I think you did everything right.

It was an extraordinarily stressful situation, so the urge to vomit, a common response, is not surprising.

Like others said, you need a WML and a hand-held light. People often rail about WMLs giving up the element of surprise, but I'd rather there be no surprises when I encounter an intruder in my home.

The one observation I will make is you need to have a sit down with your children. Explain that they need to make plenty of noise when coming into the house, even it it means calling your names at Oh-My-God its early in the morning.

I explained it to my then-teenaged daughter this way: I'll never be angry if you wake me up making noise coming into the house disheveled and drunk at 0200, but I'll be really angry if I discover you in the glare of my WML.

Thanks for posting. Good discussion for all our sakes, especially those of us whose kids haven't started causing those kinds of problems yet!

Glad it worked out ok for you.

My mom is a very light sleeper and when I was in my late teens and early 20’s still living at home part time, but going out late I may come home in the middle of the night and try to be as quiet as possible but she would always call out my name, is that you. Loudly I would say, “yeah it’s me Mom” No quick reply from me and dad would up in seconds

You did fine. And feeling sick afterward is a common reaction.
And in reality you were not even close to shooting.
My only suggestion: Motion activated light in the stairwell. Some time back there was a posting here about motion lights and I bought one. It works great.
And kids should be trained to shout loudly, "Im home" when they come in at 00 dark thirty. No matter how old they are.

Dreamerx4,
First, Thank you very much for posting! Made for a great discussion with my kids (14 & 16). In my opinion, you didn’t do anything wrong. You may have learned some things you can do even better in the future, but you didn’t do anything wrong. You also shared with a whole bunch of invisible friends so that we and our families can have the benefit of your experience without the sickening adrenaline dump. Thank you again for that!

quote:

Originally posted by Dreamerx4:
I do have a light, thank God. She texted.... but, My wife and I both have do not disturb on our phones... texts are silent.

Again, flaws in our "system" hoping my experience helps others.

I can NOT imagine harming a loved one.

You can have certain people make it through di not disturb. She might want to be one of them...

Although I agree you did everything right. You kept your finger off the trigger until you identified the target, you were aware that your dog was happy, not alarmed...all good.

I think a weapon mounted light on any gun one intends to use for social purposes is a must. But so is a hand-held.

As we became empty-nesters I changed all the deadbolts out for Masterlocks with their "nightwatch" latching feature. After they are locked, the lock can be latched so that it can not be opened with the key from the outside.


If someone is sneaking around my house at night, they must have broken in.

It sounds like you scared yourself. And probably your daughter.

It doesn't sound like you almost shot your daughter.

Glad it turned out the way it did.

Worked out the best way possible for you and have raised awareness for many others should the situation arise elsewhere.

quote:

Originally posted by slosig:
Dreamerx4,
First, Thank you very much for posting! Made for a great discussion with my kids (14 & 16). In my opinion, you didn’t do anything wrong. You may have learned some things you can do even better in the future, but you didn’t do anything wrong. You also shared with a whole bunch of invisible friends so that we and our families can have the benefit of your experience without the sickening adrenaline dump. Thank you again for that!

THIS ! Thank you

I'm glad everything worked out and nobody got hurt. As for me, I'd be fine if none of my pistols had rails on them. I never have mounted a light on any of my pistols and likely never will.

That being said, there are training techniques available that specialize in the use of WMLs for people who prefer them.

Thanks all, I do appreciate the kind words, and thoughts.

I sincerely hope no one goes through this, or much worse, actually harming a loved one.

I am thankful for conversations some of you have had to prevent it from happening to you.

quote:

Originally posted by Leeann:
You can have certain people make it through di not disturb. She might want to be one of them...

Nope. You can set so certain people’s phones calls ring through, but “Do not Disturb” mutes all texts, even from people you have selected to be allowed through. Stupid Apple. :-(

I used to run my phone in permanent do not disturb mode with it set to allow anyone in my contacts through. Great way to avoid spam calls, but you’ll never know when you get a text.

Currently doing the next best thing: I go ahead and answer calls I don’t recognize, but I don’t say anything. If it is a robocall it will hang up in 3-4 seconds. If it is a human, they’ll say something. At that point I can either tell them to add me to their do not call list and hang up or have a conversation as appropriate.

I was fortunate that years back we started a informal "league" over at the academy hosted by one of their instructors and a FAM. Several times a year we would conduct low and no light drills. I've also attended at least once a year a low/no light class and every IDPA match has one scenario based on it.

You can buy all the lights you want but if you don't train with them, it's not going to work out well. I was very surprised how much difference there is from indoor in a closed environment and outdoors. With nothing to bounce the light off of, the effectiveness is significantly less. The shadows you have to deal with will cause confusion.

Best bet is get a top quality light and train.