A close call

[nodaywithout]

The following story is true...

Three days ago I woke up (instant yellow), turned on CNN, and began my daily routeen. sit up, wake up, all of a sudden I heard banging around in my apt. (ORANGE!) I was ninety-eight percent sure my roomate was not home, the noises continued, BANG, THUD POW THUD THUD.....I quietly got out of bed grabbed my gun loaded it, and opened my bed room door (still in my underware) gun ready to be fired if needed, my heart pounding, adrinaline pumping, one more BANG, BANG, which drew my attention towards the direction of the suspected intruder. At this point I am DENFINATLEY am prepared to go into red if need be, I look in the direction of the noise and realize who it there .....it is the freaking maintainence man changing my air filter and testing the smoke detector. He turns around and sees me lowing my gun, :o this is the first the he ever found out about us being gun owners, in one split second he knew I am a GUN OWNER and I will do ANYTHING to protect my LIFE!

Once I put down my gun I told him never to come over without one of us being aware he is here. his response "Do we have your number?"

[VegasGeorge]

That is pretty scary! Is it normal for maintenance men to just let themselves in to your living quarters like that? I suppose from what you said that he has a key or master key to your unit. I wouldn't like that kind of arrangement.

[lildobe]

That is pretty scary! Is it normal for maintenance men to just let themselves in to your living quarters like that? I suppose from what you said that he has a key or master key to your unit. I wouldn't like that kind of arrangement.

Unfortunately that IS the case with a lot of apartment complexes...

Before I owned a gun, I had a very similar situation, but the maintenance man ended up at the business end of a 44" Broadsword...

I live in a privately owned over/under duplex now. My landlord knows I own "several" guns and to never enter the apartment without calling me first!

And my neighbor knows that if she ever hears a gunshot from my apartment to immediately call 911 and report a break-in! :D

[Bill of Rights]

I think I'd ask my landlord to drop off a clean AC/furnace filter and let me do the changes myself, and make it very clear, as you did, noday, that it is only the fact that you live by the Four Rules that averted a tragedy, and someone who isn't as careful as you are might have sent an innocent man to a hospital or worse.

You gave your maintenance guy a cheap lesson (The only cost being a clean pair of BVDs! :lol: ), but hopefully one that will stick. Good for you.

Blessings,
M

[nodaywithout]

That is pretty scary! Is it normal for maintenance men to just let themselves in to your living quarters like that? I suppose from what you said that he has a key or master key to your unit. I wouldn't like that kind of arrangement.

it is, but it is against the law if they do not give you 24 hours notice... the problem is they normally to let you know what time or even what they will be doing.

FYI.....My roommate and I never saw the required notice that they supposibly put on our door after knocking....to add to that we were home the previous 24 hours and never heard someone knocking on the door.

[HairyEyeball]

Had a similar incident occur a few years back. My apartment complex is in a 'fair to suspect' part of town, and I had made it abundantly clear to management that no one was allowed in without the required prior notice and my presence.

I returned home one afternoon to blinds drawn, the door slightly ajar and noises from inside - definitely wrong. I drew my .45, took it off 'safe', and with my finger alongside the slide, kicked the door open - to find 'maintenance' on a ladder, installing a ceiling fan (and most likely soiling his shorts). Needless to say, no entry has since been made without my advance knowledge and presence.

Afterword: The law in Arizona mandates 48 hour notice of intent to enter, and an empathetic maintenance man (one of the few in a long succession) was kind enough to 'lose' management's key to my apartment.

[ColtM1911A1]

Had a similar incident occur a few years back. My apartment complex is in a 'fair to suspect' part of town, and I had made it abundantly clear to management that no one was allowed in without the required prior notice and my presence.

I returned home one afternoon to blinds drawn, the door slightly ajar and noises from inside - definitely wrong. I drew my .45, took it off 'safe', and with my finger alongside the slide, kicked the door open - to find 'maintenance' on a ladder, installing a ceiling fan (and most likely soiling his shorts). Needless to say, no entry has since been made without my advance knowledge and presence.

Afterword: The law in Arizona mandates 48 hour notice of intent to enter, and an empathetic maintenance man (one of the few in a long succession) was kind enough to 'lose' management's key to my apartment.

Glad it worked out, but your better 'plan of attack' would have been to retreat from the doorway and call the police. In some states, you could have been charged under various statutes for what you did. Not saying their right, but that's just how it is these days. Unless your life is threatened, drawing your handgun is not a good idea...

[pioneer461]

Why were you watching the Clinton News Network? 8)

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb294/pioneer461/Gunny/9734053_tml.jpg

[HairyEyeball]

It may have not been the 'ideal plan of attack', but there is some background involved: I had already, in years past, thwarted one home invasion and suffered one burglary. There were other firearms in a 'man portable' safe, and the sounds emanating from the apartment could have been interpreted as that safe being either moved or forced - potentially arming an intruder prior to police response. In retrospect, there was also (probably) a strong element of 'Old Corps thinking' involved - 'fortune favors the brave', 'what would John Wayne do?' - and too many experiences with sometimes agonizingly long response times of the local constabulary.

Most of the time - at least in my experience - the outcome of a particular course of action 'retroactively determines' the wisdom of initiating such action, in effect, "All's well that ends well". Not all action is based on logic.

[Tanzer]

Of course you realize the maintenence guy is on another forum posting about the guy in his BVD's who almost shot him :D
Seriously though, It's a good reminder of how we think when stressed. I'm not only glad you're okay, I'm also glad you kept your wits and "identified" the threat. Otherwise there'd be one more news story giving fuel to the Brady Bunch.

[Aaron C]

Yeah, this happened to me prior to being an gun owner. Nodaywithout, I would really suggest you get a safe of some sort if you don't have one all ready.

[nodaywithout]

i have two in different locations