motion detector light for the front porch. Youll know you have company before they knock on the door.

Neighbors pets will drive you crazy though.

 

[Mr. Mysterious]

I know that is one thing I hate about talking to cops I never break the law but still sound semi nervous when I talk to one of them. I suppose they get used to that and maybe it doesn't phase them

The only people that aren't nervous are criminals.

My gfs family questioned me why I have loaded magazines for all me weapons even .22lr. I didn't feel like arguing with them so I just told them that I was planning on going to the range.

 

[Red_SC]

quote:
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4. Storm-door glass is hard to see thru at night until the light is turned on outside...the indoor light reflects back
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I'd turn the indoor light off before checking it out. You're an easy target when backlit.

 

[ShaiVong]

I've scared my father-in-law a couple of times... I live in the downstairs apartment of a two familiy house (where the grandparents used to live before they sold the house and moved out).

Once my wife woke me up saying she heard noise in the front room. Well it was winter time and dark as pitch out. I'm thinking its like 2AM. I creep and tac roll through the house untill i reach the front room, which her father uses as a photography studio with like > 20 grand of camera equipment piled in it. I kind of quietly chamber a round in the G22, hold the gun behind my hip and ease open the door a crack. Theres my inlaw sitting there at his computer.. Turns out it was like 5:30. It doesnt help that his parents are bliss ninnies.

Another time im about to go to bed and i see a flashlight poke in my bedroom window and go on by. You can imagine alarms going off now. Sliding out of bed and snatching some heat, i peer out the other windows, and see the outline of somebody standing at the top of the driveway (other side of the house). Then I see a couple of people with flashlights.

I hunkered down, just peeking out the window for a while, before I recognize the guys snooping around as COPS! There were like 4 cops all around my house looking for my no good NEIGHBOR! He was fresh outa juvy and skipped bail or parole or something like that. Hes actually the guy who motivated me to buy a gun in the first place. The rest is history.