Tonight I was moving things from my house in Minneapolis to storage.
Once I got home I made two trips from my car carrying stuff in.
I thought I had locked my car, but I must have forgot... MISTAKE 1

I was half asleep when the alarm on my car went off.
The alarm arms in 30 seconds if the car is locked or not.
I looked at the remote and it said the door was open.
I opened my front door and went outside in only boxers to see what the hell was going on. MISTAKE 2

I saw someone rummaging in my car and yelled "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING? THAT'S MY CAR!" MISTAKE 3
The guy in the car gets out and says something like "No it's my car!" and proceeds to pop the trunk and dig through the junk I have in back.

I got my gun at around this point and came back out of my house. MISTAKE 4

I yelled at him again "THAT'S MY CAR!" and he proceeds to shut my trunk and head towards me...
I yelled at him "STAY AWAY!" and pointed my gun at him. I moved back towards my house and yelled at him again to stay away because he was still getting closer. At this point he clearly sees my gun and then says some B.S. about having a white Taurus just like my car.
I yell at him "I DON'T CARE, STAY AWAY" and continued to retreat, and thankfully he did the same.

I called the 911 and told them someone broke into my car, and that I drew my weapon on them. I tried to give a description and the direction they headed, but I didn't have my glasses on during the entire ordeal and gave a horrible description.

I eventually went back outside and realized my car was just unlocked and had not been "broken" into. The police show up and I tried to explain how the alarm works and how my car wasn't locked...and then he wanted to know if anything was taken. I didn't know and I hadn't checked, so he has me check my car but there wasn't really anything to steal. He seemed a bit ticked, and I told him the main reason I called was because I pointed my gun at the guy when he came at me. He asked if I had the gun on me and I told him it was back in the house. He then asked if I had a concealed carry permit and I told him yes. He then said something about how I had the right to protect my property... I apologized to him for the bother and thanked him when the other squad car showed up and went back into my house.

You can feel free to add more mistakes as you see fit. In all honesty it was pure stupidity and I knew better. I would also like to mention I never once left my property and I'm still a bit shaken up about this.


Biggest lesson learned:

Don't confront people and just call the police. Listen to what your instructor told you in class an abide by it completely.

Good lesson.

that depends on who your instructor is and what they are telling people. IMO Heck, even my pastor says not to believe what he preaches unless it lines up with the Bible. For the most part I agree with what you are saying. Glad everything worked out OK for you.

You did OK falcon. Take some more deep breaths and have a drink.

My understanding is even if you leave your car door unlocked, it is still breaking and entering. So is reaching in through an open window. You are right, shame on you for leaving it unlocked. But quadruple shame on stupid bad guy for being a drag on society.


That is comforting to hear.

i think you've outlined everything pretty well. i will add a couple points though.

*just because you leave your car unlocked, it doesn't give someone the right to pillage it. although leaving it unlocked, as you mentioned, is sort of inviting it.
*you have the right to confront someone attempting to steal your belongings, armed or unarmed. the fact that you are confronting them and asking them to stop, doesn't give them the right to come toward you with intent.
*IF you are armed, and you are not an unlawful aggressor (which you were NOT), you do have grounds to defend yourself.

it's a sticky situation. at the end of the day though, you managed to stay safe without having brought harm to another..... this is the best possible outcome.

When seconds count between life and death, the police are only minutes away.

I think you did the right thing...and the "bad guy" may think twice before breaking into someone else's property after being drawn on by you.

No injuries. No charges. No law suit. ....and they all lived happily ever after. Sounds good to me.

Allow me to translate that to this situation.

Any confrontation you walk away from is a good one. Any confrontation you learn from is even better....especially since you provide the opportunity for others to learn from the few mistakes you made.

Not picking on you, but on the officer:

1) Minnesota doesn't have concealed carry permits, officer.
2) As I was on my own property, officer, that's irrelevant.



I'm glad you're okay. Go forth and sin no more!

My instructor pretty much pushed a completely non-confrontational stance in regards to permit to carry. Basically he said he wouldn't directly confront someone on his own property or in his home unless they threatened his safety.

Basically his logic was that your property can or should be insured, and you stand a lot more to risk by confronting an intruder than retreating.

In this case I have to completely agree since I don't believe I did anything useful by confronting him.

While I think that in retrospect staying inside and calling the cops may have been the safer bet, he did go away empty handed (and possible with wet pants). He may even start reconsidering his personal safety plan vis-a-vis his chosen vocation. That's something.

You beat me to it. So, +1 for there was a useful outcome.


Now that I have had enough coffee to dissect this event:

Mistake #1 I won’t dispute however, in the same way that the store clerk’s motto “poor planning on your part doesn’t’ constitute and
emergency on mine” rings true. . . forgetting to lock your stuff up doesn’t = on the curb with a cardboard sign that says “free _______”.

Mistake #2 I never answer the door without a pistol in hand (especially knocks at the door of this secured entrance condo. . . lately we’ve had problems with unauthorized people following the mailperson in and such) setting off your car alarm is the same thing as ringing your doorbell at that hour. Not something to respond to unequipped.

Mistake #3 Yeah, your language could be fixed. It really isn’t that huge a mistake. Loud firm commands work better than questions. It doesn’t matter what the scum bag is doing, he is doing it with your stuff without your permission. Don’t ask; tell “Step away from the vehicle! Get off my property! Run!” I understand disbelief in this situation as I have had similar . . . couldn’t believe an intruder was inside my home. Gotta suspend that disbelief and be firm.

Mistake #4 I don’t see as a mistake. What you called mistake #4 was actually where you went and corrected all the previous “mistakes”. After that point, you did a pretty good job.


Of course all of this is after I have been up a while, am comfortable from a good night's sleep and have had enough coffee. . . . shoot, I even have my glasses on. Reacting the way you did with interupted sleep, no glasses on, no coffee first, etc. . . is pretty darn good in my book. Don't kick yourself, you did good.

<B>gyrfalcon</B>


Yup, so did mine.

Good for you, though. You survived and learned.

https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/sta ... id=609.546


609.546 MOTOR VEHICLE TAMPERING.
A person is guilty of a misdemeanor who intentionally:
(1) rides in or on a motor vehicle knowing that the vehicle was taken and is being driven by
another without the owner's permission; or
(2) tampers with or enters into or on a motor vehicle without the owner's permission.
History: 1989 c 290 art 7 s 9

I have a funny vision of coming downstairs some morning and finding a complete stranger eating breakfast on the couch watching a morning news show. He looks over at me, waves his hand, and politely says, "hey, good morning!" And since he's not threatening my safety, I mean he's just a guy enjoying breakfast and morning TV, and he's being so polite, I opt not to confront him because I'm carrying. Instead I sit on a stool at my counter, perplexed, trying to figure out a way to get this oddball out of my house, without confronting him, because I'm carrying