"I realized that even if I'd had a gun it would have just been counterproductive, that by the time the guy had drawn on me, I just needed to survive, not fight."
Words of wisdom on your son's part. Fighting a hopeless battle is not immediately the smartest thing in the world, and he recognized this, and made the best possible judgment call to ensure his survival in light of the situation.
I am very, very glad they are both okay, albeit very, very indignant that these things happened to them in the first place.
It reminds me of the quote from Taxi Driver, "Someday a real rain will come and wash all this scum off the streets."
In our case, a fair amount of scum was washed away promptly from New Orleans and into the Houston area.
Surreal.
The crowds at some of the gun stores I frequent are changing. Infer from that what you will. And other things are changing. Crime in my girlfriend's neighborhood has gone up. She's interested in learning to shoot the Taurus PT-111 Millenium Pro she got a while back and left to sit in her safe. She's taking an interest in her own preservation as well as that of her family, and not a moment too soon.
It's not that we didn't already have our fair share of gangbangers and other such wastes of life, it's just, well... we have more of them now.
Springmom, give your kids a pat on the back for me, they have excellent heads on their shoulders. Give yourself a pat on the back too, after all, you're the one who raised 'em.
