When did you realize you needed self defense ?

[nuparadigm]

The first time I was shot at and was missed.

[bryang]

However, my sense of really needing self-defense began with the 1992 Los Angeles riots in the wake of the Rodney King verdict.

Annoyed, I understand what you were going through with the riots in LA. Believe it or not, I survived the 1965 "Watts Riot" in Los Angles. It started with the arrest of three Frye family members which broke the racial tension as violence spilled onto the streets of Watts for six days. I was in the Navy and you could see the orange glow of the fires all over. It looked like LA was totally going to burn. All the streets were deserted and there were no lights on in the houses around where my apartment was. My brother-in-law loaned me a shotgun with which a buddy of mine and myself stood watch at the apartment or where ever we had to go.

If you find yourself in the big middle of a riot it will change you mind real quick about getting your CHL.

-geo

[nitrogen]

For me, it was the day my now-wife moved in with me. I was perpetually in condition white, until I had her point out so many things that were dangers that I never noticed.

She then had some incidents where we used to live in California that sealed it for me: We had to be able to protect ourselves.

[brian704]

i work for the county jail and i am not scared to handle my business, and not scared to tell a baby rapper that he should be shot. i have gotten it to where i have made there stay longer at the county jail and so needless to say i am not liked. by there family and or them. i have had death threats against me and my family, i have had a small bomb thrown into my front yard and got my tree on fire.

i love my wife and my family so i will do what i can to keep them living.

if it was not for my family i dont think i would carry and the death threats and what not would not bother me.

[Tass]

When the ability to obtain a CHL first was realized, my Father urged me to get one and I put it off (just out of college...what could happen?). I found myself being harrassed by a co-worker from another department. At work he would show up in my area (parks department) where there really wasn't a need-i need to add it was only when the other employees were away. After work he would call my house for hours, hanging up on the machine, averaging a call every 2-3 minutes sometimes. I LOVE CALLER ID (and stupid people-he used his home phone). Supervisors were no help-he was a long time employee and son of a long time employee. I now have a dog that barks franticly every time the phone rings (this was over 10 years ago) thanks to his calls. I dreaded the day he would decide to come to my house instead of just calling.

Problem solved when he was killed in a drunk driving accident (one car only-no one else was hurt). Can't say that I am sorry.

I made the choice to not let myself live with that kind of fear again. My Father had passed on by then but I will say now, that Daddy was right.

Tass

[The Annoyed Man]

However, my sense of really needing self-defense began with the 1992 Los Angeles riots in the wake of the Rodney King verdict.

Annoyed, I understand what you were going through with the riots in LA. Believe it or not, I survived the 1965 "Watts Riot" in Los Angles. It started with the arrest of three Frye family members which broke the racial tension as violence spilled onto the streets of Watts for six days. I was in the Navy and you could see the orange glow of the fires all over. It looked like LA was totally going to burn. All the streets were deserted and there were no lights on in the houses around where my apartment was. My brother-in-law loaned me a shotgun with which a buddy of mine and myself stood watch at the apartment or where ever we had to go.

If you find yourself in the big middle of a riot it will change you mind real quick about getting your CHL.

-geo

Bryan, you're aging yourself!

I actually remember the Watts riots fairly well. I was 13, going on 21 at the time. I was on summer vacation with my family at the time. We had a beach house in Dana Point, and I was a budding surfer dude - surf knots on my knees and feet, and everything. . . . Anyway, I remember that it was all that anyone was talking about at the time, and I remember watching the news reports (in black and white) at night. I believe that it was the first "race riot" ever in the history of the nation, and it was a cause of great worry for many people.

[Stan]

As long as I can remember. Whether it was bullies in school or street criminals when I was older, I knew that I needed to defend myself. The authority figures (teachers in school, police on the streets) could not guarantee my safety and were there more often to clean up afterward instead of preventing the attack. When thugs strike we are on our own.

However, it was only in recent weeks that I have become concerned that the authority figures may be a more dangerous threat than the criminals. Between the incessant lies about gun smuggling, the rollback of civil rights in national parks, and the DHS attempts to vilify the good guys, it looks like the writing is on the wall. My concealed carry pistol and home defense shotgun are no longer enough. I need a rifle, preferably an AR of some sort, to help resist the biggest threat to Texas liberty since Santa Anna.


"Say to Mr. Poinsett that it is very true that I threw up my cap for liberty with great ardor, and perfect sincerity, but very soon found the folly of it. A hundred years to come my people will not be fit for liberty. They do not know what it is, unenlightened as they are, and under the influence of a Catholic clergy, a despotism is the proper government for them, but there is no reason why it should not be a wise and virtuous one."
- General Antonio López de Santa Anna

[bryang]

However, my sense of really needing self-defense began with the 1992 Los Angeles riots in the wake of the Rodney King verdict.

Annoyed, I understand what you were going through with the riots in LA. Believe it or not, I survived the 1965 "Watts Riot" in Los Angles. It started with the arrest of three Frye family members which broke the racial tension as violence spilled onto the streets of Watts for six days. I was in the Navy and you could see the orange glow of the fires all over. It looked like LA was totally going to burn. All the streets were deserted and there were no lights on in the houses around where my apartment was. My brother-in-law loaned me a shotgun with which a buddy of mine and myself stood watch at the apartment or where ever we had to go.

If you find yourself in the big middle of a riot it will change you mind real quick about getting your CHL.

-geo

Bryan, you're aging yourself!

I actually remember the Watts riots fairly well. I was 13, going on 21 at the time. I was on summer vacation with my family at the time. We had a beach house in Dana Point, and I was a budding surfer dude - surf knots on my knees and feet, and everything. . . . Anyway, I remember that it was all that anyone was talking about at the time, and I remember watching the news reports (in black and white) at night. I believe that it was the first "race riot" ever in the history of the nation, and it was a cause of great worry for many people.

Boy I sure did, huh? I actually had to look up the date and it even shocked me!!

Yeah, as far as I know it was the first of anything like that ever happening in the US and everyone was on high alert and on edge. The local news and police told everyone to stay inside...needless to say, we did!

-geo

[A-R]

I believe that it was the first "race riot" ever in the history of the nation, and it was a cause of great worry for many people.

Not a big deal, but a quick factual correction ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Race_Riot_of_1919

[Liberty]

There was Nates's slave rebellion in 1831, There may have been earlier ones.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_Turner ... _rebellion" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Basically they went around door to door freeing slaves and killing the slaveowners and their familys Some of the rioters were freemen. The slaves thought they were patriots in search of freedom. The slave holders thought they were murders. I would consider it a race riot, it was a mob on a rampage. They didn't use guns instead they used knives, hatchets, axes, and blunt instruments. They killed 60 white folk.
Over a hundred black folk were killed in retaliation, 70 were actually involved in rampage.
Probably most of the white victims had guns in their home.