It’s 1:30am and there’s a knock at your door. What do you do?

If you’re like me (or any other 2nd Amendment abiding citizen) you cautiously approach your door with gun at the ready.

Now before you go thinking I’m some crazed gun nut, let’s look at the facts. It’s 1:30 in the morning, and I’ve just been woken from a dead sleep with a knock at my door. That’s it. No announcement that it’s the police or anything. Just a knock.

This has happened to me before (only it was closer to 4am). Turns out, it was the police. The joys of living in an apartment… apparently one of my neighbors thought I enjoyed blaring music at 4am. There’s only two problems: I was dead asleep, and there was absolutely no music at all in the building. Strange, no? Anyways, it still warranted a call to the police apparently (because we’re all so anti-social that we can’t knock on our neighbor’s door if there’s a problem).

Anyways, back to the story at hand here. It’s 1:30am, and officers from the Lake County (Florida) police department were knocking on 26 year old Andrew Scott’s door. He, like many others, brought his gun along with him. After opening the door, he was shot dead by police.

Myself, I checked the peep hole. I saw two uniformed officers standing outside my door. Still a bit hesitant, I decided it best to place the gun in a safe place before opening the door. It seems like Mr. Scott did not.

The officers, looking for someone wanted for attempted murder, jumped the trigger on this one (slight pun intended). Turns out, there were at the wrong house entirely.

The article over on EndTheLie.com notes:

The police department says it would not have opened fire if the man had not been holding a gun, but neighbors want to know why the authorities didn’t identify themselves at the door.

So, I’ve learned two things from this one sentence. Number 1, if you open the door holding a gun (something that is perfectly legal) you’re a dead man. Number 2, police don’t have to identify themselves when knocking on your door.

Going back to my own story, I have no idea if the police identified themselves when they knocked on my door. It wasn’t even the knock that woke me, rather, it was the dogs going batshit crazy because of the knock.

What exactly triggered the police to open fire? The article does not mention that Mr. Scott fired any shots, so assuming he did not, he most likely did not have his weapon in the “ready.” I’m picturing someone opening their door with a handgun at their side, hardly a threatening pose.

Why did they officers not attempt to give a warning before opening fire? Why did they not announce themselves when knocking on a door at 1:30 in the morning?

There are many unanswered questions here, and many questions asked that have frightening implications.

Your thoughts?