What do you do when a stranger is at the door?

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blue_ridge

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I've read about a few home intrusions where 2 or 3 men drive up to a house, maybe posing as some sort of contractor or salesmen. The plan usually entails one or two of them approaching a door with another one slipping around the back of the house and maybe one as the getaway driver. If the door is unlocked, then they barge right on in and hold the family at gun point. If it is locked, then they knock and wait for someone to come to the door and open it. Then they barge in and hold everyone at gun point.

So my question is, how many of you have a gun near the front door to your house? How do you handle strangers who show up on your door step? Does anyone know of a product made to hide a gun permanently near the front door? I don't think you want to live your life assuming every stranger is a criminal, but you also don't want to be caught totally unprepared either.
 
Where I live now I have a metal screen door that I can use to talk to anyone I have to. Unless I have ordered something, I don't open the door for them. If they are someone I don't know, I am real quick to get rid of them - I'm generally not interested in anything anyone has to sell me door-to-door. I do usually stop by to grab my handgun and carry it mexican-style, just in case.

The place I'm moving to this month is a condo with a common door on the front of the building, with inside stairs, leading up to my condo at the top floor. There is no back door that anyone can get to without climbing up 3 flights worth of balconies (without stairs). The common door is locked, and only unlocks with a regulated key or by someone on the inside letting them in. The door to my specific condo is locked. Multiple opportunities I have to say "sorry, not interested."

I do treat every stranger as a potential criminal. If I don't know you, why are you talking to me? That question quite often gets answered quick, but I like to maintain a healthy "bubble" from people I don't know. Then again, I'm very introverted and not good at meeting people when I want to, but I feel safer that way.
 
We have no children in our home, so I do keep a handgun in the living room concealed.

Standard around here is"

ME:Who is it?

If it's not a voice I recognize, then when I do crack the door to visually see the person, there is a very good reason they cannot see my left hand behind the door and what is in it. :) (which works great since I'm a southpaw)

I admit, I've been accused of being to cautious, but to me it's not more so than owning a smoke alarm.
 
At my house people who come to the door are freaked out when they hear all the dogs barking. You all know I have six dogs & one of them can eat you !!!!!
 
I never answer the door without a gun in my hand (and the safety is NOT on). For some reason, I don't get people trying to sell things coming to my door very much... You think maybe they tell each other that there is a crazy ol' codger living there? Of course, I look out the window first to see who it is and how many of them are there. I have also been known to exit the back door of the house and come around behind them if they seemed the least bit suspicious. I'll usually ask them something like, "Is there a reason that you think that it is ok to trespass on my property ???"
 
I live in the South where it is assumed that most homes contain loaded guns. As a result home invasion robbery is exceedingly rare. We still have plenty of break-ins but they usually happen during the day when honest people are at work.
 
I've confronted my fair share of electrical workers and meter readers with a gun in my hand... I think I'm starting to get a reputation around here... They installed one of those new meters that allow it to be read electronically at the central office instead of sending someone around...
 
I dont sweat it because five feet in front of my front door is a strong burglar bar door and this area of the entire front porch is barred off too so I can open the regular door and converse relatively safely from this position.
 
So my question is, how many of you have a gun near the front door to your house? How do you handle strangers who show up on your door step? Does anyone know of a product made to hide a gun permanently near the front door? I don't think you want to live your life assuming every stranger is a criminal, but you also don't want to be caught totally unprepared either.
Click to expand...

I believe in having the gun on my person not hidden.
 
I almost never answer the door if I don't know who it is. If I do answer and I don't know the person(s), one can rest assured that I have a firearm on me. In fact, I carry all the time at home. It has become habit that I just put it on as soon as I get out of bed.

I think it was someone in this forum who said, don't answer the door if you know know who it is, don't answer the phone if you don't know the caller ID...etc. Good advice.
 
I have a locked gate with a big yellow no trespassing sign, the legal kind, next to the alarm sign. The power folks won't cross that gate to check the meter, we went a year before they sent a letter saying they couldn't estimate it anymore. Fedex and UPS honor it, as does USPS, solicitors, and church people.

That said, if you cross that line, you probably know you aren't supposed to be here. Since that is the only point of entry to the property, there are no excuses you didn't see it.

Also I live off the beaten path, in the back of a bunch of woods, a small house on over an acre of 100ft. plus trees. Some old growth hemlock and such, we get no sun. Anyway, I have no illusions as to how appealing our home would be to an intruder.

So when I get a knock, I don't answer it, I don't even look. I just yell "Go away!" If I hear funny noises or they don't go away, I'll grab the M4 and go clear the property. If they are in need of help, I'll render aid, but cautiously. If they ignored my sign but are innocent, I'll lower the weapon and just yell at them and make them leave. After living here for a year and a half, I haven't had one knock on the door that I didn't expect. So logically, the ones that do knock should be treated as intruders.

And my friends? I have an army buddy that I trust like a brother. He has his own key to the house. I either trust you or I don't... No in between. Know that invasions also happen often to folks that have been cased already, ie, friends or acquaintances were involved. Seldom does someone committ to that kind of crime, carrying that kind of penalty, without prior knowledge of the inside. They also usually involve more than one person, and it seems difficult to me that two others could be persuaded by one to just take a stupid chance without knowing what is inside.

In the past, when I was younger and partied and hung out and all that, it seemed these crimes always happened to the people that had the parties at their houses. Those houses got broken into more than not, and houses with teenagers were at high risk too. It may not be who YOU bring into your house, it could be who your KID brings into the house.

Finally, I think it is a bad idea to keep a weapon by the door. They could breach that door and find that weapon before you do. Then they are between you and your weapon. I keep all my junk centrally located and locked up, but usually the M4 stays by the bed when I'm at home and my carry rig is on all the time my pants are.

I didn't intend on wearing my carry piece all the time, even at home, but I was trying to break in a holster and find out how to wear it to conceal right, what clothes work best with it, etc., and I just ended up making it part of the attire. Best thing about doing it is that I never leave without it now, and it is no longer uncomfortable. If you only carry part time, it will never feel normal.

If you don't like that idea you can get a 340PD, a scandium .357 revolver, that is so light you'll forget you have it in your pocket.

Basically, having it on you is better than having it stashed away. When I was younger, I thought about stashing it away too, but then I joined the army and learned dynamic entry tactics and such; after that it didn't look too appealing. If you have to keep it anywhere other than on you, it should be centrally located so that the bad guy isn't between you and the weapon. That should be the minimum criteria.
 
Our dogs usually do most of the intimidating. When though they are small, they sure have big barks. We have a little slide lock like what they have in hotels so we can open the door slightly and have some safety. If they look suspicious, then I usually have one hand on the panic button for the house alarm.

Can't carry inside the house because of the toddlers.
 
First I use the peep hole. Then I call out and ask who it is. If it's not someone I personally know (Salesman, contractor, stranger, etc.) I crack the door open slightly with my strong side foot jammed against the door along with my shoulder and I cut the pie a little bit. This way, if they try to force their way in or stick a gun in, I can slam the door on their hand or have enough retention to where they can't swing the door open. All this while I have a gun in my waistline, of course.
 
A few years back, before I knew her, my girlfriend answered her front door at around 9:30 pm on halloween to two young males. A black teenage boy dressed in gang looking attire and wearing a bandana over his lower face was standing at the door and another male off to his side of about 19 or 20 dressed in the same manner. The boy said trick or treat and then struck her in the side of the head with an open hand sort of like a palm strike. It stunned her but her dog started barking like crazy but was unfortunately blocked from defending her by a baby gate to keep it away from teh door and scaring trick or treaters. Luckily the boy could not see this so took off running as did the other as she slammed the door shut. Why did they do this? I suspect it was a gang initiation type thing as they sometimes cold clock an unsuspecting victim but he may have did it half ass being she was a woman. It could of course been a home invasion attempt but none others were reported in the news at that time. She suspects it may have been retribution for being firm with some kids who wouldn't take the hint that she didnt want to buy his magazines a few weeks earlier. Regardless, she pretty much never answers the door now. Since moving in i've brought my dog who is very territorial and has a very deep and loud bark so she likes that most people back away from teh door after knocking when they hear him but she still wont open the door unless she recognizes the person. This past halloween she felt safe enough to answer the door to trick or treaters at normal hours but only with me and Samson, my dog, in the living room.

I open the door to strangers but always look first and retrieve a strategically placed firearm if i feel it warranted before answering. I really can't emphasize though how much security a good dog adds to a home. We live in a fairly nice neighborhood but there are some lower areas fairly close. I believe in a being vigiliant but also I don't let fear of crime dictate how i live my life or prevent me from being a part of my community.
 
We live in a condo where we come and go by the back (sliding) door. I have installed a hook and eye (a BIG one) on the storm door and posted a sign to make deliveries at the back door.

The back gate to my small back yard is ten feet from the slider and the gate makes noise on opening. It's also hung slightly crooked (courtesy of the condo assn.) so it scrapes the blacktop.

I don't answer the front door at all, so if I hear knocking, I ignore it. If there are further noises, well there's a solid wood, deadbolted door behind the storm door. The hook-and-eye is positioned so that glass HAS to be broken if the if the hook is to be unhooked from the outside. The windows have contact-type alarms.

IF they make it through the storm door and manage to breach the main door, I should have plenty of time to greet them with the 1911 that I always keep within reach. If they come in through the back, well, I can see them from my chair, so, same result.

The place where I live is fairly nice in and of itself but the barrio starts about two hundred yards away. Two summers ago, an innocent bicyclist got beaten and kicked to death in a case of mistaken identity...a couple of teenage gangbanger-wannabes and their respective fathers took what they thought was retribution for the "disrespect"of the girlfriend of one of the boys, sister of the other, by a guy on a bicycle. They got the wrong guy and all are doing lengthy jail time.

I practice situational awareness and seldom go outside after dark. Are we safe? More or less. We do what we can.

ed
 
Very rarely do I answer the door. I'll peak out the window make sure it's not someone I know. If they see me and I hurt their feeling that I ingored them, well that just too bad. If I answer the door the firearm is always on my hip regardless if I'm sitting around home or out-and-about, it's part of me and a way of life.
 
I have a locked gate with a big yellow no trespassing sign, the legal kind, next to the alarm sign. The power folks won't cross that gate to check the meter, we went a year before they sent a letter saying they couldn't estimate it anymore. Fedex and UPS honor it, as does USPS, solicitors, and church people.

That said, if you cross that line, you probably know you aren't supposed to be here. Since that is the only point of entry to the property, there are no excuses you didn't see it.
Click to expand...

Do you have a mortgage or homeowners insurance? If you do they have the right to access.

I used to do inspections for insurance companies the only thing that kept me out of the yard was guard dogs and I’d just take a pic from the car and the homeowner would lose their coverage.
 
Reason I asked these questions is because I have two small kids and my wife is home alone with them regularly. I won't be leaving loaded guns lying around haphazardly and I won't be carrying inside the house from dusk til dawn. So I was just wondering if anyone had come up with a good system. My wife and I don't answer the door to strangers either. But there are times when the situation is less clear. Maybe someone walks up and we're too busy to notice. Or maybe there's multiple guys intent on breaking in from different places and you don't have time to run and get a gun from the safe. Just curious if anyone else has come up with a solution.
 
Answer the Door, but Don't Open It

I always answer the door, but don't ever open it for strangers. And by answer the door, I mean say "Who is it" through the closed door.

Around here, most burglaries occur during the day and they start with a knock at the front door. If there's no answer, they think no one's home so they kick in the back door.

Now if you're home, what started as a burglary has turned into something much messier.

Same goes for wife and kids; answer but don't open. If the BGs know someone's home and come in anyway, that's where having ready access to a firearm is essential. It's also a different story at night... Breaking in during the day the motive is usually property, but breaking in at night is usually something different.

For those who will suggest you pretend no one's home so you can administer some justice... remember you win 100% of the battles you don't have to fight.
 
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I also don't answer unless I know them or can see the uniform and UPS truck. I have a 20ga shotgun in hand when I check the peephole. A knock on the door or a ring on the phone is not an order but a request.
 
I do yardwork with my Glock on my hip. I sure don't answer the door without it in my hand.
 
Another point of view

I spent the summer being the stranger knocking on the door, I was working for a roofing company, done the same kind of work door to door working for cable companies, I have knocked thousands of doors and am still amazed at how many people will open thier door just because the guy knocking on it has a nice haircut, is carrying a clipboard and wearing slacks and a polo shirt, that guy could be anybody!

Many of these people open the door without ever looking to see who it is or even asking, often times I would not even hear a deadbolt being turned.

But some of them answered thier door with pistol in hand, or easily accessable in thier waistband or a holster, and who knows how many guns I didnt see hidden behind doors.

Several years ago when I lived in North Alabama there was a bunch of burglaries, when the police solved the case, it turned out to be 2 guys delivering the Yellow Pages, just goes to show you dont even have to be home let alone open your door for criminals to case your house and victimize you.

My father and I developed a rather unique way of greeting strangers at the door when we lived in an undesireable part of Montgomery, it was common for druggies on thier way to the hood to buy dope to case and rob houses along the way, so anytime the doorbell rang the drill was to whip off our shirt, which indicated to Gypsy our lab/chesapeake mix that it was showtime and she would start going berserk, pick up the pistol off the chair by the door, stick it in your waistband, pick up the beer bottle half full of water off the chair, which made a nice prop and handy secondary weapon, fling open the door and yell WHAT! at the startled crackhead standing on the porch, to which they would always say I thought so and so lived here, or sorry wrong house (you bet it is), or depending on the season, hey man can I rake your leaves/cut your grass, to which we would respond, YOU AINT EVEN GOT A &@!*%$ RAKE/MOWER! And then slam the door, in the year and a half we lived there we never got robbed, the house got broke into but they took off when I pulled into the driveway, good thing too, all the guns were in the house, I didnt have a permit at the time and was unarmed and the dog was in the backyard, MPD sent one female cop and she was scared to go into the house by herself, it wasnt until I told her if she gave me her gun I would clear the house myself that she all the sudden rememberd she was armed, drew her gun and cleared the house, nothing missing, nothing broken. Every single one of our neighbors on our entire block and the block across the street from us got robbed at least once in that same time frame.
On a side note, its worth mentioning that at the same time we found an entertaining way of dealing with telemarketers, when they would call and ask for the head of the household we would set the phone by the stereo speaker and press play to a certain Terrence and Phillip song on the Southpark movie soundtrack. Juvenile? Sure it was. Funny? Hell yes it was! I know what your thinking, door to door guy talking smack about telemarketers? Pot calling the kettle black? I like to think of it as more like the lesser of two evils.
 
My home sits back 67 yards from the road (ranged and noted!). The land is fenced and has only one gate for entrance. IF someone gets past my dogs. And IF they are not torn to pieces by them; then, as a former Ranger, and 25 year veteran police officer (now retired), I will always meet anyone at my door with a very large caliber weapon in my hands. Unless I see a badge of a fellow officer, the weapon will remain trained on the person (s) until they leave under their own power, or with some assistance.

I call in my meter reading on the pole for the ele. co. (but that is standard here in the country) and delievery folks here leave the package in a box on the inside of the fence near the gate (also standard here too)....So there is really no one that has any business on my place. Thus, like all my old cop buddies and I used to say, "Everyone is a suspect until proven otherwise." You come to my door, you're a suspect. If your a brother/sister officer, you got a cup of fresh ground coffee in your hand in under five minutes, and I'll help ya track down whoever you're after. :) In short, I have no qualms of drawing down on folks. Did it for years as a peace officer, do it here at my home in the woods. I'm not bashful nor am I worried about being sued by an idoit that is trespassing and in need of an education in the legal terms of his or her error in crossing the line. I did not survive three shooting situations in the PD and two years of jungle time long ago by being worried about what folks might think.

So with all this longwinded stuff said, to the OP, I say this; You're in your own home. You have every right to defend it, yourself, and your family. If you choose to respond to the door WITH a weapon in your hand, then you're in the correct mode of thinking. If you choose to go to the door unarmed, then you have already given any potential intruder or felon the upperhand by doing so. I was met at the door more than once while working in uniform patrol when I knocked to asked they were witness to activity and such in their neighborhood by an armed resident. I was cautious, but not offended. They would say "Sorry officer, ya can't be too careful." I'd tell them that I agreed and thanked them for their assistance and their common sense.

Wade
 
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