KATRINA SURVIVORS: "GUNS SAVED US" 2701

Well, that's a shame, because I'd trust *all* my neighbors with semi-automatics. (It's likely that a quite a few have them, anyway.) And if any of them ever decided to betray that trust, well, I have a few semis of my own at home, and a lever-action as well, so that's not a big concern.

If you could guarantee that the looters would just stroll in, tip their hats politely, and stroll out with said HDTV, then you might have a point. (Although in my case it would have to be something else of value, since I don't own, or want, an HDTV.) But criminals rarely are so considerate. I wouldn't shoot someone to stop the theft of property. But I most certainly *would* shoot to stop a threat to myself or my family, and anyone who breaks into my house will be considered armed and violent until proven otherwise. It's an easy thing to prove; all they'd have to do is to turn and run when confronted. I wouldn't hinder their escape.

I've only had to use a firearm in self-defense once, and on that occasion I didn't need to shoot, or even to remove the pistol from its holster. I was using an ATM late at night when a van pulled up behind me. I thought it odd that it stopped so far back, as if it was leaving room to pull around my car and leave without pulling up to the ATM. It seemed even odder when someone exited the van and started edging up alongside the driver's side of my car, which would bring him up to my window while I was using the ATM.

Being somewhat suspicious of his intentions, I was watching him closely in my rearview mirror. My choice at this point was to drive away and leave my card in the ATM, with the code already entered, so that he could do whatever he wished with my bank account, or else complete my business while preparing to defend myself if necessary. So I placed my right hand on the grip of the semiauto pistol I was carrying in a concealment holster on my right hip, just in case it would be needed. He apparently noticed the motion of my shoulder and arm as I did this, for he suddenly ran back to his van, jumped in, and sped away out of the parking lot. The police officer I told about the incident the next day said the average person would not have noticed or understood what my arm motion meant, and that I probably was dealing with a professional mugger or carjacker. He also said he was certain I would have been robbed, or worse, if I had not been armed.

-- Wayne Brown (HPCC #1104) "When your tail's in a crack, you improvise your pelt to the trapper." e^(i*pi) + 1 = 0 -- Euler -- John Myers Myers, "Silverlock"