Ever been in a situation where you needed your gun?

[Nnobby45]

In my 27 years of life I've never been in a situation where I wished I had a gun on me.

Unfortunately, that doesn't buy you anything whether you've needed a gun or not. You're still in the same "victim pool" as the rest of us. Not saying you don't know that, but a point worth noting.

[cheyenne'sfinest]

i had a girlfriend once that used to screw around on me, and one of her hundred thousand boyfriends came to a party i was at with my bodies and asked me to come out to my car over the phone. i went out the back door and came around the back way to my car out the alley way. when i rounded the corner him and 3 of his buddies were sitting on the hood of my car facing towards the house. my old 16 gauge pump was in the trunk. i didn't say a word and began to creep up and unlock my trunk. they immediately heard me and turned around and began to threaten me. by this time i had opened the trunk and had a hand on my loaded shotgun. i just told them to leave and that they didn't want to see what i was about to get out. they believed me and i haven't seen them since. didn't even have to get the gun out.

[Nnobby45]

I'm also wondering if since you started carrying if you felt like a hammer always on the lookout for a nail...

NO!

When I got my license, I also got a list of restrictions on where I could and couldn't go, and conduct that was expected of me, and pretty good knowledge of how the law works.

I took notice of a warning about a bunch of old retired folks (like me) who don't own guns, and who might be sitting in judgement of my actions someday.

Maybe you don't take crap off people, normally. When you're armed, you take crap off everyone and walk away.

[B.N.Real]

Yes,but the three guys parked right next to my driver's door,smoking pot in a practically empty parking lot that thought they were getting a free,bright red,brand new,Honda Civic thought otherwise when I put my nickel plated Mauser HSC in my shirt pocket before I tried to get in our car.

My wife was with me then too,it was her car.

Funny thing was,that Mauser was so unreliable it was ALWAYS a one shot handgun.

Still,I thank the old gun salt Archie for selling it to me years earlier.

Sometimes you just have to have the gun and look like you know what you are doing and the bad guys will go elsewhere.

I own better guns now.

[Willie Lowman]

Two times.

Once in my apartment when I was 21. Two guys broke in to try to attack my roommate while he slept. He was a big guy and liked to run the bars. These two waited till he went to bed because they thought they had a chance against him then. Got out my Mossberg and "diffused the situation" They left and we called the cops. Small town, we knew them by name and so did the cops...

The other time was a stray dog. Nastiest animal I have ever seen. It was between me and my car in my driveway one day. It was sick, malnourished, missing hair. It saw me and barred its teeth and began to growl. I showed it my GP100 and it ran. The dog seemed to know what a pistol was when it saw it. The dog came back later, chased my girlfriend from her car into the house. I shot it twice in the head with my AR 15.

[ltc444]

Twice as a LEO in South Arkansas. Both time involved clearing unlocked churches with suspicious vehicles parked in hidden locations.

The first church was empty. The second was kind of funny in retrospect.

We entered with the classic I went (first) left and partner went right. I hit a wall and was sillouted against the light. End result the paster was trying to finish his sermon and had parked his truck in the back so his parishners would not disturb him.

I had one incident were two thugs tryed to goad me into a fight at a convience store. Finally, I had had enough and told the clerk to call 911 and tell the operator that "chuckles husband", my wife was a dispatcher/Secratary for the PD, was about to get into a fight and they needed to send an ambulance. AR did not have a carry law at the time so I was unarmed.

They did follow me home. I entered my house picked up my Raid Jacket and trusty 1911 went back outside and they quickly vacated the area.

Had the privilige of picking up the instigator a couple of weeks later for Drug, firearms and burglary. He spent a good deal of time in Cummings Prison.

[FairWarning]

Not a situation where I would have drawn it, but there have been a couple of times when it would have provided considerable comfort. But that's not the point. You don't decide when you will need a gun. It is decided by others.

[Jim March]

I'm also wondering if since you started carrying if you felt like a hammer always on the lookout for a nail...

You need a non-lethal defense plan too. Either you can fight, or you carry pepper spray. A strong flashlight at night is also very effective both at temp blinding somebody and as a kubaton if it's the right size and type. Mine is.

First time I ever put my hand on a gun out of nervousness was a couple of weeks ago. Five coyotes were trotting towards me on a suburban Tucson street. Yeah, real coyotes, not stray dogs, and moving at a fast trot (probably just their traveling speed). They went around me, went on my way. Interesting . The bigger Javalinas around here are more dangerous but a .357Mag could put either down.

In California I reached for knives against the dreaded "two legged rattlesnakes" twice, once in my own defense, once when pulling some guy out of a four-on-one stompdown, victim already down hard. That was pretty wild...opposition had a couple of hammers and just before I showed up had knocked the victim down with one. I pushed them off, the victim shot to his feet and then passed out in the next subway car behind me. I plugged the hole leading to him, they backed down. The other, I chased a mugger armed with a wrench off (me at the intended victim). I also chased two dogs off of somebody else, with a drawn knife on my part. So...three knife incidents, two in defense of somebody else. Interesting pattern I guess.

[Hard Ball]

Yes having a pystol has saved my kife twice