Late at night you can't be too careful.

[ileus]

http://www.wcax.com/story/18763620/resident-shoots-2-in-violent-winooski-home-invasion


Police say at 1 a.m. Tuesday the tenants in an apartment heard a banging at the door. The male resident told police the woman standing outside was a stranger. She was looking for another man who occasionally stayed with the Winooski couple. Police say when the tenant tried to turn her away; two other men appeared in the doorway.

"One kind of pushed the door open, punched the male resident in the face, knocking him back and then tried to make their way in. And at that point the male resident who was armed with a .38 revolver fired one shot at the intruder," Winooski Police Chief Steve McQueen said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's been awhile since I answered my door at night without my HD firearm. Safety first...

[SGMRTDARMY]

1. I never open my door at night

Several years ago I almost shot a cop, it was about 2 am and I heard something outside my front door, I grabbed by gun and opened the cat room which is next to the front door and as I opened it, I saw 2 people looking through the window, I leveled the gun and told them I had a gun at which point they started yelling, we're cops, we're cops don't shoot, we need you to come to the front door, well, being the doubting thomas that I am, I said I wanted to see their badges, at which time they showed me, I then went to the front door and opened the door but kept the storm door closed and locked, they asked if they could come in and talk to me about a friend of mine who was wanted for armed robbery, I told them I hadn't seen this guy in years and no, they couldn't come in and as a matter of fact, get off my property, which didn't make them happy.
It was a close call, if they had been attempting to come through that window, I probably would have opened fire on them.
The cops back then really didn't like me too much because I knew my rights and wasn't intimidated by their tactics.
Luckily, most of those that were on the Dept. back then are now gone.
I never want to shoot anyone again, but I will if I absoulutely have to.

[ileus]

6. I figure it's better to be rude than risky....

I can hurt peoples feelings many more times than I can die at the hands of an attacker.

[SGMRTDARMY]

8. I have no problem with being rude with people that are rude to me

cops included.

[Callisto32]

14. You handled it very well.

I would have been leery of their story, also. It seems a terribly odd time to be sniffing around for the stated purposes, no?

[SGMRTDARMY]

16. This particular LE agency back then

was well known it this town for their less than legal tactics and I flat did not trust them. It's gotten better now that most of the old guard are now gone. I still wouldn't let them in my house w/o a warrant.

[sarisataka]

18. Had a similar incident

when I was living in an apartment.

One cop asked if I always answer the door with a loaded gun.
I told him when someone is pounding on my door at 3 a.m. I do
The partner says "Makes sense to me"

We all got along very well for the rest of the conversation

[AnotherMcIntosh]

20. You're lucky that they didn't zap you. Or worse.

And then claim that you were "resisting arrest" for something.

As you know, these are dangeous thugs.

[SGMRTDARMY]

22. Absolutely

thats why I refused to open my storm door which is made of metal and windows, they wouldn't have been able to taze me through glass and back then, tazers were just coming into service and this small agency didn't have them yet.
We've since elected a Sheriff who doesn't put up with the nonsense that went on back then and he has pretty much cleaned up the agency and either forced them to retire or fired them, we still have some that are badge heavy, but I just laugh at them, they are mainly the younger ones and the Head Honcho takes misconduct complaints damn seriously.

They don't scare me at all, they haven't seen the bad things that I have.

[Meiko]

25. They are not nearly as brave

when the other person is also armed, funny how that works.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

26. Respectfully, I disagree.

[bowens43]

2. Husband Shoots At “Intruder”, Turns Out To Be Wife

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2012/01/16/husband-shoots-at-intruder-turns-out-to-be-wife/

SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE (CBSMiami) – A South Florida woman remains hospitalized after being accidentally shot by her husband.

[ileus]

4. Always ID your target...

[Tejas]

10. She left toddlers out in the parking lot?

[PavePusher]

21. Yes, because the incident you posted...

is exactly the same as two men breaking in and punching you in the face.

[bowens43]

3. Son, fearing intruder, accidentally shoots dad

A North man was flown to a Columbia hospital Thursday morning after he was accidentally shot by his juvenile son, according to an Orangeburg County Sheriff's Office incident report.

http://thetandd.com/news/article_bffe0f5c-8d9d-11e0-97da-001cc4c002e0.html#ixzz1xgPb4Bj7

[ileus]

5. Another reason to have a light mounted to your SD firearm.

[SGMRTDARMY]

7. And your point is?

As much as you would like to see all guns banned, the 2A is not going away, but why don't you start a petition to have the 2A repealed, instead of whining about it on an internet site.

[ileus]

9. gunz kill people.

[Dash87]

23. So much stupid about that

1 - Going outside when there's a threat outside

2 - Doing it in the dark (at 2 am - wtf?)

3 - Splitting up

4 - Having your "juvenile" son carry a gun and try to find an intruder

5 - Not calling the cops and have them do it

What were they doing?

[gejohnston]

24. doing nothing I would do.

stay inside
call cops
know where everyone is
have flashlight and identify your target, if things turn to shit before the cops show up.

[WingDinger]

11. What if its the pigs that are the intruders at midnite? Ask me how I know.

[SGMRTDARMY]

12. I'm guessing it happened to you.

As far as I was concerned, until they ID'd themselves, they were intruders, even after they showed me their badges, there was no way, w/o a warrant, they were coming into my house. They sure were pissed when I told them to "get the fuck off my property now".
Back when this happened, this particular LE agency was well known for its less than legal tactics.

[WingDinger]

13. HaHaHa Ha. without a warrant, youz funny.

They told me, with guns in my face, that they didnt need no STEEENKING warrant.

[Callisto32]

15. Police often seem to know very little about the laws they are hired to enforce.

Funny how that works.

I'd like to see law schools do something about this. Maybe offer to allow police into the crim. pro. class for free, and actually have them take the exam. Let the police agencies decide the consequences for not gaining a passing grade. Maybe desk duty until you show you have a better understanding of what you may and may not do with and without a warrant.

[WingDinger]

17. Constitutional rights are for real crimes

If you are suspected of a lesser crime, or they want info on another etc, they will violate your rights with relish. BUT, they hate when there is more there there, and evidence is thrown out in court. That is the flaw they intend to address. Thus, Supremes have determined that evidence doesnt necessarily get thrown if they scam you.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

19. desk duty???

how about moping the floor? if you don't know the law you have no business being a cop.

[Callisto32]

27. I meant pushing papers, my friend.

You know, "go file this, make copies of this, put them in the right place, oh BTW, we have a stack of dead case files about 13 ft. high....better get on that soon."

Make them glorified secretaries, no gun, no arrest powers, whatever, but there is no way they should be on the street enforcing laws.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

28. Yes I realize that but...

...I'd just prefer that those LEOs who violated people's rights do work not involving that for which they have demonstrated either a lack of knowledge or lack of respect. They need to be "re-educated" before returning to any duties involving public trust and they need an appropriate period of supervision on their return.

In short, if you screw-up bad enough, you return to training to re-learn the relevant material and then you're a rookie again, earning a rookie's pay until someone deems you fit to return to regular duty and pay. You get counseling and support if needed.

It's not an easy job. It's a calling.