Unanticipated knocks and locks turning...

[rmagill]

Well, I happen to work mostly at night so I sleep most of the day. I also happen to have a rifle, shotgun and handgun mostly within arm’s reach of my bed for that bump in the night (or in my case, day) (ext. walls are thick brick and the way the layout is, it is virtually impossible to shoot anywhere but directly to the outside).

Well, I was just asleep when I heard a loud bounding on my apartment door and what sounded like a lock becoming unlocked. Only I and the landlord are supposed have keys to the apartment and I did not receive any calls from the landlord saying he would be coming over, and since I was asleep, it was not me (sorry, had to throw that in )…

Being the cautious person I am, I decided to take my handgun (Glock 27) so that, if it was the landlord I could easily hide it, but if not I would have 10 rounds of 40 with me to get to bigger firepower if needed. Well, as I approach, I notice the top lock was indeed unlocked. Because my landlord has keys to the apartment and I am to the side of the door, I decide to peak through the window to see who it is, having the handgun at the ready and knowing I could easily back peddle while shooting if needed. Unfortunately, there is no other way to see who is on the other side of the door.

Well, ended up being the landlord so I placed the handgun on the table nearby (out of sight due to how I opened to door), opened the door, and spoke with the landlord. Apparently, the number for my cell was incorrect because I never received a call as he said he tried to do. The reason he came was because the heat was a bit low for the people downstairs (I like it a bit on the cool side so this is not unreasonable) and wanted me to turn it up a little. No big deal, done; and he now has the correct cell phone number.

In retrospect, I probably should have said something when I noticed the top lock was unlocked… I should probably drill for that now. Other than that, it was nice to see that my drilling paid off and that I was able to wake up, access the situation, arm myself appropriately and respond before the door could be unlocked (less than 2 seconds) all while remaining perfectly calm and maintaining a thought process.

[Dino.]

... it was nice to see that my drilling paid off and that I was able to wake up, access the situation, arm myself appropriately and respond before the door could be unlocked (less than 2 seconds) all while remaining perfectly calm and maintaining a thought process.

So what sort of "drill" prepares you for this and how often do you practice it?

What I mean is ... yeah, you can go through the motions of grabbing your gun, and going to the door, but exactly how do you prepare for this coming from a deep sleep?

I'm not trying to bust your chops, I'm sincerely curious.
Also, I keep my gun close enough to my bed where I can access it in a matter of seconds, but intentionally not within arms legnth.
With family members in the house, my thinking is that I want to be clearly aware of my surroundings before handling a firearm.

May not be a right or wrong way.
May just be a matter of what works best for you.

[rmagill]

That is a good question. While I cannot actually drill for someone breaking in while I am in a deep sleep, I am on call with my job. I frequently get phone calls while I am sound asleep that require an immediate cognizant response. This significantly helps with my ability to go from asleep to criticallly thinking in practically no time at all.

As for the drill... it is basically going from lying in bed to grabbing a gun and clearing the apartment. Knowing that a threat was not actually in the apartment yet, I slightly modified this to the situation.

I have a tendancy to move alot when I am asleep. Becuase of this, I leave the safeties activated on all of my firearms, except for the glock which has no safety. However, this is positioned so that I cannot grab it without significant intentional effort (I have tried grabbing it (unloaded) from every position I can think of while I am asleep and it is impossible). In other words, I cannot accidentally fire the glock. Works so far.

[Dino.]

Sounds good to me.
I would think having the safeties engaged would at least require you to be alert enough to disengage them.

[tydephan]

R,

Sounds like you responded well.

As I was reading your summary, I remembered a study that I had read awhile back. Thanks to the miracle of google, I was able to find it.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releas...-mgm121905.php

This is based on a University of Colorado study that, in essence, says that the first 10 minutes after waking up from a deep sleep can be just as dangerous as being legally intoxicated.

You sound like you may never reach a deep sleep (moving around, constantly oncall), so maybe this doesn't pertain to you. I am the same way.

But it is an interesting study to say the least. Just thought I would bring it up.

[paramedic70002]

I used to shower in the morning. Then I switched to nights. I was stunned to notice things in the shower that I had never taken notice of before.

[Nytelyte]

"I used to shower in the morning. Then I switched to nights. I was stunned to notice things in the shower that I had never taken notice of before."

Huh? Please explain.

[musher]

I used to shower in the morning. Then I switched to nights. I was stunned to notice things in the shower that I had never taken notice of before.

HEATHER?....

[Glockamolie]

I think he's saying that he used to shower in the morning, right after waking up. In his half-asleep state, he wasn't very aware of the details of his surroundings, even though he had taken a shower in the same place many times.