Can you defend your attached garage as you would your home?

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  • MongooseLaw

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    Do NOT attach wood or add weight to your garage door, bad idea. Also, most doors are made of wood or steel (although very thin) with a metal backing or a vinyl backed insulation. Yes some are made of vinyl, they're the yellowish/green ones you see that could be kicked or punched through.
     

    BugI02

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    Hello, as part owner of a garage door company and service tech for several years, I'm just trying to understand your statement about the emergency release. How would a thief gain access to this as it is on the inside of the garage? Best way to "lock out" your door if youre leaving for a length of time or youre just paranoid would be leaving it hooked to the opener and then unplugging it.

    I just dont want misinformation being spread and I've never heard of an emergency release for your garage door being located outside of the door/garage itself?
     

    OurDee

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    My long reach tool will snap a zip tie. If I am gone for more than a day, I clamp the door tracks with my welding vicegrips. Then turn off the electric opener.
     

    Timjoebillybob

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    Do NOT attach wood or add weight to your garage door, bad idea. Also, most doors are made of wood or steel (although very thin) with a metal backing or a vinyl backed insulation. Yes some are made of vinyl, they're the yellowish/green ones you see that could be kicked or punched through.
    The green ones are fiberglass, if you're thinking of the same ones I am. A neighbor just had new garage doors installed last year, I swear the panels were metal framed with a vinyl outer and inner sheet with rigid foam in between. I'll have to double check next time I'm over there.
     

    Tactically Fat

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    Some of y'all speak as if you have thousands upon thousands of dollars to spend defending yourself from prosecution.

    Not everyone in your curtillage uninvited needs shot. Not everyone inside your home uninvited needs shot. Period.

    It is ALL situationally dependent on myriad factors.

    You open yourself up to a crap ton of hurt, legal, mental, and financial should you decide to engage with someone who also has a vote in how things go. Why the everloving F would you CHOOSE that upon yourself, I'll never know.

    Hurr durr... "I'd rather be tried by 12 than carried by 6" hurrr durrr.....
     

    Cameramonkey

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    As per "the law of self defence" by andrew branca, a very good book...

    Indiana
    general duty to retreat before use of deadly force - no
    no retreat in castle 35-41-3-2(d)
    no retreat in castle+ (curtilage) 35-41-3-2(d)
    no retreat in castle++ (business) (yes, no statute given)
    no retreat in castle+++ (vehicle) 35-41-3-2(d)
    no retreat anywhere you have right to be (stand your ground) 35-41-3-2(c)

    Very interesting to view charts of states, the democrat voting states tend to restrict your rights to defend.

    Also like to add, after reading the book, life can be much easier if you convince the intruder to leave, and have police show up after or during the event.
    Contrast to having police show up to a dead body with associated biological mess, and risking the financial/time burden of a possible court case if you live in a county that has a prosecutor that wants to make an example of you. Political bent of the prosecutor can play into this.
    I wonder about this one. Especially since they are trying to pass a state law that will allow you to protect your business and property. So that assumes currently you do not have a right in the place of buisness. (except for fear of eminent severe bodily harm or death. )
    Sorry my question should have been stated more clearly. The door is open and I'm in the garage and perps stroll in and start to remove things from my vehicle that they desire without presenting any threat. Do I have options other than "please stop stealing my property and leave". It seems like the law is in the perps corner if they aren't threatening my life.. Deadly force use in the drive way is not an option to protect property but once they have entered the garage does that change the situation?
    No. You cant kill somebody over "stuff". (see related, above)

    Unless you can articulate a reasonable fear for severe bodily harm or death, ya gotta let 'em thieve the way the law is written. So if some drugged up meth head wanders calmly into your garage like a zombie, grabs the dolly with your $5,000 portable industrial welder and starts dragging it down the driveway all while ignoring you completely as if you werent there, you are SOL. Gotta call the cops and wait for them to show up and take care of it. He's not a threat if he isnt even acknowledging you exist.

    Now if the douchebag suddenly snaps out of it and starts advancing on you, ranting and raving about how you stole HIS welder and you can articulate a reasonable fear for your life/safety then its on!


    (IANAL of course, just an avid listener to The Gun Guy where these topics were recently discussed)

    And of course this thread wouldnt be complete without Uncle Kirk's sage advice of "Don't get out of the boat". If you're safe and sound in your house and they're in the garage, let the cops take care of it. (or handle it and call your buddy steve to come finish the job with the backhoe)
     
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    When was this? I live in white county and haven't heard of one like this. Closest I can remember was either last winter or winter before. IIRC There was a string of trespassing/thefts, a guy and his friend were protecting his home/barn/something. Guy was outside and came in and his friend shot him by mistake.

    About 4 or 5 years ago, I think. It happened before I moved from The area, and the news did not follow up on the case much..
     

    IndyBeerman

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    Why would an attached garage be any different than any other room of your home? If someone entered your home through a garage window or your living room window, they are still in your home. If someone is in your home illegally they are a threat to you and your family. The law allows you to use whatever force necessary to end that threat. Deadly force should always be the final resort, but the room of your home the threat is located in is irrelevant. Do what you need to do to protect yourself and your family. Remember, you didn't choose for someone to die, the threat did. Your only choice is who that someone will be.

    Why is it different???

    Because the vast majority of homes with garages the entry door from the garage to the home more than likely has a standard door lock and a dead bolt.

    I'm not opening a secured door that could become a potentially disaster with me getting over powered, shot or killed.
    I'm not going into a special kind of stupid mode to allow bad guy's a easier access to the interior of my home, even if the garage is part of my home. To gain entry to the interior, they will have to work for it over a hail of gun fire the second that door opens.

    At the point when a garage entry door to the interior of your home is breached, there is no longer any doubt that you would be fearing for your life.
     

    hoosierfishing

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    I don't think the argument is "Would you be justified in protecting your garage", as I believe most here feel you are. The argument is "Prove in Court that your life was in danger". These are two entirely separate things.
     

    Cameramonkey

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    Oh yeah, and don't go out into the garage. Last summer there were kids breaking into garages and rummaging through trying to steal stuff. One homeowner heard them, opened the man door, and was promptly shot by the punks. Looks like by a stolen gun. This happend blocks from Bradis on the other side of 67. Too close to home for me.

    EDIT: And I was told by a family member when it came up on FB that he was armed. Gun in his hand, but he didnt have time to raise it and fire.



    On another note, STOP LEAVING YOUR F#*#&ING GUNS IN YOUR DAMN CARS! It looks like one person's negligence led to the guy getting shot with a stolen gun in his garage. You gotta wonder... Would he have been shot had the first guy not been criminally negligent by failing to adequately secure his firearm by taking it in from the car?
     
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    JettaKnight

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    I put a steel door and a deadbolt between my attached garage and my house as soon as we moved in.
    I had a lock between - till I got locked out of the house. If I have no intention of ever locking it...

    The back garage door (to the outside) has a drop bar to prevent kicking it in.
     

    IndyBeerman

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    Oh yeah, and don't go out into the garage. Last summer there were kids breaking into garages and rummaging through trying to steal stuff. One homeowner heard them, opened the man door, and was promptly shot by the punks. Looks like by a stolen gun. This happened blocks from Bradis on the other side of 67. Too close to home for me.

    EDIT: And I was told by a family member when it came up on FB that he was armed. Gun in his hand, but he didnt have time to raise it and fire.



    On another note, STOP LEAVING YOUR F#*#&ING GUNS IN YOUR DAMN CARS! It looks like one person's negligence led to the guy getting shot with a stolen gun in his garage. You gotta wonder... Would he have been shot had the first guy not been criminally negligent by failing to adequately secure his firearm by taking it in from the car?
    Yep, just half way between Bradis and my home. There was video of a garage burglary near Mooresville from a week earlier that they believe was the same two people and in the video one was seen holding a gun. Both was wearing Covid masks to prevent ID.

    People just don't think and fail to realize that not being defensive actually puts you at risk, you open the door to the garage and there you are.
    Unless you have video in the garage, you have NO IDEA how many are in there.

    Is it 1, 2 maybe three? People who say they will enter the garage to defend their home, can you engage 3 bad guys at once all in different locations?
     

    eldirector

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    Apr 29, 2009
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    Why
    I don't think the argument is "Would you be justified in protecting your garage", as I believe most here feel you are. The argument is "Prove in Court that your life was in danger". These are two entirely separate things.
    Why would one need to "prove their life was in danger" inside their home, at least in Indiana?

    Back to the original premise: Is your attached garage your " ...dwelling, curtilage..."? If yes, then:

    (d) A person:

    (1) is justified in using reasonable force, including deadly force, against any other person; and

    (2) does not have a duty to retreat;

    if the person reasonably believes that the force is necessary to prevent or terminate the other person's unlawful entry of or attack on the person's dwelling, curtilage, or occupied motor vehicle.

    Y'all can muddy the water as much as you would like, but the IC is pretty clear. There is NO MENTION of "life was in danger" in this code. You don't even have to (legally) be afraid.
     
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    Nov 16, 2012
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    Actually had a situation similar to this thread last Summer during the COVID lockdown crap. This wasn't an attached garage as the OP stated but a post frame shed about 40 yards from our house. One night about midnight I just happen to notice the light was on in the shed. Thinking that I or my 6 yr old had probably forgotten to turn it off I headed out to turn it off. I open the man door and hear something fall. Still not even thinking of a intruder situation because it's not uncommon for cats to run in the shed when the big doors are open during the day I figured I had scared a cat or animal opening the door. I go looking for the animal and on the other side of one of our tractors I see this guy hiding beside one of my zero turn mowers. I immediately draw on him and he puts his hands up and I have him lay face down on the floor while I call my wife in the house and tell her to make sure they DON'T come out to the shed and to lock the door to the house immediately not knowing if there were more intruders. I then call 911 and the dispatcher tells me the nearest unit is probably 30-40 minutes away. I tell the dispatcher I have one at gunpoint and I'm not sure if there are more on the property. Dispatcher tells me if the suspect I have tries to get up or make a move "TO DO WHAT I FELL LIKE I HAVE TO DO" at that point. ISP unit arrived about 20 minutes later followed by several county units. Fortunately there was no other known suspects and I didn't have to use force but would have if needed too no doubt. This was the first and hopefully ONLY time I ever have to draw on someone on my own property although I've had to several times for my work.

    This is not a "legal" response to the original question but I thought I'd relay what I was told by the dispatcher.
     

    bwframe

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    I immediately draw on him and he puts his hands up and I have him lay face down on the floor while I call my wife in the house and tell her to make sure they DON'T come out to the shed and to lock the door to the house immediately not knowing if there were more intruders. I then call 911 and the dispatcher tells me the nearest unit is probably 30-40 minutes away. I tell the dispatcher I have one at gunpoint and I'm not sure if there are more on the property. Dispatcher tells me if the suspect I have tries to get up or make a move "TO DO WHAT I FELL LIKE I HAVE TO DO" at that point. ISP unit arrived about 20 minutes later followed by several county units. Fortunately there was no other known suspects and I didn't have to use force but would have if needed too no doubt. This was the first and hopefully ONLY time I ever have to draw on someone on my own property although I've had to several times for my work.
    Thanks for recounting that situation!

    Can I now add a hypothetical twist for INGO? (Not necessarily for Hoosier Cowboy.)

    What if the intruder at gunpoint states that he means no harm, but will be leaving, and then proceeds to do so?
     
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