TexasCHLforum.com

In the past 18 months or so, the following have all occured within 1/2 mile of my home. And we live in a "good" neighborhood in a relatively small town (<35,000).

* Flasher exposing himself accross the street from my son's school.
* Drive-by shooting. I was close enough to hear/count the shots, identify the likely caliber, and determine the location they were fired from to within a half of a block.
* Two young men knocked on the door to my house one morning after I had left for work, but my wife and two sons were still home. Upon hearing someone inside the house they left. About a week later, we found out that two young men, roughly matching my wife's description, had kicked in the door of a neighbor's house and stolen what they could get their hands on, including at least one firearm.

I have always enjoyed shooting sports and have had firearms in the house since before I was legally old enough to buy them. I got my CHL this past spring/early summer. My wife will likely feel ready to get hers by this coming spring, I think. My younger son was born in March of this year. If the thugs who robbed my neighbor had gone there before knocking on our door, they would have been potentially armed. Thinking about what could have happened to my newborn son makes my blood boil. I no longer answer the door unarmed. I'm working on convincing the wife to do likewise.