When you have no plan

[98Redline]

Something as simple as owning a big dog may have dissuaded the original perps from selecting that house.
Sure, a very motivated individual could shoot the dog(s) and still carry out their plan, however it throws a level of uncertainty into the mix that most criminals would just as soon avoid. I don't always have a gun on my hip when at home but my dogs never fail to investigate who is at the front door and to warn them with a very big dog bark.
Nobody wants to tangle with a 100+ pound dog protecting his turf.
Another option is cameras. Criminals don't want their picture on video. If they see one camera then there is likely more around the residence. A robbery isn't all that effective if you end up getting ID'd and going to jail due to video footage of the crime.

This is one of those situations where I think an ounce of prevention is worth the pound of cure.
Make your residence a not so soft target and criminals will be more likely to pass it by in the search for easier pickings.

 

[TomJ]

From time to time we get solicitors. We have a window next to our front door, and I look out the window and shake my head, letting them know I'm not interested. I don't want them to think no one's home, as if it's someone with bad intention's that's an invitation to break in. It's not perfect, but it's the best way I can think of to get rid of them without opening the door.

 

[old lady new shooter]

"Shoot back" indicates that you are already in a wold of hurt. Best to avoid that.
.

You get to make decisions for you. I get to make decisions for me.

If somebody comes up to my door and shoots through it once (which as noted previously is a pretty bizarre scenario), why would they then go away? If I shoot back I have a chance of preventing them from continuing shooting.

 

[Kleanbore]

If somebody comes up to my door and shoots through it once (which as noted previously is a pretty bizarre scenario), why would they then go away? If I shoot back I have a chance of preventing them from continuing shooting.

The assumption there is that you can shoot back. A bad bet.

But that only happens if you give them the chance. Presenting yourself as a target to someone at your door is a very questionable strategy indeed.

With modern technology there is no need to do that.

 

[old lady new shooter]

The assumption there is that you can shoot back. A bad bet.

But that only happens if you give them the chance. Presenting yourself as a target to someone at your door is a very questionable strategy indeed.

With modern technology there is no need to do that.

Obviously you haven't read any of my posts in this thread.

You said the other person shoots THROUGH the door. I said I would shoot back THROUGH the door. That is not "presenting myself as a target". Your scenario did not include any interaction prior to the person opening fire. That act on his or her part requires a defensive response IMO. I'd rather shoot back through the door and have a chance of preventing him or her from continuing to shoot into my house. YMMV.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/massad-ayoob-video-dont-answer-that-door.729842/

 

[Trunk Monkey]

These threads always seem to turn into pissing contests and the mods always seem to end up letting us untermensch know that we're not really qualified to defend ourselves (even those of us who have).

I'm the one who's responsible for the safety of my home and family. I looked at my situation and I came up with a pretty simple plan. If I don't know you I don't open the door. In fact I don't even get off the couch. I'm 15 feet from the front door. I ask who it is and if it's someone expected I verify and let them in if it's not I tell them to go away.

If that doesn't work for you come up with your own plan

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Completely depends on how it's installed.

Wouldn't it be fair to assume the door was properly installed?

 

[old lady new shooter]

Wouldn't it be fair to assume the door was properly installed?

A regular door, even one you pay more for because it has a steel core or whatever, installed with too-short screws into just the wooden frame is going to be fairly break-in-able. I remember that at least one person here was astonished to find this was the case on his own house. When this has been discussed in the past here, IIRC the knowledgable folks say to use 4" brass bolts.

The security doors go in front of the regular door and come with their own steel frame but I don't know how long the screws (bolts?) are or what they are made of. Being that they open outward I would think they can't be kicked in regardless of anything about the installation, but I'm guessing the steel frame has to be attached to the house frame with long heavy bolts if it is desired to make it properly impossible to pry off.

 

[Jeff White]

Wouldn't it be fair to assume the door was properly installed?

No, I’ve seen too many DIY types buy security hardware at a big box home center and and totally botch the install and then all they got for their money was a false sense of security.

 

[coloradokevin]

I didn't find an obvious answer in any of your poll options, so I'll explain it:

In my house it is currently just me and the wife, and our two large dogs (a shepherd/akita mix, and a pyrenees/golden mix). Both of us know how to fight, and both of us know how to handle guns. Either of us can answer the door, though my wife will rarely do so for people she doesn't know when I'm not home. I'm not always armed in the sense that I'm not always wearing a gun, but I certainly have ready access to one from pretty much anywhere in my house. There's one in a closet behind me at the moment (it's loaded -- it's my duty gun in the holster on my duty belt). I was just in the living room a minute ago, where my CCW gun is sitting in a holster on my couch. My wife has a nightstand gun in the bedroom, as do I, and there's always a rifle or shotgun in the closet.

We're quite prepared, but not very paranoid. We see door-to-door salespeople pretty regularly in this neighborhood, and our neighbors sometimes stop by. It's a safe neighborhood, but crime can happen anywhere. We'll deal with it if it comes to us, and god help the person who forces their way into this house with the intention of doing anyone any harm.

 

[Kleanbore]

You said the other person shoots THROUGH the door. I said I would shoot back THROUGH the door. That is not "presenting myself as a target"

If you have been shot or shot at after having anwwered the door, you have indeed "presented yourself as a target."

That act on his or her part requires a defensive response IMO.

If you are able to so act at that point, do so, but that siituation would be highly indicative of a very flawed response.

We go to the door all the time, but only if we believe that it is prudent to do so.

Seeing the visitor through the porch window--hearing the expected UPS truck pull up--recognizing the knock----recognizing the footsteps of the neighbor kids--a video image--the intercom--can give us a basis for that belief.

The unknown stranger at the door has very rarely seemed threatening, but "very rarely" is not good enough.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

What would you do with it someone we're to shoot you through the door?

Unless you're a Mafioso or dealer or otherwise running a criminal enterprise out of your home what are the real world odds that someone is going to start shooting through your door?

In Colorado Springs we have at least a couple of home invasions that make the news a month. I have yet to hear one reported where the criminals started firing through a closed door.

 

[MedWheeler]

Someone asked what someone else would do if they'd been shot through their door.

The person asked then responded with an answer regarding what she would then do (return fire.)

How is "answering" that question with what should have been done before the hypothetical through-the-door shooting an actual answer?

(Shoot back, and self-extract, simultaneously if possible- assuming I'm not disabled- would be my answer to the question asked.)

 

[Kleanbore]

In Colorado Springs we have at least a couple of home invasions that make the news a month. I have yet to hear one reported where the criminals started firing through a closed door.

Most unlikely. So is a home invasion.

The point is that once you are standing directly in front of and close to one or more violent criminal actors and why can discern your location, you are at risk, and having a firearm in your pocket would be of little help.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Most unlikely. So is a home invasion.

Are you calling me a liar? Or are you telling me you know more about what happens in my town than I do?

Damn one day I aspire to be as infallible as a THR moderator

I went back and googled it we had 1 each in May,June, skipped July, August, September and October

 

[old lady new shooter]

If you have been shot or shot at after having anwwered the door, you have indeed "presented yourself as a target."

THAT WAS NOT YOUR SCENARIO. YOU DID NOT ADDRESS YOUR QUESTION TO SOMEONE WHO FIRST ANSWERED THE DOOR AND THEN WAS SHOT AT, YOUR SCENARIO WAS WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF SOMEONE SHOOTS THROUGH YOUR DOOR. SHOOTING "THROUGH" THE DOOR IMPLIES A CLOSED DOOR.

 

[Kleanbore]

Are you calling me a liar? Or are you telling me you know more about what happens in my town than I do?

Of course not! You misunderstand.

Home invasions do happen, but statistically, they are really very unlikely. Five in six months for 200,000 households does not seem like a high frequency .

More likely than someone shooting through the door, of course, but unlikely.

The reported burglary rate in Colorado Springs is somewhat higher than the national average.

No, I do not think it likely that someone will shoot through a front door, but once someone has placed himself at the door he is unprotected. That's an avoidable risk.

 

[old lady new shooter]

Unless you're a Mafioso or dealer or otherwise running a criminal enterprise out of your home what are the real world odds that someone is going to start shooting through your door?

In Colorado Springs we have at least a couple of home invasions that make the news a month. I have yet to hear one reported where the criminals started firing through a closed door.

We have a lot of crime here but I've never heard of a case where somebody comes up to a door and starts shooting without any prior interaction. The only case I know of around here where BGs started shooting without any prior interaction happened outdoors, some gangbangers came to take out a guy who had started dating a woman who unbeknownst to him was the former girlfriend of one of the BGs... they stood around on the front lawn of the fourplex where he lived waiting for him to come home and began firing when he arrived.

 

[Kleanbore]

YOU DID NOT ADDRESS YOUR QUESTION TO SOMEONE WHO FIRST ANSWERED THE DOOR AND THEN WAS SHOT AT, YOUR SCENARIO WAS WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF SOMEONE SHOOTS THROUGH YOUR DOOR. SHOOTING "THROUGH" THE DOOR IMPLIES A CLOSED DOOR.

Are you somehow thinking that answering a door requires opening the door?

My assumption was that you would not open your security door.

Watch the Ayoob video. He does not even place himself at the door.

 

[old lady new shooter]

Are you calling me a liar? Or are you telling me you know more about what happens in my town than I do?

Damn one day I aspire to be as infallible as a THR moderator

I went back and googled it we had 1 each in May,June, skipped July, August, September and October

1 a month, you are lucky. Within a mile of my house there are about 6 each assaults and robberies per month.

 

[Kleanbore]

Within a mile of my house there are about 6 each assaults and robberies per month.

Good lord!

 

[old lady new shooter]

Are you somehow thinking that answering a door requires opening the door?

My assumption was that you would not open your security door.

Watch the Ayoob video. He does not even place himself at the door.

I have seen the Ayoob video many times.

That said, your post asked what we would do if someone shot through our door. It did not mention anything about first answering the door.

I can imagine someone coming to the door waving a gun and THREATENING to shoot if not granted entrance (this scenario would be a BG trying to hide from LE, we get a fair amount of those, but typically they come with some story designed to elicit sympathy in order to be let in voluntarily), but not someone coming to the door and opening fire with no other interaction.

 

[old lady new shooter]

The truth is, the human brain is a very important weapon. If you can figure out what to say to someone so that they go away, that is much better than having to get into a gunfight. However, once somebody starts shooting, your job is to shoot back.

 

[JeffG]

Once again, a scenario post has spiraled into an argument.