OT Noises in the night

[Barcelona Rick]

Last night/early this morning my wife and I had a real surprise. Around midnight she heard something kinda loud and got up to check it out.....she figures the ice maker was hung up and flipped the bail and came back to bed. She crawls in and I kinda wake up. Well about 20 minutes later we are both jarred awake by the sounds of someone knocking on our front door (loudly). I jump up (pretty hard for a fat crippled up guy) arm myself with a pistol and a very bright flashlight....tell her to get near the phone just in case. Well out the door I go and look all around the house.....neighbors dogs are raising cane but I don't see anything. Get back inside and see a bright light shining around so out the door again and there are three police units with spotlights looking around....so I flag one down and it being a small town I know the officer. She tells me that a call came in about 5 gunshots in our very quiet little neighborhood....I relay the knock story and another unit pulls in the driveway....it is the shift supervisor who I also know very well. He laughingly asks if I was shooting at the bad guys. They patrol around for the next several minutes then come thru the rest of the night with some frequency. Now I have lived in this little town for 41 years (minus 4 years in USN) and this is the first time I have ever heard what appears to be shooting at night. Talked with my neighbor who works for the sheriffs office as a dispatcher and she said it was a highpowered rifle of some kind. It is a darned shame that you gotta be concerned even in small town America....

jumbeaux

[mescalero1]

We get that once in a while in our little town in N.M., so far ; it has always been Johnny Pumphandle getting liquored up and excersising his stupidity.

[Stan in SC]

The state of our country is pretty pitiful when a few random shots disturb so many people.So somebody shot a firearm.Big deal.In town,shudder,horrors,big deal.If someone got shot that is quite a different aspect.
It is getting so bad that you cannot walk over to your neighbor's house to show him your new firearm acquisition without the local police showing up on a "man with a gun " call.
I don't mean to rant but this country has become a nation of spineless wimps.
I hearken back to the 1950's when we would take our .22's to school and put them in our locker cause we were going squirrel hunting after school.I guess I am cut from different cloth.

Stan in SC

[madman4570]

Really nowhere is safe anymore.At least your neighbors have some dogs.Somthing you guys might want also? Other than my gun,my dog is the best security thing there is.(and I have a system in too) I am talking about an indoor house dog! My little Schnauzer is the best "watch/not guard/dog I have ever seen! She patols whole inside of the house(each room) about every 30 mins-1hr. except when she sleeps in bed with us.The dogs I had prior to her were a pair of Red Dobermans and she puts them to shame.Granted you have to protect her, but she wakes you and you get the gun!
Stay Safe and keep an eye out!

[Ysabel Kid]

I'm just glad you and your wife are ok!

[Lastmohecken]

I am glad everyone is OK. But I am also very glad I live in an area where a few shots after dark, do not seem to upset anyone, much. I have shot after dark many times for various reasons, from checking a gun out, for an eairly morning event, to dispatching all sorts of vermin, from skunks to armidilos.

Poachers can sometimes be a problem, but many times its nothing sinister that is happening, at least among us country boys. However, hearing late night stop and go traffic on our gravel road, is what concerned me, sometimes.

[Doc Hudson]

I guess I am cut from different cloth.

No Stan, you are just old.

;-{p>~~~

[TedH]

Really nowhere is safe anymore.At least your neighbors have some dogs.Somthing you guys might want also? Other than my gun,my dog is the best security thing there is.(and I have a system in too) I am talking about an indoor house dog! My little Schnauzer is the best "watch/not guard/dog I have ever seen! She patols whole inside of the house(each room) about every 30 mins-1hr. except when she sleeps in bed with us.The dogs I had prior to her were a pair of Red Dobermans and she puts them to shame.Granted you have to protect her, but she wakes you and you get the gun!
Stay Safe and keep an eye out!

That is very true. My wife has a toy poodle. She's kind of a spazz most of the time, but at night, she is the best alarm you could have. She can tell if someone is walking by on the sidewalk and will give a soft growl most of the time. If someone is approaching the house though, you'll know about it way before the doorbell rings. Granted, her bark isn't going to scare off any bad guys, but it's a great early warning system.

[Barcelona Rick]

Well Stan if ya looked closely you would see that we thought someone knocked very loudly on our front door. Now we don't have many visitors at 12:20 am so it was alittle tense. Now I'm not as old as you I don't guess but I too carried a shotgun in my pickup or car to school all of the time. Never said it upset us.....someone other than us called the law...I picked up a weapon and checked my place out. Now I don't know where you live other than SC but I just don't believe that you or anyone else wouldn't be somewhat concerned with a loud knock late at night.....as for our local LEO's their job is to check out problems....again I didn't call them but unless you live in South Central I believe most people would want shots fired in town at night checked out.....so if you are implying that the response was cowardly then be advised that I have spit in the Devil's eye and never run from anything in my life.....

jumbeaux

[Doc Hudson]

Marlinman2570 is right, a good yappy housedog is a very good alarm/doorbell, not to mention lots of company and very affectionate.

TedH, never discount the deterrent value of even a lapdog.

Years ago, a former Mobile (AL) cop told me of an incident at his mother's house. His Mom was out of town and he and his brother, also a cop, stopped by to check on the place (and raid the refrigerator) after getting off work late at night. When they entered the house they heard their Mom's Minature Dachund in the kitchen barking up a storm. Knowing the dog would generally meet them they thought something might be wrong, so they made a "dynamic entry" with guns drawn. They discovered an 18-year-old burglar being held at bay against the refrigerator by the Miniature Dachund. The punk had a Ruger MkI .22 in his hand and he was shaking so bad the gun was just a blur. The cop told me he had never arrested anyone so glad to have the cuffs slapped on and the dog called off.

Even if not frightened, the last thing a burglar wants is a yapping dog to call attention to him.

Jumbeaux, I'm glad everything turned out well, and glad to hear that the local PD was on their toes.

When I was a kid, no one thought much about gunfire either. Heck I used to shoot in my backyard. But these days, things are too thickly settled to do things like that now, and the crime rate has gone up drastically. In fact if it had not been for our burglar alarm, e'd have found out how good a guard dog Mattie might be. As it was, the slimebag took off when the alarm went off, pausing only long enough to grab my fishing tackle box apparently.

You really ought to consider a dog and an alarm system.

BTW, I know what you mean. I'm no hero, but I'm too darned fat and old to run, so I'd have no choice but to stand and fight. Besides, if I shoot an intruder, my story will be the ones the cops hear.

[Stan in SC]

jumbeaux,
There was absolutely nothing wrong with your reactions.I would have done the same thing if there was a knock on the door late.No,what I said was aimed at the people who caused such a ruckus and called the authorities over a few gunshots,if that's indeed what they were.That's the root core of your even being disturbed in the first place.
In today's social climate you did exactly what you needed to do.
I guess Doc Hudson was correct,I am old and was brought up in a different time that was more kindly.In my younger days a knock on the door late was a neighbor in distress,a broken down motorist needing assistance or something else than a danger to the family.You could have been facing a home invasion or something similar.I threw no stones your way.It was simply my commentary on today's society.I apologize if you even thought I was being critical of you.That would indicate my wording was wrong and not conveying my thoughts.

Stan in SC (getting older by the minute)

P.S. To Doc Hudson,just for the record I am a transplanted Calhoun County,Alabama native myself.

[O.S.O.K.]

just want to add an "amen" that everyone is OK. I will also take this opportunity to recommend a handgun with a rail for a tac light. My rig is a springfield xd .45 with a glock light. The light fits like a glove and is reasonably priced ($100) if not the brightest on the market. It does blind a person very effectively though...

[Grizz]

just want to add an "amen" that everyone is OK. I will also take this opportunity to recommend a handgun with a rail for a tac light. My rig is a springfield xd .45 with a glock light. The light fits like a glove and is reasonably priced ($100) if not the brightest on the market. It does blind a person very effectively though...

I've always wondered about a gun-mounted light; it just seems like a big target to me and would draw fire if there was a serious problem. Any comments along that line?

Grizz

[mescalero1]

That is why I do not have one, More liability than help to me.

[Modoc ED]

It's not real common but we hear gunshots during the night here. It's mostly people shooting critters around their house -- like when I killed a racoon trying to get under my house one night. Some other times it's guys racoon hunting.

[Barcelona Rick]

Hey Stan....I probably over reacted to your post. Sorry about the rant on my part. Have a bit more info about what ocurred.....first, this neighborhood for many years was firmly white now as the old folks die out it has become diverse (PC). I now have black, Mexican and mixed race neighbors. My parents bought this place in 1970 when we moved from the country to the big city (23,000 population the biggest place I have ever lived). After they died I bought my brother out and my family moved in...we have a couple of acres and my boy could just about do whatever he wanted around here. Actually only 5 houses on my street. I knew everyone by name on every street around me and attend church in this neighborhood. Now I try to visit with everyone but I don't really know 'em like I use to. Now I am not saying that this is bad or good it is just different....now the rest of the story. It appears that the noise was actually a number of gunshots. A single shot then 20 minutes later a barriage of shots. The street over from me has several new folks either renting or buying a home......well it turns out that there has been a long term fuss brewing between some of them and some other gang bangers. The shots were a return action based on a similar situation in another neighborhood.....now a 7.62 X 39 FMJ doesn't care who it hits....as far as I know nobody was hit...it was just scaring somebody or maybe a warning....Stan I also remember when you opened your door at night cause someone needed help....I still do but at least I am more observing. As far as the light goes on a firearm....I always had a revolver as a self defense weapon....I have switched to a semiauto and y'all are correct I can't see the sights at all in the dark.....Stan again I over reacted and I do appreciate everyone's concerns I was just lamenting about how things had changed....

jumbeaux

[GoatGuy]

I am glad everyone is OK. But I am also very glad I live in an area where a few shots after dark, do not seem to upset anyone, much. I have shot after dark many times for various reasons, ... to dispatching all sorts of vermin, from skunks to armidilos

Me too!

Poachers can sometimes be a problem, but many times its nothing sinister that is happening, at least among us country boys. However, hearing late night stop and go traffic on our gravel road, ... concerns me ...!.

+1

[Doc Hudson]

just want to add an "amen" that everyone is OK. I will also take this opportunity to recommend a handgun with a rail for a tac light. My rig is a springfield xd .45 with a glock light. The light fits like a glove and is reasonably priced ($100) if not the brightest on the market. It does blind a person very effectively though...

I've always wondered about a gun-mounted light; it just seems like a big target to me and would draw fire if there was a serious problem. Any comments along that line?

Grizz

I agree Grizz.

I remember reading long ago that the gunshot wounds most common in nightime gunfights were in the hand or arm. Most particularly the hand or arm holding the flashlight.

I know that gin-mounted lights have become fashionable, and might even be useful, but i continue the old practice of holding my flashlight in my off hand and holding it well away from my body at near shoulder height.

Besides, a gun-mounted flashlight would interfere with opening the cylinder on a DA revolver, of obstruct the ejector rod of a single-action revolver.

I guess while I'm pontificating. I might as well say that in my opinion the role of the home defense shotgun is for use from a barricade position. For investigating noises in and around the house a person needs a handgun. Handguns leave a hand available to open doors, turn on lights, dial phones, or fend off gun-snatches without compromising control of one's weapon. Not many folks can point, shoot, and retain control of a 12-gauge shotgun with one hand

P.S. Stan, I hope you know I was just teasing you about your age.

[Buck Elliott]

The perceived bangin' on the door would raise more hackles with me than the sound of a few gunshots in the night. Hell, the shots could have been fired by me...

Cultural differences come in to play, I reckon.

[Barcelona Rick]

Buck I agree with ya....the noise sure sounded like someone banging on the front door and not gunshots.....I didn't think gunshots would wake me up...at least not outside of the house. So I'm not to sure that some kids might have been acting up and beating on the door at about the same time as the law was hunting the area of the gunfire....heck I'm about half deaf and have actually slept right thru a fire alarm going off in a hotel room...the wife woke me up and went downstairs...I went back to sleep...(come to think of it....did she really wake me up ??)....

jumbeaux

[Hobie]

Really nowhere is safe anymore.At least your neighbors have some dogs.Somthing you guys might want also? Other than my gun,my dog is the best security thing there is.(and I have a system in too) I am talking about an indoor house dog! My little Schnauzer is the best "watch/not guard/dog I have ever seen! She patols whole inside of the house(each room) about every 30 mins-1hr. except when she sleeps in bed with us.The dogs I had prior to her were a pair of Red Dobermans and she puts them to shame.Granted you have to protect her, but she wakes you and you get the gun!
Stay Safe and keep an eye out!

Mine is having her walk around right now. She sure lets you know when somebody who isn't supposed to be there is.

[madman4570]

Hobie, It just amazes me that these dogs have that kind of ability! Its like TedH says.Or to be sitting there watching TV at like 11pm or whatever and to think that here is this little dog growling on the couch NOT looking out the window,but when you look out to see if there is someone out there etc. then you see this person, say walking his dog up the road 100yards away.How? Also I feel they do have a special ability to sense people, that dont have say your best intrest at heart.Maybe you think they are ok,but if your dog acts very different to them in paticular than they usually would to their normal reaction to people then its somthing to at least think about and keep in the back of your mind? See ya!

[AJMD429]

Dogs outside can be annoying (they will bark at lots of things you don't care about, like mice in the leaves in the woods, another dog 1/2 mile away, etc.) but sure make good and hard-to-predict 'intrusion detectors' - they can give you the time lead to get a gun in hand in the rare event something truly bad is going to happen. Another one inside the house is even better.

If I were a millionaire, however, I'd have a 'moat' - with very large HOGS in it...

[Stan in SC]

My neighbor's dog barks at anything at nmight even if it is just a small noise.My wife doesn't like it but I feel more secure with him barking.

LOL.Doc Hudson ,ain't a darn thing wrong with being from Alabama OR getting old.I took your remark in good jest just as you meant it.

Stan in SC

[Idiot]

I've always wondered about a gun-mounted light; it just seems like a big target to me and would draw fire if there was a serious problem. Any comments along that line?Grizz

A light is an instictive target. I never mount one to a gun, but instead hold it as far away from me as possible.

Jumbeaux, a hard knock on the door in the middle of the night would rattle me pretty good. Every member of our family knows that the most dangerous place in town is my doorstep after midnight, and if they intend to come over or need help they are well advised to call before approaching the house. Police never patrol within property lines in our neighborhood without first calling or alerting (not alarming) the occupants. We first moved into our peaceful neighborhood almost twenty years ago. Now gunshots at night are a common occurance that go right along with the gang graffiti on the back fences. Slowly but surely I'm turning my house and property into a fortress. I like the idea of a mote filled with pigs - I'd throw in some rattle snakes too.

[Buck Elliott]

You'd need a steady supply of rattlesnakes. The hogs will kill & eat 'em...

[Mokwaw]

I never answer a night time knock without gun in hand behind my back unseen. I live on a dead end road in the country, road ends at lake in summer & river in the winter (controlled level reservoir). It was a very popular place for druggies, "witches", back seat bangers, one fellow even took his grandmother down there and tried to kill her, she lost an arm but lived. My house being first one avail from lake many times people would come to the door needing tow truck cause they were hung up or use of phone to call someone. It got bad enough that the tow truck driver would not come unless a county deputy sherriff was along also. Finally the DNR put up a locked gate so we don't get the traffic we used to, plus the prolific abundance of cell phones helped. Much better now, but I still go to the door with hidden gun in hand.

[Grizz]

I never open the front door is someone hasn't called and asked to visit. All others are trespassing and treated accordingly.

from behind the bolted up door:

"do I know you?"
blah blah blah
"state your business."
blah blah blah
"you are trespassing, leave the property now."

by this time I've flanked the entrance with my car between me and the front door, a stout staff in one hand, and ever-ready ready-to-hand just in case.

usually the intruder has gotten the message. sometimes a camera records it for the after action report...

my door is for me and my family and someone I've authorized to visit my family; it is not an open invitation for prowlers, whatever their imagined motive might be. if someone truly needs some kind of help then that will be obvious. the others are related to with courteous commands.

NEVER OPEN YOUR DOOR IF YOU DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHO IS THERE AND EXACTLY WHY THEY ARE THERE ! ! !

and b: DON'T STAND DIRECTLY BEHIND IT !

Grizz

[jkbrea]

just want to add an "amen" that everyone is OK. I will also take this opportunity to recommend a handgun with a rail for a tac light. My rig is a springfield xd .45 with a glock light. The light fits like a glove and is reasonably priced ($100) if not the brightest on the market. It does blind a person very effectively though...

I've always wondered about a gun-mounted light; it just seems like a big target to me and would draw fire if there was a serious problem. Any comments along that line?

Grizz

Lights mounted on guns do have a place. Most LEO like them for several reasons. Clearing a house with a flashlight in one hand and a gun in the other becomes awkward when you have to open doors or cuff someone or move an obstacle. Also more of a chance for a malfunction on a semi-auto firing one handed. The newer lights are very bright and pointing it at someone will momentarily blind them while you evaluate what needs to be done. I spoke with a deputy that had to shoot a guy with his light mounted AR. He had him lit up with his light. The crook thought he was just pointing a flashllight and tried to pull his gun out to shoot the deputy. Didn't end well for the crook. The main thing is light discipline. You don't need it on all the time.

[Buck Elliott]

Once you switch the light on, you are just as blind in the dark as anyone else in the area...

[madman4570]

Buck, No there is a huge difference with the person getting the light pointed at them.Try it and see.Then have the person pointing a strobe flasher at your direction.You will be basically blinded and the person pointing it can see you fine! Give it a go.They really work!

[Rexster]

Amen, regarding small dogs. Some big dogs sleep too soundly, as they don't worry about being eaten alive by a predator. With our prior generation of dogs, it was the job of Fireworm the Chihuahua to awaken Malcolm. Malcolm was a mutt, but he would have looked right at home among a herd of Black Angus, and could do a good imitation of a bear when angry.

As for lights mounted on firearms, well, they have their place. I work night shift police patrol, and consider my handheld lights to be the main tools for seeing at night, but a small weapon-mounted light can be very useful in the right situations. When you know someone is there, and they know you are there, but there is not quite enough light to identify the target before pulling the trigger, a "weaponlight" is more valuable than pure gold.

The idea of holding a light away from one's body, termed the "FBI Technique," to prevent illuminating yourself, has rather long been discredited. Light rays tend to bounce off things, and illuminate everything in the area. If there are walls, ceilings, fences, and such things present, even shiny grass or sand, the guy holding the light will be illuminated. Now, if the beam IS in the bad guy's eyes, he will not be seeing much of anything but the light, but the FBI Technique must be lucky enough to hit the bad guy's eyes right away for that to work, and if you think about it, if you know where his eyes are, to hit them with the light, you are not in search mode, anyway, but may well need to identify the target. A person can indeed hide behind a wall of light, but light must be directed properly by one guy, who remains concealed behind substantial cover, while another moves some distance behind the light. (This is one of several reasons it is best not to "clear" a house yourself, unless you really, really must. One guy illuminates, while the other moves.)

If you have to use a light, of course, it is a good idea, generally, to use a short burst of light, then move immediately afterward, just in case a bad guy decides to shoot where you had just been visible. Human reaction time is about three-quarters of a second.

[madman4570]

Very interesting info Rexster. Thanks!

[Buck Elliott]

Buck, No there is a huge difference with the person getting the light pointed at them.Try it and see.Then have the person pointing a strobe flasher at your direction.You will be basically blinded and the person pointing it can see you fine! Give it a go.They really work!

Ah, therein lies the rub...

I'll give you the point, if you actually shine the light in the bad guy's face. Otherwise -- as in lighting up a room -- I'll stick to my point.

[madman4570]

Agreed!

[Doc Hudson]

Buck, No there is a huge difference with the person getting the light pointed at them.Try it and see.Then have the person pointing a strobe flasher at your direction.You will be basically blinded and the person pointing it can see you fine! Give it a go.They really work!

Ah, therein lies the rub...

I'll give you the point, if you actually shine the light in the bad guy's face. Otherwise -- as in lighting up a room -- I'll stick to my point.

Besides, it ain't easy to teach us old dogs new tricks,

And I ain't about to try sticking a light on one of my six-guns, nor transition back to flatguns.

I'm all in favor of letting folks use the techniques that works for them, besides, people generally fight like they train,

[O.S.O.K.]

just want to add an "amen" that everyone is OK. I will also take this opportunity to recommend a handgun with a rail for a tac light. My rig is a springfield xd .45 with a glock light. The light fits like a glove and is reasonably priced ($100) if not the brightest on the market. It does blind a person very effectively though...

I've always wondered about a gun-mounted light; it just seems like a big target to me and would draw fire if there was a serious problem. Any comments along that line?

Grizz

First off, the tac light has an on-off toggle that you can press and release or press down hard on and it stays on. The idea is to spot and then turn off, spot, etc. This is done with the index (trigger) finger and is a built-in safety mechanism of sorts - you spot with that finger and then must move it back to fire = gives you a little room for error.

As already pointed out, with a gun-mounted light, your weak hand is free to manipulate doors, etc. while still allowing instant on for the light if needed.

Also, the light beam on my Glock light is adjustable and when focused, does print to the general area of where the sights are pointing - so it can be used as a sighting indicator as well - especially when in a house.

And as to a target, give a tac light (no gun!) to your wife at night and have her point it at you and see what that looks like. You will be able to point in the general direction, but the first instinct is to shut your eyes and look away - since the light is attached to your pistol, you have the advantage and can choose to shoot or not before the bad guy responds.

A tac light is a great defensive tool IMHO. Perfect? No - there are trade-offs to all tactics.

Here's my XD9 with its Glock light: