Late Night Home Defense

[CelticSire]

Christmas Eve, 2005. I'm less than two weeks home after my first tour in Iraq (a very LONG 16 months away from home). About 3:00 in the morning I hear my wife scream "Help me!" from about 18 inches away on her side of the bed. Next thing I know, I'm standing in the adjacent bathroom, scanning from the doorway, Colt Commander in my hand. Turns out she was just having a dream about some movie she had watched recently and was being chased by something "big and ugly" (And no, not me). I don't remember rolling out of bed, grabbing the Colt from my bedside drawer, taking cover behind the wall of the bathroom, none of it. Just pure conditioned reaction to a perceived threat. I do remember how really peeved she was when I woke her up to make sure she was okay. Her: "Did you HAVE to wake me up?" Me: "Did you HAVE to scare the holy bejeesus out of me?" Women...

 

[Jinseru]

A lot of answers but none that matches my situation. I've thought about how awkward it would be to answer the door to someone with a gun in my hand in a non emergency situation so I have come up with a solution for this. I have been teaching my fiancée to shoot now for about a year and she's getting very proficient with the pistol. Luckily I don't have any children to worry about, but if I did I would still keep my pistol where it stays at night. I have built a small hanging "box" if you will at the head of the bed that is completely invisible and near impossible to find unless you knew about it, this box however is quickly accessible and safe (in my opinion) for children.

My late night reaction is to reach for the gun first (and I've done this for many bumps in the night), but here is where I differ from most people. I would do better in a close quarters fight than my fiancée, and for that reason when I reach for the gun, I rack it and hand it to her while I go to address the situation. She waits and listens as close but out of sight as possible in case she is needed.

I had to do this about a month ago. Very strange how things happen.

At about 1am I woke up with a very bad feeling, and I couldn't describe it fully now if I tried. Either way I felt it warranted me to put the gun under the pillow, and I did and fell back asleep. At about 3:30am I woke up to a violent and loud banging at the front door. Grab the gun, rack it back, hand it to the misses and off to the door I go. It turned out to be a pregnant woman who was kicked out of her boyfriends car about 3 miles down the road in 20 degree weather with caries and flip flops on. I let her in the house and called for transport for her, and the whole while my fiancée sat readily in the other room with the pistol just in case.

Although it was a false alarm it was a GREAT feeling how efficiently we handled that situation from a dead sleep in the middle of the night. I feel that if you have a significant other, then they care about defending themselves, you and their home just as much as you do and it's your responsibility to enable them to do so. Alone your strong but if you can have a mini gang waiting for any intruders in your house your MUCH stronger.

 

[Strato]

I was recently awakened by a loud rattling sound and the cat running up under the bed and as I quickly approached the back door I realized my nightstand gun was in my hand. As I slowly opened the door, prepared for the worst I heard the sound again behind me. I really have to learn to take the change out of my pockets when I do laundry.

 

[old curmudgeon]

Frankly I care not whether one who knocks on my door in the middle of the night likes the manner in which I answer their knock.

And one can answer while armed and keep the weapon either hidden or in a non threatening but ready position.

As to the subject of waking with one's wits about them, I got in a very bad habit in that regard, so a warning.

I had a problem with the burglar alarm. I knew that I had a malfunction and that the service department was having a problem fixing it.

I had a bad motion detector and it would go off in the wee hours. I got into the habit of jumping out of bed and rushing to the main control panel, which was next to one of the entry doors so as to turn it off before the monitoring service called.

Obviously this was dumb. Everyone who studies accidents, tragedies, etc., knows that bad things usually happen in conjunction with otherwise innocuous events.

I think or hope that I have broken myself of that habit.

I mention it here only as a warning to others that they not let themselves get moustrapped.

I have not had the alarm go off for several years now but when it goes off next my intention is to reach for my revolver and sit tight until the BG comes to the bedroom door or until the service calls and tells me what their monitor shows. At that point, I will make a decision as to whether to go to the panel and turn it off or to ask for the sheriff.

My system is too old to find a remote that tells me what set the system off. I plan to replace the system, this summer, I plan to replace the system this summer, an expensive proposition as I have sensors on every door and window plus fire and smoke alarms. We junked the motion detectors.

So bottom line: Don't let past events warp your view of a present event.

Ore as engineers constantly remind us, don't assume anything as it will make an *** of u and me

 

[old curmudgeon]

Jenseru:

One other thing.

Going to the door unarmed with your wife armed is a bad idea.

What would happen if the guy at the door was a BG, big and tough and quick enough to push through the door and grab you, holding you as a shield, hostage, etc., maybe with a knife at your throat or a gun at your head...

You wife would then be rendered totally checkmated.


things would quickly go very bad for both of you.

Either take your gun with you or stay with her.

 

[HeyJoe]

the only problem with that is if you put yourself between her with the gun and the threat.

 

[matt_641]

This is why I make sure I have quick access to a mini gun safe near my bed and practice opening and drawing from it. Again, its a "what if" scenario, but if someone got in the house and came as far as my room, its an easy quick open and grab for the .380.

I'm glad to see that you weren't faced with anyone with bad intentions OP.

 

[nebmike]

About 15 years ago, while living in a large apartment complex, I was awakened from a dead sleep just after dawn by a horrendous crash. It was incredibly disorienting -- I layed there for just a second trying to figure out if it was a dream or if it was real... once I decided it was most likely real, I went charging out of the bedroom with the mindset that I was going to kick the holy $h!t out of some ***hole who desperately deserved it...

...I had a loaded Glock 23 in my nightstand and it never crossed my mind to grab it...

...fortunately for me, what it turned out to be was the 4'x4' mirror in the bathroom came off the wall and blew up into a million pieces.

I learned two very important lessons out of all this. #1, always secure big heavy mirrors with screws, not just glue. And #2, the gun is always the first thing I grab now when something goes bump in the night!

 

[cemeteryman]

Stupid question, perhaps, but I'll ask it all the same - if someone comes knocking on your door and you didn't invite anyone over, why even bother answering? That would seem to address the question of how to answer the door armed.

 

[Jinseru]

Jenseru:

One other thing.

Going to the door unarmed with your wife armed is a bad idea.

What would happen if the guy at the door was a BG, big and tough and quick enough to push through the door and grab you, holding you as a shield, hostage, etc., maybe with a knife at your throat or a gun at your head...

You wife would then be rendered totally checkmated.


things would quickly go very bad for both of you.

Either take your gun with you or stay with her.

I'm not so worried about getting grabbed and used as a shield, I'm a big guy myself and have LEO training as well. Not to mention, she's sitting at the doorway of the bedroom with an open ear. She's not a bad shot, but she wouldn't hesitate to put a few rounds in him quickly. I take her to the range every time I go and she does the same practices I do. She's proficient enough that if I can give her any opening she can take a shot. I might get tagged (hopefully not) but I know it would just be from the bullet passing through and not from her missing and hitting me.

Ideally I'd like to get another pistol I can answer the door with, but for the time being I don't have any but the one so I have to make the best of it.

I figure the pistol is better with her than locked up with me if I get into a scuffle with the guy. The gun is useless then, and if the guy happens to overpower me the gun's his. But if it's sitting safely between her hands, I can hold the guy off and she can take a shot.

Either way, I have to agree with the person who said if you didn't invite anyone over why open the door. That's true, but as my previous story explained, you might not have invited someone over, but it might be an emergency for someone else, and I wouldn't want to be the one who turned someone away for worry of my safety and caused harm to them by doing so.

I always check outside discretely before opening up the door. Check the blind spots, obvious hiding places and check the back door to make sure it's secured and no one is outside it.

I just find it safer to stick to typical gang tactics, lol, open the door, be cautious, but have a buddy in the background with a loaded gun if sh*t hits the fan.

 

[Rivers2k]

So the night time has been eventful at my house as I am the OP and this is my second incident in a month. I think I need to move LOL. So at 10:45pm there was banging at the door and my good ol Jack Russel was going nuts at the door again. Jumped out of bed took 10 seconds to retrieved my revolver from the safe next to my bed. Hit the kitchen light on my way to the door so light would be at my back but I could still see. Looked out the blinds and it was this crazy old guy I had let use my phone earlier in the afternoon. Left the chain on the door but opened it a crack. He asked if I could dial another number for him. I told him to never show up again after dark. I will help out anyone during the day but don't show up when the lights are out. I felt alot more confident in my reaction this time. I was at the door armed in a few seconds. Only thing that didn't change is I was still at the front door in my underwear lol. I guess I should wear shorts to bed if this is going become a regular thing.

 

[Jinseru]

Lol, don't bother with the shorts, I answer the door at night in my boxers too. What matters is your response time which as you said, you've improved.

 

[Cpo1944]

locked nightstand

Back when my children were small I installed a lock on my bedside table. The key was on my car key ring, so I had to lock the table in order to drive to work. it became a habit to unlock the table at night and re-lock it the next AM.

Never had an incident , but the M-19 was ready if need be.

I also trained my boys at a very early age about guns, but the lock remained in use even after they had grown and moved away.That old table is gone now, & I have Grand children I guess I better get another locking nightstand, and relearn that old habit.

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

I don't have kids so, fortunately, I can keep a fully loaded gun in my nightstand.

Every time I wake in the middle of the night because of some noise, the first thing I think of is the gun. Maybe I'm just overly paranoid.

Or maybe you just have your priorities straight.

 

[walnutred]

While I keep a handgun in the bedroom and a 9mm carbine on the way to the front door next to the door is an umbrella stand. In the umbrella stand, among other items is a cricket bat and a machete.

 

[BuckeyeChuck]

Buy one of these.

Top Draw

I also have one of these on top of the stand next to my bed. Inside it reside by BG 380 and my M&P9. I practice routinely to get inside: twist the knob counterclockwise, and then push the buttons in the sequence I set when I bought it. Twist the knob clockwise and lift the lid.

I wanted a simplex lock. No keys, no batteries, and nearly impossible to defeat by children. If you really wanted to reduce the time to get into the box, you could "preload" as many buttons in the unlock sequence as desired, leadning to as few as one additional button push to unlock the box. I don't do this, as I fear I may forget to reset the lock in the morning, but it's an idea.

 

[wildcatter]

Well I don't have any kids in the house anymore, all raised and that means I don't worry about the Persuader under the bed with the collapsible but and 3-3"#4 Bucks followed by 5 3" 00 Bucks. But I need Jeannine there to wake me up, she says they would break the door down and be in to get me and I'd sleep trhu it???? But if she wakes me I got a rude awakening for rude individuals that don't wait to be invited in!! Now once outa bed it's time to put the 1911 on, even if I am just watchin TV. I don't get outa bed without it. They always teach you if you don't have it with you that is when you will need it!!! Never hurts to be ready.

 

[skywarrior]

home defense....

I keep a S&W Sigma .40 in a "bed holster" right below my pillow. Who ever invented these little beauties should win an award! Easy, quick, reliable access. Plus, it is unseen under the sheets or bedspread which hangs down on the side of the bed. Lost better than leaving it sit on the nightstand and having to hide it every time I leave home for a few days.

 

[Franciscomv]

I live by myself, so I only have to worry about kids when friends or family are visiting. My system is quite simple. I keep my dog close by and my Remington 870 even closer.

I live in a quiet neighbourhood, but there have been a few home invasions in the past couple of years. Most of them quite violent. I've had a couple of false alarms, and I've always acted in the same rather unheroic way: putting as many heavy closed doors between me and the potential threat as possible, and laying in wait with all the firepower I could get my hands on.

I'm not about to go around a dark house, half asleep, looking for a burglar.

Of course, living alone makes everything a lot easier. I don't have to worry about family members coming home late at night, children, etc.

 

[G.T. Smith]

I always include my cell phone with the light and revolver that are next to my bed. Gotta remember that cell phone. I keep 911 on speed dial as well as the county sheriff, city police, and even the poacher-arson hot line. I live way out in the sticks so it would take quite a while for the sheriff to find this place. Cell phone.........
Peace,
gordon