Several weeks prior to this writing, in Alexandria, Virginia, three nitwits stood outside of a home, dressed in masks, taunting the homeowner to open the door, saying, “if you don’t open, we are coming in!” This happened prior to Halloween, not on Halloween night, so it is not a distasteful holiday prank. Rather, as judged by the Ring camera footage, it is a scene straight out of the Purge movies. The miscreants, wearing masks, even come up to the door, aggressively pulling on the knob, demanding entry.
So, as it turns out, based on reports I have heard, it was relatives of the household, pulling a prank on their kin. As anyone with an IQ above single digits can figure out, doing something so utterly stupid, and blatantly sinister, is a good way to get yourself shot. The fact that this happened in the deep-blue vicinity of Alexandria, Virginia leads me to bet money on the likelihood that the household was unarmed, as most yuppies prefer to be. However, if they were armed, I would submit that the homeowner handled things well in at least one regard; they did not open the door.
The gun world is a flurry with discussion on this situation, much of it revolving around the justification to shoot through the door. So, in this case, had the homeowner shot through the door and killed someone, the death of an extended family member would have occurred. Even barring that from the equation, as perhaps you have a family with functional cognitive ability, I am of the strong opinion that shooting through the door would have been the wrong choice in this circumstance, as in most circumstances.
The door to your home should be fortified. If you don’t know how to turn your door from a one-kick-wonder into a many-kicks-resilient entry, look up how, and make it so. Now, then, the door serves as a barrier against two dangers: first, the physical danger of what stands outside, and second, the legal danger of excessive or unjustified use of force. Shooting through the door opens you to a host of legal complications that are greatly mitigated when dealing with a threat that has made entry. This shooting through the door thing has turned out tragically in quite a few incidents, as the people inclined to do so seem to shoot innocent people who pull into the wrong driveway, or knock on the wrong door, etc…
When people are outside of your door, dressed in sinister looking masks and demanding entry, barricade yourself, preferably behind a point of cover, with your home defense gun, call 911, stay put, and hold your fire. If the miscreants break through the door and enter the dwelling, then do what needs to be done. While the door holds and they remain outside the threshold, you are almost always better off not engaging.
The logical exception is if the entity outside the home becomes an active and immediate threat by shooting into the home or, perhaps, preparing to hurl an incendiary device into the dwelling. Under such circumstances, shooting through the door would be justified. However, if the threat seems intent on breaking through the door, holding your fire until and if they enter is a safeguard to you and your household.
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