Answering door with gun in hand

[DoubleTapDrew]

I'd invest in a holster. OWB, IWB, it's up to you. There are times I've answered the door with my strong side turned away from the door (hidden from view) with my hand on a sidearm if it was someone I didn't know or an odd hour. I don't think it's paranoid, just prepared. I just prefer not to be the next "home invasion" on the news and on the losing end. If there is no problem there is no gun seen and no foul (I don't think anyone is going to call the cops saying "I knocked on a strangers door and he answered with his right hand out of sight").
As for the searching...if you feel the need to search someone they shouldn't be inside your home.

 

[billstaf]

I can see through a semi-opaque window covering and my visitor cannot see inside. If I don't know the caller, I'll have my GP100 .357 in my right hand at my side. I'll keep it out of sight unless the caller tries to force their way in.

I would never want to threaten, brandish or scare somebody else unnecessarily, but I don't want to suffer from a smash-in home invasion either. Better safe than sorry. I can explain later if I have to.

 

[CharonPDX]

I live in the city, in a standard neighborhood, in a house with a driveway with no gate between the street and my front door. I am friendly with my neighbors, and have a child who plays with other neighbor children at their house and my own. Thus, I get a decent number of knocks at my door that are perfectly benign, and not unwanted. My neighbors would consider me insane if I answered my door with gun in hand. (And rightly so in my situation!) Now, my sister-in-law, sure. She lives in rural Clark County, at the end of a 1/2 mile driveway with a gate, off a very low-traffic road. When her dogs bark, somebody's coming. If they're not expecting someone, they keep some protection available.

But we do keep a baseball bat and a small pepper spray dispenser close enough to the door to get to them if it seems to be someone "unwanted" at the door. And I carry more often than not (although some days, depending on what I'm wearing and which holster, I will disarm as soon as I get home from work for pure comfort sake.)

 

[A2theK]

I do all the time. Two girls knocked on my door at 2am and I opened it wIth gun in hand and said sorry about the gun but WTF are you guys doing out here. People should expect it. I could of been seconds from a home invasion. When I asked if they were alone they said their boyfriends were around the corner because they knew I wouldn't answer otherwise. My house my road my rules - dont like it leave. If they try to force in its not going to be clockwork orange around here. Also remember you will be groggy so be careful with your weapon. A holster in a breach situation will get you killed. Not enough time there cowboy. Leave your Quick draw dreams at the CAS league

 

[Burt Gummer]

A2theK at a party:

 

[Buddhalux]

i mean like patting them down is it legal? or is that invasion of privacy?

That's called battery and if you leave a mark then it's assault and battery.

 

[Loaded1985]

I do all the time. Two girls knocked on my door at 2am and I opened it wIth gun in hand and said sorry about the gun but WTF are you guys doing out here. People should expect it. I could of been seconds from a home invasion. When I asked if they were alone they said their boyfriends were around the corner because they knew I wouldn't answer otherwise. My house my road my rules - dont like it leave. If they try to force in its not going to be clockwork orange around here. Also remember you will be groggy so be careful with your weapon. A holster in a breach situation will get you killed. Not enough time there cowboy. Leave your Quick draw dreams at the CAS league

so what did they want?

 

[mkwerx]

That's called battery and if you leave a mark then it's assault and battery.

How do you figure? Also - there's no crime of "Battery" in Oregon.

You may ask for a consent search of anyone entering your home or place of business. The person has a right to say no. Then you have the right to tell them (or ask them, if you want to be nice) to GTFO. No crime has been committed at that point, unless the person refuses to leave. If they do, I'd say you had a pretty damn good reason to ask for a search, unless you want to take the example to an extreme and it's a uniformed cop you're asking to search (at which point you don't need a search to know they're armed.)

 

[MikeSettles]

When they show up in uniform at your door how do you KNOW that they are who they say they are?
It seems rare, but there are stories in the news from time to time about home-invaders dressed as police.

Yes, I know that the "only ones" must have a search warrant to be able to demand entry: How do you know that the warrant they are showing you through the peep-hole is valid?

Am I paranoid? Perhaps a little: I am raising what I feel to be a valid question. And I hereby pose a possible solution: "Police" show up at your door, with or without search warrant, and demand entry. Call 911 (tell the ones outside what you are doing) and ask if there have been officers dispatched to your address. If not (or if they refuse to tell you), report a possible attempt at home invasion and refuse to open the door while being prepared to defend yourself and your property. Tell the dispatcher what you are prepared to do.

Anyone else want to chime in?

 

[gunnails]

When they show up in uniform at your door how do you KNOW that they are who they say they are?
It seems rare, but there are stories in the news from time to time about home-invaders dressed as police.

Yes, I know that the "only ones" must have a search warrant to be able to demand entry: How do you know that the warrant they are showing you through the peep-hole is valid?

Am I paranoid? Perhaps a little: I am raising what I feel to be a valid question. And I hereby pose a possible solution: "Police" show up at your door, with or without search warrant, and demand entry. Call 911 (tell the ones outside what you are doing) and ask if there have been officers dispatched to your address. If not (or if they refuse to tell you), report a possible attempt at home invasion and refuse to open the door while being prepared to defend yourself and your property. Tell the dispatcher what you are prepared to do.

Anyone else want to chime in?

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Your best chance of survival, in a situation like this is lie on the floor and curl up into a ball, you will not have time to determine if they are real cops are not, and if they are real they will kill you if you are armed.

Sad.

 

[MikeSettles]

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Your best chance of survival, in a situation like this is lie on the floor and curl up into a ball, you will not have time to determine if they are real cops are not, and if they are real they will kill you if you are armed.

Sad.

So, what is worth living for, and what is worth dieing for? Do we just give in? Hope that they will leave us with our lives? I expect that the real cops wouldn't care leave us with our dignity: The fake ones would run away when you announced through the door "I am checking with 911!", but the real ones want to make sure that you know that THEY are always in charge, and you must let them do whatever they want without complaint.

 

[gunnails]

So, what is worth living for, and what is worth dieing for? Do we just give in? Hope that they will leave us with our lives? I expect that the real cops wouldn't care leave us with our dignity: The fake ones would run away when you announced through the door "I am checking with 911!", but the real ones want to make sure that you know that THEY are always in charge, and you must let them do whatever they want without complaint.

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I'm all for defending your self against home invaders, but if they turn out to be a police swat team,,,,

The Indiana Supreme Court has ruled you have no rite to defend your self against an unwarranted attack by police, your only defense is after the fact in a court of law.

It seems to me when LEO serve a search warrant, they have two types of warrant, a no knock, which means they do not announce themselves and simply bust in to your abode, or a knock warrant(?) where they knock on your door announce who they are wait approximately 7 seconds then bust into your abode. These are usually done when they think you will be a sleep.

In both cases you may just have time to grab your weapon and make it to your hallway at which point you most likely be shot.

IMHO your best chance of survival in both a home invasion or if a warrant is being served as you will not have the time to determine if they are LEO or home invaders is to go fetal. Because if it is a legit swat team, you will lose.

 

[MikeSettles]

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I'm all for defending your self against home invaders, but if they turn out to be a police swat team,,,,

SCOTUS has ruled you have no rite to defend your self against an unwarranted attack by police, your only defense is after the fact in a court of law.

It seems to me when LEO serve a search warrant, they have two types of warrant, a no knock, which means they do not announce themselves and simply bust in to your abode, or a knock warrant(?) where they knock on your door announce who they are wait approximately 7 seconds then bust into your abode. These are usually done when they think you will be a sleep.

In both cases you may just have time to grab your weapon and make it to your hallway at which point you most likely be shot.

IMHO your best chance of survival in both a home invasion or if a warrant is being served as you will not have the time to determine if they are LEO or home invaders is to go fetal. Because if it is a legit swat team, you will lose.

Not the US Supreme Court: An Indiana State Court did this last summer, and they now have legislation pending to counteract what the judge ruled. Police entry bill approved by Senate, heads to House | City & State | Indiana Daily Student

If it's a legit SWAT Team busting into my house, then they have the wrong address (I don't practice illegal activities, and we live on a quiet street), and I will defend myself against an unexpected forced entry (I won't position myself in an open "funnel" hallway like that young Marine in Arizona). My relatives can have the millions when it's proved in court that the police were wrong.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

So just cave and let armed home invaders break in? I don't think so.. and it does happen, I remember a series of such cases few years ago right here in Western WA

911 Home invasion audio - YouTube

Seems impersonating cops is a lot more common than most people realize..

http://www.google.com/search?q=WA+s...s=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

 

[gunnails]

]Not the US Supreme Court: An Indiana State Court[/B] did this last summer, and they now have legislation pending to counteract what the judge ruled. Police entry bill approved by Senate, heads to House | City & State | Indiana Daily Student

If it's a legit SWAT Team busting into my house, then they have the wrong address (I don't practice illegal activities, and we live on a quiet street), and I will defend myself against an unexpected forced entry (I won't position myself in an open "funnel" hallway like that young Marine in Arizona). My relatives can have the millions when it's proved in court that the police were wrong.

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Thank you for correcting me, I will edit my post, the distinction between the 2 is a big deal.

 

[deen_ad]

From Gary Kleck: Up to about 2 million "defensive gun uses every year". Most of those don't involve firing a round, rather just showing the potential perp that the person is armed. I suspect that those events would also amount to "intimidation" or "brandishing".
So then, you can't "intimidate" a bad guy to leave you alone, except by shooting him in self-defense?

(A little bit of sarcasm here: I do fear what an overzealous prosecutor might do with a brandishing/intimidation charge when I was merely warning off a bad guy.)

I was involved in such a situation while in our motorhome. I picked the .45 up off the floor and holstered it while standing in the front window. I then turned and went for the shotgun in the back. When I got back to the front they were gone. Gee, I hope I didn't scare them! They obviously didn't report it and I didn't either.

 

[Burt Gummer]

Yep. It seems a lot of the vests sold at stores and on Ebay have POLICE velcro badges all over them. Add a POLICE baseball cap and a $20 badge and ....

Not that post SHTF that would be a good idea for anyone to do.

 

[MikeSettles]

I do NOT encourage the endangerment of police while in the performance of their duties.

I DO promote the return of balance between "police authority" and "citizen authority". Police power, balanced against citizens, has been growing for much too long: They need to be reminded that they work for us, and that WE the PEOPLE are sovereign, not the police, not the legislature, not the governor, not the president, and not the courts.

 

[Burt Gummer]

That's nice, but ultimately police and courts are there to protect the interests of the corporation aka the USA, not your 'rights' or to 'serve' you. Facts vs myth.

If/when SWAT comes around, lay flat on your stomach, hands straight out up/out at 45 degrees up, not fetal. Fetal = they think for .25 seconds you are hiding something and you are dead.

Show me ONE instance of a Swat team EVER trying to take someone down at a home and encountering great resistance where they said 'we give up' and moved on. LOL! Resistance is Futile. It may or may not be post-SHTF, but for now fighting the man would be foolish.

An individual in this land is property and has has no real rights. Not even the right to own real property. Read the deed to your land. You are listed as a tenant, that is really all you are and ever will be. Someone believing that they are the exception may make them feel better, but it isn't so. You are just granted 'permissions' or 'liberties'. Same with the 2nd. None of these things are 'rights.' Anything that is temporarily granted, even for decades, is still a liberty. Understand the difference.

 

[hermannr]

That's nice, but ultimately police and courts are there to protect the interests of the corporation aka the USA, not your 'rights' or to 'serve' you. Facts vs myth.

If/when SWAT comes around, lay flat on your stomach, hands straight out up/out at 45 degrees up, not fetal. Fetal = they think for .25 seconds you are hiding something and you are dead.

Show me ONE instance of a Swat team EVER trying to take someone down at a home and encountering great resistance where they said 'we give up' and moved on. LOL! Resistance is Futile. It may or may not be post-SHTF, but for now fighting the man would be foolish.

An individual in this land is property and has has no real rights. Not even the right to own real property. Read the deed to your land. You are listed as a tenant, that is really all you are and ever will be. Someone believing that they are the exception may make them feel better, but it isn't so. You are just granted 'permissions' or 'liberties'. Same with the 2nd. None of these things are 'rights.' Anything that is temporarily granted, even for decades, is still a liberty. Understand the difference.

In Utah a couple months ago, the guy took 7 or 9 of the SWAT team out before he couldn't fight any more. Wrong address.,... I would hope I do as well if it ever happens here. Very unlikely to happen here...they would have to find my house first. Not that easy to do.