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I came home yesterday to my front door wide open, thinking "oh great here we go" I have my snubby .38 on me of course 1st thing I do is look thru the living room and look thru a huge mirror that allows me to see into my kitchen and see noone, I walk straight to the backdoor open the door and let my German Shepherd "Trouble" in the house. I then proceed to go room by room and closet by closet...I go into the bathroom and it was like a horror movie scene...I have to pull back the curtain where the shower is.... no one. "Trouble" and I continue thru the back bedroom and clear the last part of the house.After the house is cleared I go back to the garage .... no one. Come to find out there was nothing stolen and the wife did not lock the door, and it was windy and blew the door open. I just thought I would share this story with you guys, It sure was nice having that dawg with me as I went thru the house. I can only imagine what our soldiers do day in and day out. They must have nerves of steel.God Bless them.

I'm not so brave. Years ago, my wife and I went to San Antonio for the evening. When we came home, the front door was wide open. We just got out of the car, went across the street and called 911 from our neighbor's house.

The police searched the house and found nobody. It turned out that my wife inadvertantly left the front door ajar, and a breeze opened it the rest of the way.

Armed or not, I would not take on the task of clearing a house by myself. I'm too old for that.

pedalman wrote:I'm not so brave. Years ago, my wife and I went to San Antonio for the evening. When we came home, the front door was wide open. We just got out of the car, went across the street and called 911 from our neighbor's house.

The police searched the house and found nobody. It turned out that my wife inadvertantly left the front door ajar, and a breeze opened it the rest of the way.

Armed or not, I would not take on the task of clearing a house by myself. I'm too old for that.

You did exactly the right thing. Even though I have cleared many hundreds of buildings during my law enforcement career, I would never do it alone unless I had reason to believe that innocent life was in immediate danger. Doing so unnecessarily gives away far too many tactical advantages to the guy(s) already inside.

It might be worthwhile to review the "Coming Home to Find a Burglar in Your House" thread, which has additional info you may be interested in.

Excaliber wrote:

pedalman wrote:I'm not so brave. Years ago, my wife and I went to San Antonio for the evening. When we came home, the front door was wide open. We just got out of the car, went across the street and called 911 from our neighbor's house.

The police searched the house and found nobody. It turned out that my wife inadvertantly left the front door ajar, and a breeze opened it the rest of the way.

Armed or not, I would not take on the task of clearing a house by myself. I'm too old for that.

You did exactly the right thing. Even though I have cleared many hundreds of buildings during my law enforcement career, I would never do it alone unless I had reason to believe that innocent life was in immediate danger. Doing so unnecessarily gives away far too many tactical advantages to the guy(s) already inside.

It might be worthwhile to review the "Coming Home to Find a Burglar in Your House" thread, which has additional info you may be interested in.

About 9 years ago when I was living in Louisiana I came home late from the gym one night to find the house I shared with a remote broken into. I grabbbed my 229 and Maglight, called my girlfriend at the time and told her to call 911 on her home phone, but left her connected on speakerphone and left the phone on my car seat. I proceeded to clear the house during which time the police arrived, I had made sure to have my girlfriend make the 911 dipatcher aware that the owner was armed and going into the home. I was younger and still in the military when this happend, and I still think about how bad it could have gone. I had a loaded 870 in my closet which the thieves took with them. They had broken open the sliding glass door in the breakfast nook and then opened the side door and proceeded to ransack the place loading everything into a waiting van. Had I caught them after they found the shotgun I might not be here typing this. it's defintely not worth the danger over material possesions. If there is someone inside then it's a no-brainer.

Just today, I was supposed to have a meeting with a local bank representative at a nearby coffee shop at 1:00 p.m. just a few blocks from my house. On my way to the meeting, she called me to let me know that she had dropped by her apartment on the way to our meeting. She arrived at her place to find the door kicked open, and her burglar alarm blaring. It had happened so soon before she got there that the alarm hadn't even reset yet. She had already called the cops when she called me to ask if we could reschedule our meeting for another day, but she also told me that she had entered the apartment alone to see what the damage was.

When we get together, I'm going to suggest to her that she not do anything like that again.

The Annoyed Man wrote:Just today, I was supposed to have a meeting with a local bank representative at a nearby coffee shop at 1:00 p.m. just a few blocks from my house. On my way to the meeting, she called me to let me know that she had dropped by her apartment on the way to our meeting. She arrived at her place to find the door kicked open, and her burglar alarm blaring. It had happened so soon before she got there that the alarm hadn't even reset yet. She had already called the cops when she called me to ask if we could reschedule our meeting for another day, but she also told me that she had entered the apartment alone to see what the damage was.

When we get together, I'm going to suggest to her that she not do anything like that again.

Good advice.

In my experience, confrontations between homeowners and burglars that end with rapes, assaults, or homicides happen most frequently under 2 circumstances:

1. The homeowner is home but doesn't answer the door (either deliberately because they don't want to be bothered, or because they're in the shower, etc.) and the burglar discovers them after he broke in
2. The burglar broke into a bona fide unoccupied house, and the homeowner unluckily returned to reoccupy it before the BG was finished.

Burglars are usually druggies and very impulsive. While they may not have planned to harm anyone, if suddenly presented with a situation they didn't expect, they may easily decide on a whim to commit more serious crimes. The wise man or woman doesn't place his or her life in jeopardy at the mercy of folks like these when it can easily be avoided.

I woke up one morning in the past year to find my front door half way open. Either the door was not closed completely after my wife or I used it last, or someone else opened it. Historically I was always good about checking the doors at night, but would never use the alarm. Since that day I physically check all of the doors and set the alarm at night before going to bed.

There was no reason to enter the house alone. You should avoid the conflict if possible and contact the police. Only pull you gun if you have fear of death or physical harm. Stay outside the house and watch for activity. If the thief is not causing you physical harm or threatening your life you would have a hell of a legal bill and a hard time in the grand jury. CHL is only for threats to you own personal safety let the color tv go.

ambitman wrote:TIf the thief is not causing you physical harm or threatening your life you would have a heck of a legal bill and a hard time in the grand jury. CHL is only for threats to you own personal safety let the color tv go.

That isn't what the law says.

ambitman wrote:There was no reason to enter the house alone. You should avoid the conflict if possible and contact the police. Only pull you gun if you have fear of death or physical harm. Stay outside the house and watch for activity. If the thief is not causing you physical harm or threatening your life you would have a heck of a legal bill and a hard time in the grand jury. CHL is only for threats to you own personal safety let the color tv go.

You must unaware of the Castle Doctrine.

Search it, there is some valuable information in it.

If I find my door kicked in on my unoccupied house, I am going to get some help. Am I capable of running in and looking cool? Sure! There really isn't anything other than the people in my house that are worth dying for. If they are safe.....I am going to stay there and protect them from becoming a hostage.

Clearing a building alone is tricky and dangerous at best.

I have home insurance that can take care of anything stolen. I would rather lose my watch and TV than leave my family without a husband and father. I have not always felt this way......I guess we all change.

Just wait a few minutes and if someone was inside, they will have a team to contend with.

Jason

jbirds1210 wrote:If I find my door kicked in on my unoccupied house, I am going to get some help. Am I capable of running in and looking cool? Sure! There really isn't anything other than the people in my house that are worth dying for. If they are safe.....I am going to stay there and protect them from becoming a hostage.

Clearing a building alone is tricky and dangerous at best.

I have home insurance that can take care of anything stolen. I would rather lose my watch and TV than leave my family without a husband and father. I have not always felt this way......I guess we all change.

Just wait a few minutes and if someone was inside, they will have a team to contend with.

Jason

Even at a 3 to 1 ratio is it tricky and dangerous. Always best to call the police and let them handle it (if circumstance allows).

The average homeowner has no clue how to "clear" a dwelling anyway. So, like you....I'm going to back out just for lack of "numbers".

Also, even though I am intimately familiar with the interior of my home, the layout of it makes it virtually impossible for even two people to make entry and not expose themselves.

House clearing is very risky business.....as you will be finding out soon.

flintknapper wrote:

jbirds1210 wrote:
Clearing a building alone is tricky and dangerous at best.

Even at a 3 to 1 ratio is it tricky and dangerous. Always best to call the police and let them handle it (if circumstance allows).

The average homeowner has no clue how to "clear" a dwelling anyway. So, like you....I'm going to back out just for lack of "numbers".

Also, even though I am intimately familiar with the interior of my home, the layout of it makes it virtually impossible for even two people to make entry and not expose themselves.

House clearing is very risky business

The more house clearing experience one has, the more close calls he's experienced and the better he understands just how bad an idea it is to try to do it alone.

Unfortunately, the reverse of that statement is also true - the less real world experience one has, the more likely he is to think solo clearing a house with that big pistol in hand is a really cool, macho thing to do as he repeatedly exposes himself to potential multiple assailants at close range in a 360 degree threat environment. That cool feeling lasts only until the first shot from a real bad guy who is seriously trying to kill him.

CHL is only for threats to you own personal safety

There is nothing about a CHL which prevents you from defending property in the State of Texas. The defense of property in these high-priced, inflationary times is a worthwhile goal, just as it was when the law was enacted and the loss of a person's property could mean the end of their livelihood. You take a dollar round to kill a two-bit thief and save a grand of personal items, yeah, that resonates in Texas.

Even at a 3 to 1 ratio is it tricky and dangerous

We clear with two officers. You could do more but the key is NEVER to separate anyone from the group - you stay together as a team. A separate group or person wandering around is more likely to get shot.

With large warehouses or office buildings we usually call for a K-9 officer to clear it with his dog - they usually do it all alone.