Swept my House This Afternoon - False Alarm

Executive said:
When the testosterone fest here dies down a little and people start to think, they will realize the potential PRISON TIME involved with their decisions.

Chris
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I don't hear anyone being a keyboard commando here, I think people are simply saying that if they were nervous that there could be an intruder, but had no hard facts to support this suspicion, they would investigate it themselves. It would be smart to conduct said investigation while armed, don't you think? There is NOBODY here that calls the cops everytime they hear a noise or just get "that feeling". Do you?

Again, if you guys are so worried about going to prison, why even carry a gun at all? I have a scenerio for you. A couple weeks ago I got a knock on my door around midnight while I was watching TV. I had a gun on my side at the time. I am not friendly with my neighbors and I have no friends or family that would drop by at that hour. Should I have run and locked it in the safe and called the police, or should I have gone to the door to investigate? What would you do? Seriously, I am curious.
 
I don't know. I think the first thing they would ask is if there were guns in the house, yes. Are they secure (yes, maybe, I don't have any young kids). Do you have a dog (OMG, yes). Now it's a potential armed intruder situation requiring SWAT! "No sir, we don't need your key, that won't let us in fast enough", Forever door, no more. Cut to scene of door getting slammed in, my 11 year old dogs awakens from her slumber thinking someone has snacks for her and she comes running and barking and winds up eating a 9MM. My stripped Zombie lower is sitting on my desk in my office, I also have a misplaced .22 shell casing sitting on my window sill. Next thing I'm on the ground for failure to properly store a gun and ammunition, my dog is dead and my house is definitely not secure with no front door on it. So, I don't know if I would call. But that's just me. [wink]
 
You guys are missing the point here. Protecting yourself and your family while you are ALREADY IN THE HOUSE is fine. Going into an otherwise unoccupied house ALONE, WITHOUT TRAINING, leading with your gun, in search of a possible intruder is just dumb and such action will get you in trouble no matter where you live. (Well, maybe not in Texas.) If I have reasonable suspicion that someone is in my house when I get home (my family with me and not inside), I will call the police and get my family to a safer place than the car in the driveway. If I get that knock on the door at midnight or hear an uninvited intruder, rest assured I will respond with appropriate force. And I am smart enough not to publicize my plan on a public forum. [wink]

Chris
 
I would of grabbed my smartphone and posted here first to see what people had to say....posting after the fact does you no good.
 
JGreen said:
Dog(s)....Find em' pup! Nothing nose our house better than our dogs. For those that can have 1 or 2, they offer the best peace of mind.
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I have an 85lb greyhound. Great animal, but unfortunately, he is useless as a home defense tool. Deterent, maybe, but probably not. If I needed a dog to run away from a situation at 35-40mph he is perfect.
 
Executive said:
When the testosterone fest here dies down a little and people start to think, they will realize the potential PRISON TIME involved with their decisions.

Chris
Click to expand...

Nah, t ome it's a more simple matter. If I'm already outside my house, and so is my family, and I have articulable cause to convince me that someone's inside that shouldn't be, along with their presumed violent intent? Well, with a phone call I can have OTHER people with guns AND vests to go in and find out. You know what the safest entry method is? Not the criss-cross. Not the buttonhook. It's the 'go in after someone else did'. And you know what the best legal defense is if someone was in your home, and armed, and gets shot for it? The 'I was still outside when they shot him, didn't see nuthin' defense. Call me lazy, but I'm willing to let someone else get shot over my stuff. It's insured well enough that if me and mine are safely outside, it ain't worth it for me to get shot or arrested - but I'm perfectly fine with someone else taking one in the vest for it, or dealing with the aftermath for it.
 
Executive said:
You guys are missing the point here. Protecting yourself and your family while you are ALREADY IN THE HOUSE is fine. Going into an otherwise unoccupied house ALONE, WITHOUT TRAINING, leading with your gun, in search of a possible intruder is just dumb and such action will get you in trouble no matter where you live. (Well, maybe not in Texas.) If I have reasonable suspicion that someone is in my house when I get home (my family with me and not inside), I will call the police and get my family to a safer place than the car in the driveway. If I get that knock on the door at midnight or hear an uninvited intruder, rest assured I will respond with appropriate force. And I am smart enough not to publicize my plan on a public forum. [wink]

Chris
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Chris, I think more of us are on the same page here than you think. When I read Tim's post I didn't get a picture of him to tactical rolls through the house kicking open doors and yelling "Clear!" the way I read it, he saw something abnormal enough to make him think he should check the house out before he let his family in and decided to do so with his gun on him instead of in the safe. But, he didn't see anything that Gave him reasonable belief that someone was in the home.

I can imagine the response from the police department if I called for them to inspect my house just because I found a quad locked up to my fence.
 
I came home from a trip from NH a few years ago to see my backdoor broken in. I pulled out my gun and cleared my house. It took the cops 20 minutes to show up.

They didn't get any of my guns or my tv. They took minimal stuff, but the drug addict emptied my 5 year olds piggy bank. That's what pissed me off more then anything.

I never really thought about it, going in or not. I just went in pissed off as all hell.
 
TWtommers said:
Chris, I think more of us are on the same page here than you think. When I read Tim's post I didn't get a picture of him to tactical rolls through the house kicking open doors and yelling "Clear!" the way I read it, he saw something abnormal enough to make him think he should check the house out before he let his family in and decided to do so with his gun on him instead of in the safe. But, he didn't see anything that Gave him reasonable belief that someone was in the home.

I can imagine the response from the police department if I called for them to inspect my house just because I found a quad locked up to my fence.
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I couldn't have said (and apparently didn't say) it better myself. That is precisely what happened. I appreciate the points of view that have been offered here, but some seem to be viewing this in terms that are a little too black and white. Not all suspicious activity is an imminent threat. if I were a LEO I would take less seriously the guy who called me every time he saw something he thought was out of place. Perhaps that leads to a lax response leading to a dangerous situation in the future. Just positing a hypothetical.

By the way, is this sort of deference what the constitution intends? A domestic defense force who, at the threat of prosecution and imprisonment, steals away the obligation of men to protect their family and property, regardless of the scope of the threat?
 
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TWtommers said:
Chris, I think more of us are on the same page here than you think. When I read Tim's post I didn't get a picture of him to tactical rolls through the house kicking open doors and yelling "Clear!" the way I read it, he saw something abnormal enough to make him think he should check the house out before he let his family in and decided to do so with his gun on him instead of in the safe. But, he didn't see anything that Gave him reasonable belief that someone was in the home.

I can imagine the response from the police department if I called for them to inspect my house just because I found a quad locked up to my fence.
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In my town, people call the police every time they hear a noise, see a car parked on the street, or hear a neighbor fart! No kidding, it goes beyond ridiculous at times (this is from listening to the scanner).

Here's what I remember reading from Tim's OP . . . He got home,saw the quad which made him suspicious, so he ENTERED his house TO GET HIS GUN FROM THE SAFE and then proceeded to clear his house. All this while his Family were "sitting ducks" in a car in the driveway!!

This could take 15 minutes of discussion in a PPIH class as a training exercises!!

- I would not feel very good leaving my Wife helpless in a car in the driveway while I played junior detective. YMMV!

- I might have walked around the house to check for any evidence of break-in prior to deciding what else to do, but I would NOT walk into the house first TO GET MY GUN. I want to make sure that there is a good likelihood that NOBODY got inside before I decided to enter the house. Again YMMV!

The rest is best left to a PPIH class.
 
LenS said:
In my town, people call the police every time they hear a noise, see a car parked on the street, or hear a neighbor fart! No kidding, it goes beyond ridiculous at times (this is from listening to the scanner).

Here's what I remember reading from Tim's OP . . . He got home,saw the quad which made him suspicious, so he ENTERED his house TO GET HIS GUN FROM THE SAFE and then proceeded to clear his house. All this while his Family were "sitting ducks" in a car in the driveway!!

This could take 15 minutes of discussion in a PPIH class as a training exercises!!

- I would not feel very good leaving my Wife helpless in a car in the driveway while I played junior detective. YMMV!

- I might have walked around the house to check for any evidence of break-in prior to deciding what else to do, but I would NOT walk into the house first TO GET MY GUN. I want to make sure that there is a good likelihood that NOBODY got inside before I decided to enter the house. Again YMMV!

The rest is best left to a PPIH class.
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I appreciate your apparent expertise, but you're making some pretty strong inferences. First, my family was at the end of my long driveway, closer to my neighbors house than my house. They were by no means sitting ducks. Second, I did check the perimeter of the house before going in, and was satisfied that there were no other suspicious signs. My safe is relatively close to the door which I entered, and there was a clear lane of retreat if I encountered a threat. I did not walk in to the house with a blindfold on and the risk to my family was no more significant than when we were driving home.
 
LenS said:
In my town, people call the police every time they hear a noise, see a car parked on the street, or hear a neighbor fart! No kidding, it goes beyond ridiculous at times (this is from listening to the scanner).

Here's what I remember reading from Tim's OP . . . He got home,saw the quad which made him suspicious, so he ENTERED his house TO GET HIS GUN FROM THE SAFE and then proceeded to clear his house. All this while his Family were "sitting ducks" in a car in the driveway!!

This could take 15 minutes of discussion in a PPIH class as a training exercises!!

- I would not feel very good leaving my Wife helpless in a car in the driveway while I played junior detective. YMMV!

- I might have walked around the house to check for any evidence of break-in prior to deciding what else to do, but I would NOT walk into the house first TO GET MY GUN. I want to make sure that there is a good likelihood that NOBODY got inside before I decided to enter the house. Again YMMV!

The rest is best left to a PPIH class.
Click to expand...

Do you buckle your seatbelt before you start the car, or as you're pulling out of the driveway?



Sometimes I don't wear mine at all.
 
LenS said:
In my town, people call the police every time they hear a noise, see a car parked on the street, or hear a neighbor fart! No kidding, it goes beyond ridiculous at times (this is from listening to the scanner).

Here's what I remember reading from Tim's OP . . . He got home,saw the quad which made him suspicious, so he ENTERED his house TO GET HIS GUN FROM THE SAFE and then proceeded to clear his house. All this while his Family were "sitting ducks" in a car in the driveway!!

This could take 15 minutes of discussion in a PPIH class as a training exercises!!

- I would not feel very good leaving my Wife helpless in a car in the driveway while I played junior detective. YMMV!

- I might have walked around the house to check for any evidence of break-in prior to deciding what else to do, but I would NOT walk into the house first TO GET MY GUN. I want to make sure that there is a good likelihood that NOBODY got inside before I decided to enter the house. Again YMMV!

The rest is best left to a PPIH class.
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Very valid points to consider, Len.
 
TimMcG74 said:
I appreciate your apparent expertise, but you're making some pretty strong inferences. First, my family was at the end of my long driveway, closer to my neighbors house than my house. They were by no means sitting ducks. Second, I did check the perimeter of the house before going in, and was satisfied that there were no other suspicious signs. My safe is relatively close to the door which I entered, and there was a clear lane of retreat if I encountered a threat. I did not walk in to the house with a blindfold on and the risk to my family was no more significant than when we were driving home.
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Tim, I can only reply based on what you posted. I don't recall you saying in the Top Post that you checked the perimeter of the house before entering it. That does change the picture for me as to how I would react.

I have two driveways, probably 75-85' long each. I still wouldn't feel comfortable leaving my Wife in the car at the bottom of the driveway as I investigated. Part of what would make me nervous is that there are woods 20' away and it would be very difficult to ensure that an "associate" of a burglar wouldn't be waiting there for his buddy and thus able to cause harm to my Wife.

These little differences are what make each situation unique . . . and a wholesale answer difficult to give with confidence.

Another note: If you post something here, expect to get critiqued. Some will be good, some will be bad. BUT it will be based solely on the info supplied to us (at least before people start going off the rail with all sorts of unfounded assumptions [wink] ).

Gonzo said:
Do you buckle your seatbelt before you start the car, or as you're pulling out of the driveway?

Sometimes I don't wear mine at all.
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Totally irrelevant!

I "visited" the remains of a few cars driven by classmates while in high school, with a large pool of blood and a shoe still coagulated in the foot-well in one case . . . at least he got buried from his Family's funeral home! [thinking] Almost every car had the driver/passenger's head "firmly imprinted" in/thru the windshield . . . they didn't believe in seat belts either! [sad2]

I had the dealer install seat belts in my first car before delivery (used 1960 Ford) and have used them forever. I don't need a law to tell me to use them.
 
Gonzo said:
Do you buckle your seatbelt before you start the car, or as you're pulling out of the driveway?



Sometimes I don't wear mine at all.
Click to expand...

Are you using this analogy to illustrate hindsight? If so, I agree with you. More often than not, we will fall back on instincts, and not necessarily do what others who are playing the armchair quarterbacks think is the "proper" way to handle a situation. For me personally, the very last thing I would ever want would be to invite the local gestapo to go poking around my home. You are almost guaranteed to be inviting trouble for yourself, unless you live to absolute letter of the law, very much like answering questions (even when innocent) without legal counsel being present. In my case I live in a residential neighborhood, so the situation is different than the op's, but if I was in a rural setting, I would have been inclined to have my wife and kids drive away to safety, while I went in to check things out. This forum cracks me up sometimes, because self-reliance is so heavily preached at times, but then other times it is like a huge fudd-fest! Maybe some of you should just turn your guns in, and rely on the police for your safety as you are suggesting to the op.
 
If my dog was other than barking happily at the window as I walk up to the house, I'd know "something" was wrong. I keep a spare pack of Newports and a folding shovel for those occasions. There's always room for just one more.

IMAG0155.jpg
 
Next time, do yourself a favor and post here so the NES Mobile Response Unit can show up to sweep your house for you. Make sure theres cookies and milk.
 
SteelShooter said:
My stripped Zombie lower is sitting on my desk in my office, I also have a misplaced .22 shell casing sitting on my window sill. Next thing I'm on the ground for failure to properly store a gun and ammunition...
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The lower most likely doesn't have to be locked up, the empty shell casing definitely does. Gotta love Mass.

Executive said:
Going into an otherwise unoccupied house ALONE, WITHOUT TRAINING, leading with your gun, in search of a possible intruder is just dumb and such action will get you in trouble no matter where you live. (Well, maybe not in Texas.)
Click to expand...

Not in my state either. Not in most of the US; the home is a sacred place, most laws recognize that. Whether it's a good idea is another issue.

Kaisha77 said:
PPIH is for you my friend.
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Me & IGWT aren't best buddies, but I know he doesn't need an NRA class.

DukeInMaine said:
TWO WORDS:

Alarm

System
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Three letters.

BTK.

From November 1974 until being fired in July 1988, Rader worked at a Wichita-based office of ADT Security Services, a company that sold and installed alarm systems for commercial businesses during Rader's years there.[5] He held several positions, including installation manager. It is believed that he learned how to defeat home security systems while there.
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GSG said:
Me & IGWT aren't best buddies, but I know he doesn't need an NRA class.
Click to expand...


You'd be surprised . . . PPIH is NOT your typical NRA Fudd class. It actually teaches some very practical values and reactions regardless of what state you are in. In addition NRA REQUIRES that a competent firearms attorney or competent LEO teach the legal portion of the class (not the NRA Instructor, unless said instructor meets those credentials). The shooting drills are also useful, and most clubs don't allow that sort of practice either. [thinking]


PPIH and PPOH were both newly created classes within the past few years from what I am told.
 

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