Published on 12, July, 2020
In Scotland housing Associations are forcing doors of their tenants to install fire alarms, or they will threaten to force them so some people are opening their doors under duress.
is this morally right if the person already has a good smoke alarm and lives in a small studio flat, and that they bought their own set of fire alarms in accordance with Scottish law to put up on the walls themselves?
If you were vulnerable to covid in that you could die if you got covid how would you feel with people that could have covid coming into your home to fit fire alarms?
How would you feel if you hate noise and drills and you had no one to support you as they cannot travel to you as they are vulnerable to covid and they cant take public transport to you?
How would you feel that since it is a studio flat and that you cant go outside as you need the loo regularly that you are left having no choice but to isolate to protect yourself form covid waiting in your bathroom for 2 hours for the installation and then an additional 2 hours as covid lasts in the air for hours after someone leaves even with the windows open? how would you feel if you felt trapped in the bathroom? but had no choice as you had to protect your life due to your vulnerability.
And! you find out that the Government have added a clause to the law that means that authorities can extend the installation for vulnerable people but that your housing association is not listening to that fact?
Do you think that this is wrong in relation to disabled people?
On another case a woman did not know that they were going to force her door and she was in hysterics as she thought that they were breaking in to hurt her or rob the place.
is this all morally right?
and if any of this would trigger a meltdown to you how would you feel?
If I were to suddenly hear the sound of my door being forced, without warning or context, the first two things I’m likely to do are ring 999 to report a break in and grab anything nearby I might use as a weapon. And I’m liable to assume anyone forcing their way into my home is a dangerous criminal until I see some ID to persuade me otherwise.
Pete, I'm coming round to to liking you, and you clearly have not had the benefit of any military training.
I have, and it would suggest that you prioritise "holding the line", over "requesting fire support".
In short:
Focus fully, on stopping the forced entry to your home before even thinking of summoning aid that will not arrive until long after the action is over.
If I were alone, I personally would deal the door a sharp very loud blow in the vicinity of where the forcing is happening, probably with the base of my ever handy "spear that does not look like a spear" whilst shouting to my imaginary companion, call the police!! Simply to force a change of pace, and take some control over events. The other side will then likely either negotiate, or continue forcing their way in.
At the end of the day in such a scenario of someone continuing to force their way in, it's the person still standing afterwards who gets to tell their story to the police whenever they arrive..
It's a nightmare scenario, with lots of potential opportunity to either get hurt or hurt someone else. You want to have made all your choices, well before it ever happens, so if you do have to hurt someone else in the course of defending yourself, you don't second guess yourself making your actions ineffective and weak.
Also your resolve should then be clear and apparent to your adversary, so at least they have every chance of giving it up and avoiding what's coming to them..
In the event that’s somebody’s forced my door before I’ve called the police I’m not likely to be anywhere near the door to block or force it closed. About 2/3rds of the door is stain glass anyway. More likely I’m in the living room or on a different level in which case there is time to do both. Although unfortunately not time to go to the kitchen or hall where most of the things that could be used easily as weapons are. Back in the days when my brother lived here I would most likely have grabbed his ornamental broad sword from his bedroom wall.
Not lacking in spirit then.
A maxim the military teaches, is only ever point a weapon if you are fully committed to using it.
Essentially, as reasonable. balanced, non-criminal untrained types you get faced with a bewildering variety of choices that the person breaking in does not have to consider, if indeed a weapon was appropriate, they are already coming at you whether in a rush or taking their time, it is YOU who is winging it, at this point. The weapon is only a force multiplier, it will not give you magic control over a situation.
I have a policy that someone breaking into my house unannounced constitutes a threat to my life, until they prove otherwise. They will be given an opportunity to do that by immediately complying with my clear and loudly shouted instructions.