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A fellow came to the door tonight when I was home with my three young children. They all ran to the door and I told them not to answer it. They were seen, obviously, by the man.

While they were staring through the window, I was pocketing my Sig P938. He had backed off the porch, so I answered the door. Turns out he was legit, the newspaper guy. We chatted about my service, etc.

He asked a curious question; he asked if there had been a lot of burglaries in the area. I said, not that I'm aware of. He said, "It's just a little strange because everyone is answering the door with a gun!"

Two things:

1. I guess I wasn't very discreet! I had a fairly clear print of the gun and my hand was causally in the mouth of the pocket. He didn't actually point it out, but I feel like he was commenting about me specifically...although respectfully.
2. I guess I'm not mad at myself either. If he wasn't legit...the word is now out that my house is not an easy mark. Is this wrong? Could it be considered brandishing?

MikeStone wrote:Could it be considered brandishing?

There is no CHL Law that contains the word "Brandishing" in Texas.

Sec. 46.02. UNLAWFUL CARRYING WEAPONS. (a) A person commits an offense if the person intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly carries on or about his or her person a handgun, illegal knife, or club if the person is not:

(1) on the person's own premises or premises under the person's control;

Inside your own home you may legally display a weapon. However, if you threaten someone at your door with a weapon, you'd better have legal justification for doing so:

Sec. 9.04. THREATS AS JUSTIFIABLE FORCE. The threat of force is justified when the use of force is justified by this chapter. For purposes of this section, a threat to cause death or serious bodily injury by the production of a weapon or otherwise, as long as the actor's purpose is limited to creating an apprehension that he will use deadly force if necessary, does not constitute the use of deadly force.

You might consider something with a little more magazine capacity for around the house. I was just thinking about a hypothetical scenario where there is an aggressor at my door. I would want a few more rounds to fight my way back to the long gun. A double stack with 10+ rounds is not too hard to conceal. You don't have to conceal it around your house, but I can understand if you are trying to make it harder for your children to discern that you are carrying.

Should our doorbell ring after dark and we weren't expecting anyone, I would answer with gun in hand. It wouldn't be on display, however.

I don't see that you did anything wrong when you answered, and him seeing your weapon is not a bad thing (legally) unless as stated above, you are threatening with it.

Teamless wrote:I don't see that you did anything wrong when you answered, and him seeing your weapon is not a bad thing (legally) unless as stated above, you are threatening with it.

We all know that there is a big difference between a person feeling thratened and a person being threatened, however, this difference is lost on the majority of those who do not practice our passion.

Be careful how you approach people at your door. A holstered pistol open carried is less threatening than a pistol in your hand held in a manner that either exposes the weapon or dramatically infers that it is in your hand.

This is, of course, my opinion and is how I answer the door in some instrances. Usually I carry concealed but have answered the door while OC.

Anygunanywhere

anygunanywhere wrote:We all know that there is a big difference between a person feeling thratened and a person being threatened, however, this difference is lost on the majority of those who do not practice our passion.

Agreed, but i would rather have it in my hand (normally behind my back when I answer the door) than in a pocket or holster, if someone is right there kicking in the door as you unlock it.

I can explain to the officer if someone felt threatened, when it was not a threatening position, and would rather do that, than lose the upper hand.

There is no law against lack of discretion.

My own personal standard is that if someone knocks on the door after dark, they're not there for my benefit. The way my entryway is constructed, and because I am left-handed and my door opens on the left side, I am able to answer the door with a gun in my hand hanging down at my side without revealing that fact to the person at the door, and without having to hold it behind my back. Also, I don't answer the door with a pocket pistol. If that's all you've got, then it's better no gun at all, but if you own a full-sized pistol, use that one instead: higher capacity, better sights, more intimidation (if necessary), and other reasons. If I have to fight my way to my long gun, it's going to be with a full-sized 10 round capacity .45 with a tactical light mounted on it, not with a 5 round snubby or a 6 round pocket 9mm with diminutive sights. But the bottom line is that I don't answer the door to anybody period at night without A) requiring them to identify themselves, and B) without making them back up a few feet so that I can identify them under the porch light through the window. Fortunately for me, in my particular neighborhood, night time door knocks are so rare as to rival the dodo. My neighbors would phone first before coming over, as I would with them, and there just isn't any other traffic in the area after dark. So anybody who knocked on my door after dark would be cause for going from condition yellow to condition orange.

[sidebar]
It's only tangential to this particular discussion, as many times as some kinds of questions get asked—which includes me too, so I mean no disrespect by it—maybe it is time to pin a thread at the top of one of the forums answering questions that have asked over and over again, with answers.......a sort of FAQ, if you will. There's nothing wrong with the questions, and there's nothing wrong with asking them, but maybe it would be handy to have a lot of quick answers to common questions in one place.

Example:

1. What if I get arrested for "Printing?"
   You can't be arrested for "printing," as there is no law against it. You can be arrested for "intentional failure to conceal," but "printing" does not rise to the level of "intentional failure to conceal" until your shirt is made out of transparent vinyl, or it is SO tight that the observing officer can read the roll-mark and serial number through your shirt.
2. What if my gun is momentarily exposed by the wind and someone sees it?
   Did you do it "INTENTIONALLY? See #1.
3. (Corollary) What should I tell someone who asks if I'm carrying a gun?
   "Nunnayerbeezwax." "Are you wearing boxers or briefs?" "No, I'm just happy to see you." "Who are you?" "It's a chemotherapy pump....back away 'cause I'm about to puke." "crickets........"
4. You can't carry in church.....It says so right there in the law!
   Yes, you can carry in church, read a few lines further down where it says that for this to be enforced, your church must post a 30.06 sign........says so right there in the law.
5. My cousin/brother in law/coworker/idiot nephew/friend of a friend/you get the picture says that he's not getting a CHL because it makes you more likely to be prosecuted if you actually have to shoot someone than if you don't have one. Is he right?
   Your cousin/brother in law/coworker/idiot nephew/friend of a friend/you get the picture is an ignoramus and has obviously not read the law. Do you trust him/her enough to follow his/her advice to jump off a cliff?
6. My CHL instructor told us that there is no more requirement to show both IDs if stopped. True?
   Either your CHL instructor told you wrong, or you misunderstood. The requirement is still there, but the penalty has been removed.
7. Best practices for answering door at night?
   Yada, yada yada, yadada, yada.....
   
   
   Etc., etc., etc.

Or, alternatively, maybe there could be a "Best Practices" forum into which some of the more enlightening threads could be copied and kept as a library of best practices for the CHL holder. I'm thinking as an example of the most excellent thread that Flintknapper and Longtooth wrote a couple of years ago about the "art" of the shoulder holster. Another one would be the original thread in which someone's photo was displayed holding a buckled gunbelt at arms length with the gun in the and holster on the belt, demonstrating how a true gunbelt supports the weight of the gun.....a picture being worth a thousand words. Threads like that. Just a thought......
[/sidebar]

MikeStone wrote:He asked a curious question; he asked if there had been a lot of burglaries in the area. I said, not that I'm aware of. He said, "It's just a little strange because everyone is answering the door with a gun!"

You could have said, "probably why there haven't been a lot of burglaries in the area."

[quote="MikeStone" "It's just a little strange because everyone is answering the door with a gun!"
[/quote]


NICE! So I guess you aren't the only one then.

Perhaps he came to my door first; when I answer door and actually open it for an uninvited/unexpected person, I am with no shirt on, Glock sticking out of my IWB holster on my away from door/person side, but they see it usually.

My theory
If you intend to visit me without calling first, why should I dress up all fancy on a moment's notice? I'm retired, the suits are in the closet, if you wanna see them, call first.

1) I usually see out the front window as anyone approaches front door
2) I generally do not open the door to strangers without hollaring who is it, and getting a response I like (and being sure no *partner* of theirs is hiding just off the porch-there's a small window in the door, and a window round the porch's corner I can see)
3) When I do, I worry less, and the storm door lock is still on and they should know that delay getting through it might cost them.

AEA wrote:

MikeStone wrote:Could it be considered brandishing?

There is no CHL Law that contains the word "Brandishing" in Texas.

That's true, but it's sort of a trivial technicality.

Brandishing still has a definition, and the act of brandishing is very much covered in the Texas penal code. It's akin to rape being illegal even though the penal code calls it: "sexual assault".

Similarly, I believe in the Trinity, but you won't find that word in the Bible! :)

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brandishing present participle of bran·dish
Verb
Wave or flourish (something, esp. a weapon) as a threat or in anger or excitement

When not done in self defense, that's a crime. It wasn't, however, what the OP was doing.

Jaguar wrote:

MikeStone wrote:He asked a curious question; he asked if there had been a lot of burglaries in the area. I said, not that I'm aware of. He said, "It's just a little strange because everyone is answering the door with a gun!"

You could have said, "probably why there haven't been a lot of burglaries in the area."

When you're knocking on neighborhood doors at night, what do you expect? This might not be the best way for the newspaper to conduct business....

As always, good advice and pointers to a new person. TAM, I like your suggestion about FAQs. I always perform a search, but it's hard to pin-point the exact question!