# Answering the door while armed
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-door-while-armed/707544
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [December 18, 2014, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-door-while-armed/707544 "2014-12-18T02:13:58Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2014, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-door-while-armed/707544/21 "2014-12-18T12:33:38Z")
> [@chiroptera](#):
>
> As I understand it, there’s a legal distinction between open carry and brandishing, the latter being tied to “intent to use”?
Here’s a pretty good summation of the situation in CA - I’m sure it’d different in other states.
> **[Penal Code § 417 PC – Brandishing a Weapon or Firearm](https://www.shouselaw.com/ca/defense/penal-code/417/)**
>
> https://youtu.be/b-mEqa0y1NM Penal Code § 417 PC makes it a crime to brandish a firearm or a deadly weapon. Brandishing means to draw or exhibit the weapon in a threatening manner or to use it in a fight (other than in lawful self-defense). The...
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### Author:  [@BOOM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BOOM)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2014, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-door-while-armed/707544/22 "2014-12-18T14:10:42Z")
This thread is too bizarre. Way, way, way out there.
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### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2014, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-door-while-armed/707544/23 "2014-12-18T14:54:50Z")
> [@BOOM](#):
>
> This thread is too bizarre. Way, way, way out there.
Ah. You’re new here, I see.
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### Author:  [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2014, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-door-while-armed/707544/24 "2014-12-19T03:32:48Z")
> [@chiroptera](#):
>
> Just as a data point, the auto repair shop I’ve patronized for years is owned and operated by a guy who openly carries. He has a gun on a leg holster. I think this is a little weird, but they are cheap, honest and friendly plus the shop has a very cute resident dog who visits with clients in the waiting room, so I overlook it.
>
> As I understand it, there’s a legal distinction between open carry and brandishing, the latter being tied to “intent to use”?
The “man in the street” distinction is that if a gun is in a holster, using the gun requires an absolute minimum of one action (drawing the gun) and almost always a second action (such as unsnapping a retaining strap). Whereas having a gun already in one’s hand (a) gives essentially no time for warning of unfriendly intentions and (b) creates the impression of having the need or desire to use it.
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### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2014, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-door-while-armed/707544/25 "2014-12-19T03:52:36Z")
My first wife had a very strict curfew when she was growing up. By strict, I mean if a date got her home late, her father would meet them at the door holding a gun.
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### Author:  [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2014, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-door-while-armed/707544/26 "2014-12-19T06:36:18Z")
Recently, in OK, a person shot/held a burglar, then called the cops. When the police arrived, he answered the door with a gun either in his hand or holster. His funeral was three days later. No charges filed.
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### Author:  [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2014, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-door-while-armed/707544/27 "2014-12-19T17:19:55Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#):
>
> His funeral was three days later. No charges filed.
Does “his” refer to the burglar or the man who answered the door?
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### Author:  [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2014, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-door-while-armed/707544/28 "2014-12-19T19:08:32Z")
I’ve never owned a gun, but I did own a 7-foot boa constrictor for a while. After my husband passed away, when the doorbell rang after dark, I’d wrap Boris the boa around me before answering. The look on their faces was priceless.
Boris also did a good job of deterring the Mormon missionaries and the Jehovah’s witnesses. When I’d answer the door, bedecked with Boris, I’d say “Hello, I’m Eve, what’s your name?” (my name is NOT Eve, but it was there and I had to take it) Not once did any of them ever ask to come in. They’d hand me their literature and skeedaddle. 😃
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### Author:  [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2014, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-door-while-armed/707544/29 "2014-12-20T03:49:19Z")
> [@stillownedbysetters](#):
>
> I’ve never owned a gun, but I did own a 7-foot boa constrictor for a while. After my husband passed away, when the doorbell rang after dark, I’d wrap Boris the boa around me before answering. The look on their faces was priceless.
>
> Boris also did a good job of deterring the Mormon missionaries and the Jehovah’s witnesses. When I’d answer the door, bedecked with Boris, I’d say “Hello, I’m Eve, what’s your name?” (my name is NOT Eve, but it was there and I had to take it) Not once did any of them ever ask to come in. They’d hand me their literature and skeedaddle. 😃
Shoulda offered visitors an apple, too 😃
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2014, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-door-while-armed/707544/30 "2014-12-20T07:45:52Z")
I frequently meet strange folks half-way from the gate while carrying some kind of firearm. Nothing bad has happened yet.
I was thinking about putting a sign on the fence that says “Salesmen and Preachers put me in fear of my life”. 😃
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### Author:  [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2014, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-door-while-armed/707544/31 "2014-12-20T14:40:10Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#):
>
> Does “his” refer to the burglar or the man who answered the door?
Well, I forgot to mention that the man had a wooden leg, named Smith.
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### Author:  [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2014, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-door-while-armed/707544/32 "2014-12-20T14:59:11Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#):
>
> Well, I forgot to mention that the man had a wooden leg, named Smith.
😕 Who names their wooden leg?
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### Author:  [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2014, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-door-while-armed/707544/33 "2014-12-20T15:43:12Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#):
>
> 😕 Who names their wooden leg?
…someone pulling the other one?
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### Author:  [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2014, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-door-while-armed/707544/34 "2014-12-20T16:21:31Z")
> [@Telemark](#):
>
> Here’s a pretty good summation of the situation in CA - I’m sure it’d different in other states.
>
> [Penal Code § 417 PC – Brandishing a Weapon or Firearm](http://www.shouselaw.com/brandishing-weapon-pc417.html#1)
As used in this section, “public place” means any of the following: (1) A public place in an incorporated city. (2) A public street in an incorporated city. (3) A public street in an unincorporated area.”)
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### Author:  [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2014, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-door-while-armed/707544/35 "2014-12-21T01:41:33Z")
It’s late 2014, almost 2015. Who answers the door without a gun nowadays?
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### Author:  [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2014, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-door-while-armed/707544/36 "2014-12-21T02:23:33Z")
> [@River\_Hippie](#):
>
> It’s late 2014, almost 2015. Who answers the door without a gun nowadays?
↑↑↑ This… 🆒
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### Author:  [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2014, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-door-while-armed/707544/37 "2014-12-22T05:04:14Z")
To answer the op’s question, it wouldn’t be advisable to brandish a weapon of any kind when opening the door. INAL but I don’t think the crime of inducing panic stops at the edge of private property. In fact, they just arrested a guy in my area for shooting his house. Apparently he had some kind of Elvis flashback. So even though we have solid castle laws and CCW licensing there are still rules to be followed.
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### Author:  [@MostlyUseless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MostlyUseless)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2014, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-door-while-armed/707544/38 "2014-12-22T11:33:59Z")
I have no issue with a homeowner answering the door with gun in hand. Gun in view goes beyond good behavior and seems a bit paranoid.
Owning a gun requires a certain level of judgment and hopefully consideration towards others or at least it should.
Nobody should even know you have the gun unless things go so horribly wrong that its use is imminent.
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### Author:  [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2014, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-door-while-armed/707544/39 "2014-12-22T15:24:49Z")
What neighborhoods do some of you live in, answering the door while brandishing as a matter of course, and watching tv with your piece on the armrest?? I want to know so I can avoid them. 0\_0
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### Author:  [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2014, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-door-while-armed/707544/40 "2014-12-22T18:33:36Z")
> [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](#):
>
> In your hand is more brandishing than armed.
In the US it is legal, at least in most states, to possess a firearm in your home without a license - the law generally reads something like “…on your own property or property under your control…”. That last bit covers, for instance, the case of a shop owner in a store he leases but does not own. Answering the door to your home with gun in hand (or standing in your front yard, or on the roof) is, therefore, legal in those states. It is, however, illegal in all states to point a gun, loaded or unloaded, at another person without legal cause. Legal cause is generally fear for your life or the life of others but details vary from state to state.
> [@](#):
>
> The marketer will say a little prayer hoping you’ll blow his brains out to end the long history of poor choices and failures which have led him to sell door to door. The cop will probably yell DROPTHEWEAPON while putting eight shots in your center mass.
Whether it is a wise thing to do is a question for debate.
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