Aftermath of a shooting (my story)

[meathunter]

For goodness sakes, lay off him already. Where you there, was it your families life at risk??

Nothing is quite as offensive than Monday morning quaterbacking a situation like this. While I respect LEO's and appreciate the hard job they have, I do not expect them to be there to protect or to save me from danger. That is my job, because I am always there and armed.

I live in a quiet burg close to Dallas (I long to move to the mountains ), but that will not happen until I retire or when the SHTF. So far, the gang bangers and other low life scum (meth heads, etc,.) have not moved here because the county LEO's have a very tough redneck reputation and carry .45 ACP's on their hips. To date, that has helped keep undesirables out of my little hamlet.

Since Texas has adopted the castle doctrine plus my CHL, I feel a little safer.

divemedic,

Stop explaining already, you did the only thing you could do. The best defense is a good offense.

Everybody has an opinion. Mine may stink and be offensive, but it's still my opinion

[Stevie-Ray]

- The worry about pulling the trigger and what it will do to your life. Not only the hesitation at taking a life, but the hesitation at whether or not it is going to be a "good shoot" and going to jail.

No matter how we hope to "do the right thing" when faced with the ultimate horror of kill or suffer killing, that worry will always be there. I can only hope that, God forbid, if I'm faced with that choice, that worry lasts a tenth of a second, no more. But, even a good shoot produces a life completely changed more times than not. I'm very sorry you had to move, but under the circumstances, I certainly understand. We, in this neighborhood, have had to "take our streets back" from miscreants bent on taking over more than once, though not quite to the level of your experience, and I won't elaborate on it here. Suffice to say all we've done is to prolong the house values for a time and our area remains quiet and, for the most part, still desireable. Hopefully it stays that way for a few years, until I can once again get a decent price for my house, and leave on MY OWN terms. And, here's hoping you never have to be put in a similar situation again. All the best.

[wildturkey76209]

Personally I am astounded that you dropped the charges against the gangbangers in the first place. Second, it seems that you must have had either Larry, Moe, and Curley prosecuting those thugs or the DA's office had a serious case of sympathy for the devil. Tough situation. Seems like you almost have to let one of them take a shot at you before you can kill the lot of them...

[Homesteader]

Very sorry that you had to go through this, and I'm thankful you're willing to share so we all can learn. It has been an interesting discussion. I'm a newbie to it all (firearms and SD) and am not trying to be judgemental or say anything about what transpired, only understand better.

During the first incident, was the thug just holding the weapon, or taunting/threatening with it? Of course, even if he was just holding it, that could change in an instant. Did he advance when others backed away?

When you knew they'd be back and waited outside for them, you've said that that was to keep any conflicts outside, away from your family. Was there enough time where you could have had your wife and children leave while you monitored the situation? I understand not wanting to completely leave your home, but would this have helped you defend better? With an empty home, would you choose the same course of action?

[CCDWnKY]

Originally Posted by skydiver3346

Guess I am just fed up with it. I read everyday in the paper about things like this and nothing ever gets done. We need to elect people who care about the law abiding citizen far more than the bad guys...........

And here in lies the problem. Which one of these crowds do the lawyers make their money from?

What are most of our elected officials before being elected? Lawyers!!!!

They are not going to put themselves out of business, you can bank on that!

All of their twisted laws are just job security as they convert law abiding citizens into criminals with laws the average citizen will never be able to abide by 100% of the time.

Not to get off topic here, but on topic with my reply, I recently visited some friends in Tennessee. None of which are carry conceal holders. I had to do some internet research on the TN CC laws. I was disappointed to find out I could not carry my weapon into a restaurant that serves alcohol, even though I do not drink and it is not a bar. (In KY you can). So I had a decision to make, (all the while thinking about the Luby's TX incident) do I abide by the law and leave my gun in the car, or carry it in, knowing no one will ever know I am carrying it. I opted to obey the law, even though I have very strong opposition to it. I would have never forgiven myself if something would of happened that day to my family.