Home defense

[cmort666]

Does "it's on" mean open fire?

As I said, I don't OPEN the door. The ONLY way you're getting in is to KICK it in, and if that happens, you get Mozambiqued, no questions asked.

There's NO innocent reason to kick in somebody's door unless you're a COP WITH A WARRANT, and even then the acceptable circumstances are VERY narrow.

Don't want to get shot, DON'T UNLAWFULLY KICK IN MY DOOR. Is that REALLY so hard to grasp?

A few years back I opened the door to a woman

There's your problem right there.

She didn't break in. You LET her in.

I never would have opened the door in the first place.

 

[Cal44]

I had an elderly lady come to the door and then try to get past me.

I just stood there and she was too old and weak to push by.

Then she asked for someone I'd never heard of.

Turns out she had Alzheimer's and thought it was her house.

Her daughter showed up a few minutes later and picked her up.

You have to read people and decide if they are a threat -- and cut them a little slack if they are not.

 

[bestagents]

I've been sent to the wrong address before - by my kids, googlemaps/gps, when I did delivery work...

A lot depends where you live..i'm in a ruralish- county in a middle class area...you don't need to lock your doors.

I've lived other places..and may one day need to do so again.

I've sold and bought stuff on craigslist and you never know..usually once I befriend them they tell me they're armed..just in case...

Seems most people have a pretty good head on them..but you never know these days.

A guy here a few years ago (in the city..not my nice town!) called 911 and shot and killed the cops when they showed up at his house.

Does "it's on" mean open fire?

A few years back I opened the door to a woman(well dressed, petite, middle aged driving a very nice, new Buick crossover who looked rather scared) who tried to push her way past me into my home demanding to know where her daughter was and yelling her name. Turned out her daughter had gone missing and she simply had the wrong address of where she thought she might be. I had to hold her back while explaining her mistake, but it took a few minutes for her to calm down. I imagine if she had gotten by me, she would have ignored my initial commands to stop and leave and went charging through my house searching for her daughter. Had she gotten past me, do you think I should have simply shot her?

 

[cmort666]

I've been sent to the wrong address before - by my kids, googlemaps/gps, when I did delivery work...

I bet you didn't try to force your way in...

 

[JCFindley]

It strikes me as semantics to a large extent. All Cmort is saying is if you force your way into his house you have a good chance of getting shot. Since he doesn't open the door and the only way they can get in is to bust in through a locked door I see no issue in his logic.

If you kick in my door and are not screaming Police and actually look like the police I will also shoot you.

Now, if you knock on my door and I open it really the only way you are going to get shot is if I deem you are an immediate threat. (Gun or knife in your hand, you stand 6'9" and try and push by me etc etc....) There are myriad variables if you open the door. There are very few if someone kicks it in.

 

[Mister X]

As I said, I don't OPEN the door. The ONLY way you're getting in is to KICK it in, and if that happens, you get Mozambiqued, no questions asked.

There's NO innocent reason to kick in somebody's door unless you're a COP WITH A WARRANT, and even then the acceptable circumstances are VERY narrow.

Don't want to get shot, DON'T UNLAWFULLY KICK IN MY DOOR. Is that REALLY so hard to grasp?


There's your problem right there.

She didn't break in. You LET her in.

I never would have opened the door in the first place.

Yeah, I did open the door to talk to her after determining she was someone in distress needing help rather than a threat. The scenario could have happened when I stepped out to get the mail, took out the trash or was leaving. I assume you do leave your house or at least open your door at some point and although you really didn't directly answer my question, I guess you're saying you would have shot the lady looking for her daughter had she pushed past you?

 

[Muss Muggins]

. . . I guess you're saying you would have shot the lady looking for her daughter had she pushed past you?

No, I'm pretty sure he's saying that he doesn't, under any circumstances, open his door unless he's leaving or entering. I know people of similar ilk . . .

 

[cmort666]

I assume you do leave your house or at least open your door at some point and although you really didn't directly answer my question, I guess you're saying you would have shot the lady looking for her daughter had she pushed past you?

It's a moot point. You might as well have asked me what I'd do if I tried to ride a zebra and fell off. I don't ride zebras OR open my door to strangers.

The ONLY way somebody is getting in is by FORCE, which puts me in immediate and credible fear of life and limb.

 

[cmort666]

Yeah, I did open the door to talk to her after determining she was someone in distress needing help rather than a threat.

You didn't "determine" that. It sounds more likely that you SURMISED that, based on very little information or investigation.

Given that you don't mention her being chased or harmed by man or beast, or ANY imminent danger to her, ANY assistance you gave her could have been done through a closed door, at MOST by handing her a cell phone through a chained door or out of a window.

What you did was cooperate with a quite common ruse employed by home invaders to gain entry. If she had accomplices out of sight, waiting to pounce, it sure wouldn't be the first time... or the fiftieth.

You lucked out... THAT time.

 

[DevilDog72]

The gun on my night stand is my EDC and a surefire light on strobe.....

 

[BB57]

I voted "short barrel revolver" and I'd suggest a .38 +P load) for these reasons:

1. The .357 Magnum revolver or AR-15 in .223 are very loud and not something you want to be shooting indoors

2. A short, handy shotgun is a good choice for close quarters work - but it's not something you'll have on you. If the bad guys kick in your door, you need a weapon on your person to be effective. Sitting in drawer, in a closet or leaning in the corner across the room is't going to cut it, and you'll find instances now and then of people being killed or injured who had loaded guns in the home - just not where they could get to them in time.

3. I was a long time fan of the 1911 in .45 ACP, as both a reliable self defense weapons with a good balance of speed power, and accuracy, and as a cartridge that was not quite so damaging to your ears to fire in confined spaces - and it's still a good choice, but there is a lot to be said for the combination of safety, simplicity and reliability of a good DA revolver.

 

[BAM-BAM]

Usually my EDC a 3913 or PC 6906.................

I have a Mossburg 510 Youth model 20 gauge......18", short LOP, only a 3 round tube but has + 5 on the butt; fairly handy....and ..usable by anyone in the family.

 

[Bob T]

My HDG at night is a Gen 3 G21 with a Viridian light/Laser.
My SDG varies.

 

[Bob T]

My HDG at night is a Gen 3 G21 with a Viridian light/Laser.
My EDC otherwise varies.

 

[Mehutch]

Wow, just wow. Defend yourselves, wife, kids, dogs and cats, car, house whatever. Is that so confusing, why is it scary to some people? Shotgun, handgun, knife or club use anything that works. The reason we fight for our own is if we back down the intruder will take every thing we hold dear, worked hard for, and things we will never have again. Safety, courage, sanity, guts comfort all gone; fear and hate, anger and insecurity will be with you every night And day. Feeling like a coward, helpless and defenseless is all that is left. Get a grip. I have stood my ground and I feel solid within. Not hollowed out by anyone who aimed to hurt me or rob me. As for me and my household, I will defend it and sleep in comfot.

 

[cmort666]

Wow, just wow. Defend yourselves, wife, kids, dogs and cats, car, house whatever. Is that so confusing, why is it scary to some people?

It's a question of contemporary "culture" and how people are socialized to it.

1. People today are raised in many cases to believe the twin lies that you CAN'T protect yourself and that the police can and WILL protect you as an individual. Both are errant nonsense on their face, but LOTS of what gets taught today is errant nonsense.
2. There is a strong narrative abroad which holds that even the most bestial criminals are just "victims of society". Their welfare in many cases is held above that of the actual VICTIMS of their violent crimes.

If your sole overriding goal is simply not to shoot somebody, then you're going to be willing to endanger your own life and those of others to achieve that goal. If you let somebody slaughter you and your family, by default you haven't taken a life.

 

[Stevens]

I keep a .38 snubby revolver and a full size 9MM semi auto, both loaded, in a lockable nightstand drawer, and a HD 870 in the cabinet not loaded but ammo out next to it
Pray to never use them against anyone.
Steve W

 

[Lee's Landing Billy]

This is not original, but nonetheless true...We have been taught for so long that violence is not the answer for everything, that we now believe it is never the answer for anything. The old Cooperism, when asked by a reporter, " will you at least admit that violence begets violence?", to which he replied "It does when you bring it to me".

 

[cmort666]

This is not original, but nonetheless true...We have been taught for so long that violence is not the answer for everything, that we now believe it is never the answer for anything. The old Cooperism, when asked by a reporter, " will you at least admit that violence begets violence?", to which he replied "It does when you bring it to me".

When I get the "Violence never solves anything!" hooey, I just reply, "You're not being honest. You SAY 'Violence doesn't solve ANYTHING!' when you MEAN 'Violence doesn't solve EVERYTHING!', two entirely different things. Do you hold yourself to the SAME standard? Did non-violence on the part of the Jews end the Holocaust? Or was it men with bayonets?"

I hate dishonesty and rarely miss an opportunity to rub their noses in their own.

 

[sigp220.45]

I let Randy the rottweiler handle the light work. If he needs help I have a 75 buck cut down JC Higgins 12 gauge pump with 5 rounds of OO buck in the tube and 5 more on the buttstock.

Randy, always on the ball:



J.C. :





I live in a nice house in an almost crime free neighborhood. Once somebody egged the neighbor's house, that's about it. I don't carry a gun around the house, though I don't begrudge those in other circumstances the right to do so.

I just retired from 33 years in law enforcement, 25 of that working violent crime in the FBI. I figure I've put about 400 people in prison, and I couldn't name 15 of them. They could probably all name me, though. As the saying goes - the tree remembers what the axe forgets. I chopped a lot of trees.

When I first started I met an agent who was working well past his eligibility to retire. I said he must really like his job. He said, no some ******* he put away 20 years before got out of the joint and burned his house down. He and his family got out, but it put him in a financial bind. It made an impression on me - I've always been more concerned with a payback arson than a home invasion.