The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Had a few lessons re-affirmed the other night....

DGTigers · July 9, 2009, 03:52 PM

The other night I was trying to get to sleep and I decided to get up to get a bottle of water that I had left in the living room right outside of my bedroom. Just as I walked into the living room I noticed that somebody was trying to open the living room window to get in. I hurried back to the bed room and grabbed my trusty Winchester 1300 defender, and told my girlfriend to call 911 because somebody was trying to break in. I announced my presence (exactly as I learned in my CPL class) as loud as I could with the gun pointed towards the window as the man was sticking his head through the window.

The intruder stopped in his tracks as soon as I announced I was going to shoot if he came inside and left. Moments later the doorbell rings and I hear my roommate yelling my name and that it is him. Apparently he came back a couple days early from visiting family and his cell phone was dead. He had forgot his house key apparently and had rang the doorbell a couple times but I had not heard from my bedroom. After I saw who it was and let him in I went to the phone and my girlfriend to explain the situation to the police and tell them that their help was not needed. To my surprise my girlfriend was still waiting for the police to answer the phone!

This entire situation re-affirmed a couple lessons that I already knew. 1.) You need to be able to protect yourself and your loved ones because these situations happen so fast that the police are most likely not going to be able to arrive in time anyway, and 2.) Even at the most stressful/scary of times when you are feeling that it's "Go time" and you may have to fight for your own well being or your families, you need to keep your cool and not be too quick to use force until you know exactly what and who you are looking down the barrel at. I am very grateful of the training that I learned in my CPL course and the emphasis they put on safety in home defense situations as it made my instincts the right ones and helped avoid a terrible accident.

Needless to say that I didn't sleep too much that night as my adrenaline was still really going. I was also very shocked and upset that the police didn't even answer my girlfriend's call. Is it worth talking to someone about the non-response of my 911 call?

Anyway, I'm new to this site but thought if my story helped one person, it'd be worth sharing. Be safe everyone.

-DG

July 9, 2009, 03:52 PM	#1
DGTigers Member Join Date: March 13, 2009 Posts: 17	Had a few lessons re-affirmed the other night.... The other night I was trying to get to sleep and I decided to get up to get a bottle of water that I had left in the living room right outside of my bedroom. Just as I walked into the living room I noticed that somebody was trying to open the living room window to get in. I hurried back to the bed room and grabbed my trusty Winchester 1300 defender, and told my girlfriend to call 911 because somebody was trying to break in. I announced my presence (exactly as I learned in my CPL class) as loud as I could with the gun pointed towards the window as the man was sticking his head through the window. The intruder stopped in his tracks as soon as I announced I was going to shoot if he came inside and left. Moments later the doorbell rings and I hear my roommate yelling my name and that it is him. Apparently he came back a couple days early from visiting family and his cell phone was dead. He had forgot his house key apparently and had rang the doorbell a couple times but I had not heard from my bedroom. After I saw who it was and let him in I went to the phone and my girlfriend to explain the situation to the police and tell them that their help was not needed. To my surprise my girlfriend was still waiting for the police to answer the phone! This entire situation re-affirmed a couple lessons that I already knew. 1.) You need to be able to protect yourself and your loved ones because these situations happen so fast that the police are most likely not going to be able to arrive in time anyway, and 2.) Even at the most stressful/scary of times when you are feeling that it's "Go time" and you may have to fight for your own well being or your families, you need to keep your cool and not be too quick to use force until you know exactly what and who you are looking down the barrel at. I am very grateful of the training that I learned in my CPL course and the emphasis they put on safety in home defense situations as it made my instincts the right ones and helped avoid a terrible accident. Needless to say that I didn't sleep too much that night as my adrenaline was still really going. I was also very shocked and upset that the police didn't even answer my girlfriend's call. Is it worth talking to someone about the non-response of my 911 call? Anyway, I'm new to this site but thought if my story helped one person, it'd be worth sharing. Be safe everyone. -DG