New member needs advice with a serious issue

[RPBrown]

I don't understand why some people feel compelled to answer a phone or answer the door. Your brother exercised great control and did exactly what he should have done minus the part where he opened the door. A knock on my door at 2:00am never equals anything good. In my opinion your brother should not have answered the door and just called the police again. To answer your question, I would not pull my weapon unless I intended to shoot it. And if I was in a situation that I felt I needed to pull my weapon I would seriously reconsider my actions that led to me being in that situation in the first place.

Hindsight is 20/20 but that's often the best response to someone banging on your door at 2am, especially if it's someone known to the police. Call 911.

Even better is to have your wife, girlfriend, sister, or other female resident call 911 to report the drunk guy pounding on her door at 2am. It wouldn't hurt any if she sounds a little hysterical. Bonus points if his shouting and threats can be heard over the phone. Remember that 911 calls are usually recorded so a good performance goes a long way if the conflict with the bad neighbor ever ends up in a court of law.

I agree. Call 911 and get the phone close enough so they can record the threats. They can be charged with "terroristic threat". This can be anywhere from a "C" misdemener to a felony depending how the DA wants to handle it.

Last year a person in my family was being harrassed in the apartment complex he lived in. The guy just kept pestering my family memberuntil he went off and said he was going to whip him (not exactly what he said). The guy started recording on his phone while this was going on and called 911. He played the recording for the LEO and my family member was arrested for Terroristic Threat. He was initially charged with an "A" misdemener. then reduced to a "C" and finally the charges were dropped when the guy that was harrasing him made a few stupid comments to the ADA that indicated he had started all of this. But it cost my family member almost $8000.00 in bail and lawyers

[GEM-Texas]

I would just like to comment on 'opening the door with a gun at my side'. Besides the potential legal issues of being perceived as threatening with a gun - a person bent on doing you harm will be already prepared to shoot you, stab your or just punch you in your head.

So - OPEN - START to MAKE SPEECH - watch yourself bleed.

The reason for firearms is DISTANCE. And cover is nice.

As said before - call the law.

[92f-fan]

not to confuse the issue
but do you have any requirement to conceal a handgun at home ?

And to confuse the issue more -
Just taunt the jerk through the closed door till he kicks it in then shoot him....
Kidding on the last one

EDIT TO ADD word handgun

[recaffeination]

You don't need to conceal a shotgun or rifle. If someone is beating on my door, I'm grabbing a long gun, not some little onehanded popgun that's easy to conceal.

[Transplant]

Yeah, I dont see this as a question that should be answered with concealed carry laws. This would fall under castle law in my [non-lawyer] opinion. While I think you could legally answer the door with a gun in your hand, I believe that depending on the drunk it might just escalate the situation. They dont call it liquid courage for nothin. It just depends on the drunk guy though.

But me, I'd just keep the door closed and call 911 again. Let the cops deal with him unless he's breaking in.

[OldCannon]

Pflugerville resident no-billed from shooting through door and killing one of 6 teens that were pounding on his door and making threatening statements:

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/ ... in_fa.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Ftak]

Wow that's a hard one to answer. If you felt that you or your family was at risk then perhaps yes. It all depends on what type of scenario your dealing with. Your brother opened that door because that was his Niebor & sooner or later they would cross paths. But if this cat was drunk who knows what outcome could result. I would just give him a verbal warning after I called the police. Usually that is enough to encourage a person to back off even more so than actually drawing your weapon to a drunk anyway. All comes down the heat of the moment but you must think i through very clearly & not hesitate to do what you must do to protect you & yours. God willing you will never have to react to such a situation but if you do be ready to follow through. The pistol whip is not a bad idea or a buttslap from your m4

[C-dub]

Pflugerville resident no-billed from shooting through door and killing one of 6 teens that were pounding on his door and making threatening statements:

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/ ... in_fa.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And this one from just 3 days after the Castle Law went into effect.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/05/us/05dallas.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[steveincowtown]

not to confuse the issue
but do you have any requirement to conceal a handgun at home ?


EDIT TO ADD word handgun

Nope. Not at your house or on your property. I frequently unconceal my gun as I step out of my truck, especially if there are contractors at any of my neighbors.

Zero reason to open the door, or even talk to him. This is only going to escalate the situation.


As others said, sit tight and call the police.