If you had owned a gun....

[zippyt]

The only time I carry a gun is when I Know I am going to be out late out of town in an area that I don't know verry well ( Indusrial parks , different neiborhoods , etc,,, )
That being said I have been held up twice ( when I was younger ) , Have looked down the barrels of a sawed off shot gun ( it looked kinda like this % , but bigger ) ,
and I saw a guy get capped in the head for scuffing another dudes shoe ( he just wipped out a .38 and shot him in the side of the head , dude was dead befor he hit the floor )

HH and every body else , Cops are trained to plan for the worst , those two fine fellows had NO business walking up on the family , Bill was just getting prepaired , just incase , I would have done the same .

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by zippyt

...That being said I have been held up twice ....

Did you own a gun then? If you did, did it help? If you didn't, would owning a gun have helped?

[Kitsune]

I no longer carry, I should note, and it wasn't very difficult for me to come to that decision.

The original reasons I had for applying for my permit included living in a high crime area, traveling through one, traveling very long distances along back roads alone, and threats of violence against me from someone who became unstable.

The solutions to these were simple: I moved to a better neighborhood, I now avoid driving through the areas of town that I don't consider safe, I have a roadside service card that ensures I'm not stranded in the event of a breakdown, and the unstable individual problem managed to take care of itself.

I simply couldn't bear the weight of making a quick decision that would end someone's life. I wasn't trained to make instantaneous judgments like that and in seeing the mistakes professionals often make in the confusion of a situation, I couldn't take that responsibility with no training at all.

I also wasn't willing to take my chances with the law. After reading the example cases provided in Florida Firearms Law, Use & Ownership and their outcomes, I concluded that there was more chance of my life getting ruined by me being in the wrong place at the wrong time while packing a gun than a gun saving me from a dangerous situation. I made a huge mistake by even opening my glove box when the guy that wanted my car came knocking -- I'm lucky that incident didn't land me in jail. I also now travel to a university campus daily, I travel near elementary schools constantly, and there is no time during the day where I'm not near a school bus stop. Even my employer has a rule stating I will be terminated for simply having a gun in my car in their parking lot, a power the state has no control over.

The risks to me, by far, greatly exceed the incredibly slim chance of providing a benefit.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by Kitsune

I also now travel to a university campus daily, I travel near elementary schools constantly, and there is no time during the day where I'm not near a school bus stop. Even my employer has a rule stating I will be terminated for simply having a gun in my car in their parking lot, a power the state has no control over.

I was on a jury where a guy had a gun in a gym bag in his car's locked trunk and he had parked in an elementary school parking lot while going in to give something to his child. He was pulled over shortly after that and the gun was found in his trunk. He never tried to hide it.

We never got to deliberate, because it became apparent when the judge read the statute that the guy had incriminated himself in his testimony when he said he drove onto the elementary school's grounds. They reached some sort of plea bargain, and I don't know what happened to the guy.

If I remember correctly, you can only bring a gun onto school property in Virginia if it is secured in a locked container, in your car's trunk. The gym bag wasn't locked, even though the trunk was. The poor guy broke the law and didn't even know it.

[zippyt]

Did you own a gun then?
Yes , but its knid of hard to conceal a shot gun with a 28" barrel in your pants
If you did, did it help?
See above ,
If you didn't, would owning a gun have helped?
Probley not at first , but as they were locking us in the freezer the thought did cross my mind ( if I had my friends .45 I could take care of this ).

[Jordan]

Let me say that I live in a pretty decent area of South Florida. I was not attacked, raped or mugged during this scenario. However, firing the gun into the ground did stop my generator from being stolen during post-Wilma '05. I own a registered 9mm ruger and a pump action 12ga mossberg, both typically kept in a locked glass case. For 3 weeks after Wilma that case was empty and the guns were readily available.

There had been a rash of generator thefts in the neighborhood. The thieves would turn on a lawn mower, cut through the lock, turn off your generator and cart it back to their truck leaving the lawn mower running. I'm usually in bed around 4am so I was awake when they came by my place, which is probably the only reason I caught the difference in the sound. I couldn't shoot someone unless my life depended upon it. However, being 6'4, 220lbs I can easily scare the crap out of someone if necessary. I deemed it necessary that night.

Were they armed? As it turns out they were but luckily their guns were all in the truck. I caught the first half of their plate and the color of their pickup, they were caught 2 days later and the partial id I'd made helped to confirm them. yeah, I'm glad I had my firearms but not so pleased that i had to use them.

[Undertoad]

Welcome to the Cellar Jordan, and thanks for your story.