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PA:Why People Carry a Gun When Answering the Door
Gun Watch ^ | 8 August, 2014 | Dean Weingarten

Posted on 08/08/2014 3:08:45 PM PDT by marktwain


Numerous people have criticized homeowners  for having a gun in their hand or on their person when answering a door.   I have always maintained that it is only prudent to do so.   Home security systems can be very useful, of course.   A standoff barrier, such as my old friend, Tex Ferguson, the highly decorated combat vet and intelligence operative used, works very well, as do surveillance cameras.  Not everyone has such a system in place, or working, all the time.   In any case, surveillance and standoff systems work best when backed up by armed force.  I have reported numerous cases where armed homeowners prevailed against criminal attackers; and even a few cases where armed homeowners prevailed in court against police invaders.   There are even a couple of rare cases where police officers have shot and killed homeowners, simply because the homeowner was armed.

The following incident resulted in the death of a criminal home invader.  From the pottsmerc.com:

The incident occurred around 1:27 a.m. July 28, when Daryl Marquis Evans, 22, knocked on the door of the home and displayed a handgun when the front door was opened by a 29-year-old resident, according to the press release. Police later determined Evans was carrying a Taurus PT 911 9mm handgun. The resident was also armed, with a .40-caliber Smith and Wesson in his waistband, which he brought with him to answer the door due to the late hour, the district attorney’s office said.
The homeowner made the evaluation that defense instructors suggest.  "Does this attacker intend to kill or severely injure me, even if I comply?"
“Based on Evans’ appearance and actions, the resident feared that Evans was going to kill him. The resident pulled his .40 caliber, Smith & Wesson semi-automatic handgun from beneath his shirt and fired (6) shots striking Evans in the chest, pelvis and the leg,” the press release states.
 Action beats reaction.  Evans already had a long criminal history at age 22.  One has to wonder how many crimes the homeowner  prevented by acting to preserve his own life.

 ©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch


TOPICS: Education; Government; Politics; Society
KEYWORDS: banglist; defense; frontdoor; guns; home; homesecurity; pa
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Yes, it would have been better not to have opened the door. But it is not a perfect world.
1 posted on 08/08/2014 3:08:45 PM PDT by marktwain
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To: marktwain

I can see my driveway from where I’m sitting and with about 3 steps I can see anyone at my front door from behind.


2 posted on 08/08/2014 3:13:40 PM PDT by cripplecreek ("Moderates" are lying manipulative bottom feeding scum.)
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To: marktwain

I wouldn’t open the door at 1:30 am but when I open it at other times I inform the ‘salesman’ that in this neighborhood we go by the constable’s recommendation that one does not open the door to strangers but also indicate that someone is home so if someone opens the door they are most likely armed.


3 posted on 08/08/2014 3:14:30 PM PDT by TexasGator
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To: marktwain

There’s a freeper who owns the door sentinel product. I highly recommend it. Turns your standard front door into a nearly kick proof one just by upgrading the hinges and screws. Buys you an extra couple minutes easily.


4 posted on 08/08/2014 3:29:20 PM PDT by miliantnutcase
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To: marktwain

I look out the peephole and window.


5 posted on 08/08/2014 3:31:44 PM PDT by RIghtwardHo
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To: marktwain
why??? cause the people that know me walk in the back door and yell, if somebody knocks at the front door, it means i don't know them...
6 posted on 08/08/2014 3:31:59 PM PDT by Chode (Stand UP and Be Counted, or line up and be numbered - *DTOM* -vvv- NO Pity for the LAZY - 86-44)
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To: marktwain
We had a gate put in.
The 13 front stairs turn into a small entry way to the left with two more stairs. The gate is between the first and second stair of that last part.
There is a buzzer right at the door inside for us to open the gate.

It all works like a charm.

There is still room for stuffing a new phone book below the gate or tossing it over the top decorative part.

7 posted on 08/08/2014 3:32:09 PM PDT by cloudmountain
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To: marktwain

As the realtors always say: location, location, location.


8 posted on 08/08/2014 3:33:36 PM PDT by cloudmountain
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To: miliantnutcase

Hmmm, I’ll check into it.


9 posted on 08/08/2014 3:33:38 PM PDT by Inyo-Mono (NRA)
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To: Chode
why??? cause the people that know me walk in the back door and yell, if somebody knocks at the front door, it means i don't know them...

THAT is the best of all.

10 posted on 08/08/2014 3:34:20 PM PDT by cloudmountain
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To: marktwain

Nobody can get to my front door unless I open the gate for them. It is so nice not having to shoo JW’s and sales “persons” away. There is a lot to be said for being a grouchy curmudgeon!


11 posted on 08/08/2014 3:35:25 PM PDT by HerrBlucher (Praise to the Lord the Almighty the King of Creation)
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To: marktwain
You would be surprised how many people answer the door without thinking.
I've gone to the wrong house before to do an evaluation on the electrical system
and had the wrong house invite me in. Awkward yes, funny, not really.
That's another reason why I always have a company logo.
12 posted on 08/08/2014 3:38:06 PM PDT by MaxMax (Pay Attention and you'll be pissed off too! FIRE BOEHNER, NOW!)
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To: marktwain

Throw your home commercial security systems in the trash, and cancel your contract. It’s one big con-job....Set up a few of your own cameras, and get a good dog....and whatever else ya need to do and there is lots which can be done.

If ya can’t do that, keep paying the bills to these home security swindlers.


13 posted on 08/08/2014 3:44:48 PM PDT by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: marktwain

Is this `Daryl Marquis Evans’ now just some rotting meat in a muddy hole in Potters’ Field? The story does not state.

Anyway, kudos to the armed resident. But, six shots & three hits - well....hope I can hold that steady when the time comes. Range time, range time.


14 posted on 08/08/2014 3:45:08 PM PDT by elcid1970 ("In the modern world, Muslims are living fossils.")
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To: marktwain

My son is starting his junior year at the Air Force Academy. Juniors and seniors are allowed to have cars there. Since we live about an hour away, he frequently comes home when he can. I told him that if he comes home at night to make sure that he calls ahead. He said he would and knows why.


15 posted on 08/08/2014 3:48:10 PM PDT by BulletBobCo
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To: dragnet2

I believe that the BTK killer worked for a home security company.


16 posted on 08/08/2014 3:49:03 PM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: MaxMax

There are people out there with no common sense and will give home tours to COMPLETE STRANGERS who answer their ads they run on Craigs List etc.

No joke...No kidding...These people exist in large numbers.

BTW Craigs List is great for selling, but ya can’t be stupid about it.


17 posted on 08/08/2014 3:49:46 PM PDT by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: elcid1970

“But, six shots & three hits - well....hope I can hold that steady when the time comes. Range time, range time.”

He might have hit more than three times. Could have been three to chest, one two to pelvis, one to leg...

The do not say for certain...


18 posted on 08/08/2014 3:49:54 PM PDT by marktwain (The old media must die for the Republic to live. Long live the new media!)
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To: marktwain

>> it would have been better not to have opened the door.

OK, let’s run with that: Count the number of other doors and windows in your house. How many of them could 22-y.o. Marquis (good Lord, where do they get these names?) easily kick in and then jump or push through?

If you were armed, could you cover all of them? In the middle of the night? How long does it take the chalk outline drawers to show up in your neighborhood?

We use a key-locked glass storm door outside our front door. Unknown night knocks = LED maglite in one hand, shootin’ iron in the other.


19 posted on 08/08/2014 3:51:35 PM PDT by QBFimi (/...o.o/.o...ooo/...o.o...o/ooo/...o.o/.o/ooo.//o..o./. o.)
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To: trisham

Ya, like the home security employees telling their crime buddies when people go on vacations and on and on....


20 posted on 08/08/2014 3:53:07 PM PDT by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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