[Terry A]

I posted this story once before but would like to share it again because unexpected things certainly DO happen and no matter when they do happen, you absolutely have to make the exact RIGHT decision, often in less than ideal circumstances. Like when you're asleep in bed in the middle of the night.....

A while back on a Saturday night at 0200, I was sound asleep. Two of our 4 kids still live at home but were away. Just me and my wife at home. We're in bed and I hear the door knob of the bedroom door turn slightly but the door doesn't open. It's locked but it is a very weak door with a flimsy lock. It's really there just to do what it did, to make noise. Without waking my wife, I got out of bed and had a Springfield XD-45 aimed over a dresser along the wall that the door is on. Whoever comes in will not be able to see me unless they turn their head real hard to their left, but I can see clearly who comes thru. The door jimmied again and it opened this time. Just waiting to see a target when I see it's my WIFE! She had gotten up out of bed to use the bathroom and when she closed our door, it somehow locked. She went and got a butterknife and jimmied it instead of waking me up with knocks.....

It was a terrible feeling to have aimed a loaded gun at my wife, because she is precious beyond belief. Upon reflection, I still would have gotten up out of bed without waking her up and telling her what's going on, because that would have killed seconds, which do count in times like that. I figured it would be quicker to just get up and get positioned.

There have been many times over the years where a stranger came to the door or somebody heard something bang on a porch or something. It's always been false alarms at home so far. This one could have ended in disaster if I was not trained to identify your target before you shoot. I couldn't have lived with myself had I hurt her and it really made me feel sick for all those people who have accidentally shot someone they loved.

There have been other times when we heard something and I go outside the bedroom. She stays put with a Beretta M-92 and instrutions to MAKE SURE she sees who it is that comes back in the bedroom before she opens fire! I've always thought it best to announce to her that it's me coming back inside and so far, she hasn't gotten trigger happy. But we've trained and practiced a lot and all kidding aside, I do trust her if a bad situation happened.