So, have you ever had to use/display your weapon?

[oilman]

Once in the house around 11PM. Gunfire heard nearby.


Retrieved my XD, called the constables and stayed in the house until they arrived. They searched the neighborhood but found nothing.

[charlie]

Concerning pioneer women:

My father gave me a Colt 44-40 thumb buster that he had kept in his closet for years. It was my maternal grandfathers gun. My maternal grandmother gave it to my Dad upon my grandfather's death in 1953.

You could say my maternal grandmother was a pioneer woman. She died at 104. She came to Texas in a covered wagon. Her parents had left Texas for Kansas, but returned soon after my grandmother was born.

I asked her what she could tell me about the old 44-40. She remembered shooting it and said that she never had trouble shooting it, despite her size (about 5'1"). Like most farm girls, she could shoot well. It sure was loud, she said.

She said that whenever my grandad left the farm or was off of the property, she always got the old hog leg out and put it on the kitchen table.

Not that she mistrusted her neighbhors, she said, you just never who was going to ride up to the house. It was the custom to let strangers water their horses. She was born in the late 1880s, so when she was a young married women, people used horses for transportation.

They eventually left the farm and settled in Rockport, Texas where she didn't feel a need to keep the pistol on the kitchen table. But it was always handy.

People in those days were realists. They knew the gov could'nt protect them, and knew that there were bad folks who could ride up to a remote farm and do harm. The pioneers understood that and were prepared.

[/quote]

[Paladin]

I've been through numerous dog attacks. Once I drew my gun, but didn't have a clear shot, and the owner came out and got his dog.

Is it legal to use a gun against a dog? I know OC is fine, but are we allowed to use a gun in public to kill an attacking dog? I know I'd rather live and have a dead dog in front of me than to suffer whatever he had in mind, but is it legal?

Stats I've seen from the LAPD say that 25% of the time that the LAPD opened fire, it was against a dog.

Dogs kill several people every year. Including several in Texas in the last few years.

I believe dog and other animal attacks to be the biggest civilian threat out there. Dog attacks are very common. The CDC estimates that dogs bite 4.7 million people every year. I believe the threat from criminals and nutcases is somewhere behind animals. This site lists victims of violent crime at 1.5 million per year. In my experience dogs aren't smart enough to know when to back off against a CHL, where criminals and nutcases take non-verbal cues better.

[Ron C]

There is a very strong, very large pitbull that lives behind us. Anytime someone goes in our back yard, especially with our dog, the pitbull charges the fence and pounds against it. I have reported it, but nothing was done.

Now, if one of those boards pops loose you can bet he will meet his maker.

[John]

Twice – both times at night in my house. Once was a serious bump in the night on one of my rear windows. The other was my son coming home when he was supposed to be sleeping over at a friend’s house. He set the alarm off at midnight. Lucky for us both, that he hollered “it’s just me�, because I had the gun and flashlight ready in seconds. Oh and anytime there is an unexpected knock at the door at night, but I do not consider that drawing, just good practice.

There was one time when I parked at service station/convenience store at night to trade off some equipment with a co-worker. I was returning to my car and had stupidly parked off to the side in a dark area away from everyone else. There was a guy on the pay phone next to my car and as I walked up, he dropped the phone and turned around with a belt doubled up and stretched between his hands. He was maybe 8-10 feet from me. At the same time, another car pulled up next to me and the guy turned and walked off. Didn’t have to draw, but very well may have if the other car hadn’t pulled up.

Oh and there was the time I ran nakid with a battle axe after... oh no, that was someone else.

[G.C.Montgomery]

I know that I'm not in the minority here but isn't in sad that in this day and age that we've coming to answering an unexpected knock on the front door (especially after dark) with our sidearm readily available.

Sorry, I grew up thinking that was normal in the city. Too many weirdos, drunken fools, crackheads and gangbangers walking around without leashes. Dad was a cop and I can't remember ever seeing him without either a S&W M19 or Browning HiPower under a shirt or suit. He may not have answered the door with a gun in hand, but it was definitely within reach. Once or twice, some local crackhead came to knock on the "neighborhood narc's" door at O-Dark-Thirty and Dad did answer the door with a gun in hand but hidden from the person on the otherside. I don't think either of those people realized a gun was pointed at their head the whole time they were standing under the porch light. Summers in Columbus were a different story.

Back then, Columbus was still just a small town with little crime. At my grandmother's house just off HWY71, the door wasn't just unlocked, it was wide open except for the screen door to keep the bugs out. Cars around town were routinely left unlocked, even in the town square. Everybody knew who you were and you could count on nosy little old ladies calling GrandMa to alert her to your antics on the opposite end of town. It was a wonderful time, an innocent time, and I time I truly miss. But the reality is, unless something kills off two thirds of the world population and most of us go back to living in small rural communities, no one will know what it's like to grow up like that again.

[seamusTX]

It was a wonderful time, an innocent time, ... no one will know what it's like to grow up like that again.

Actually, I know someone who will grow up like that. (I know his parents, of course.) There are a few such corners of Texas remaining.

I pray (literally) that the meth dealers and other human rubbish don't find them.

- Jim

[Stupid]

I am utterly supprised to see many of you actually "went to investigate". What would you do if you were the bad guy and seeing some dude with flash light? Right, shoot the light!!!

Call me stupid, but if I hear any suspicious noise, I would take cover and wait. Not to say I would call 911, but I would NOT go investigate. Put up some cameras. They are so cheap nowadays, a price of gun, you can almost buy 10 of them.

When somebody eyeballs you in the parking lot, instead of get in your car and drive away, you reach your gun??!!!

I bet none of you realize, when in a road rage situation, the "bad" guy, scared away by your flashing gun, could just spend $5, get your address off DMV/DPS, show up at your place with a bigger gun and a bunch of bad guyS.

[RPBrown]

Last year a man walked into our office and despite the demands to stop from our dispatcher, continued down the hallway looking in each office as he went. By the time he reached the half way point he was looking down the barrels of both my bosses and my guns. The only thing he said was Oh****, got on his knees and waited until LEO arrived. Never said a word to anyone including the officer.

Twice a loud crash in the night at home. Grab the bedside gun and light to check out. Both times the auto doggie door had stuck open and a cat had come in. Dogs beat me to the cat and the fight was on. Have since replaced the doggie door. Cheaper than replacing lamps, furniture, and other household items.

[KD5NRH]

I am utterly supprised to see many of you actually "went to investigate". What would you do if you were the bad guy and seeing some dude with flash light? Right, shoot the light!!!

And become the target for the rest of the family who will suddenly be acting under much freer rules of engagement? Not a real good idea, which could be why 90% or more of them just take off running.

Call me stupid, but if I hear any suspicious noise, I would take cover and wait.

And lose your cattle, chickens, etc. to the coyotes or your car and tools to teenage thieves who would have run when the 12ga cleared its throat. Of course, the government will then give you welfare out of the profits of those who had the nerve to protect their own, so I guess it's not really your problem.

[John]

When somebody eyeballs you in the parking lot, instead of get in your car and drive away, you reach your gun??!!!

Nope! Takes a bit more than that. Vigilance and alertness is all we are talking about. When someone raises the hairs on your neck, you'd better pay attention. I read most of the stories here as people not living in condition white. That is a good thing. With that said, the orginal question was whether anyone has had to "display" their weapon, I haven't done that in a public way and hope I never do.

[kauboy]

Stupid,

I do not quite understand what you are talking about, however in your own home there is no duty to retreat. If somebody is in your home without your permission, you have the complete and total right to defend yourself.

I don't think thats entirely true. Since our congressmen will be voting on our version of the "Castle Doctrine" in the next legislative session, I don't think our current law affords us the ability to blow somebody away simply for being in our house. The "Castle Doctrine" is meant to instate that a man's house is his castle, and it will make it legally binding that anyone found there that was not invited in, will, in the eyes of the law, be presumed to intend to cause harm. Thus allowing the homeowner to handle the situation as they see fit. No more legal worry about whether the guy is just a drunk who crawled into the wrong house, not meaning any harm.
This really does support the old trespassing sign: "If you are found here tonight, you will be found here tomorrow."

[stevie_d_64]

I can't stand it anymore...

I am utterly supprised to see many of you actually "went to investigate". What would you do if you were the bad guy and seeing some dude with flash light? Right, shoot the light!!!

Some of us are a bit smarter than that...And are a bit more reserved and better trained than the assumption you are making about the community here.

Call me stupid, but if I hear any suspicious noise, I would take cover and wait. Not to say I would call 911, but I would NOT go investigate. Put up some cameras. They are so cheap nowadays, a price of gun, you can almost buy 10 of them.

You said it, not me...

When somebody eyeballs you in the parking lot, instead of get in your car and drive away, you reach your gun??!!!

Sounds like you have a great plan there...Why do you assume (again) that that is anyone's first option?

I bet none of you realize, when in a road rage situation, the "bad" guy, scared away by your flashing gun, could just spend $5, get your address off DMV/DPS, show up at your place with a bigger gun and a bunch of bad guyS.

But you sure told us didn't you...How do you know it cost $5??? and that showing up with a bunch guys and a bigger gun that that is going to be an absolute possibility??? Never mind a very bad idea??? Legally and health-wise for the person spending the $5...

I've seen how you complain about how we are picking on you, but you do kinda leave the door wide open for us to be critical of your statements and assumptions...