Personal And Home Safety Concerns with Package Deliveries

With the holidays approaching, personal and home safety concerns associated with package deliveries merit review. Home invaders wearing delivery or utility uniforms and attempting to gain access to homes are becoming more common. A quick review of news reporting shows the tactic was used in multiple documented incidents across the U.S. in 2025 and this continues into 2026. Examples include:

    -- An armed home invasion in North Port, Florida (May 2025), in which men posing as Amazon drivers lured a resident to the door, forced entry, stole cash, and held family members at gunpoint

    -- Multiple cases in California involving criminals (in some case organized crews) posing as Uber Eats or Amazon/food delivery workers to check occupancy or gain entry before burglaries

    -- A string of home invasions in St. Clair County, Michigan linked to a suspect posing as a delivery driver

    -- Multiple incidents in places such as Houston, Texas; Savannah, Georgia; Queens, New York; and elsewhere involving similar ruses

In December 2016 a thug dressed as a UPS driver forced his way into a home followed by three other thugs. In the video you can see the robber dressed in a UPS uniform at the door. As soon as the homeowner opens it, the man rushes inside despite the homeowner’s attempts to close the door. Once inside the home, the men assaulted the victim and fired at least one shot which didn't hit anyone. 

Two women inside the home grabbed children and hid in a closet. The homeowner had a fractured skull, concussion, lost 6 teeth, needed stitches in his lip, and required 28 staples in his head after the brutal beating. The bad guys stole jewelry and some collectible firearms. For a video of this home invasion as well as a scenario from our Short Range Match based on the incident click here.

There are several key indicators that something is likely amiss: 

    -- If you are not expecting a package and don't recognize your regular delivery man or woman. Look for the delivery truck in the street if possible -- although it is becoming more common for sub-contracted delivery drivers to use personal or unmarked vehicles, so this is becoming less of an indicator.

    -- Insisting on a signature. With the door closed, tell the delivery person to leave the package on your doorstep so you can retrieve it later. If they insist on a signature simply tell the person to leave a proper notice of attempted delivery and that you will pick the package up at the local company office. If they continue to insist or get annoyed, this should be an immediate red flag. 

    -- More than one “delivery” person. Legitimate delivery companies do not send more than one employee to the door to deliver a package. In the two pictures below, more than one "delivery" person was visible on camera before the victim opened the door--the victims did not bother to look at their cameras.

So how do you protect yourself? 

 

If you have cameras, use them and look for indicators mentioned above. There are numerous videos on the internet of fake delivery home invasions.  Why? Because the homeowners had cameras but in many cases did not use them to analyze the situation.

 

Don't open the door. This is the primary way to protect you and your family.  Ensure other family members--particularly children--know not to open the door as well. In the picture of the fake UPS delivery incident above, the homeowners did not open the door. However, a family member exited the home as the thugs were departing to get the package. The thugs then showed a firearm and forced their way into the home.  They exited seven minutes later having killed three adult family members.

 

Reinforce the front door. What if the thugs decide to kick the door open? A video of a thug kicking open an exterior door is available here. It literally took him less that one second; that is how easy it is to kick in a normally constructed residential exterior door. You can prevent this with heavy metal doors or by reinforcing your exterior door. To reinforce exterior wooden doors, you can install the Door Armor Max kit that Armor Concepts produces which is available on Amazon and from a variety of additional vendors.

Reinforce an interior door. You can also use these products to reinforce your interior doors as well. If someone does manage to defeat your exterior door and enters your home, they now have another barrier to deal with. It is unlikely that they will stick around and try to defeat a second door. If they do, having retreated into a safe room increases your chances of survival and builds the foundation of “reasonableness” for your follow-on actions.

Develop a family safety plan. Everyone should think through scenarios such as this now and develop a plan based on your particular circumstances. In my house, someone yelling “SAFE ROOM!” is giving the command for everyone to instantly stop what they are doing and go to a secure bedroom. A reinforced bedroom door with a dead bolt provides a safe room you can retreat to if someone attempts to break and enter. From there you can call 911 and prepare to take other necessary action.   

But I live in a good neighborhood you say? Well so do I—many of us live in neighborhoods we would characterize as safe. However, even gated communities have experienced home invasions as criminals follow legitimate residents through the opened gate. Plan now so you will be prepared if the time comes to act.

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Wednesday Wisdom: 4 November 2026

New: Smith & Wesson Model 22 of 1917 Classic and Model 22 Classic Revolvers

Smith & Wesson is reaching back to the First World War for its newest Classic Series revolvers. The company has announced two .45-cal. N-frames, both built on the lines of the M1917 service revolver. One, the Model 22 of 1917 Classic, stays as close to the original as a modern production gun can. Its sibling, the Model 22 Classic, cuts the barrel to 4 inches and adds a second chambering for 45 Long Colt.

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Make Mine a Shotgun: Going Strong 100 Years On 

Hans Vang -- The Inventor of the Vang Comp

Shotguns have been used as combat weapons since the matchlock. The fighting shotgun reached a pinnacle in the “trench gun” of the early 20th century—an 18-inch barreled Model ’97 or Model 12 with a bayonet, spraying buckshot into groups of enemy soldiers at close range. United States soldiers used shotguns in World War II, Korea, Vietnam and they are still being used in the Middle East today.

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This Week’s Dumb Criminal 

 

Stealing cars? That’s dumb. Posting it on Instagram? That’s really dumb.

Stealing a car that someone left running? That’s pretty dumb.

Picking up the owner’s cellphone and staring into the camera while it’s on a live FaceTime call? That’s even dumber.

Sending a request to follow the car’s owner on Instagram the next day? Well, that’s just crazy.

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Plea Deal Cut Over Microwaved Fish Gunplay

Well – since we have a dumb criminal, why not a dumb detective: The South Carolina detective who pointed a gun at the fellow lawman who used the office’s microwave to heat up fish has cut a plea deal that spares him jail, but bars a return to law enforcement, court records show.

Michael DeBiase pleaded guilty Friday to public disorderly conduct in connection with the odiferous incident at the headquarters of the Myrtle Beach Police Department. According to an arrest warrant, DeBiase “confronted” the cop “about warming up fish in the microwave, causing an odor in the office.” During that dispute, investigators say, DeBiase drew his service weapon and pointed it at the victim/stench producer. 

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SIG P385: Did SIG Build A Better-Recoiling Pistol?

At the heart of the P385 is SIG’s new Recoil Dampening System (SRDS), working with an extremely low bore axis to reduce felt recoil and muzzle movement. According to SIG, the combination can reduce muzzle rise by 20 percent or more depending on the P385 configuration, while the P385-MACH3D takes things even further with a compensator designed to reduce muzzle rise by more than 30 percent.

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U.S. Model 1892 Krag Carbine Manufactured by Springfield Armory

This carbine is one of only two Model 1892 carbines made by Springfield Armory on an experimental basis. One carbine was sent to the Board on Cavalry Drill Regulations at Fort Riley in Kansas on June 14, 1894 and another was sent to Rock Island Arsenal on July 7 to use for designing rifle racks. The carbine sent to Rock Island Arsenal was believed to be serial number 1015 and the example with that serial number is still housed in their museum. So this carbine, serial #1574, is no doubt the example sent to the Board on Cavalry Drill Regulations in 1894.

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Palmetto State Armory KS-47 

 

The KS-47 is Palmetto State Armory’s answer to a question nobody really asked: what if an AR-15 could eat AK-47 magazines? The upper is straight AR-15, bolt carrier group, charging handle, Picatinny rail, while the lower is reworked to feed from AK mags but still run a standard AR trigger group, buffer tube, and stock. It sounds like a mess on paper. It isn’t.

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Will the Real Farnam Drill Please Stand Up?

Multiple versions of a simple drill designed to test basic pistol skills. 

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New for 2026: Franklin Armory 5.56 Rabbit Rounds

Interesting idea—might be fun to try. A bit expensive tho. The fowler was the original do-all firearm in America. While its smoothbore allowed it to use multiple projectiles for small game and birds, it could also fire a single larger projectile for medium-game hunting, self-defense, or war. Franklin Armory brings that all-purpose capability to “America’s rifle” with its new multi-projectile Rabbit Rounds.

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Interactive Flock Camera Map

Proton is hosting an interactive public map showing more than 300,000 Flock surveillance devices across the United States. Cybersecurity researcher Joshua Michael’s research provided an inventory that he obtained from the Flock system that is the basis for Proton’s map. According to Proton, it includes more than 170,000 cameras and over 130,000 other devices. This contrasts with Flock’s public statement of only 120,000 cameras in use, so the actual camera count Michael obtained is about 40% higher. 

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If you enjoy reading these articles, please follow/subscribe. The link is on the upper right side of the page. All that will happen is that you will receive an e-mail when I post an article. Your information will never be distributed.If you enjoy reading these articles, please follow/subscribe. The link is on the upper right side of the page. All that will happen is that you will receive an e-mail when I post an article. Your information will never be distributed.