House doors to be locked continuously even when you're at home?

sanibel686

Well-Known Member
A strange thing happened to a good friend of mine recently.

He and his wife were sitting watching the tele when a girl simply walked into their house and started nosing through the rooms downstairs. My pal said the person appeared to be significantly influenced by drugs. She walked in through the front door and passed by the sitting room door when my pal's wife spotted her and gave chase and shouted at her but she didn't stop and it took my pal to physically man handle her to get her out of the house. Apparently she is a well known "druggy" in the area and they reported the incident to the police.

Shortly afterwards someone from Northumbria Firearms unit called to say that the incident had been referred to them as my pal "stores guns" at the house and he was advised/warned to always keep all windows and doors locked at all times even when there was someone in the house.

He is with SACS and rang them for advice and they told him that the police were right and this is current best practice, although they did tell him that he should also formally press charges for trespass.

I would be interested to hear your opinions on this as it does affect us all.
 
"Reasonable precautions to prevent unauthorised access to firearms" .

As it is not expected that people will just wander into your house uninvited whilst you are at home so it is not unreasonable to leave your doors unlocked. Having been the victim of theft and had to go down the route of what is and what is not reasonable, I'm glad to say that the law still considers burglary an unusual act and although you take precautions against it you do not have to expect it.
 
I'm guessing that she walked in thru the front door or thru the rear garden gate and thru the rear door ? If so then I completely agree that extra security should be in place on the front door as in when it's pushed too you can't open it from the front and the rear gate should / could have a bolt on

if if that is all present and correct then did she scale the fence ? There isn't much you can do against that
 
Surely that's just belt and braces!!!!

I'm sure your pal would of had his firearms locked away in there cabinets, so can't see why he and his wife should have to lock themselves in in there own home!!

90% of the time when myself or the misses are in we have the back door open so that the dog can come in and out when he wants, same goes for the front door when the kids are playing in the front garden.
 
This is where I am so happy that we have such a good security system in our flats (Which is about to be upgraded to a digital system in the next couple of months) and of course that we all tend to look out for each other the way that good neighbours ought to.
Our security system was one of the first things that my FEO commented on when I had my initial visit for my SGC many years ago!
 
i think it is common sense to lock your doors when you are in.


It's a bit of a bugger finding the key when you are in a smoke filled room...I'm all for security, but don't lock yourself into a death trap - make sure you have clear routes of evacuation
 
So what does that mean in terms of opening windows on a hot evening? Allowed? Not allowed? Against "best security practice"? Only allowed if the window isnt big enough for someone to climb through? Only allowed if you have bars on the outside?

What about letting the gas man in to your house? He might be pretending to be a gas man to get into your gun safe... Or even just opening the door to strangers generally? Someone could force their way in if they wanted to and you weren't expecting it.

You can take all the security side of it to a mega extreme I think - Theres got to be some common sense involved, dont leave the house with windows still open and make sure you lock your doors and so on, but cases like this are just random acts of God and that's why we all have gun and ammo safes.

Otherwise we'll all end up having to live in Fort Knox with cameras, alarms, barbed wire, land mine escarpments and guard towers!
 
The op asked..'I would be interested to hear your opinions on this as it does affect us all.'

Already on the second page,perhaps the question should be, has this happened to anyone else?..Did this happen in the ops area/police force.....is this yet another a new rule?:scared:
 
i think it is common sense to lock your doors when you are in.

What a very sad indication of the times we live in. When I was a kid, we didn't even lock doors when we went out - and yes, there was a shotgun hanging from a beam and a .22 rifle stood in the corner.
There was respect for other people and their property then.
 
What a very sad indication of the times we live in. When I was a kid, we didn't even lock doors when we went out - and yes, there was a shotgun hanging from a beam and a .22 rifle stood in the corner.
There was respect for other people and their property then.

Thats what happens when the do gooders fight for equal rights,human rights etc etc...
 
It's a bit of a bugger finding the key when you are in a smoke filled room...I'm all for security, but don't lock yourself into a death trap - make sure you have clear routes of evacuation
You can get Euro locks that are key operated on the out side and thumb turn operated inside so you never need keys on the inside. The bonus is you can't be locked out when a key is left in the lock inside.
 
Simple really., lock or catch the door when you are watching telly or in the back garden.
Walk in burglary/ thefts are common in many areas.
 
You can get Euro locks that are key operated on the out side and thumb turn operated inside so you never need keys on the inside. The bonus is you can't be locked out when a key is left in the lock inside.

But....if you step outside without a KEY!!!
 
Simple really., lock or catch the door when you are watching telly or in the back garden.
Walk in burglary/ thefts are common in many areas.

Thats prompted me,I am sure that if someone walks into your house without having to break in,they then take your car keys and drive off,your insurance won't pay out.
 
You can get Euro locks that are key operated on the out side and thumb turn operated inside so you never need keys on the inside. The bonus is you can't be locked out when a key is left in the lock inside.

cool, I'm more worried about a house fire than an intruder - but if you can have both security and quick exits - why not!
 
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