You hear voices outside your front door after midnight, what do you do???

[RoyalTenenbaum]

I present the scenario, you tell me what happens if it were a situation in which you happened to find yourself.

The scenario:

You are tossing and turning all night with a case of "run for the border disorder" as you dined on a sack full of Taco Bell for dinner. It is 2 am. A car comes down your road, lane, path with all but the running lights off. They get to the end and start to creep back. You notice 2 young about to be felons slip from the passenger side of the moving car as it moves on to the meet up point on the main road. They approach your house and you hear them talking about your seemingly empty house being easy pickings.

You consider the following:

As they approached, you surmised that they are likely stronger than you.
There are no readily obvious weapons displayed. There could be something concealed. Your room is at one side of the top of the stairs, your child sleeps in the room opposite. Directly in front of the top of the stairs is a bathroom. Your child is less than 2 years old, and has rudimentary communication skills and toddler reflexes on foot.


You hear:
The door is breached, they have entered and proceed to rummage downstairs. You instruct your significant other to call 911. You hear the intruders discuss tossing the two other rooms before they plan to come upstairs.

Tools at your disposal: Anything you might typically find in a bedroom with bathroom attached, your bedroom contains a small office area where your wife uploads photos and videos to a computer and does home office stuff. You have the gun safe in your room. It contains your flashlight, ammo of your choosing, your first .22 rifle (your wife has not ever shot it), two semi-automatic pistols (both you and your spouse are comfortable using them), your grandfathers Browning A5 (you both are familiar with it), a pistol caliber AR (only you have used), a .223 AR (on you are comfortable using), your all purpose non folding knife. Next to the safe is your old highschool/college (bat, field hockey stick, lacrosse stick, hockey stick take your pick). His and hers cell phones with bluetooth headsets. The baby room has an audio baby monitor.

What do you do next, what happens next, what is the fallout, how does it affect your family?
Dilema, do you forego the black rifle because it means you may be painted in a less than fair light in the media if you have to use it?

 

[clt46910]

Have the wife take control of the kid, probably in the kids room with her handgun. Get behind the bed with phone and 911 on the line.

Take the flashlight and .223 AR, lay down to one side at the head of the stairs. Stretch the flashlight as far away from me as possible then turn it on and let it roll to the opposite side of the stair landing from me. Letting it light up the stairs.

Warn them I am armed and LEO is on the way, that they will be shot if they proceed.

If I see a gun in the light I would open fire without any other warning.

 

[Black_Wolf]

I live alone, have no kids and divorced,

This is easy.

I kill them both and the call 911 and tell them I just killed two home intruders.

Police arrive, I say I was in fear for my life and I want my lawyer.

 

[RoyalTenenbaum]

Have the wife take control of the kid, probably in the kids room with her handgun. Get behind the bed with phone and 911 on the line.

Take the flashlight and .223 AR, lay down to one side at the head of the stairs. Stretch the flashlight as far away from me as possible then turn it on and let it roll to the opposite side of the stair landing from me. Letting it light up the stairs.

Warn them I am armed and LEO is on the way, that they will be shot if they proceed.

If I see a gun in the light I would open fire without any other warning.

Forgot to mention that at the top of the stairs if you walk 4 paces forward is a bathroom.

 

[clt46910]

Would not change anything. I would still be laying prone keeping the AR pointed down the stairs maintaining the high ground.

If you are thinking of having the wife and kid getting into the bathtub, I would rather keep them to the side in case of return fire and not have them behind me.

 

[RoyalTenenbaum]

Would not change anything. I would still be laying prone keeping the AR pointed down the stairs maintaining the high ground.

If you are thinking of having the wife and kid getting into the bathtub, I would rather keep them to the side in case of return fire and not have them behind me.

Not really. I was just editing, to make note of a place for you to lie down prone. For the same reasons as you I wouldn't have them in the tub either.

 

[stormryder]

If they are in my house, they would have to deal w/the dog, then me.
Call 911.
If they get past her, I would light them up w/flashlight and center mass them w/pistol.

 

[45fan]

In this given situation, I would probably set up ambush at the top of the stairs, and without any further warning, fire on the first available home invader with the shotgun, also having a pistol at my side for back up.

If this were my home, not the setup scenario that the OP states, the intruders would likely meet a very unhappy Rottweiler at the front door. If for whatever reason that isnt the first thing that they meet, my 12 gauge winchester and 1911 sleep next to my headboard, and the wife usually has her 44 on her side of the bed. Once someone forcibly enters my home, they are considered targets, nothing more.

 

[finity]

In this scenario I would do as 45fan would & just shoot them where they stood with no warning.

IN law doesn't require a warning & I put myself at a potentially serious tactical disadvantage by letting them know I am there & WHERE I AM. I say just shoot them & keep you, & especially your family, the safest that you can.

As to what I would use. Well, I guess it would be the SG IF I had any decent self-defense ammo (i.e. buckshot, not bird-shot - though even bird-shot can be an effective deterrent to a BG wanting to continue attacking you). Otherwise I would go with the pistols. There is no need for a high-powered rifle at in-home distances & there is no reason to take the chance on any additional overpenetration of the rifle rounds.

 

[71silverbullet]

Grandpas browning would would have 2 new notches on the stock.
If I saw and heard what you described, the only request I would have would be for a lawyer.
Once you breech the door there would be a big mess to clean up.

 

[gunowner930]

I present the scenario, you tell me what happens if it were a situation in which you happened to find yourself.

The scenario:

You are tossing and turning all night with a case of "run for the border disorder" as you dined on a sack full of Taco Bell for dinner. It is 2 am. A car comes down your road, lane, path with all but the running lights off. They get to the end and start to creep back. You notice 2 young about to be felons slip from the passenger side of the moving car as it moves on to the meet up point on the main road. They approach your house and you hear them talking about your seemingly empty house being easy pickings.

Lock up your family behind you, and get to a place in the house that is easily defensible. Not sure how the house is built, but hallways can be used as chokepoints. let the punks come to you so you can get the first look and the first shot(s). Given your scenario, you would have had time to take a defensive position near the front door that kicked in. The bad guys could have been engaged immediately upon kicking the door in.

You consider the following:

As they approached, you surmised that they are likely stronger than you.
There are no readily obvious weapons displayed. There could be something concealed. Your room is at one side of the top of the stairs, your child sleeps in the room opposite. Directly in front of the top of the stairs is a bathroom. Your child is less than 2 years old, and has rudimentary communication skills and toddler reflexes on foot.

Grab the kid and put him in your room with your wife.


You hear:
The door is breached, they have entered and proceed to rummage downstairs. You instruct your significant other to call 911. You hear the intruders discuss tossing the two other rooms before they plan to come upstairs.

Tools at your disposal: Anything you might typically find in a bedroom with bathroom attached, your bedroom contains a small office area where your wife uploads photos and videos to a computer and does home office stuff. You have the gun safe in your room. It contains your flashlight, some ammo stores, your first .22 rifle (your wife has not ever shot it), two semi-automatic pistols (both you and your spouse are comfortable using them), your grandfathers Browning A5 (you both are familiar with it), a pistol caliber AR (only you have used), a .223 AR (on you are comfortable using), your all purpose non folding knife. Next to the safe is your old highschool/college (bat, field hockey stick, lacrosse stick, hockey stick take your pick). His and hers cell phones with bluetooth headsets. The baby room has an audio baby monitor.

make sure your wife has access to one of the weapons she is comfortable with, like the pistols. I'd advise against having ALL weapons in the safe because you may not always get this much warning. Grab the .223 AR, I assume there's already a loaded mag or two. When they come upstairs, and enter your field of fire, LIGHT THEM UP.

What do you do next, what happens next, what is the fallout, how does it affect your family?
Dilema, do you forego the black rifle because it means you may be painted in a less than fair light in the media if you have to use it?

No you don't forego the black rifle if you feel its your best option to neutralize the threat. You only pass on the AR if you have another effective option that you are more comfortable with. I've never heard of anyone in this state being prosecuted for a lawful DGU because they had used an AK or AR.

Responses in Red.

 

[IndySSD]

I have a wife and child similar to the one described in the OP. I live in a ranch home and I can tell you I place myself between the intruders and my family and the outcome n my minds eye is pretty much as Black Wolf calls it. However I keep a shotgun with my carry pistol setup as my primary "nightstand" guns so the "what if the jury hears I shot them with an assault rifle" thought never really occurs. I always have shorts or pants on that I can toss the holster onto and grab the Shotgun, light and deal with what happens.

I kill them both and the call 911 and tell them I just killed two home intruders.

Police arrive, I say I was in fear for my life and I want my lawyer.

I've actually heard voices outside my home in the evening and I have implemented (and used on several occasions) a plan that allows me to slip out another portion of the house and flank the people in question.

Twice it's been kids that just screamed "Sorry" and ran when I lit them up with the flashlight and once it was two young adults who claimed to be selling magazine subscriptions even though they didn't actually ring the doorbell. They showed me their "selection sheet" and I informed them we aren't interested, that there is no soliciting in our neighborhood and that next time I see them or another team from their "sales crew" that it would be the police stopping them for trespassing.

 

[lovemachine]

You hear the intruders discuss tossing the two other rooms before they plan to come upstairs.

What if they were just looking for gas for their car?

 

[Bapak2ja]

I appreciate the opportunity to think through this scenario. My home layout is a bit different (no stairs), I have no kids in the house (unless the grandkids are here) and my wife is not gun-friendly—refuses to touch them or learn to use one.

In my situation, with a hall way leading to the bedrooms branching off from a foyer between the hallway (east side of foyer) and the LR, DR, Kitchen (west side of foyer).

BGs would probably come in the patio door (leading to the LR) rather than the front door—better concealment in a housing addition. If I have advance notice as described in this scenario, I put my wife prone on the floor in the BR behind the bed with a phone talking to 911. I go to the end of the hall, looking into the LR. I always leave a low light on over the dining room table, which would be behind the BG as he enters from the patio door. It would provide a good silhouette for me.

When the first BG is fully in the LR (door smashed), I open up with my semi-auto handgun. Two rounds COM. Slowly fired to ensure I hit the target. No Warning. Just bang - take a breath - bang. I assume the second BG will run. If he comes in. Repeat.

When secure, turn on the lights. Advise wife to inform 911 shots fired, BG down (accurate status report). Await police. While waiting I strongly instruct my wife to say nothing more than "We heard noises. I was terrified. I thought we were going to die." until we have an attorney present.

When I confirm the police are on site I put the pistol on the floor, hands on my head and step into open so I am clearly visible. I give the police my name, state I thought we were going to be killed, and I want an attorney. Shut up. Hope my wife does the same.

 

[VUPDblue]

I'd use the AR myself..... Give the wife a pistol and the phone....

 

[RoyalTenenbaum]

So I have got a decent mix of shotgun and AR in the responses.

I have given it thought all night, about what I would do. In an ideal world, an intruder should have to pass through my room to get to a child's room. If it were the case, I would simply barricade us in, and do everything in my power to keep my family safe. Unfortunately, my house just isn't set up that way. I would gladly give up the privacy with kids coming and going for a lifetime to have that extra element of safety.

So, in the decision to stand sentry over the steps I have to choose weapons. In my mind, keeping my family safe applies to the imminent threat presented as well as anything that might threaten my ability after the fact to provide. So you could in effect argue that there will be two threats, one physical and one from the court of public opinion. In my mind, somehow "homeowner protects family against intruders with grandpas shotgun" (even if it is loaded up with slugs) seems like it would be less threatening to the court of public opinion than "young a+ student, sweet angel babies slain by militant homeowner with military style assault rifle). Certainly there is a hell of a lot of precedent with little old ladies and 12 year old sons defending themselves with ye olde shotgun than there is with ar15's. Due largely to the fact that common place ownership is just beginning to take hold with semi auto rifles, I imagine it will be some time until the use of ar15s becomes an event with leaves the reader unimpressed.

I know of course, to survive the courts you must first survive the threat, but...
What say ye?

 

[lovemachine]

You should use what you train and feel more comfortable with. If you train with your AR, then that's what you should use.

AR vs Shotgun. Which of those 2 do you feel most comfortable with? Which are you more accurate with?

What if the BG has your wife/child hostage? Which weapon can you use on the BG, and not hit your wife/child with?

 

[Big House]

handguns are made for this purpose. when walking through the house in the dark under stress and at a moral disadvantage a pistol makes the most sense to me. way easier to maneuver through doors and hallways and change firing positions with a pistol than with a long gun. this is just my opinion based on my home layout.

 

[IndySSD]

handguns are made for this purpose. when walking through the house in the dark under stress and at a moral disadvantage a pistol makes the most sense to me. way easier to maneuver through doors and hallways and change firing positions with a pistol than with a long gun. this is just my opinion based on my home layout.

Wait, so the tool with very high propensity for over penetration and the least amount of accuracy is your perfect tool for defending your family?

Pfft. The only reason I don't carry a rifle or shotgun for personal defense instead of a handgun is because it's not practical for my lifestyle. If I lived in the mountains self sufficiently I'd have a rifle or shotgun slung over my shoulder as my primary weapon and the pistol would serve its appropriate role as a secondary and last resort self defense tool.

 

[VUPDblue]

My stumpy AR or my 870 would both work well for me in my home. At present though, I would be grabbing the shotgun because I have used it as a defensive tool for years and it habitually lives in a location where grabbing it is practiced and normal...for ME.