Hey everyone,I thought I’d share an experience I had early this morning which reminded me why I am a gun owner and have my CCP. I also had a few thoughts and questions that I was hoping other gun owners would weigh in on.ScenarioAt about 3:00 a.m. this morning my girlfriend and I woke to some pounding in my apartment. Initially I thought it was the upstairs neighbors stomping around but deep down I guess I knew something was off. I grabbed my nightstand flashlight to do a quick sweep of my apartment. I wasn’t really expecting to find anything, so I was surprised when I hear the doorknob jiggling. As I was still half asleep, I somehow reasoned that it was my landlord trying to get inside of the apartment. It wasn’t until I checked the peephole to see a complete stranger standing outside that I started to worry.As I stepped away, this guy started pounding on the door and screaming. At this point I told my girlfriend to call the police, but she froze a bit after realizing that someone was trying to get into the apartment. We went back into my room, and I instructed her to grab the can of bear spray I keep nearby for hiking. She kept the bedroom door cracked to keep an eye on the front door while I’m on the line with the dispatcher and fumbling in the dark trying to find the key that opens the handgun safe.This is when the dispatcher tells me that the police are 5-7 minutes away. I know this is a pretty good response time in some cities, but I’m still a little shocked and thought it would be closer to 3 minutes because a) There is no traffic this late, b) It’s only a town of ~40,000, and c) We are well within the city limits. The dude is still yelling and pounding/kicking at the door, and I’m not sure that he won’t kick the damn thing down before the police arrive based off of how hard it seemed he was going at it. At the same time, I was also concerned that he might try a window. As my apartment is technically sub-grade, the windows are basically level with the ground, and someone familiar with the unit could walk around the side and kick a window out with relative ease.From my perspective up to this point, I have no idea who the dude is or why he is trying to break into my apartment. I don’t know if he is armed, strung out, or just crazy. After listening to him pounding/kicking the door and yelling for a few minutes, it got quiet, which is when we checked the side window to see that an officer has him backed into the side of the apartment with a flashlight in his face.At this point I stashed my gun in a nearby drawer to talk to another officer who showed up. Funny enough, my landlord is actually a police officer and happened to be on shift. He stopped by while they were taking the guy away to fill us in and calm us down a bit. Long story short, he’s wasted (it’s a college town) and thought he was at his own apartment (which was about a block down the road and looks nothing like my building) and was trying to wake up his roommates to let him in, hence the pounding/kicking and yelling. They put him in cuffs, but I’m not sure if they arrested him. They took my statement and driver’s license and did a quick sweep around the building. As far as anyone can tell, he didn’t damage any property. The door took it like a champ.Afterwards (~3:40 a.m.), I couldn’t really fall back asleep as my mind was racing with what just happened, how I reacted, and potential what ifs.Thoughts:While I thought I had my handgun in a spot where I could access it in under 10 seconds during the night, I realize now that this is the best-case scenario, and doesn’t take into account adrenaline, fear, grogginess, etc. It took me almost 45 seconds to get to my handgun. Going forward, I need to find a better system so I can actually access my firearm quickly when it counts.After retrieving my handgun, from what I can remember I kept the gun pointed downward in one hand (one in the chamber safety off), and a flashlight in the other. Looking back, I’ve always practiced getting to my gun, getting the gun on target, and taking shots. I’ve never really thought about what to do as you’re waiting for police (or to see if the guy to breaks in) with the gun in hand.Questions:I tried to remain as quiet and keep the lights off thinking that if the guy thought no one was home, he’d leave. Would it be better to turn lights on to better see what I’m doing? Should I not be worried about my volume to avoid any potential miscommunication between me and the dispatcher or my girlfriend?Say the guy gets inside. In hindsight, he was an unnarmed, stupid drunk college kid, and bear spraying him may have been the best course of action. However, this is only clear after he’s been questioned. In real time, if he kicked the door in and entered the apartment, I’d keep as much distance as possible between me and him while shining my flashlight in his face (in case he did have a weapon I’d hope this would disorient him), while clearly informing him I am armed and prepared to fire if he did not get down on his stomach. If he followed instructions, I’d keep my sights on him until police arrived, at which point I’d lay my firearm down and keep my hands up. If he acted aggressively or presented a weapon, I would put him down. If he ran, I’d at least be able to give a description to police. Is this reasonable (I’m a resident of WY)?Conclusion This got kind of long, but I’m always interested in reading scenarios, incidents, etc. by other members of this community so I thought I’d throw it out there. Hopefully I can learn some things about this and others can learn from this incident and my mistakes.TL;DRSome drunk college kid mistakes my apartment for his, and proceeds to yell and pound on my door. I (think) I react accordingly. via /r/CCW http://ift.tt/2ERJlez
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