Pennsylvania Firearm Owners Association
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  1. #1
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    Default Potential Break-In Thwarted? (State College)

    I'd like to share a disturbing experience from a few days ago. I'd also like any feedback, positive or negative, that you may have for me. This was my first experience with being in a potentially bad situation at home.

    I was sitting alone in my apartment around 9 PM when I heard someone run up my outside stairs and start pounding on my door. Considering the fact that there were recently two armed robberies in town, I was a little concerned by this, perhaps more than I would have been normally. I have a doorbell that works, and anyone I know would either call first or ring the bell. I hadn't ordered any food, my roommates were both out of town, and it was way too late for FedEx or UPS to be out making deliveries. My first reaction was to grab my gun and my phone and run upstairs, since I have the basement room with only a window exit.

    My front door doesn't have a peephole, so I took a look out my front window and saw a guy in jeans and a hoodie on my porch. No bag of delicious Chinese food, no backpack, no UPS uniform. At this point, I contemplated calling the police, since that's what you're "supposed" to do when something like this happens. Instead, I turned on the outside light and asked the guy who he was and what he wanted (with a few expletives thrown in). No answer, but that didn't make him leave. At that point, I quietly dropped the magazine out, noisily slammed it back in, and racked the slide. I'd like to think that's what finally scared him off. He scurried away and that was the end of it.

    Consider:
    • There have been at least two armed robberies in State College in the past week or so
    • I was home alone
    • Even the best police response would have been more than a few minutes
    • I had the advantage of a locked door and a loaded gun


    Should I have called the police, should I have totally ignored the situation, or did I take all the right steps? I still don't know who the guy was or what he wanted, but there was no way I was going to open the door to find out. As far as I can tell from the PA Uniform Firearms Act, I would have been completely justified in using force in this situation. (Edit: by "this situation" I mean had I either opened the door [like an idiot] or had he physically forced entry. I know I can't shoot someone for banging on my door.) I'm very glad that all it took was turning on the lights and (hopefully) making it clear that I had a gun to defend myself, but the whole thing was pretty unnerving.

    Would you have reacted differently?
    Last edited by psublue; February 20th, 2010 at 02:27 AM. Reason: Clarification
    | Penn State Class of 2008

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Potential Break-In Thwarted? (State College)

    I'd say you should have called the cops but unless you know someone to cover your ass they'd probably have tried to jam you up for some other stupid shit that you may or may not have done. other then that I'd say you did ok. Perhaps call the land lord and ask for a peephole to be put in or some other way to see who'se outside. If you do call the police tell them what happened and if they want a statement have one typed up and waiting for them, do not let them into your place

  3. #3
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    Default Re: Potential Break-In Thwarted? (State College)

    If you decide to call the police, don't mention the gun thing.

    Humm, I do believe you did what was right at that stressful back up against the wall moment however, you might have scared him off for now. Next time he might be bringing a friend or a weapon. Condition red from now on!

    Get the landlord to install a peephole. If the landlord bitches about it, do it yourself. Its only a few dollars, and well worth the investment. Much cheaper than perhaps paying legal fees.

  4. #4
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    Thumbs up Re: Potential Break-In Thwarted? (State College)

    i personally can't fault you, as that is what i think i would have done in that situation. honestly, i can't think of anything else he could have been doing, or he would have identified himself, right?
    ONE TO THE HEAD!!!!

  5. #5
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    Default Re: Potential Break-In Thwarted? (State College)

    Post deleted by poster, as I am, doing to almost all my posts.
    Last edited by TheF00L; April 13th, 2010 at 07:00 AM.

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Potential Break-In Thwarted? (State College)

    Yeah, the more I think about it, calling the police would have been the better option. I guess I look at it that way knowing that in the end, nothing happened. I'm not the kind of guy who goes looking for a fight, but I'd much rather prefer that a fight happens on my terms than on the bad guy's terms. Given what I knew right then and there, however, calling the police would have just been an added distraction if that guy had found his way into my living room.

    Considering the end result - the guy left and nothing out of the ordinary has happened since then - I'm content writing it off as a non-issue. A peephole will be incoming in the near future, and hopefully I'll be able to use it before I resort to getting Lola out of her holster.
    | Penn State Class of 2008

  7. #7
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    Default Re: Potential Break-In Thwarted? (State College)

    Quote Originally Posted by TheF00L View Post
    In reference to deadly force...do you mean with the door closed?
    No, I meant that if he had managed to force his way in somehow. I was doing a bit of hypothesizing about what might have happened.
    | Penn State Class of 2008

  8. #8
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    Default Re: Potential Break-In Thwarted? (State College)

    Quote Originally Posted by psublue View Post
    No, I meant that if he had managed to force his way in somehow. I was doing a bit of hypothesizing about what might have happened.
    Forcing his way into your house, much different story.

  9. #9
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    Default Re: Potential Break-In Thwarted? (State College)

    Justified in using lethal force for shooting an unknown person who's banging on your front door? I think you could spend the next 30-50 years in jail thinking about why you're wrong.
    Quote Originally Posted by headcase View Post
    let them eventually bring the FBI to kill my wife and son over fucking chickens....

  10. #10
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    Default Re: Potential Break-In Thwarted? (State College)

    Quote Originally Posted by jcabin View Post
    Justified in using lethal force for shooting an unknown person who's banging on your front door? I think you could spend the next 30-50 years in jail thinking about why you're wrong.
    Absolutely correct! ^^^^^^

    The inside is your turf, the outside his turf. He crosses that turf line then the situation changes.

    Ya' dig?

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