How do you Go to the Door...........??

I had this happen as well, in my situation it was a female around my age looking for "John" 6 hours later, 3 guys with guns busted into my house. 1 watched the door while 1 held my fiancee hostage while I went with the 3rd and emptied my bank account. I keep a knife open and my cell phone unlocked for easy speed dialing. I was sitting at the computer which was 10 feet from the door. They had my knife at my throat and cell phone in hand before I could realize what was going on.

Just some food for thought.

Wow...interesting thread.

It is interesting to see how people respond differently.

THAT is a horrific event. And it's also why I would never go to the door in the middle of the night unarmed.

Also, something I haven't seen anyone mention but which I did a couple of times in the past when someone did knock on the door in the middle of the night....

I didn't approach the door directly, but rather off to one side. I thought that if someone was going to shoot through the door, they would hit me square, so as I approached the door I stood off to one side of it. I also thought if I was standing at the door yelling through it and they kicked the door in somehow, it would smash into me if I was directly in front of it.

The first time it happened wasn't even at our home, but at my grandmother's. I was in my 30's I guess, and my grandmother was ill so I spent the night with her so my mother could have a night off from watching her. Grandma's house, no gun. Some guy woke us up just POUNDING on the front door, and I grabbed the cordless phone and was dialing 911 while approaching the door. I yelled 'what do you want' and he yelled he needed money to get a prescription filled!!!! A prescription. Yeah, at 3 a.m..... I yelled that we had called the police and he had better leave. He did, thank goodness. When I put the phone to my ear the 911 operator had heard what I said and what the guy said, and I asked her to send out the police.

Second time I was alone here at home, not long after we moved in. DH went night fishing with some friends, and I was watching tv in the front room. I heard the back door shaking like crazy, someone trying to open it. I got dh's shotgun out of the gun cabinet and yelled out 'you better leave before I start shooting!'. All I heard were footsteps retreating...

I'd never open the door in the middle of the night, and I'd never approach the door straight on.

I would NEVER open the door in the middle of the night, especially if a man was there with his "friends" in the car at 3 am. Sounds like a perfect set up for a home invasion. I also have Dobermans, but realistically every dog owner must assume that a criminal will simply shoot the dogs. Even a trained protection dog is nothing more than a barking alarm when facing an armed person.

I would open a nearby window and yell out to them incase they were having an emergency though.

When I was young a crying teenage boy came to our door at 3 am. We were out in the country and he had to walk a bit to get to the house. Apparently he was drunk as a skunk and his friends decided to dump him in the middle of nowhere. We drove him home...

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I always have a light on, in the House. There's the foyer light at the door, and a light at the top of the stairs.. There's a light on the front of the garage, and a light over the door, innner door & outer locked storm door. We can see out the front door without being seen.
I always CC a handgun, every day. I do practice drills regularly. DSW, also on occasion. We both always had a handgun, close at hand. Our neighbors know we are shooters. Defense is a part of our "Prepping".

Honestly, in 7 years, out here, this is the second time a traveler was lost, and stopped at our door. It is startling & wakes us up but doesn't provoke a lot of fear, if you are prepared. We were able to direct them on their way. It always makes you think, though.

There was a third time a traveler, young man & his girl friend, missed a curve, down at the bridge & ran into the creek, wrecking the car. He walked over a mile, past a couple of houses, where noone would answer their doors.
His girlfriend had a bunged up knee from the accident. We were able to call the Sheriff for him and get help. I don't mind helping folks.
This has been an interesting thread. Thanks for all the varied replies.

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Only you 'know' because you saw him......but from just reading this part of your OP here's what I think:

Who doesn't have a cell phone in 2010?
Who doesn't have a GPS, in 2010? (I don't, but SO many do, a lot of cars come with it built in, and most cell phones have it)
Who knocks on the door at 2:30 am?

Did he smell of liquor?
Could he see your weapon?
Could you see who was in the van with him?

That whole thing just smells....
My parents used to live out that way.....on a piece of land down a dirt road. You didn't keep going on the dirt road, cause there were some pretty sketchy folks that lived in cabins at the end of the way......

I am glad everything turned out well for you!!!

I might put a sign up at the end of your driveway with directions back to 231 or I70 so they don't drive up any more!!

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Something similar happened at my DD's. Her DH was working and some teenagers knocked on her door-two guys and a bawling girl. Their "friend" had thought it was funny to dump them off in an unfamiliar area and leave them. (Some friend.). Her DH came home and gave them a ride (in the middle of the night) back home.

A properly trained protection dog would be more than a match for the average home invader even if they were armed. A properly trained protection dog would not waste time barking.

Great thread. But, what struck me is there are still people that don't lock their doors. My loved ones are first and foremost in my mind and their safety is first before I would even consider helping someone in the middle of the night.
I was just reading about the manhunt in Missouri and a lot of people could be on this man's list as to who next will be murdered.

Always use caution!

Back when my kids were kids (all grown up now) we were hanging out in the living room watcing movies on a Saturday night. It was about 1 a.m. I guess. At any rate, knock on the door. Could not rouse DH who was asleep on the couch (once he is out, he is out, the house could fall on him and not wake him up). So here I am with four kids all under the age of 13, at this time of the night and strangers at the door. However, I also had Lupe, our wolf hybrid so I answered the door. The two young guys standing there gave me some lame excuse about needing to use the phone because they ran off the road into the ditch. Well, since the phone was only a few steps from the door, I let them in. That is when Lupe started acting funny. Normally, as long as I or one of his other "pack" members were in charge he would fade into the background and let us handle things but on this occassion, he got very defensive. He placed himself in the archway between the kitchen where the phone was and the living room where the kids were, raised his hackels and bared his fangs. This could be very intimidating since Lupe did not look like he had any dog in him at all, basically it looked like a larger than normal, black timber wolf getting ready to jump you. Scary. Well, the young fellas decided they did not need to use the phone so bad and got out of there in a hurry. Next day, we heard where an old lady down the road had been robbed and beaten and she id'd the people as two young fellows that came to the door saying they had car trouble and needed to use the phone. So, lesson from this for me was, pay attention to Lupe's instincts which were finely honed and not all people who knock are good people. Lupe saved us that night when I was stupid enough to let those guys into the house.

Actually around here (KY) most home invasions start with a polite knock on the door. When you open the door they barge in.

It may be a one in a million chance it will be my door. But if it ever is....I will not be a victim. I will be prepared. I don't care what people think or say. I don't shoot at people just for showing up at my road gate. But they should have a reason for being there, and say so.

Interesting thread and thoughts.
Problems I see in comments.
1. Not everybody has a cellphone or gps. Like us.
2. Cellphones don't work in all areas. Like ours.
3. Not everybody who knocks or rings the bell is a good guy.
They could be checking to see if someone is at home or not before breaking in.
Or they could be waiting for someone to open the door and then force their way
in. Think home invasions.

I'm cautious about anyone I don't know at the door during the day. Way more so at
night. We're way way off the beaten path. We have 4 inside dogs and 3 outside.
We know when someone is around outside long before they make it to the house.
Even with that, I'm cautious. At night I will have a gun in hand and visible when I
open the door. I can see who's there before I open it.
During the day, I probably have a gun with me if I don't know the person or don't
recognize the vehicle.

We rarely get anyone at the door after dark. Doesn't happen here very often. Folks
stay home at night here or at least the ones we know well do.

No, I'm not paranoid but have had enough experiences with odd folks to make me a
bit more cautious then most.

That's the most ridiculous detour I've ever seen - they send people from Spencer up through Vandalia and Patricksburg and over to Jasonville and then down 59 to 67. What on earth?!? When the run-around blacktop is what, a 10th of a mile? And then you're back on 231? Our state DOT at work.
He was probably ready to kiss the ground when he finally got home.

Where do people get the idea that criminals don't knock first? Most home invasions (or attempted) I've read/heard of in the last decade or so involves someone knocking at the door.

It's the easiest way for them to get a read on the layout of the potential hit. Most burglaries are random hits. Not long well thought out scenarios where they watch you for days to learn the habits of the household, then quietly break in the back door etc. etc. etc.

As for us, I'll be polite and answer if things look okay from the window. But I'm armed, my wife is backing me up, and I have a 105lb Hellhound (or so he sounds like a hound of hell) trying to dig through the door to get at you.
I will take no chances when it comes to my family's safety.

Most of the serial killers were nice dressers. I always have a gun in my hand when answering the door in the middle of the night. I also have a retired Anatolian Shepard as a house dog. A friend once asked me about my clothesline being so low he said someone could hang themselves on it in the dark. I laughed and replied that Hannibal (my LGD) would get them long before they got to my clothesline. Yepper, a good dog is almost as good as a gun.
In this day and time it is wise to be very careful.
PS I love Dobies

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Living the good life in Kansas.

I think that it is very poor reasoning to think that *every body* has GPS and cell phones . .today.
Also I'm going to be a very nervous nelly if he's close enough for me to "smell liquor" . . . . .
And he/she should know that I am armed . .rite from the git go.
And my big Mag lite is going to play hell on their night vision..


It is a shame that our society has deteriorated so much that something like this even has to be discussed.............

It seriously freaks me out to think that I couldn't knock on somebody's door for help at night without having a gun pulled on me. It just isn't a part of our culture.

I can see anybody at my door through the door window, even if I didn't know them I would open the door to see how I could help. If something about them made me suspicious and I was home alone I'd probably talk to them through the door - but if they really wanted in it wouldn't be difficult.

I do have a dog with a big voice, and a pellet rifle by the door for raccoons etc but that is it. Hubby has answered the door at night with a sword - but that was when we lived in the inner-city 'hood'.

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WOW I just cant imagine living with that much fear. Why do you live some where thats so bad your afraid to open the door?

I haven't read all the posts, but here is my response:

If there was a knock at our door at 2:30AM, and it was a stranger, I wouldn't open the door under any circumstances. During the day, I would consider opening the door IF my husband were home/available/nearby AND I had our 357 in my hand. We live down a long driveway on a fairly secluded property. Surprises will await any idiot who thinks we are an easy target to rob or...

That said, are we paranoid? Of course not, I even leave my car unlocked most of the time. I am a light sleeper and if anyone ventures onto our property, Sam, our dog, sounds off. That doesn't mean I leave the keys in my car, or my purse in it, or anything I wouldn't want taken. Where we live, the neighbors watch out for each other, don't need a neighborhood watch... Also, who you are is well known. My Len has a rep for someone who shouldn't be messed with. He is a good guy, but considered very tough, capable, and well prepared to defend us and our property. Strangers don't know who you are, so they don't know what they may be dealing with when they stumble onto someone's property late in the middle of the night. I'd never, in my wildest dreams, think of waking up someone to ask for directions. The guy was very foolish to have done so, could have gotten himself shot. When you live where it is rural, the late-night knock on the door is usually an E M E R G E N C Y or a C R I M I N A L. My grandparents lived on a 90 acre ranch and there was a shotgun by the door. You knocked on their door after dark, you were met by an ex Policeman, who would not have hesitated to pull the trigger if feeling any threat. My little grandma, 4'11" tall, went out after some hunters who were trespassing on their property, armed, and they left real fast (they had many head of cattle and had unfortunate losses due to "hunters."). This farm was NOT for open hunting, almost completely cleared, with a back section of forest. It was also completely fenced. Yes, they did allow friends and family permission, always knew who was there, and when they left. My grandfather hunted every year, too.

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We have always been available to help if some one knocked on our door whether daytime or night. Now we are more careful.
In recent years there have been home invasions in both the country and city in Nova Scotia. Two were not far from us where older people were assaulted and robbed.A week ago a man in the city of Halifax opened his door to a knock. He slammed it shut when he saw the person had a gun! The gun man shot through the window and killed him. There have been 9 shootings killing people in Halifax this year so far. That was unheard of when I moved to Nova Scotia 32 years ago.

A lot of shootings are drug related or robberies. Because of gun laws in Canada only bad guys walk around with loaded guns! I am surprised at the number of people on this forum who feel a need to go to answer the door with gun in hand!

If someone knocks on our door at night we turn on the outside light to see who it is. If a stranger [ day or night] I let the dogs join me. The little one yaps and the big one looks threatening although she really isn't. Then without opening the door I ask how I can help them? I also explain I can't open the door because the dogs will bite strangers!
If they need to make a phone call I get the number and call for them.

Last year a carpenter working on a new house nearby cut his hand and walked to our house to call for help. He wouldn't come in so I called a friend for him to come and get him. He was afraid of my dogs!

It is sad that society in so many places has come to a place where we even have to hesitate to open our doors freely day or night to strangers. It works both ways also. I would never consider knocking on anyones door in the night. You never know what person lives there.