You never know, do you?

David Scott · November 5, 2000, 11:11 AM

Had an "incident" the other night. I woke up at 3AM and could see that a light was on in the front of the house. I woke my wife and told her I was going to check it out, got the Ruger and went down the hall at Ready, pie-sectioning each doorway.

The kitchen light was on, and there was my brother, who's staying with us. He'd had a 3AM urge to dispose of some post-Halloween Snickers bars. I lowered the pistol to point at the floor as soon as I saw him, and said, "Oh, it's you."

He saw the gun and got bug-eyed. He knows I shoot, he knows I keep it loaded and ready, but somehow the reality never came home to him till then. Maybe he thought that my talk of home defense was just gunny speculation. We were both raised in upstate NY but I lived 20 years in Texas where the rules are different. I reassured him that he was never in any danger since I do not shoot at unidentified targets and my finger stays out of the trigger guard till I get an ID.

Lesson #1: Everybody sleeping in the house, even guests, needs to know that you will react to bumps in the night, and how.

Lesson #2: If you have night-lights throughout the house, you can arrange the pictures on your walls so that you can see who's where in each room without exposing yourself to fire.

Spectre · November 5, 2000, 11:39 AM

Glad no incident.

Good, keeping the finger out of trigger guard. Personally, my firearm stays at low ready until I am in the process of firing.

M1911 · November 6, 2000, 12:03 PM

Spectre:

This is one situation where I would use high ready. The Lindell retention techniques from high ready are easier than the ones from low ready. And I'm less likely to bump into furniture and stuff with the gun at high ready. YMMV.

M1911

Betty · November 6, 2000, 12:20 PM

I've had similar situations. My roomate's brother stays over every couple of weeks, and it is policy that everyone who comes in leaves their keys on the little table by the door, so when I come in, I know someone's there. And this is why.
I came in one night and went into my room. I knew my roomate wouldn't come in until much later, so I thought I was alone. I heard sounds in my kitchen tht just shouldn't be there; we have no pets or anything like that. Thinking somebody broke through the sliding back door, I sprung in action and grabbed my K40 and walked sliently down the hall and peeped into the kitchen. There he was, stuffing his face with a sandwich. I hid my pistol behind me and said hi.
Which brings up this - when you go into your home, do you do an immediate search of the premisis, or do you just go on about your business? I have now taken into practice to scan the place before I settle down, so I know that I didn't enter my place and a badguy is snooping about.

November 5, 2000, 11:11 AM	#1
David Scott Senior Member Join Date: February 11, 2000 Posts: 2,456	Had an "incident" the other night. I woke up at 3AM and could see that a light was on in the front of the house. I woke my wife and told her I was going to check it out, got the Ruger and went down the hall at Ready, pie-sectioning each doorway. The kitchen light was on, and there was my brother, who's staying with us. He'd had a 3AM urge to dispose of some post-Halloween Snickers bars. I lowered the pistol to point at the floor as soon as I saw him, and said, "Oh, it's you." He saw the gun and got bug-eyed. He knows I shoot, he knows I keep it loaded and ready, but somehow the reality never came home to him till then. Maybe he thought that my talk of home defense was just gunny speculation. We were both raised in upstate NY but I lived 20 years in Texas where the rules are different. I reassured him that he was never in any danger since I do not shoot at unidentified targets and my finger stays out of the trigger guard till I get an ID. Lesson #1: Everybody sleeping in the house, even guests, needs to know that you will react to bumps in the night, and how. Lesson #2: If you have night-lights throughout the house, you can arrange the pictures on your walls so that you can see who's where in each room without exposing yourself to fire.

November 5, 2000, 11:39 AM	#2
Spectre Staff Alumnus Join Date: October 23, 1998 Location: ATL Posts: 3,277	Glad no incident. Good, keeping the finger out of trigger guard. Personally, my firearm stays at low ready until I am in the process of firing.

November 6, 2000, 12:03 PM	#3
M1911 Senior Member Join Date: March 28, 2000 Posts: 4,055	Spectre: This is one situation where I would use high ready. The Lindell retention techniques from high ready are easier than the ones from low ready. And I'm less likely to bump into furniture and stuff with the gun at high ready. YMMV. M1911

November 6, 2000, 12:20 PM	#4
Betty Senior Member Join Date: March 22, 2000 Location: southern U.S. Posts: 1,807	I've had similar situations. My roomate's brother stays over every couple of weeks, and it is policy that everyone who comes in leaves their keys on the little table by the door, so when I come in, I know someone's there. And this is why. I came in one night and went into my room. I knew my roomate wouldn't come in until much later, so I thought I was alone. I heard sounds in my kitchen tht just shouldn't be there; we have no pets or anything like that. Thinking somebody broke through the sliding back door, I sprung in action and grabbed my K40 and walked sliently down the hall and peeped into the kitchen. There he was, stuffing his face with a sandwich. I hid my pistol behind me and said hi. Which brings up this - when you go into your home, do you do an immediate search of the premisis, or do you just go on about your business? I have now taken into practice to scan the place before I settle down, so I know that I didn't enter my place and a badguy is snooping about.