Yes, on a few occasions, and I was awfully glad to be armed. In one, a car full of "yutes" accosted my girl friend and myself while we were on an evening walk around the block. At the time, Texas did not have a CHL provision except for "bona-fide travelers". The police had a wide degree of latitude in interpreting whether a traveler was "bona-fide" or not. When they drove their car across our pathway, I told the girl friend to run and hide in the tree line, and then I drew my Colt Government Model on them and told them to "halt". I'm sure I could have gotten a "brandishing" charge quite easily, and that probably would have been my least serious charge. As it was, I think the little dears got the point and the threat was neutralized.

On another occasion, I had a home invader late one night. Long story that I won't bore ya'll with, but it turned out to be a bad joke that could have resulted in a fatality. When he broke through my front door, I was bringing the GM up to bear, and had an excellent front sight hold on his chest and was already starting to mash the creep out of the trigger. Thank God for CQB training in the Army as I was able to issue good commands that he followed to the letter. My confidence increased exponentially after I had him in a leaning rest against the front door with his back to me and I told him that I was calling the police, and that if he moved, I was going to kill him. His response was for me to go ahead and call the police and to ask them to "please hurry".

For me, a .45ACP semi-auto or revolver is an excellent tool for potentially bad social situations.

Best of luck,

Dave