Vjornaxx
Twelve
I live in a typical row home in Baltimore County - Edmondson Heights. I'm sitting on my couch and my wife is sitting at the dinner table. I see through the door windows that the storm door is opening and I think that it's the wind. There's a loud knock, and then another and the door flies open. My wife shouts "whoa!" and it takes me a second to process what's going on. I get up, draw my gun, and move towards the door while shouting "GET THE **** OUT OF MY HOUSE!" I don't see anyone and when I step out onto the stoop, I still don't see or hear anyone. I tell my wife to call the cops and I close & lock the door and wait in low ready while facing the door. It takes me a few moments to realize that I'm gripping the shit out of my gun and I had already already thumbed the safety off. As I'm standing there, I realize that I can decide to freak out about this or decide to stay calm, so I re-holster, sit down, and try to breathe calmly until the cops arrive to take our statement. My son has somehow managed to sleep through all this. I'm strangely calm and not very shaken about this - It bothers me, but maybe I just haven't fully processed it yet. The adrenaline was there making my breathing heavy and my palms sweaty, but my hands were steady and I wasn't panicky. I don't think the person even saw me, so they weren't even aware that I was armed or even present. We had our car broken into last night, but nothing was taken or broken. I'm not sure if these are somehow related.
I must have forgotten to lock my deadbolt when I got home - I was tired and happy to see my son when I got back from work. The only damage on the door are scuff marks. The frame and lock appear undamaged and structurally sound.
For those curious, I have a MD Wear & Carry permit as required by my job. I carry at home specifically for reasons like this and now I'm even more convinced that even though incidents like this are unlikely, carrying at home is cheap insurance to give you a chance to make it through alive.
After talking about it with my wife, the best explanation I can come up with is that it was some kid trying to pull a prank. They thought they would kick the door and run off and were probably surprised when the door actually opened so they bolted the moment they realized what they did. I cannot think of any other reason to decide to kick in a door at night and immediately run away when the lights are clearly on and people are clearly home.
I called my landlord and we'll be discussing installing a security system.
I must have forgotten to lock my deadbolt when I got home - I was tired and happy to see my son when I got back from work. The only damage on the door are scuff marks. The frame and lock appear undamaged and structurally sound.
For those curious, I have a MD Wear & Carry permit as required by my job. I carry at home specifically for reasons like this and now I'm even more convinced that even though incidents like this are unlikely, carrying at home is cheap insurance to give you a chance to make it through alive.
After talking about it with my wife, the best explanation I can come up with is that it was some kid trying to pull a prank. They thought they would kick the door and run off and were probably surprised when the door actually opened so they bolted the moment they realized what they did. I cannot think of any other reason to decide to kick in a door at night and immediately run away when the lights are clearly on and people are clearly home.
I called my landlord and we'll be discussing installing a security system.
