Is this really a problem in urban areas? With peep holes and cameras? A criminal will break through the door not knock on it. A Swat team will ram a door open. There are not too many door to door salesmen anymore. I’m not sure I trust those chains anyway.
To answer your question Beckdawrek, yes. It has become a chronic problem in my area, with hyperaggressive salesmen employing the following:
-Continuous knocking on door to eventually cause homeowner to open.
-Two big guys (literally) rush the homeowner intimidating them backwards into the house
-Extremely aggressive pushing of some random overpriced cleaning materials
-Refusing to leave until a purchase is made.
This trick is usually employed during the day, attempting to confront and frighten lone Moms (or with kids). The police have (sorta) gotten involved after they more or less shoved a woman carrying her baby as she opened her front door to enter the house.
Yes the police have been informed. Yes the usual excuses have been offered that this skirts the edge of, but isn’t actually, a crime since no one has actually been harmed or really pushed. Apparently their aggressiveness is done without actual contact. And yes, we in the neighborhood have shared our security footage via ND and FB (and with the cops), complete with vehicle and license. I suspect they’ll either cross some legal line or get shot by an irate homeowner and it will stop.
FWIW: Long before this started, I hired welders and carpenters to modify my front door and frame so this can’t happen. We can open it and talk to them, but they can’t get in or even push past the threshold. Not even a large group sporting sledgehammers can break past. After talking with a few cops at the range, and seeing local videos, there have been too many “shove your way in thru the opened door” invasions around town for my taste.
It’ll have to be a steel-toed boot to avoid feeling pain when you slam your own body weight against the door.
Basically I’m going with your policy: if they are physically preventing me from shutting the door, they get one warning (“get your hand/foot out of my door or you’re going to get hurt”), and if they don’t comply, then I’m slamming my weight against the door as hard as my can. After relieving the pressure against the door, they’re going to withdraw their hand to nurse their broken fingers - and that’s when the door gets shut/locked and the cops get called.
If it’s their foot, well, they may not have any broken bones, but it’s going to hurt, and I expect the same involuntary withdrawal of the offending limb will occur. If they happen to be wearing sturdy steel-toed boots that protect their foot, I’m going to yell to my wife to bring the biggest kitchen knife we have; if this doesn’t convince the intruder to withdraw his foot, then he’s going to get stabbed in the ankle until he chooses to withdraw.
One of the stupidest episodes of a Law & Order I saw had a hand come though the door with a huge knife. The stupid person did not grab the knife and stab the hand, which is what I would have done.
IRL, I would first call the police, then squeeze the hand as hard as I could, all the while screaming my head off.
That’s horrible.
It wouldn’t work with my wife, even if she were home by herself during the day. Leet the Wonder Dog[sup]TM[/sup] is 80 pounds of German Shepherd, and they have really good sales resistance.
Regards,
Shodan
Given that there is an umbrella stand next to the front door that contains a broadsword, a katana and 2 battle axes, I think something might drop somehow onto the offending pedal extremity. If I was feeling generous I would show the pointy item to the pushy person before dropping it.
Great minds think alike; its actually something I’ve thought of before and would consider faced with the situation. And after most of a lifetime on diuretics I can almost pee at will.
As far as the rest I would most likely
a) informed them I am armed and will use force if they enter the house and am calling the police
b) walk away from the door to the nearby phone and dial 911
We get a fair number of (literally) pushy salesmen for everything from changing gas companies to home improvements. I even have had to put someone I think was a “Scottish Traveler” down on the floor of my front hall until the police could arrive and take over. It happens. Not a lot but enough that I’ve had to keep general plans in mind. And around here the foot in your front door is sometimes accompanied by an accomplice breaking in the back or heading through a window. So yeah ---- I understand the OP. And yes; I do have my firearm physically on me even at home.
It’s worth noting that peeing on other people without their consent is considered assault in many (all?) jurisdictions. So I expect the same rules of engagement that apply to other methods of self defense would also apply to peeing on people: if we’re justified in slamming the door on intruding hands/feet hard enough to break bones, then I expect we would also be justified in repelling an intruder by peeing on them.
Of course, if it’s a beach house, they may have been stung by a jellyfish and (misled by the Friends episode) they are inserting their foot because they desperately want you to pee on it.
Pullin’s descriptions make me glad we have a security screen door, and that it’s always locked. It’s not complete safety, if someone’s really determined, but it will stop anything that the door would have stopped.
I would love to see people try this in my neighborhood. Things would end very badly, very quickly for them, emphasis on END.
My aim wouldn’t be to break bones, so I’d gradually escalate the hand-slamming until they withdrew. They’d have to be really dedicated to keep their fingers in once it was clear where it was going.
How is it not criminal trespass when they refuse to leave after being ordered to?\
I’m sorry, but I find this beyond ridiculous. Why not just invite them in to murder you?
I’m thinking that an expended bullet in my floor on the inside of the threshold might be convincing proof that the foot with the bullet hole in it was inside the threshold when it was shot.
I’m thinking this is just tresspassing, unless the intent is to get in. So I’d bet a lot of states you Technically aren’t really allowed to do anything but call the police to remove them and charge them with tresspassing.
Varying amounts of force would probably come with varying burdens of proof, Both legally and practically.
If you could prove you believed.your life was threatened you’d.probably be justified in using lethal force .
If you bruised the foot police would likely pretty much tell the person aww too bad.
If you broke the foot , you might be fine if the person hit you with the door, and they’d be the one with the assault charge and tresspassing.
I can imagine if the police thought you overreacted and broke the foot you might be the one with the assault charge while they’d still be tresspassing.
Idk really, but I know most of the time police apply what laws they can in a common sense kind of way and tend to heavily favor the person who’s home it is.
All I really know is that if you were a soldier then UCMJ would apply to you regardless of state law and it says you can meet with equal force but aren’t allowed to escalate force.
Not escalating can be slightly misleading.
Guy has knife, I shoot with gun, both deadly I did not escalate.
Guy spits on me, I punch him in the face, both assault, I did not escalate.
Also glad I have security doors. How about pepper spray?
It’s all relative. If you’re justified in breaking someone’s hand inside your chained door what’s to stop you from chunking a rock and beaning little Johnny riding his bike on your lawn. Context is everything. If you’re really scared the person knocking on your door means you harm call 911 and tell the operator you’re fixing to protect yourself if they break the door down. And I believe you would be justified in doing so. You will have some 'splaining to do.
My location and situation, calling 911 is not an option I have. If anyone crosses my threshold with evil intent, I will shoot. I’ve made my peace with that reality. I don’t want to, I hope it never comes to that. It’s all I have. I used to worry endlessy about it. My kids are grown and away from home so Mama-bear isn’t so magnified. But I will protect me. I’m not afraid of dying, I just don’t want to die as a result of someone’s criminal intent.
Also public exposure and possibly lewd and lascivious as well --------- but its worth considering. 
WTF? That’s about the worst advice I’ve ever heard. Are you channeling Nancy Pelosi?
Shoot them, stab them, pepper spray them. Your home is your castle.