Okay, so I had an incident this past weekend that very well could have been a home defense situation. Fortunately there was no gunfire. Local sheriff handled it.
Backstory-
Over the summer we hired what we thought was a reputable contractor, for an addition to our home. Turns out he was a CONtractor. In December when we finally realised what was up we terminated his services, asked for a refund, and filed a police report. He had not removed his job trailer from our property at that time.
Knowing where this might lead I moved the trailer to make it very inconvenient to be easily removed from the property.
Saturday morning, about 3:30 A.M. He showed up with 3 others to attempt to retrieve it.
When they realised it wasn't a hook and go situation, THEY KNOCKED ON MY DOOR.
reflecting on the situation this is where I find the flaws in my home defense "plan"
I was awoken by my Lab mix barking very loudly, I knew instantly he didn't want to be let out, and he didn't smell or hear your typical critter.
I got out of bed quickly, knowing this wasn't normal. I didnt grab my closet gun, just my EDC handgun, from off the top of the refrigerator as I came out of the bedroom. I left it in the holster, a Vedder IWB kydex. (Mistake 1)
As I crossed the kitchen and saw the dog barking at the door, I heard knocking, I didn't think to look out the kitchen window across the front porch (mistake two)
As I got to the front door I looked out the windows, which are on the top portion of the door, I could see a pickup truck sitting in the yard, but didn't see TWO people standing on my front porch, because 1, I didn't think to turn on the porch light (mistake 3) and even if I had it had only been working intermittently. I had been slacking on replacing it. (Mistake 4)
Those have now been replaced with motion detector style lights.
I cracked the door just enough, that was when I realised there were 2 people, what I didnt realise was one of them was the CONtractor. (This is what made me realise I dont process very well within the first minute or so of waking up, realistically it was maybe 30 seconds) He tried to tell me he had an email from the investigating officer saying it was okay to come get the trailer. I asked when the email was from, he replied 2 days ago. My wife and I had just met with the investigator 6 hours before, to discuss the trailer. So I knew that was BS.
I told them no, absolutely not, and closed the door. About this time, (maybe a minute and a half in) my wife comes in carrying her phone and calls the sheriff. I stay by the door as these two walk back and just wait by the truck, where a 3rd guy is standing, they get into the truck, sheriff shows up orders hands out of the windows, turns out there's 4 people total, and the sheriff handles it from there.
So, along with my realizations of how poorly prepared I was, I've also figured out I can leave the blinds on the windows open just enough that with the porch well lit, I can see out, but can't be seen inside. And I know which windows to check first, before actually approaching the door.
It pays to VERIFY that your home defense plan will work if its needed.
Also, you can't just pop up ready to do battle like in the movies. I dont think there's a way to mitigate that. Thats why layers of security are important.
Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk
Backstory-
Over the summer we hired what we thought was a reputable contractor, for an addition to our home. Turns out he was a CONtractor. In December when we finally realised what was up we terminated his services, asked for a refund, and filed a police report. He had not removed his job trailer from our property at that time.
Knowing where this might lead I moved the trailer to make it very inconvenient to be easily removed from the property.
Saturday morning, about 3:30 A.M. He showed up with 3 others to attempt to retrieve it.
When they realised it wasn't a hook and go situation, THEY KNOCKED ON MY DOOR.
reflecting on the situation this is where I find the flaws in my home defense "plan"
I was awoken by my Lab mix barking very loudly, I knew instantly he didn't want to be let out, and he didn't smell or hear your typical critter.
I got out of bed quickly, knowing this wasn't normal. I didnt grab my closet gun, just my EDC handgun, from off the top of the refrigerator as I came out of the bedroom. I left it in the holster, a Vedder IWB kydex. (Mistake 1)
As I crossed the kitchen and saw the dog barking at the door, I heard knocking, I didn't think to look out the kitchen window across the front porch (mistake two)
As I got to the front door I looked out the windows, which are on the top portion of the door, I could see a pickup truck sitting in the yard, but didn't see TWO people standing on my front porch, because 1, I didn't think to turn on the porch light (mistake 3) and even if I had it had only been working intermittently. I had been slacking on replacing it. (Mistake 4)
Those have now been replaced with motion detector style lights.
I cracked the door just enough, that was when I realised there were 2 people, what I didnt realise was one of them was the CONtractor. (This is what made me realise I dont process very well within the first minute or so of waking up, realistically it was maybe 30 seconds) He tried to tell me he had an email from the investigating officer saying it was okay to come get the trailer. I asked when the email was from, he replied 2 days ago. My wife and I had just met with the investigator 6 hours before, to discuss the trailer. So I knew that was BS.
I told them no, absolutely not, and closed the door. About this time, (maybe a minute and a half in) my wife comes in carrying her phone and calls the sheriff. I stay by the door as these two walk back and just wait by the truck, where a 3rd guy is standing, they get into the truck, sheriff shows up orders hands out of the windows, turns out there's 4 people total, and the sheriff handles it from there.
So, along with my realizations of how poorly prepared I was, I've also figured out I can leave the blinds on the windows open just enough that with the porch well lit, I can see out, but can't be seen inside. And I know which windows to check first, before actually approaching the door.
It pays to VERIFY that your home defense plan will work if its needed.
Also, you can't just pop up ready to do battle like in the movies. I dont think there's a way to mitigate that. Thats why layers of security are important.
Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk