My wife and I live in a rural area. Just after midnight (a few minutes ago), my wife and I were awakened from sleep by a LOUD pounding on the front door of our home. It wasn't a gentle knocking, but hard pounding. We are remodeling our bedroom this week, so we were sleeping in living room on a futon. Upon awakening I could see the left arm of a guy leaning against the porch railing through the bay window while his buddy beat on the door. I instructed my wife to remain quiet, as she had yelled as she woke up to the sound. The banging proceeded again, after which the subjects left the porch and returned to their vehicle. I immediately went to my gun room at the other end of the house. I had no flash light, and had trouble seeing the dial on my safe. I was debating how to go about lighting the dial when the pounding at the door came again, so I went ahead on turned on the light in my gun room. I figured if they saw the light come on, they might think it was my bedroom light coming on as I got out of bed. I retrieved one of my AR-15's, inserted a loaded mag, and went to the front door. I turned on the porch light as my wife said not to open the door. I held the rifle behind the wall next to the door out of sight in my right hand as I opened it with my left hand. A guy standing in front of the door said,"Jeremy ***** doesn't live here, does he?" I replied that he did not. The guy acted very strange, so I moved the AR-15 into his view. Upon seeing the weapon he apologized for disturbing me, and returned to the vehicle. I closed the door and a few moments later the vehicle left. I called the Sheriff's Department to report what had happened. I will be the first to say that I wasn't fully prepared for the situation. I didn't have any firearms out of the safe for personal protection. I had no flashlight handy to facilitate opening the safe and arming myself. I wasn't nervous, but CANNOT really describe what the guy looked like exactly, what he was wearing, or even the type of vehicle. My wife is the one who provided the descriptions to the dispatcher on the phone. What I am about to reveal is where it could have gotten deadly. (A sheriff car just drove by as I type. Not too bad a response time, I guess.) My wife asked after the vehicle left if, while talking to the guy, I saw the second guy hiding in the shadows in my blindspot off the porch to the left in the dark. I did NOT see the second subject. He could have easily surprised me from out of the shadows. I was not fully aware of my surroundings. I thought only one guy was present at that time. Lucky for me (and possibly for them), no attack was initiated by the hidden guy. I feel that the displaying of the evil, black rifle ended what may or may not have been the perpetuation of a crime. Well, I'm off to bed again (with a shotgun). Have a safe and happy Fourth of July.

You should have ran around back and snuk up behind them and fired a few shots in the air.

Glad everything went ok.
Be on gaurd though, now they know you have a cool gun to come back and steel when your gone.

All's well that ends well . . . also, keep a bright flashlight (I use a two cell Mag Light)for the additional purpose of shining it in the eyes of your attacker.  If you have a mirror at the end of a hallway, look at yourself pointing a shotgun (unloaded, duh) with a flashlight shining at your image.  You can't see at all.  Then light up an object as an imaginary "attacker" and see the advantage you have.  Goodnight, enjoy your Fourth, and be safe.  [:)]  [USA]

Bad juju, dude.  That is one of my true fears - that I will get suckered into a two sided ambush while patrolling at the building.  I am no mall ninja and the napkins are safe, but there are things in that building that people want.  I hope they never come.

Try the mirror thing.  Any shots would be incoming completely w/o benefit of being aimed.  No use playing fair.  [}:D]

Locally, shortly after the riverboats brought gambling to the area we had a 70+ y/o man shoot his wife of decades as she entered their bedroom late at night.  He merely shot at the darkened figure as it (she) entered the room.  Baaaaaad to do.  

Personally, I keep eyeglasses, flashlight, and Mossy 590 handy.  My wife knows the drill--she gets down behind the water bed and calls 911 for a meat wagon, then my attorney, who is pro-gun and known by me in advance.  

Um, IMHO, this is a spoof of this thread.  LOL  A good one too!!  [:D]

This one time, at band camp . . .

I did not see any arm bones anywhere.  [BD]

All in good fun, gents.  No offense intended.  It's late, I'm feeling plucky, and am now off to bed.  Happy Fourth!!
[USA]

Like everyone else, I'm very happy that nothing bad happened to ANYONE involved in this incident.  However, you made a number of very important mistakes here, as clearly you've figured out.  But above is the one with the biggest potential for danger:

YOU OPENED THE DOOR!

You should have taken your wife's advice.  There's no reason you couldn't have spoken through the door.  You should also have a peephole and a well-lit porch.  Just like you teach a little kid, you should NEVER open the door to strangers.  You could have easily been bum-rushed by the second, unseen person, and may have ended up ARMING them with your rifle.

Of course, none of that happened, thankfully, but the important part is that you learn AND CORRECT all of the mistakes NOW, so that next time, you have your sh!t together.

Other important problems:

- No PLAN!  You and your wife should have a plan for handling these situations.  You don't have time to think up a plan when there's already someone at the door.  Instead, you "vapor lock."  That's why TRAINING on your PLAN is so important.  You should have several plans for different emergencies.
- No defensive layers (sensor lights, dog, peephole, intercom, etc.) to give you time to prepare.
- No defensive firearm available when you needed it.
- No light available (have a weapon-mounted light as well as a handheld.  I recommend the Streamlight Scorpion for the latter.)
- Lack of situational awareness (due to lack of plan and the resulting panic).

Don't think I'm trying to give you a hard time.  I'm just trying to coach you so that you don't put your lives at risk the next time.  Mistakes aren't great, but they often make for the best lessons (if you survive, that is!).

-Troy

Good point. That's why you shouldn't be out looking for BGs with your light turned on! Use the light sparingly. Briefly illuminate an area for a few seconds and then shut the light off and immediately move in darkness to clear another area. If a BG sees your light and takes a shot at it chances are he will be shooting at where you were a moment ago before you moved.

If you're going to use a flashlight with an AR15 you should think about mounting it to the rifle, unless you have three hands.

I agree with the others about not opening the door. I don't open my door to strangers in the daytime, much less if I were roused out of bed in the middle of the night.

True story: When I lived in Miami a man knocked on my door in the middle of the afternoon. I looked through the peephole and I didn't recognize him so I said "Who is it?" He said he was looking for some guy I didn't know so I said he didn't live there. About 20 minutes later a different man knocked on my door and asked for a different man's name! I said he doesn't live here. I thought that rather coincidental. It turned out several neighbors got robbed that day. Those two had been casing the neighborhood.

Another trick I've heard is for a young woman to knock on your door and ask to use the phone because her car broke down or some made up story, while her cohorts in crime hide in the bushes and rush you when you open the door. NEVER open you door to strangers. If someone wants to use your phone offer to make the call for them.