This topic may have been covered but I don't see it on any recent threads. I'd be quite interested to hear real life first hand stories from fellow civilian forum members of times when they feel their carry weapon saved them or helped them avoid a more serious conflict. I have carried almost religiously for almost 10 years and I can honestly say I've never even felt like I was "close" to a situation where I would have to pull it. This is probably typical for most civilians, but I'm sure some of you have experiences that differ. Please share your stories...not just gun fights (though that would be interesting), but maybe times when you feel that the presence of a gun helped you out of a situation. Please share how you felt, including if you felt the typical tunnel vision, adrenealine rush, auditory exclusion etc that are so often described. I think others experiences help those of us who are not experienced plan and prepare. Thanks in advance for your candid responses. BCD

You may not get a lot of gun fighting stories...... those seem to be taboo around these parts.

I had to pull my weapon out on a man that thought that he could chase me after a road rage problem. I let it go, turned down a street just to get him down the road and away from me, he turned around, came down the street that I was on and tried to run after me until he saw the barrel pointing towards him. I seen him driving like a bat out of hell a few times before that night (at 2am in the morning, you tend to see the same cars driving around). After that happen, I never seen him again, or at least not driving that car. I couldn't get a plate number so all I could do was tell the police what happen and give them the make and model of the car.

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Don't look, reload and shoot!

Back in '84, a friend and I were driving from Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis, MO to Ft. Knox. A guy tried for force us off the road, probably for a carjacking. The sight of a loaded HK93 pointed at him caused him to remember a pressing engagement elsewhere.

Many years ago I lived about 20 miles outside of Denver in a very rural area and worked in Denver. My wife called and asked me to stop and get bread and milk before coming home. A small town lay just off the freeway that I didn't normally drive thru going home. The main street had four lanes for about 1/4 mile then closed rather abruptly down to two lanes. I came off the freeway and then moved left to the remaining lane. A low rider came up out of nowhere doing about 30 over the speed limit. I inadvertently cut him off. Much blowing of horn and working of mouth, etc., I was driving a new to me Cadillac furnished by my company. It had California plates. I pulled into a 7-11. The low rider pulled in behind me and blocked any movement by me. I watched in the rear view mirrors as the young male passenger got out with a tire iron in his right hand. I watched the young male driver get out and promptly put his right hand in his bomber jacket pocket. I rolled my window down and waited. When the driver who was working his mouth to an extreme got close I motioned him to step closer. I then aimed my Colt 1911 .45acp at his midsection and told him to freeze. He yelled to his passenger who was at the right rear quarter of my car, "He's got a gun!". I told him, "Freeze or die."., I then told him to tell his passenger to throw the tire iron out in the parking lot to where I could hear it land as I didn't dare turn to watch him. The passenger did just that. I then told him to tell the passenger to get back in the car and to slam the door hard enough for me to hear it. The passenger did that. I then told the driver to remove his right hand from the jacket pocket and if his hand didn't come out empty I would shoot him dead. He pulled out his empty hand. I then told him to twist the jacket around and to put his left hand in the jacket pocket. He did that. I then told him to remove the weapon from that pocket with two fingers. He pulled out old fashioned brass knuckles. I told him to drop it. He did. I then apologized for cutting him off, but he was coming so fast that I did not see him coming. I then told him to get back in his car. The driver then proceeded to tell me of all the things he as going to do to me the next time he saw me. I told him to shut up that I was tired of him. I told him that if I ever saw him looking at me from another car I would shoot him, did he understand? He very quietly said yes. I then told him that if I ever saw him walking down the street near me, I would shoot him, did he understand? He said yes. I then told him to get in his car and leave and to forget that he ever saw me. He left with more verbalization. In all this time no one else came by. I went in and bought the milk and bread and drove home via an indirect route. I got my Colorado plates in a couple of days. I didn't even report the incident to the local police. I kept the brass knuckles.

According to NRA statistics, 93% of the time a good person draws and shows a weapon to a bad guy engaged in a felony, no shots were required to be fired. I am very pleased to be in that 93%. ............ Big Cholla

Thanks for sharing those guys. Like I said Marcus, I wasn't really looking for gunfight stories necessarily (especially if they are taboo!) but just real personal accounts of when having a defensive weapon was directly beneficial in successfully resolving a situation, whether shots were fired or not.

I've had four instances in the last several years where criminal predators were suddenly and unexpectedly faced with my gun pointed at their head. Three of the four became eminently polite, and they all remembered other places to be......rather urgently. Three were disarmed, the other one fled.

One wanted my car, two others were just apparently random street robberies, the last was work related. The most surprising thing was WHEN they happened........most were in broad daylight!

Big Cholla, I read your account. Glad all went ok without shots being fired. But what amazes me is you pointed a loaded pistol pointing at this guy and he's still chirping at you. I would think most people would get "polite" really fast. papajohn428, I have a ccp but don't always carry during the day. You made me think. Yiogo

My stories are all rather boring... Perp walks up, commences with "interview", my hand goes in pocket, perp knows what that means, perp politely leaves scene.

Sorry for the lack of drama but that's exactly the way I like it to go.

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Centennial Every Day

Back in the old days before I started locking every door behind me, I was driving to a gun shop in Louisville (Loo-Ah-Vul), KY, in my 1970 Chevelle station wagon. At a stop sign, a rather large gentleman opened my passenger door, got in, scowled at me, and said, "You gonna give me a ride!" I very politely responded, "We don't think so." There was a "snick" sound, his eyes got very large, and he said, "I'm sorry, sir. I thought you were someone else." He climbed out of the Chevelle, locked the door, and closed it behind him. Since it was my turn to go, I drove on through the intersection, re-engaged the safety on my M1927 Argentine .45 ACP, and had to ask the gun shop owner if I could use his restroom when I got there.

This incident is why I started locking all the doors in my vehicles all the time. Was the guy armed? I don't know. Was he expecting me to be armed? Apparently not. Was he going to argue with a cocked .45 auto? Turned out he was smarter than that.

ECS

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CPT, Armor (Ret)
Luke 22:36

I just posted a link to a study that was conducted by the Cato Institute. The authors of the study compiled 8 years worth of stories where civilians used firearms in self defense. Here is a link to my post:

https://smith-wessonforum.com/concealed-carry-self-defense/231130-new-study-cato.html

Andrew

Here's something that happened to me back in the late 70's.

Because I worked & spent a lot of time in some very shady parts of town I routinely carried, among other "things" an AR-180, which I always kept the folding stock either folded, or removed altogether.

One night I pulled up to a red light where there were a few, "ladies of the evening" hanging out on the corner. One immediately came over to my passenger window and while making "her pitch" reached in and started messing with a jacket I had on the front seat that covered up my 180.

Before I could reach over to stop her she saw what was underneath and ran away screaming her fool head off, which was contagious and the others did the same.

The light turned green so I headed on down the street when I noticed a big, flashy Caddy quickly coming up from behind in the lane to my left. The guy driving it was right out of central casting in his 1970's pimp outfit & ride.

He pulled alongside & since I was in a 1965 Chevy pickup I could easily see down into his car where I noticed that he had a small, blued j frame type of gun in his right hand, but not pointed directly at me. Instead he had his hand laying on his passenger seat (white interior) with the gun barrel pointed in my general direction, which left no doubt that he wanted me to know that he meant business.

Somehow I figured that this was going to happen when I saw him coming up from behind so I had slid the AR-180 over onto my lap and had the end of the barrel leaning against the inside of the door, just below the driver's window with my hand on the pistolgrip.

We were both going about 20 mph looking at each other when I slid the barrel of the 180 up over the edge and out of the window opening, while at the same time bringing the rear of the gun up so the barrel was pointing right down at him.

As soon as he seen what was going on he dropped his snubby onto the passenger seat, which I took as a sign that he was through "talking business", and quickly turned left onto a side street. Thoughout this whole, brief, encounter neither one of us said a word to the other.

I'm sure that when he talked to his "employees" and the one told him what she had seen that he didn't doubt her one bit.

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Ogy

When I was a poor college student, I used to visit a gun store run by kind of an odd duck. Okay, he was a real redneck kind of guy. "Gene" wasn't a bad guy, just very, uh, opinionated. His store was kind of out of the way, and I decided to stop by one afternoon. Gene and I were the only ones in the store, and he was getting ready to close for the evening when a customer suddenly walked into the store. The customer appeared very surprised to see someone else in the store, and immediately said he needed to use the restroom. I don't know why, but the hair on the back of my neck went up, and I had the taste of old pennies in my mouth. I asked Gene if he was carrying his pistol, and he said yes. I then asked him if I could see it, and though he gave me an odd look, he handed me his holstered Browning Hi-Power. I took the piece and assumed a cover position on the bathroom door and told Gene that he probably wanted to arm himself, and he quickly grabbed a Remington 870 and hunkered down behind the counter. I racked the slide on the Browning and the round made a loud noise when it hit the floor. A minute later the customer started hollering that he was "coming out". He walked out of the bathroom with his hands high and smiling broadly. Nobody stopped him as he walked out of the store, but Gene was quick to lock the door. When we went into the bathroom we found a loaded RG .22 revolver stuffed down into the trash can. Neither of us doubted that the customer intended on robbing and killing Gene, and the presence of another customer - me - completely flummoxed him. Gene thanked me profusely, and I always got a great deal on guns and reloading supplies from Gene afterwards.

Regards,

Dave

May want to tread alittle more lightly, the only people I know who have killed people don't talk about it often, and when they do, they're generally at least three drinks down. I personally have drawn down on a perp with a knife. I would not have hesitated to kill him if he had not complied by dropping the knife. I puked my guts out after I was removed from the situation. It is not fun nor cool to hold a boy's (though law may dictate he was, he was not a man) life in your hand.

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Just the opinion of a kid

Excuse me if you feel the thread is inappropriate. I did NOT ask for stories of killing people, and I certainly didn't start the thread because I think killing is fun or cool. I don't think this is frivolous in any way and I hope to never have any of the experiences that people have shared. I do think it is natural (and probably prudent) for one who carries (ie me) to wonder how he would hold up if that day ever comes and to try to learn from others' experiences. That was/is the purpose of this thread...not to offend, and certainly not to celebrate killing.

Also thanks Andrew for sharing the Cato study...I read the intro and intend to read the whole thing.

Dave, that was very good example of "situational awareness".
You could tell by the perps actions and reactions something was'nt right and you took the appropriate actions to prevent yourself and friend from becoming a statistic. I hope if confronted with a similar
situation i'll be as prepared as you we're.


Chuck

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They hold no Quarter

On New Year's Eve of 1971 I was working late downtown Indianapolis, IN. I exited our building at about 7:30 through a side door that was next to an alley that led to the parking lot where I had my truck. Looking down the alley there were two "winos" that were walking down the center of the alley towards me.

I didn't pay too much attention to them, as at this time it was a fairly routine observence. When I looked up again the two guys had split off, and were at the outside edges of the alley, and had changed the position of their wine bottles to holding them around the necks where they could flip them upside down quickly, and use them for clubs.

I did not have a gun, or a LTCH at the time, but I stuck my hand quickly into my leather trenchcoat pocket, and pretended that I had a gun. When they saw me make that movement they immediately did an exit stage left. The next week I was the proud owner of a revolver that I could carry concealed, and applied for my LTCH.

Since I got my LTCH in early 1971 I have carried religiously, and have had thirteen different occassions where I have needed a gun. I have been attacked twice, three times I have been involved in carjackings, once at knife-point in my own driveway. I stopped my truck from being stolen by a guy with a wrecker, and he attacked me with a chain. Three times neighbors have come home to a burglar, and have come to my house for help. Once I caught a peeping tom, who I later found out had raped two children in the neighborhood. I have had three attemped home invasions. Once they got in with my wife, and children home.

Keep in mind that I am just an average Joe, live in a nice neighborhood, and do not look for trouble. I have been very very fortunate in all these situations. I have only had to shoot once, and I have not had to kill anyone. Each one of these situations is a story in and by itself, and I have been so glad that I was able to protect myself, and my family. Police were called in some of the situations, some they weren't. In general, having a gun, and letting the BG know that I had one was enough to defuse potentially very bad occasions.

Best Wishes,
Tom

Thanks, Chuck. I probably lost 5 lbs. from shaking like a leaf after the incident!

There is an excellent book by Gavin DeBecker, "The Gift of Fear", where he talks about listening to your inner voice - the gift God gave us that DeBecker calls "fear", and others call "situational awareness", "radar", etc. I have purchased and given away countless copies of the book to others - it is an excellent read.

Best regards,

Dave

Wow Tom...13 times..you are one unlucky dude! (or lucky to still be with us depending on your perspective!) I'm glad you were able to protect yourself...good thing you didn't live in Chicago!

While preparing to unstrap my boat from tailer I noticed
a small truck pull up beside me. This was early morning and
I was the only one at the boat ramp. The passenger jumped out of the truck,
grabbed me from behind and tried to force me to the ground. I managed to throw him across the tongue on the trailer. The driver then got out and came at me but I had time to pull my 640 smith from a pocket holster.
They changed their minds when Me, Mr.Smith and Mr.Wesson turn the odds in my favor. I recieved a bad black eye but realize I was pretty lucky that day.

I would like to apologize for coming off rude. I recently was hearing a kid talking about open carrying for the fun of making people afraid of him and gave you some of the pent up lecture I wanted to give him. I remember before my above described situation, I used to have the whole "bada**" fantasy. I understand you're motive for the thread and wish I would have read such a thread beforehand. I regret nothing I did after drawing my weapon, though I wish I would have taken better steps to deescalate before hand. I didn't notice the tunnel vision at the time, but in my memory it plays out that way. My mind was racing. I replay it in my head pretty often. My point is that afterwards, you have a completely different mindset when carrying, or at least thats the way it happened in my case.

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Just the opinion of a kid

No problem Kid and thanks for the response. It is difficult to appreciate intent and tone in a written forum like this so I understand how meanings can get misinterpreted. (maybe that is why I get irritated with texting!). Anyway thanks for sharing your traumatic experience.

I've only had one instance where i "used" a gun. I was on my way to a buddies house in a rural area/small towns and country. As i was pulling into a small convience store to get some "chewin' backy" i noticed a dude had a girl in a bear hug bending her over the hood of a car in the parking lot. She was obviously distressed and crying and trying to get
out of his grasp. This was mid-day. My first thought was "Domestic", and stay out of it. I parked my truck and just sat for a minute to see how it played out. As i did i could'nt help but hear her crying, yelling at him to let her go. I decide to act. As i got out of my truck, in his sight, i reached under my front seat and made sure he saw me get my S&W model 10 out and safely tuck it in my belt. She started screaming," Help me, shoot him, he's gonna kill me. I watched him very closely.
He was just bear hugging her, but not hitting or beating her. I told him to let her go. He did'nt even answer me but continued to hold her tight with both arms around her as she struggled to get loose. She kept screaming at me to help her. So i told him i was going inside to call the police. As i walked away i kept an eye on him. I told the cashier to call the police as someone in the parking lot had a young lady held up against the hood of her car and she was crying and screaming. The cashier said, That no good ***, steve or whatever his name was, as if she knew what was going on or it had happened before. She called the police and i got my chew and walked out. As i was walking out the girl ran inside crying and the perp was driving away. I figured it was a Boyfriend/Girlfriend dispute and don't regret stepping in and making sure he knew i had a weapon.


Chuck

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They hold no Quarter

In 1974 I was a working street cop when I became involved in a gunbattle with three guys who just held up a liquor store. I won't go into a lot of detail b/c I did kill one of the suspects, and the other two were wounded and subsequently apprehended by other responding officers.

I did experience tunnel vision and auditory exclusion but no real problems after that, at least not to my knowledge. More a source of comfort than anything else, but I've carried every day since my retirement in '97 after a 30 year career.

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Old Cop
LEO (Ret.)

I have un-holstered my carry gun twice thinking I might need to use it for protection. Both times the dual was between me and some wild critters.

The first time was with a medium-large momma black bear standing between me and my basement door one night. After I got out of my truck and started heading toward the door, she came out of the shadows like some sort of ninja. She took a few steps toward me and I drew my 681. She stood there for about 30 seconds looking and sniffing until she decided I wasn't that much of a threat... or that I smelled rather unappetizing.

The second time was when I was putting tools away in my shed one evening with my late canine friend and heard a pack of coyotes. There was nothing wrong with that until the yelps got louder and louder and my faithful companion started growling up a storm. As soon as I caught a glimpse of one darting through the woods about 20 ft away I drew my Glock 27 and quickly ushered my dog indoors. I was definitely most concerned about a brawl between my dog and the pack in that case. I don't know how well he would have done. He was too much of a friendly soul... he once chased down and squirrel and when he caught him, just stood there with him in his mouth looking at me not knowing what to do. He decided to let him go and chase him some more.

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- The Federalist #46 -

Had to pull one time, at home though.

Was waiting for a buddy to come over, heard a knock on the door, so I went and opened it with no gun on me, and without looking outside. Next thing I see is 5 guys in all black, wearing gloves and hoodies, mind you it was about 70 degrees in the middle of the summer. They asked if I had any weed (later found out, they had the wrong house the nieghbor in the other half of the house sold pot), I told them they had the wrong house and they just started looking at each other, almost like they were getting the nerve to act, at this point I noticed the gloves and tried to slam the door.

One guy caught it with his foot and they all jumped on it, trying ot force it open, as I was yelling they had the wrong house, and that they were about to get shot. They just laughed, and kept forcing the door. I was lucky at the setup of the door because I put one foot on the door and both hands, my back was against the wall. The only way they would get in is if the door came off the hinges. I was looking at them a foot away through the now open curtain.

My girlfriend at the time come to the top of the stairs, saying she was calling the cops and they laughed louder and pushed harder. I yelled for my gun and she hesitated, so I said it a "little meaner" to her and she decided that would be best.

At that time she came back to the top of the stairs, this time holding a large framed nickel plated .45, and she started to come down the stairs. Now eyes became wide and they started trying to get the guys foot out of the door which was pinched by me. She handed me the gun, when one hand came off the door to grab the gun, they all pushed hard and got his foot out.

I ripped open the door, and they were fighting each other to get off the porch and one got a pistol pointed right at his face. There was force applied to the trigger from adrenaline, one flinch by him, was all it would have taken They took off.

They came back one week later to the day and got the right house, woke the drug dealer up by pistol whipping him. (huge commotion outside at 3 am, guy was standing there bleedin BAD from his head, told me what happened.) Time to move none the less. It was a bad area, but all I could afford.

Had they got in my house, I don't know what would have happened. Me (I'm not big at all) and my 18 year old girlfriend against 5-6 large males. Would not have been pretty, that's for sure.

I have NEVER answered my door without a pistol in my hand since that day.

That's an amazing experience 9c1. I'm sure lots of people would think that I'm paranoid but I actually carry almost all of the time when I am home...even in a "good" area with the doors locked. I won't leave a loaded gun lying around unattended for obvious reasons, and locked in my safe just might not be handy enough, so the safest place is on me. I'm so used to it now that's it's like putting on my glasses or watch.

I agree...........My gun goes on with my britches as soon as my feet hit the floor. If I'm going out and I deem the gun I'm wearing "not enough", I'll swap one for another, and pack extra ammo. The scariest thing I can think of is realizing that an attack has been launched in your direction, and you have to stop and try to remember where the danged gun is. If you're wearing it in the same place all the time, there's no thought process..........you draw it and assess the situation from there.

If I'm planning on being in the car over several hours, I'll usually add a 4" 38 in a shoulder holster, it's FAR faster to access than any gun in a belt holster, especially trapped under a coat AND a seatbelt!

This is a great thread. I'm more afraid of the 4 legged critters than those with 2. I rarely carry but I like to take walks at night and carry then to ward off coyotes that are quite large and prolific in this part of the country. An incident has given me pause though. I was recovering from surgery a few years ago. A car pulled up to the top of my driveway. I stood up to see who it was and it was no one I knew. He saw me and took off. I'm sure that burglary was on his mind. Years ago in another country my wife and I were vacationing with our daughters. We were in the subway system and needed directions so my wife went up to a seedy looking character to ask directions. Next thing you know she was surrounded my subway rats intent on grabbing her pocket book. I saw the situation developing. I ran towards her and they took off and left her alone. My wife has very little situational awareness unfortunately. One other story and again in another country...in the capital city of that country. We were coming back from a river cruise and about to enter the subway system when a young man looks at my wife and at me. He makes eye contact with me. Strangers don't usually make eye contact with strangers so my danger antenna went up. I told my wife to stay in front of me and near me. He then nodded at his girlfriend. We headed down the stairs. I let my wife go first because I was expecting trouble. He ran towards us. I turned around and stepped between my wife and me. He went around us on the stairs all the while looking at my wife's pocket book. As he was going around he kept his hands to himself because he was in a compromising position and off balance. One little push and he would have been rolling down the stairs and he knew it. Sigh...just the other day my wife told me that the psychologist she was listening to said that people who carry end up being injured by perps and that I shouldn't be teaching my daughter how to shoot and carry which incidentally was by my daughter's request. I bought a small pistol for home defense and carry. She's married and often alone a night if her husband works late. Sigh. I've tried to teach both of my daughter's situational awareness. One has it but the other one is still working at it. I'm not getting any younger. A couple of friends like Smith and Wesson won't hurt. Yiogo

After reading some of your stories it brings a realization that being here is scarier than being in a foreign country. And I am proud to have the right to bear arms. I have never had to draw my weapon but I have tazed someone before at a friends house who was assaulting his gf. Police were called and all was forgiven.

...a guy "honked" me over to the side of the road as if I had some problem with my car that he noticed. He pulled in behind me and exited the driver's seat. I checked him in my sideview and saw his right hand behind his back. When he got up to my door, he started yelling at me for cutting him off...which I hadn't and told him so. He didn't like my very kind answer and pulled a BIG box wrench. The sight of my S&W Model 39 changed his attitude and he ran to his car and drove off. I went on my way.

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Term limits!

Long ago I was visiting a friend and it was getting late so I went home but stopped at an icehouse to get a pack of smokes. I noticed a guy with silver paint on his face at a payphone by the corner of the store. I went in and got my smokes.

When I exited the guy started talking to me while standing by the phone. I ignored him as I got in my truck. He walked over and tried to open my passenger door but it was locked. I yelled at him to get away from my truck but he kept wrestling with the door handle yelling let me in. It's obvious he's high as a kite and never dawned on him that the door is locked but he kept wrestling with it.

I reached over my glove box and pulled out my 1873 Calvary replica chambered for 357. I tapped on the window with it and he looked up. his eyes got big and he stumbled back then walked away.

I've only had to point my gun the once. More than once my brother has stumbled in the door after 3 a.m. and heard me click the safety off of my 1911 I keep hung in my shoulder holster on the bed post (I sleep lightly in an open loft at home). He of course imminently shouted "don't shoot, it's just me" and once one of his friends walked in the back door without knocking. I recognized him before he saw the working end, but I had cleared leather. (I had recently arrived home and was watching the news before putting my weapon up)

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Just the opinion of a kid

Tom... I've got news for you. You don't live in an "average Joe" neighborhood!

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Centennial Every Day

In 1972 my wife and our kids were out in the yard and a car with 4 men in it stopped and wanted to buy some dope. I told them we didn't sell dope - they must be at the wrong house. They called me a liar and the men got out of the car and one said - I'll take care of him and the rest of you go into the house and get the dope.

I pulled a sw 38 chief special out of my pocket and stuck it in his face and told him he would be the first one to die. They almost stomped each other to death trying to get in their car so they could leave.

Today I carry a m642-1 with me. You never know when you're going to need a gun to protect you and your family.

Photoman; If you saw my house, and my neighborhood you would be absolutely amazed that these things have taken place here. Some occurred when I lived in a different house in an older neighborhood that was used as a "pass through" for people that lived in adjoining less desirable neighborhoods.
The majority have taken place where I live now. I would guess that most people would describe it as an "upscale" neighborhood, but certainly not extreamly affluent by any means. The houses were built in the early 70s, and at that time were probably close to the upper limit of what was being built at the time. A lot of the area is heavily wooded, and the lots vary from about 1/2 to 1 acre in size. All the houses are very well maintained, and most people know everyone that live around them. I have lived here for almost 35 years.


When I first joined the Forum I felt kinda "strange" always carrying a gun, even when home, but it was sure nice to read all the other posts about - what gun to carry when mowing the lawn, etc." I don't feel near as "strange & alone" as I previously did.

I do some custom woodworking, and I once had a U S Marshall stop in for some work. He noticed the 3" 629 on my hip, and after inquiring if I had a licence said,"I wish more people would be prepared at home. People just don't realize that the police can only respond."

With having to defend myself, and my family so many times over the years I can readily say that things can happen anyplace. The point of all the above being: You just don't know WHEN, or WHERE something can happen. It is best to be ready, and prepared wherever you may be.

Best Wishes,
Tom

One day I had to run some errands in the morning. Additionally, my wife asked me to drop off a gallon jug of apple cider to my kids school for a halloween party. She left it out on the back porch to stay cold because the refrigerator was full. Then, she went to work. When I left, I could not find the cider. I could not reach her at work so I went onto my errands. This was in the days before everyone had a cell phone. I had my Glock 23 with me.

When I got home I noticed that my rear gate at the back of the yard was open. It never is because we had a dog then, so I went to check it out. I looked around and behind my neighbor's garage it looked like someone had been camping out. About the same time a saw someone hiding behind a tree I noticed a half drank gallon of apple cider on the ground. I told the person to come out of there and he only backed up a little and had his hands concealed. I told him to show his hands and he did not react. I had enough of this and drew my G23 and again told him to show his hands. He immediately did and I ordered him out of behind the garage.

Up to this point I was acting as an armed homeowner. But being a police officer and knowing about recent thefts in the area I decided to detain him. I ordered him to interlock his fingers and put his hands on his head and turn around. I secured my gun and checked him for weapons - he had none.

OK, now what? No one was home. Cell phones weren't common yet and I did not have one. I was not going to take him inside my house to call the police. I thought my neighbor Lucy might be home so I marched him over to her front porch. Thinking he may try to bolt if I get distracted getting her attention I told him to kneel down on the porch and cross his legs. I still had hold of his hands on top of his head. I rang Lucy's doorbell and she came to the door. I asked her to call the police. She became so panicked she could not make the call, but instead handed me her cordless phone and I made the call.

The PD showed up and took the guy into custody. We checked behind the garage and found a backpack loaded with stuff from people's cars - loose coins, cassettes, somebody's work uniform, whatever he could lay his hands on - and my apple cider!

Later when I talked to Lucy about this she said when she was coming to the door she recognized me, but she didn't know who the little short guy was!

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Tony

this may not be what you are looking for but a will share something so hopefully people will know why some of us believe its a good idea to be armed and have a plan.
My brother a long time ago was expecting a friend to come over when he heard a knock at the door at the same time his friend was to arrive, he walked over and open the door. As he turned to walk back into the livingroom he said come on in John. After turning around he noticed his nose was in the barrel of a handgun. It wasn't John but a armed robber, he took a roommate and his gf and had my brother tie them up with duct tape in the bathroom. My brother did a real bad job of tieing up his roommate and he was able to free himself. The only weapon his room mate had was a hunting knife and he freed the gf but couldn't decide what to do next. the bg had my brother hauling stereo equipment and electronics to the bg car. when they could make a break for it the roommate and gf made a break for it down the hall of the apartment, the bad guy and my brother just entered the building again and when the bad guy saw the two making a get away he fired on them but they made it out to call the cops with no hits. The bad guy took off leaving my brother there wondering if his friends were alive. The girlfriend was the sherrifs daughter and the response time was immediate, they found no bullets and concluded he was firering blanks. I week later the roommate and gf had to go to the morgue and identive him as he was shot by an officer on his last day of duty before retireing, the bad guy was robbing a hotel downtown. The officer had never had to draw his weapon before this. This time the bad guys gun had real bullets in it
Lessons learn
Never open the door if you don't know for positive who is there.
Make sure your only weapon isn't a hunting knife.
Always date the sherrifs daughter (just kidding there)
Stay alert and safe never let your guard down
Cracker57

the last edition of 'american rifleman' had an interesting story about a 90 yrs ww2 vet takeing a pistol slug into his face in a home-invasion robbery.
while the crook was gathering loot the tough oldster managed to grab a .38 snubby s&w and announced to said crook 'now it's my turn' the crook turned to face him whereupon the vet put 3 slugs into the crook who was listed in critical but stable at hospital after emt got him there. the vet was listed as serious but stable. and gave leo his report

A good lesson there cracker57. Don't take things for granted. I don't though because I think up too many possibilities that can happen.

It's like what if?

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_It was love at first shot_

I find some things difficult to talk about. Shooting someone is one of those things. My father loved talking about his years in the military but never would talk about his battles that got him a few medals.

I have experienced times that I had to use my sidearm but they were not pleasant and I did not enjoy doing so.

When things go bad, a person does what they feel best at the moment. There are few things that prepare someone for the unexpected event.

The funny things that happened are a lot easier to talk about.

Actually, there's some truth there. I was married to a deputy's daughter way back when and we were both being threatened by local thugs over a guy we were scheduled to testify against. I had talked to my FIL about the situation, and he lent me a pistol and a sap in case the bad guys showed up. Sure enough, late one Sunday night I saw someone skulking around outside our apartment building, and told my wife to call the cavalry. I sneaked out the side door, hid behind a dumpster, and waited, watching the back of the building. Sure enough, the BG came around back, looked all around, knelt down, then started prying on the door jamb with a huge screwdriver. I sneaked around the dumpster bin, tiptoed up behind him and smacked him in the head with a sap, and as soon as I pinned him down, I could hear the squad cars coming at full gallop. There was a lot of tire screeching, yelling, stomping of feet, and four of them rounded the corner of the building with guns drawn. The BG was quickly cuffed, a 32 revolver was found in his front waistband along with a folding knife. They stacked about a dozen felony charges on him and he rolled over on everybody involved, but he still got 15 years.

I found out as I was writing my statement that my wife had called the Sheriff's Dept, her Dad was working the desk that night, he sent EVERYBODY, and one deputy said he was doing 130+ heading into town, because he knew about the situation, and the call was put out as a possible Attempt Homicide in progress. Given the knife and the gun they took off him, that might have been the correct call!

My FIL chastised me for the way I handled it, but I didn't want to shoot him in the back, and I didn't want him to get away, either. I thought it went down quite well, myself! And it only took about three days before I stopped shaking.

When I was in my early twenties I was a young husband and father whose in-laws were a crazy bunch of people. My (now ex-wife, thank God)wife's mom was living with an abusive alcoholic who terrorized everyone in the family, but she wouldn't leave him for any reason. She would always testify for him whenever he was hauled off to jail for something he did while drunk, and it caused a lot of friction within my own family.

One night she appeared on our doorstep, hysterical with fright about his latest drunken rage, her two-year old son and 6 month-old daughter in her arms. We took her in and she and my wife hid in a back bedroom, while I retrieved my Ruger Blackhawk .357 and waited for the inevitable. Sure enough, the S.O.B. appeared at my front door and began roaring that he knew his woman and child were inside, and that he was going to kick in the door, beat me to death, and take them back.

WHAM!!

My front door flew open with the force of his kick and he appeared at the threshold, high on booze and adrenaline. I sat in my Laz-Boy and calmly raised the gun into my field of vision, cocking the hammer as I did. I never said a word as I placed my finger on the trigger, but I centered the front sight on his face. He stood there, breathing very loudly until I guess he realized what was about to happen, before turning and vanishing into the darkness. While I sat in my chair one of the women called the police, who showed up about 20 or 30 minutes afterward. They took my statement, stated off the record that it would have been a favor to them if I'd gone ahead and shot the man, as he was a known problem with them before.

The next day I paid to have the door fixed, my landlord asked me to move out, my mother-in-law had her man bailed out of jail, also refusing to press charges against him. He got probation(again) for smashing my door, which was plead down to some kind of drunk and disorderly charge. Within a year or so I was divorced from my wife, and took my son away from the madhouse that was that family.

Would I have shot him if he'd stepped through the door? Absolutely. As I saw it I was protecting my wife and child, and if killing him was the way to do that, then so be it.

IMO this is a VERY important point that many do not consider or plan for. Every cop who has worked the street for any length of time knows that there are some dumb ****s who will walk right at someone who has them at gunpoint daring them to shoot him/her. Everyone needs to be aware that these people exist and plan for how you would react. Some situations make an acceptable response obvious others are not as clear cut. It is imperative that you understand the law where you live and plan for the unexpected.
Please don't misunderstand my point, I understand and agree "better judged by twelve than carried by six". I just think it's important to realize not everyone will respond as expected when you point a gun at them.

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SWCA #1917

Hehehe. I love this story!

You "sobbered him up"!

Many years ago, I worked for a ships agent in New Orleans. I'm the guy that got to drive down to the Orange Street wharf and that sort of spot at all hours of the night. Lots of times I was meeting a ship to deliver payroll. Merchant marines like to be paid in cash, when they hit the Big Easy.
I carried a sawed off 12ga double barrel and a 1911.

I devised a method, that I'll share with you. A heavy paper shopping bag with a hole in the bottom corner allowed me to hold the shotgun by the pistol grip (it had been sawed off just behind that, and the bag basically concealed the old Stevens).

Also in the bag was a plastic bag with cash (sometimes in excess of 30,000) another plastic bag with any paperwork required for my errand to the ships master.

I would often shove a newspaper or three in the bag, and I also liked to have a bundle of celery sticking out the top. Nothing says "just groceries" like a bunch of celery sticking out of a paper sack being cradled in your arms.

You might think "Why?"... Well, the fact was that if you go walking around the wharves in NOLA at 3am wearing nice clothes and carrying a briefcase, you are beggin' to get jumped. This I knew from our companys prior experiences with the other office johnnies who'd been stuck with delivering payroll.

The most memorable (there were numerous) occasion was when two cats fronted me with the question "What's in the bag, a..hole?!"

I tipped the top of the bag towards him, and I have, to this day, never seen a man run backwards as fast as he did. No Shots Fired, (that night)Thank you.

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Halfway and one more step

When we first moved out to small town West Virginia, things seemed pretty groovy. We left the terrorists, crackheads and bureaucrats of the Washington DC area behind.
Only to encounter a different kind of terrorist.
Apparently some of the locals don't approve of a White Italian woman being married to an American Indian male. Our house was vandalized, trash thown in our backyard, obscenities written on the windows of our vehicles and fires lit on our front porch. I've even had my life threatened by a white supremacist skinhead because I was born the "wrong color." We called the local police, who of course did nothing. So, my wife and I got our permits and carry concealed.
I was in our backyard grillin' meat and telling our neighbor about what's been going on. He of course had no idea about it. I told him that because of the hate crimes, we've gotten our carry permits and I don't go anywhere in town without my snubby. I pulled up my shirt and showed it to him.
After that, all of the problems stopped and people in town are so friendly to us now.

Now, you KNOW you have to cough up more stories!

As soon as you said "telling our neighbor about what's been goin on", I had a good idea where this was going. Love your solution!
(Moral of the story) Leave people alone!!! *don't start none, won't be none*

A couple of years ago an Asian family about a block away was having a moving sale. I was checking out their stuff and talking with the owners. They told me that people were commiting the same hate crimes against them and that they were leaving because they feared for their safety. I told them what I did but they didn't like guns and chose to run away instead. They kept their house and yard neat and tidy. I told them it's too bad they're leaving and I hope the new owners kept the place neat.
Now the place is a dump with trash and junk mounded in the yard and on the porch.