I almost shot a young man on Friday night (long)

[Ron61]

Paul & Buzz,

Both of you have good points. It was well handled and many people will never be in that situation I hope. Living in a dope infested area, I have only had to show mine twice, and never had to actually draw it as their knives couldn't reach across the street.
But having worked as an assistant to the NRA instructor here giving classes for people to qualify to get their carry permits, I have seen a few that if I had been the lead instructor I would not have passed. Attitude has a lot to do with the handling of any weapon I feel and a few were in there just to say I have a gun and strut around. They are the ones that I fear would mess up badly in any situation. In all the years I have carried I have only had to show the gun twice and both times the bad guys backed off. I don't want to have to ever use my gun, but would if that was the last resort. With my physical disabilities now I can't even run, so I have stopped hiking in some of the canyons because I want to avoid the dopers who are shooting at the police with automatic rifles. The word has spread that certain people around here do carry and for the most part by using discretion and avoiding certain places when necessary, I can avoid getting into a situation. This may seem cowardly to many, but I do not want to ever have to shoot another person no matter what the cause. And since I can no longer run to avoid anything such as Buzz had to face, I know who and where the most dangerous places and people are and just try to avoid them.

It is a sad state of affairs when you live in an area where you are almost forced to carry to walk down a street.

Ron