possible home invasion review.

[Nine the Ranger]

$Hello All.

About 2 weeks ago I was home alone, Mrs. Nine was gone, and there were no cars at the house. I was in the hallway outside of my bed room when out of nowhere I hear a loud banging at the front door.

I move to investigate and see through the window of the door a guy whaling on my door, kicking I assume. The door, a 1 1/2 inch think piece of wood buckled. I moved to my bedroom and retrieved my Mossy 500C and returned to my earlier position.

Racking the slide and chambering a round I see the fellow look up, we locked eyes for but a moment before he hauled a$$. I didn'td get a good view at him, only the upper part of his face and his backside. Looking at the door I saw that maybe a few more good kicks and he'd have been inside.

So food for thought:

-Given my time constraint did I do the right thing? I didn't have time to call police.
-This fellow looked between 180 and 200 pounds, rather solid looking. I'm having second thoughts about the 20 Gauge's abilities, and I rifle would have been a terrible choice as my front door faces a road with houses on the other side.

Can anyone offer input or suggestions?

[Jen-from-IL]

I am really no expert here but my view is this: your actions caused the criminal to run and not perpetrate his criminal activity. Calling the police after the incident happened and providing whatever information you have available is better than nothing. Perhaps this criminal has been doing the same thing to other houses in the neighborhood. What matters most is that nobody in your family was hurt. I think you did the right thing. You did not have to fire a shot but did show that you were armed and ready to do so if the need arose. Another cowardly thug that thankfully knew better than to pursue his criminal activity (at least at that moment) in the face of potential harm to himself.

[kraigwy]

Whether he runs or not, defiantly call the police. In my LE days I've seen this happen more then once, where the bandit fees after finding someone is home only to be caught down the street.

He may be checking to see if someone is home, or in a woman is home alone.

So the cop shows up and the bandit is gone, better that then processing a crime scene next door because you didn't call, or worse, having the police find a rape or assault victim.

I'm not saying its wrong to have your self defense pistol/revolver in your hand when you peek through the peep hole, to the contrary, I'm just stressing that if he fees, the threat may not be over, may be over for you, but not your neighbor.

[Louca]

I agree with Jen and kraigwy. I would only add that the title of your thread should be "attempted invasion." If the guy is walking up to your door, it is a possible invasion; if he is kicking it, it is an attempted invasion.

I think you did the right thing. If I heard someone kicking at my front door, I definitely would have had the gun in hand when going to the door the first time.

Lou

[seeker_two]

You did right all the way around. Fix your door and be vigilant in case he comes back. And don't worry about your 20ga....it's plenty for the job.

[Onward Allusion]

The first thing anyone should ever do in that situation is to get armed. YOU DID GOOD.

The hell with calling 911 first, 'cause you may not ever get the chance. For this reason, I carry at home.

20 ga may or may not be up for the job. It depends on the type of ammo loaded. For 20 ga, I would not have anything less than 00. Personally, I'd stick with slugs.

You may want to get a monitored alarm system that have contacts on all doors and windows, too. Another thing that will buy you seconds are steel security bars for the doors. They're not going to stop someone from kicking in your door, but the bars will take a few extra kicks to give. Trust me on this. I had to break into my own house once because my power went out and there was no other way in aside from the garage door. These things will give but it takes time to do it.

Visible surveillance cameras are also a good deterrent. No BG wants to be on video.

Oh, YES - definitely call the cops on something like this. You might be safe but maybe the next homeowner may not be so lucky.

[Dwight55]

Because either I or my wife are often home alone, . . . we also have a "driveway" sensor ($65 at Northern Tool) which tells us whenever someone comes in the driveway.

It gives us ample time to "load up" or squirrel away, . . . whichever seems more appropriate for the situation.

But the OP did good, . . . no gun play, . . . stopped the crime, . . . called LEO.

May God bless,
Dwight

[Hiker 1]

If he had breached the door, I imagine a face full of 20 gauge whatever-load-you-have would have dissuaded him from further shenanigans.

[besafe2]

Another one for the you did good.

[Spats McGee]

I agree with the others who have said you did well. You deterred the threat without having to actually engage in a gunfight. That's a definite plus. Your door's a little worse for the wear, but that's the BG's fault, not yours. I do have to say that I also agree with those who said you should have called the police afterwards, even if the threat is over at your house.

[40-82]

In the situation you describe I'll take a 20 gauge over any handgun I own. When you have a chance you might want to pattern a few 20 gauge loads against a large sheet of white paper and you'll see what I mean.

Glad you're all right.

[ripnbst]

Shoot a super light weight varmint bullet out of an AR platform and the high velocity through a well built man such as you've described should cause the bullet to basically come apart in him. The danger to the house across the street is only there with a miss, all the same with the shotgun.

I think you did the right thing given the situation. I prefer to have one in the chamber. Racking the action gives away your position, or at least lets someone know you are home. To each their own.

[armsmaster270]

Like this. Good Video even if I don't like Glocks. 20ga is fine if you use buckshot.

[GM1967]

In the video above, she never checked to see if the gun was loaded. She had time, so she should have, even though she probably routinely keeps her gun loaded in that gun safe.

[armsmaster270]

All my guns are loaded even the ones in the Safe as most accidents are from supposedly "empty guns".

[ClydeFrog]

Do you have a motion light on your house/property?
Do you have any DV or security camera systems? Newer designs like the Night Owl units work outdoors, day or night. You can get a system that works with your iPad/tablet or smartphone too.
They sell them at places like Radio Shack & Sam's Club.
A DV system will help document events if you have a use of force event or if the crooks(s) split you can record a possible description or license tag #.
If you have the $ & time/resources, you may want to think about buying a dog too.
Dogs(larger breeds) can be a great deterrent to burglars & robbers. They can hear much better than humans & will key into any threats. Many convicts & prisoners tell researchers that large dogs are something they worry about more than the LE response or the occupants of a house.

Finally, if you decide to use a home defense shotgun or patrol rifle(7.62 or 5.56mm), Id carry a semi-auto pistol or snub DA only revolver as a BUG/2nd gun.
A crook can snatch your rifle barrel or try to grab your pump shotgun. A well placed .45acp or .40 round can end that story right there, .
Clyde

[JimmyR]

I think you handled the situation well, aside from having a gun on you while you were wandering about the house.

As to the 20 guage, I don't think you need to worry too much about it. I will reccomend buckshot/slugs, but whatever load you have will do more damage than most any handgun.

[kraigwy]

Sometimes you just have to open the door and peek outside to see what's up.

A few years ago I went to a rifle match. I took my camper (actually a horse trailer with living quarters). It was the first time I shot at this range. It was dark when I got there, so I parked in a field outside the gate. The range was located about three miles from town.

In the middle of the night I woke up to someone or some thing banging on my trailer. It was pitch black outside and I couldn't see anything.

Then what every it was started banging on the camper door, like it was trying to break in.

I get my revolver, crack the door open a tad to see the light from my CT laser sight on the nose of a horse. I backed off, got a flash light and went out to chase him and about four others away from the trailer.

Don't start shooting, you don't know what's out there, even in the middle of no where.

Phones don't always work, there was no cell service in that canyon. Sometimes you just might have to check out things on your own.

Now if I was to take Uncle Joe's advise, I'd been buying a trailer door and a horse.

[Skadoosh]

...why didn't you call the police?

[Nine the Ranger]

But I did.

Several minutes after the fact.

I wanted thoughts on my actions DURING the event.

[Skadoosh]

As soon as I heard the loud kicking at my door, I would moved to retrieve my gun from the safe before looking out of the window to see who was knocking. You wasted precious time by first looking out of the window before getting your gun.

"Secure the space and report the fire before attempting to fight the fire." Learned that from my years in the Navy.

Do you carry a cell phone everywhere you go like people do these days? If you do, you could always dial 911 and toss the phone on the floor under the bed.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

You can get alarm systems that call the cops at the press of a button. Takes no time as you gear up. Starting the police immediately is a plan.

Takes as much time as racking the shotgun.

[ClydeFrog]

I posted a topic about a new service; www.smart911.com many cities & communities are switching to.
It's free and you can relay information directly to the first responders(fire, LE, EMTs). I'm not sure if you can let any public safety officers know if you are armed or have weapons
And before you ask, Smart911.com doesn't sell or market your personal details & you must update it every 6mo or it's cut. The system isn't available in all areas. Check the site for information.

Clyde

[FireForged]

I don't think there is any reason to "worry" about the abilities of a 20ga shotgun.

If you are worried about the roadway being a background, there is an easy fix to that.... simply face another direction. Nothing says you have to stand facing the door that someone is trying to kick in.

Now is the time to invest in a little better door and perhaps add a storm door or other security type pre-door. If someone wants in they will get in but the idea is to make it difficult as possible. I also suggest the large striker plates that spread the screw holes out off-set.

I will say good-job at being armed and ready prior to the fellow getting inside. Now get to work on making entry a little harder.

[Erikbal]

Sounds to me like you did the right thing, and there was no harm to you or your family. That must've been pretty scary. I had a realistic dream the other night about hearing someone come in the front door. I was sleeping on the couch and it made me realize that the nearest gun was in my bedroom upstairs.