Non-Lethal Force:

[SS5R]

This is kind of a long but I will get to my point. We had an incident here at our house last Friday night where my wife stayed up watching TV after I had gone to bed. My wife didn’t have any lights on just the TV. Around 11:00 pm the front security light came on, she peered out but saw nothing then it happened again and again over the next hour. Then she saw a shadow on the front porch and came to wake me up and said there is someone on the front porch. I turned off the TV so it was dark and looked out to see a guy standing there in a tee-shirt and jeans (it was 24 degrees) then he started knocking on the security door and thought if I didn’t answer he would leave, he didn’t he just kept knocking harder. By this time I am dressed and armed with my 45 (230 gr hollow points and night sights) I engaged him and asked what he wanted he replied, “let me in!” I said, “No you are not coming in this house.” He said he was looking for Ron & Alicia, I said, “You have the wrong house” he just kept saying “let me in!” I had my wife go to the bedroom with our dog that was now barking like crazy to call the Police and to arm herself. After he got tired of the front door I watched him leave only to go up the driveway to my back gate he reached over unlatched it and came to my back door and started pounding on it yelling “let me in I’m freezing.” He was young and obviously drunk. He tried the doorknob and tried the dog door, which was blocked, and when he did that I warned him if he came in he would be shot, I warned him 6 times, it didn’t seem to matter what I told him nor did a barking dog detour him. My wife was on the phone this whole time with dispatch. This guy was not violent just drunk and persistent. He then stepped off the back porch and disappeared just as the Police arrived which took about 10 minutes. He went over the back fence and took off; there is no house directly behind me. I told the Police what happened and after checking everything out the last one to leave shook my and said, “do what ever you have to do to protect yourself, your family and your home.” I other words you see how long it took us to get here.

Toward the end of this incident when this guy was at the back door I thought am I going to shoot this guy for being drunk and stupid? I need some sort of non-lethal force, protection for different threat levels. I have some Fiocchi anti-crime non-lethal rounds for my 12 ga. shotgun. These are basically rubber 00 buck. If you don’t heed to a couple of those then you get the real thing. Also with the shotgun I don’t have to worry so much about over penetration or where the round goes in a missed shot. I haven’t decided if I will load them in the gun or have them on a butt stock mounted holder. I also think something along the lines of a police riot stick or baton would come in handy. If they are unarmed this may be the way to go. This doesn’t mean I will give up my 45 just adding other means of defense.

[Watchman]

Cool-hand Luke! You have more control than many would. I know I will catch flak for this - was he white, black, hispanic? Just curious if this sort of thing trends. I'm also wondering that he had the presence of mind to reach over the gate and un-latch it, could it be he was not as drunk as he appeared? He went over the fence - did he do this because he was warned the cops were coming? And the sound of the dog didn't bother him? All the associated actions will help others.

[Toepopper]

This is a scary one, the predicament everyone waits for and hopes never comes. It sounds like he was familiar with the gate latch, to have just reached over and opened it. Non lethal force is a tricky business, a stun gun has to touch the invader and you don't want to get that close to a drunk or doped up stranger, too many unpredictable variables, he could pull out a knife and start slashing or he could be on drugs and have super human strength so it would be better if you had something that would allow you to keep your distance and leave a safe zone between you and him. They sell bean bag shot shells to the public and this may be the best choice because it would knock down the invader and the noise would put the fear into him. Those rubber buckshot rounds are meant for longer ranges and could possibly be lethal if fired at close range. If you have a heavy duty safety chain lock on the door you could unlock the door and if he reaches in, zap him with a stun gun but that safety chain must be installed with long screws that go through the drywall and into the framing studs in the wall to hold back anyone intent on gaining forcible entry. The screws supplied with the safety chain will not hold and even a small person who is wound up on something could easily pull out the screws with a solid shove on the door. Do you own a baseball bat?

[acet7]

you could try a stun gun on your door knob while he is grabbing it. It might mess up your finish but it would give him a jolt.

[Watchman]

That is a novel idea!

[SS5R]

To answer some questions. He was a white guy, young, I would say around 20 yrs old, 6 ft, and 180 lbs. The sound of the dog barking didn’t seem to bother him but I did send the dog to the bedroom with my wife were he quieted down if this guy did come in I didn’t what to deal with both of them. Dogs are good for early warning but unless they will attack they might just get in the way. When the police arrived dispatch told my wife for us to put away all guns and dogs. I didn’t put my gun away, ever. My neighbor found a beer can on his truck bumper the next mourning so from that and the way he was acting I assumed he was drunk which was one of the reasons I didn’t engage him. At the time he was not violent but we know a drunk can go from passive to violent in 60 seconds. Or less.

My wife and I went over many scenarios: The security light came on 4 times over the period of an hour, so was he trying to look in the windows? And then if he did see her was he just getting drunk enough to get the courage to come to the door to see if she would let him in? Maybe the tee shirt was just an excuse so he could get in by saying he was freezing. Maybe he though a single women would have sympathy on him and let him in. Was it just the wrong house? Maybe that’s why he thought he could come though the back gate. It’s hard for me to believe that you could be so drunk that your at the wrong house but one of the police officers told me he has told people 15 times they are the wrong house and they don’t believe him. I could maybe see it if it were a tract house where they all look the same but it’s not. He may have heard the police coming up the driveway if they were talking. I have a driveway security light that comes on and lights up the back gate area but on this light there is a box up on the barn wall so I can switch it off, well this guy saw the box and he switched it off so that raises more suspicion. The box was silver now dark earth so it’s not as noticeable. I may put a birdhouse over it to cover it. We now lock the back gate at night it’s not a gate you can climb over easily. As far as the back fence goes it’s 4 ft high covered with Virginia creeper and I saw broken branches where he jumped over and one of the officers heard something back there but didn’t see anything. During this incident I was grateful for knowing my way around my house in the dark and for have night sights on at least one gun. There is a lot to think about in a short period of time your mind will be racing.
Every incident will be different. At the time a baseball bat was one of the first things I thought about for non-lethal force. No I don't have one...yet.