On Wed, 10 Mar 2004 09:49:39 -0500, Mike Patterson
wrote:

So everyone in the universe should be forced to live their lives based
on two of your anecdotal experiences?

I got one for you. One night in downtown Atlanta I was stopped at a
traffic light after work when 2 urban outdoorsmen decided to rob me.
One went down the passenger side of my van trying door handles while
the other came up to my window and reared back with a brick to throw
through the window into my face. I had a .38 revolver with me (I
worked on ATM machines back then) and all I had to do was lift the gun
into view. The one with the brick dropped it and yelled "he gots a
gun!" then ran away. His buddy beat him to the alley.

Note that I never even had to put my finger on the trigger. No dead,
no wounded. A bad case of the shakes afterward, but no blood.

In this case if I had -not- had a gun the outcome would "have been a
messy business in many ways".

My wife & children might disagree that Daddy should be dead or hurt
because it terrifies you that he had the means to defend himself from
predators.

Another example:

Id had a back surgery, and still had the staples in my back. Using a
cane was a requirement and moving fast was out of the question. My wife
and I had traveled the 42 miles to the doctors office for a very late
afternoon checkup and were returning home along a very dark and desolate
rural road.

A car pulled up along side of my old long bed Chevy stepside pickup, and
tried forcing us off the road. My wife had very long and shiney blond
hair, and she was driving, while I was slumped exhausted in the
passenger seat. For the next 10 or more miles, the car did everything,
including slamming into our rear bumper to get us off the road. A
large number of such incidents had occured along this stretch of road
over the previous years, resulting a a number of rapes and robberies by
a gang of 4 hispanic males. One woman was beaten to death after being
raped.

At this point, I knew we were in trouble, so I drew my stainless steel
..45 and with them on our rear bumper, I held the weapon up in their
head lights and racked the slide. My full intention was to lean out the
passenger window and empty the magazine, 14" above the headlights. I
probalbly would have torn the staples out of my back..

Upon seeing me rack the slide, the headlights were instantly pointing
down at the pavement as they threw out the anchor and made a U turn in
the opposite direction. No shots were fired, no one was harmed, and my
wife and my self were safe.

About 6 weeks later, an aqqaintence and his wife was in the exact same
situation in the same stretch of road. The car did the same tactics,
bumper tag, trying to force him off the road. Knowing what had happened
to me, and not being a particularly forgiving type, he allowed them to
force him off the road. He turned slightly sideways and slipped out the
passengers door, 45 in hand while his wife ran out into a cotton field.
The car pulled up and as the occupants started exiting the vehicle, base
ball bats etc in hand, R shot them. All 4 of them. Repeatedly. When
those not hit in the first couple seconds drived into the car, he simply
reloaded and shot the car to doll rags. And then reloaded again. He then
advanced on the car, and shot each individual in the head, on the theory
that he was in the middle of no where, with 4 dangerous individuals who
had proven to be a deadly threat not only to him but to many other
people.

This was in the pre-cell phone days of the late 70s. He and his wife sat
in his pickup for about 30 minutes before a car came along and the
driver stopped and at R's request went to call the cops. It took a bit
more than 2 hours for the police to arrive.
To make a long story short..he was congratulated in surviving the
attack, for taking 4 violent career criminals out of the gene pool, and
the spate of rapes and robberies ended instantly. Investigation showed
at least 3 of the individuals were identified by previous victims.

Another instance...working at a shop in East LA, down on Union Pacific
Ave, I have a customer who only works at night, so I have to service
his machines very late. I had walked out to my truck to get something
and was accosted by several minority males with obvious ill intentions.
This is an area where most 2nd shift guys carry a gun, even while
working at their machines, or their shops are inside a compound of chain
link fence and concertina wire around the tops.

When working in this area, I carry a .45 on my hip in a high ride
holster, under an open machinists smock, just to keep my clothes clean
(filthy shop..bleeck!)...anyways..when the 3 underprivledged individuals
requested my wallet, swinging their bits of rebar rather emphaticly, I
assumed a fearful expression, and slowly reached for my wallet. I came
back with my .45. I presented my firearm, and aimed the sights on the
bridge of the leaders nose, and simply said "Go Away".

There was three sharp pops as the air rushed into the vacuum left by
their rather hurried departure. The shop owner evidently had witnessed
the whole thing through a window, and he came outside with a shotgun. He
was chuckling as he wrinkled his nose and said he smelled ****, and sure
enough..there was a trickle leading up the sidwalk in the same direction
the 3 miscreants had fled.

Final score, no shots, 3 runs and 1 foul.

Shrug..it could well have been far worse.

Gunner

The two highest achievements of the human mind are the twin concepts of "loyalty" and "duty."
Whenever these twin concepts fall into disrepute -- get out of there fast! You may possibly
save yourself, but it is too late to save that society. It is doomed. " Lazarus Long