So Today

[Tom98915]

I have answered the door the same way too, gun-in-hand. A year or so ago I had a knock at my door once at 6am. NO ONE ever comes over to my place at that time. I watched thru the peephole and saw 2 guys. One trying to hide in my bushes and the other standing off to the side waiting for me to open it. Needless to say, I dod not open it or make a sound alerting them I was at the door. I know they were looking for trouble. Found out later at work these guys stole a car and were looking for a place to hide from the police that were chasing them. Good news is they got caught and the car was recovered.

[swdr]

All around nice job, Jonnyboy.

Here's some more (probably excessive) advice.

1. --> Doorscope -- you can very easily see who's there and ask them their business through a closed door and they can't see you.

2. Consider using a removable floor pin (or other obstruction) so that the door can't be easily opened more than 6 inches.

3. If you draw your weapon, concealed by your body or the door, keep in mind that the "solicitor(s)" might try to hand you some literature. You'll want to turn it down or have them set it down outside and you'll "pick it up later".

4. Feel free to kick out a bag they place in the way of the door. It's rude, but so were they.

5. You can always use your cell phone to take a pic of them as you open the door.

6. Re "My alarm bells were going off like crazy." You have very heightened senses when you're just start off CCW. However, err on the side of caution: see de Becker's The Gift of Fear.

7. People have been arrested for 'brandishing' inside the home when seen from public locations, so strongly consider calling it in if they see your gun. Better you call before they do.

[G36 Steve]

Originally Posted by coq

You can "brandish" all you want in your own home.

em.... Where did you get that piece of advice?

[coq]

Originally Posted by G36 Steve

em.... Where did you get that piece of advice?

Maybe I'm wrong. Fill me in. I cannot hold a gun in my hand in my own house?

[rycerz]

Originally Posted by coq

Maybe I'm wrong. Fill me in. I cannot hold a gun in my hand in my own house?

You can hold but you cannot brandish. If you brandish it without cause and someone feels threatened by it you're in trouble..... This mean if you make it a habit to hold a gun in plain view when you open the door.... you're in trouble.

[coq]

Originally Posted by rycerz

You can hold but you cannot brandish. If you brandish it without cause and someone feels threatened by it you're in trouble..... This mean if you make it a habit to hold a gun in plain view when you open the door.... you're in trouble.

OK. Forget I said "brandish." Make it "hold."

[EM2]

Originally Posted by coq

If it feels weird, go ahead and draw the weapon. You can "brandish" all you want in your own home.

[rycerz]

Originally Posted by coq

OK. Forget I said "brandish." Make it "hold."

Again.... opening the door while holding a handgun is brandishing... it implies a threat towards the other person. You might not mean anything by it but the person at the door will feel threatened. And if you didn't mean to threaten, why hold it? Why not lay it on a table someplace inside?

Also if you feel that you need to hold a gun when you open the door, DON"T OPEN IT. Next: if you are at the door and you have handgun by your side..... guess what.... I'm too close to you for the handgun to be that useful so then again: why.... have the handgun ?

[coq]

Originally Posted by rycerz

Again.... opening the door while holding a handgun is brandishing... it implies a threat towards the other person. You might not mean anything by it but the person at the door will feel threatened. And if you didn't mean to threaten, why hold it? Why not lay it on a table someplace inside?

Also if you feel that you need to hold a gun when you open the door, DON"T OPEN IT. Next: if you are at the door and you have handgun by your side..... guess what.... I'm too close to you for the handgun to be that useful so then again: why.... have the handgun ?

Wait, wait, wait. The reason I originally put "brandish" in quotes, is because Eirerogue had brought up the term in this situation. In this case, the OP had drawn, behind the door out of site, this was after things got weird...and the door was already open. I apologize for not being clear, but I was not implying that it's prudent to wave a weapon around while answering the door, only that in a situation like mentioned, go ahead and draw. I sure would.

[EM2]

Originally Posted by rycerz

Again.... opening the door while holding a handgun is brandishing... it implies a threat towards the other person. You might not mean anything by it but the person at the door will feel threatened. And if you didn't mean to threaten, why hold it? Why not lay it on a table someplace inside?

Also if you feel that you need to hold a gun when you open the door, DON"T OPEN IT. Next: if you are at the door and you have handgun by your side..... guess what.... I'm too close to you for the handgun to be that useful so then again: why.... have the handgun ?

Your response seems to lean toward how someone else feels yet we are talking about a situation where the home owner felt threatened. How many people out there 'felt' something just was not right and did not take precautions because they did not want to offend the other person and were rewarded by being the victim of a crime. There are self defense classes for women who are taught to follow their instincts (feelings) when it comes to protecting themselves. Personally I don't give a rats @$$ about someone who shows up at my door and makes me 'feel' somethings wrong.

You go on to question why the OP would have a handgun on themselves, this is problematic when we start to us the same arguments that the 'antis' use on us, on each other. An argument (using your logic) could be made to deny you a CCW because you might be in a situation where you have more assailants than bullets and therefore we will not let you carry because you will not be effective. Sounds dumb huh?

The bottom line is he was in his own house, felt there was something amis, took precautions, and decided to share for our benefit.

[Gronk Bronson]

I think Johnnyboy182 did the right thing! If something just doesn't feel right don't hesitate to step up on your reaction, and take it to the next level. Keep your cool and be on-guard. Especially on your doorstep. Maybe punting the bag through the up-rights would have been a way to show a pushy salesman a thing or two?

Thanks for sharing!

[paul0660]

I would have said "thanks for the briefcase" and locked the door.

[Ken_In_Colo]

I think the OP did good, having the gun out, especially when the 'salesmen' put the bag in the door jam (that was an escalation for sure).

[desertrat]

I think the op did what was right. Gun on the inside of door, is a good idea, although depending on how the door/house and things are conected, would worry about getting the door kicked in and then losing control of the gun, but I am sure the op had thought of that and had taken steps to be cautious on that situation.

Had a similar thing happen to me last year at this time, cept it was 1:30 am, guy said his car was out of gas and wanted me to give him a ride to the gas station, yeah, right. Except I was screwed, pistol was in the pickup, (I was at a family members house) and the damn shotgun didnt have any shells! The international sound of get off my porch a shotgun makes has a weird effect on people though.

On the other hand, reading all of the above posts, isnt it said what we have come to as a society that we feel so threatned to have metal doors, door stops, to answer the door with gun in hand? Where have we gone off track to get to this point, (I have a lot of ideas but they would fill up the server to post!), what happened to the time when doors were left unlocked and people welcomed the chance to talk to others if they came knocking on their door? We ahve really downgraded as a society.

[Quietpi]

Originally Posted by swdr

All around nice job, Jonnyboy.

Here's some more (probably excessive) advice.

1. --> Doorscope -- you can very easily see who's there and ask them their business through a closed door and they can't see you.

2. Consider using a removable floor pin (or other obstruction) so that the door can't be easily opened more than 6 inches.

3. If you draw your weapon, concealed by your body or the door, keep in mind that the "solicitor(s)" might try to hand you some literature. You'll want to turn it down or have them set it down outside and you'll "pick it up later".

4. Feel free to kick out a bag they place in the way of the door. It's rude, but so were they.

5. You can always use your cell phone to take a pic of them as you open the door.

6. Re "My alarm bells were going off like crazy." You have very heightened senses when you're just start off CCW. However, err on the side of caution: see de Becker's The Gift of Fear.

7. People have been arrested for 'brandishing' inside the home when seen from public locations, so strongly consider calling it in if they see your gun. Better you call before they do.

I want to expand on SWDR's excellent recommendations:

1&2. A security screen door is a really good idea no matter what/where you live. The big, heavy ones, of perforated metal, are really tough. And it's nearly impossible to see anything from the outside, let alone a firearm, through the white ones. The one on my front door is a step down - actual screen behind an expanded metal latticework. It would be a little easier to defeat, probably, but the perp would have to make a terrible racket, and work at it for at least several minutes, to defeat it.

4. Or pull the bag in: "You can pick it up at the police station later." Of course, doing so creates some door control problems. If you kick it out, send it into the next county. If the person is a legitimate door-to-door salesperson, s/he will have learned a valuable lesson about sleazy sales techniques. In any case, if <anything> like any of the above happens, call the police immediately. See "7" below.

6. +10 on De Becker. If you don't have a copy of "The Gift of Fear" on your bookshelf right next to "How to Own a Gun and Stay out of Jail," you're missing something really important. Or talk to Le Félin. That seems to work as well. See "7" below.

7. If the bells are going off, even a little, call it in (See De Becker). Then call your neighbors. Or maybe even call the nearest one first. You do have their numbers by your phone, don't you? I have a couple war stories that fit here, me being the guy standing outside the door, but I'll save them for another day. And my brother had something similar happen to him when he was staying in a motel. He saw the male trying to hide before he opened the door to the pleading female. Note I did not use "human - like" terms here.