The HuntChat Armed Citizen Poll

[Skinny Shooter]

I'm not looking for specific incidences unless you want to share.
Be careful not to post any information that may come back to haunt you.
Don't forget to vote in the Poll.

[Rocky Raab]

Twice, for me. Two probable attempted carjackings/robberies.

Both at stop lights, but on opposites sides of the country. One middle of the night, one mid-afternoon.

I recently came real close to a third incident. I went into a grocery store, noticing a 9-passenger van parked right in front of the door. There were several BIG men and one woman, and the woman and one man were horseplaying on the sidewalk, all laughs and giggles.

When I came out, the horseplay had turned to angry yells, and the guy forcibly pulled the woman into the van as I watched!

I walked over, blatantly moved my right hand under my vest and to my hip, and said "Lady, if you want to step out of there and leave these guys, you can." She said everything was fine. I said, "I just want you to know that if you want to step out of there right now, I won't let anyone stop you."

You should've seen the look on the guy's face as he stared at my right hand. He now knows that wrestling a woman into a van can be hazardous to your health - joking around or not!

[Adam Helmer]

Skinny Shooter,

Great poll and an even great disclaimer about "not revealing too much information." Often a thread like this generates a lot of "stories", some of which are true, but all can come back and haunt a yarn spinner.

Adam

[Lycanthrope]

Carried pretty regularly over the years. Never needed it. Hope it stays that way.

[TreeDoc]

I won't go into the minute details but when coming home from a half hour long errand in town, I found myself coming home to find a burglary in progress. I was not carrying concealed but had a rifle (Mini 14) in my trunk. I discharged once as a warning after seeing a Perp looking out my own bedroom window where I had lots of firearms and ammo stored. I then was forced to discharge a couple minutes later when I found myself faced with a self defence situation when one of the Perps who was fleeing attempted to retreive his car from my driveway. When it was all over, it was a very frightening experience. While it was happening, it was very surreal and slow motion. You never truly know how you will react to a situation like this until you are face to face with it. I wish that engagement on no one. That was nearly twenty years ago and I still own that Mini 14 today....it's the one that bears a notch in the stock as a reminder to how things could have been had I not reacted as I did.

~TD

[TreeDoc]

Boy....did I shoot this thread to pieces too?

[Adam Helmer]

TreeDoc,

I liked your personal accounts. I had three early moring home invasions that I came out the winner on in each instance. All I can safely say is the arms used were:
1) .45 Webley MkVI
2) M1911 Colt
3) M28 Smith .357.

The score was: Adam 3, Invaders 0, because I am here typing this.

Adam

[Classicvette63]

Had several occasions where carrying was, shall we say advantageous, from just showing a bulge in the coat all the way to pushing the coat behind the butt and in effect saying let's draw. Never dropped the hammer and hope I don't ever have to. Classic

[buckhunter]

I don't always carry but once on the way to shoot skeet my Father In Law and I were, well sort of accoused at a stop light. Six guys were in a Caddy pulled up next to us and well say we say making racial expressions at us. I just reached into the back seat, produced a old Savage 12 ga pump, managed to get it stuck out the window which was unloaded by the way and just yelled "Here talk to Rosco". Never seen a car move so fast.

I feel just the sight of a gun saved us from a beating.

My poor father in law was shaking like crazy, I just said lets get going. Little did he know I was pretty shakey inside.

[skeet]

And it ain't a fun feeling. Can't carry in Md but had 4 guys wanted to check out the gun shop at 2:30 in the morning. Held a gun on them while I called the police. They told me it would take a half hour to get a cop to me(I live in the country). Told 'em not to send a cop then...just send the coronor cause I didn't think the guys could stay still that long...and if one of 'em moved I was gonna start killin. Had a cop in 5 minutes(out of his bed ya understand). Locked up the guy driving the car and let the rest go. Driver had a sawed off shotgun under the seat. Scary situation...and one of the reasons I closed the gun business. It ain't getting any better, ya know. Wish I could carry but this is the People's Republic of Maryland. They don't trust us(moderately) honest people

[8X56MS]

While I have been comforted on a few occasions, by knowing I could handle the situation, if it 'went south' , I have never had to show, or use a firearm against another person. I know what to do, I am prepared to do it, but I am greatful that I have not had to defend myself or another with a gun.

[Jonesy]

I have a concealed weapons permit, but don't carry. I have had a few run ins with guns and knives toward me. Which terrorizes my wife, I guess she thinks I don't have a fear mechanism.

I'll try to make a long story short. My buddy Larry split ways with a woman he had a child with, Larry got custody. Another friend, Larry and I went to get the child's stuff along with a few leftover items of Larry's. The women had been living with an airforce MP. We had no intensions but getting all the stuff quick and painlessly, the child was at Larry's sisters. I was asked to do any moderating if needed and she knew we were coming. I knocked on the door and was greeted with a cocked colt 1911 shoved in my face. I told the MP guy to holster it, because he was seconds away from having it shoved up his (bleeeeeep!). The guy said he wasn't messing around and pointed the pistol up and fired it. The dummy lived on the first floor of a three story apartment complex. Shot a hole right in the ceiling. I don't know if the guy hit the magazine release or if something malfunctioned, but when the gun fired the magazine fell out. After the gun discharged he went to pick up the magazine, I grabbed the top of the 1911 with both hands and turned it back towards him. I don't know if I twisted it out of his hand or if he let go because it was pointed towards him. This all happened right at the front door. Anyway, I chucked the pistol across the parking lot. Larry took off running when the gun was shoved in my face. After I threw the pistol, Dave and I knocked the holy living crap out of the MP guy for the stunt he just pulled. We drug him outside and made him lay face down on the sidewalk till the cops got there. The cops took the guy and our statements. When they retrieved the pistol, it did have a live shell in the chamber and still cocked. Must be pretty stout pistols to bounce across a parking lot and not trip the sear. From what I understand, the guy was kicked out of the airforce, but that's the last I heard of him.

My wife says if I pull anymore crap like this, she is going to kill me!

It's kind of strange when things like that happen. Your adrenaline rushes, but everything goes in slow motion. I do get scared though, of my wife or children getting hurt for any reason. My 4 year old fell asleep under her bed. We didn't know where she was. After about 15 minutes of looking and yelling I was panicing pretty hard, till she finally woke up and was wondering what the heck was going on. Never been so scared!

[12ga]

There have been several times in my 73 years. I chose a "Relative using my gun" due to an incident from my childhood, the only time a cap was popped.

My mother and I were alone in an isolated rural home while my dad worked a night shift job. A guy tried to break in through the front door. He didn't quit when she yelled, "I have a gun!" I'd grabbed my little .22 Remington bolt action, as dad's deer rifle and 12 gauge double were too big for either of us. She took it and fired through the door, up near the top, above a man's head level. The man cursed and ran.

The next day dad bought her a small shotgun. I still have it after 63 years. She hung it on a wall, loaded.

Also, years later, I thwarted a car-jacking by showing and cocking a pistol. He ran.

Twice I've been in the "pull your coat back" to avoid trouble. The other people, armed in both cases, backed off.

Once I leaned a 20" barrelled 12 ga pump against a picnic table when a bunch of rowdy bikers were harrassing a campground full of people. They didn't bother me and soon rode off with rude gestures.

Although I live in the PRK for family reasons, I live in a remote county where any resident, especially a property owner, can have a carry permit with no problems except the state hoops you must jump through - - classes, etc. I chose not to carry because the less the PRK knows about me, the better I like it.

12 ga

[DaMadman]

The people Republik of Maryland doesn't really allow it, but I voted about usinf my weapon in defense against an animal attack.

I was working in my yard one afternoon after returning from hunting. I had my truck hooked to a stump trying to pull it out of the ground, and for whatever reason I was out of the truck when at around 1:30 in the afternoon a Racoon came acros the subdivision road into the yard and whe I stomped my for and yelled, it stood on hind honches and growled at me. I immediately grabbed my weapon from the truck and fired into the ground in front of the coon trying to deter it from advancing I grazed it and it rolled over and kept coming. well then my dachsund came around the corner and it and the racoon were about to have a go at it so I shot and killed the racoon. I am the type that would feed and befriend a racoon in my yard if it were coming around at night or early morning and acted like it was supposed to. I feared that this on was rabid, being out in the day and not being scared of me or the dog I wasn't taking the chance.

I've fortunetly never had to pull a gun on a person. Although I did have my shotgun with me while hunting when I cconfronted some trespassers and I think with the drunken state they were in and being 3 of them and only one of me things MIGHT have escalated if I had not been carrying my shotgun.
They were riding ATV's on our hunting lease and when I told then to leave they started to give me some grief about they had permission when I knew they didn't so I told them that if they wanted to wait for a Police officer to arrive and find out if they had permission the mumble some explicitives and left. No further problem.

[Nulle]

Guess I don't need to go into the details so I will just say it is part of my job.