My night...

[Mourtegoul]

Tresspassing=doing something wrong. I agree it would be nice to help people you know. I also agree that approaching a soft barrier such as a door when you don't know who or what is behind would be a reckless course of action. I think the OP did a great job. If the people outside actually need help, they're already well-covered by having called 911. With officers on the scene in 10 minutes, they're not going to freeze to death. More than likely, they each had cell phones and could have called someone for a tow. If, as kids they didn't have the sense to call someone, the OP's actions catch them. I grew up in the same sort of rural country in the ozarks.

Perhaps install a motion light by the back door? No switching necissary + illuminated target....

 

[.40caltrucker]

This all just seems crazy to me. I grew up in the country and drove our roads all the time. When the roads were slick and icy, if I wasn't sleeping working or in school I was out driving. Take a corner and pull the E brake to fishtail. Those were the days, I only fishtailed out of control once and landed in a farmers field. Now looking back I'm glad he wasn't paranoid like the OP was. He got a good laugh when I told him it wasn't an accident and he watched my friend pull me out then smiled and told me to be safe as we were leaving. I can't even begin to count the number of fields I've helped friends out of.

I guess the point I'm trying to make here is I still remember all the stuff I did as a teenager. Granted some of it was dumb, stupid and maybe even dangerous. When I see some teenagers doing something like I might have done and probably did do I laugh. Like doing backwards doughnuts with a front wheel drive car in a Wal-mart parking lot, or ramping their fresh snow piles with a bronco and framing out on the top of it. (lot of good 4x4 is when their not touching anything) I'm 27 now and 2 kids of my own and do fully expect them to do the same fun and crazy crap I did. Hopefully they don't run into anyone like this guys neighbors, and hopefully everyone here thinks back to their own teenage days and remembers some of the fun stuff they did. Nothing these kids done was criminal and nothing warranted guns being drawn on them.

 

[spitfire51]

I guess the point I'm trying to make here is I still remember all the stuff I did as a teenager. Granted some of it was dumb, stupid and maybe even dangerous. When I see some teenagers doing something like I might have done and probably did do I laugh. Like doing backwards doughnuts with a front wheel drive car in a Wal-mart parking lot, or ramping their fresh snow piles with a bronco and framing out on the top of it. (lot of good 4x4 is when their not touching anything) I'm 27 now and 2 kids of my own and do fully expect them to do the same fun and crazy crap I did. Hopefully they don't run into anyone like this guys neighbors, and hopefully everyone here thinks back to their own teenage days and remembers some of the fun stuff they did. Nothing these kids done was criminal and nothing warranted guns being drawn on them.

For the sake of reference, did the neighborhood you grew up in (or where you live now) have the problems that OP mentioned about his area?

 

[.40caltrucker]

For the sake of reference, did the neighborhood you grew up in (or where you live now) have the problems that OP mentioned about his area?

I grew up in Freedom just 10 miles south of Spencer. We have drug problems, theft you name it. Show me an area that don't have these kind of problems. Since every county in IN has drugs theft burglaries we should all start pulling guns on teenagers out doing what teenagers do. The OP hasn't said his county so I can't look to see the crime rates there. Unless there was a real threat from these kids or they broke a law there was no justification for the neighbor to display a weapon. Never point a weapon at anything you don't intend on destroying. If I pull my weapon on someone it will be the last resort and to shoot them.

What if one of these kids was old enough to have a LTCH and carried a weapon. They would have been justified in shooting the neighbor since they were not committing a felony or other crime right?

 

[finity]

Could you not have flipped on your porch light and asked "Who is it?" through the door? Seems like an awful lot of drama for nothing to me.

Where is the justification for pointing a firearm at another individual? I don't see it. If someone bangs on my door unannounced; surely I will be armed, but pointing without a threat?

+1 on both the above points.

I was thinking the same thing. Was there ANY indication at all that they were a threat (aside from to themselves for driving like idiots on icy roads)?

I guess that some people have forgotten what it was like being a stupid teenager in winter.

 

[remymartin]

Folks who choose to drive around the country like jack a**es deserve to be left out in the cold, or at most a swift kick in the ass. Pointing a firearm at another individual without a threat is not cool, I don't care what neck of the woods you live in. Are they on drugs?..... who cares, without a threat, to point a weapon is unmitigated. Laws were broken, and rights were violated.

I wasn't there, I did not witness it. How is this any different than John doe THUG defending his hood? We can all say what we would and wouldn't do. The OP did not do anything wrong. When rifles were pointed on non-threats that's where I have a problem.

I don't care if they're 16 or 60, black, white, gay, straight, purple, or fat. There was no reason a firearm should have been pointed at anyone in this situation. If there was not a threat, there was no reason for anyone to start choosing targets. Having experienced both sides of the "territory", the 'hood and the sticks aren't too much different.. I ask you; sir, how was your handling of the situation any different?

Before I get thrown under the bus for seeming like a libtard or something, YES I would have been armed at the door, YES I would have went into ON mode given the OP's situation. There was not reasoning to point a firearm at 3 dumbasses. I understand that was beyond the OP's control, but still not cool.