And against both two and four legged animals:
One of them occurred when my boys came in the house shouting for me to come look at the 'funny dog'. Turned out to be a coon, in my front yard, broad daylight, no collar, acting dopy and paying no apparent attention. I called a Game Protector, who told me to shoot it, handle with gloves and bury them with it -- deep! He said that distemper was a real problem and that was undoubtedly the explanation. Made the mistake of walking too close when I went back out, and got its attention. It was antisocial, and if I hadn't been pretty lucky, it would have gotten to me.
More to the point, my wife was driving about 2 am on a lonely road, while I was sleeping in the back seat. Some pervert saw a pretty woman alone and decided she was ripe for the plucking. I woke up to the car swerving and my wife screaming. When I saw the situation, I stuck a .357 out the window and thumbed the hammer back. Don't know what he had under the hood, but when he saw that, he turned them ALL loose. disappeared up the road so fast it looked like a cartoon strip.
On another occasion, my wife and I had just gone to bed and a neighbor gal came pounding on the door and pleading for help. Turns out that a few guys had gotten drunk, and one of them said "hey, I know where there are a couple of girls we can have some fun with." They went up to the door of our neighbors apartment (two sisters) and knocked. One of the gals thought she had met one of them at a party a little while back, so she opened the door. Things got nasty fast, but one of them had a fiance who happened to drop in at the right moment. The ensuing excitement gave one of the girls a chance to get away and come to me. I pulled my pants on and dropped a .38 in the pocket, with the grip where I could get it in a hurry. When I walked in, Danny (the fiance) was being roughed up pretty good by all four of them, but they backed off when I came in. One of them looked at me and sneered "What do you think you're going to do with that pistol?" I told him that I thought I would do absolutely anything I wanted to, and that if he didn't want me to do it to him, he'd better sit down against that wall, with his arms spread, and keep them that way, and he'd better do it damned fast!" He said "YESSIR!", and so did his friends. After I'd frisked them and put them into uncomfortable but safe positions, Danny called the police. Took them a while to get there, but when they did, I just dropped the pistol the rest of the way into my pocket. I saw one cop eye-balling the bulge, but he didn't say anything.
The interesting result was that the sisters invited my wife and I to dinner in appreciation - which turned into a two hour lecture on the evils of having guns in the home, and how it shouldn't be allowed. Absolutely unbelievable!!
Once had a friend stop me one monday morning, and say that he'd seen me on the street in a really rough neighborhood the day before, and was concerned for me. Didn't I worry about some thug deciding to mug me? I had a good laugh, and told him that I let the bloody thugs worry about deciding to mug me.
On another occasion, I was driving down the road on a bright summer day, with everything peaceful and calm. After a little bit, the road widened to two lanes in my direction, and I just stayed in the right lane. A white chevy van roared past me, and as it did, the guy in the passenger side leaned out the window and gave me a string of profanity, though he wasn't specific about the cause of his displeasure. As they disappeared down the road, I wondered what the heck THAT was about, but figured it was over with, so I just shrugged and went on. Mistake. When I went around the next bend, there was a traffic light, and the van was stopped there. When I stopped too, the side door of the van slammed open, and the passenger jumped out with a tire iron in his hand, heading for me and continuing to exercise the colorful side of his vocabulary. When he got close, I just laid the barrel of a .357 across the window and said "All I want is your fingerprints on the door handle when the cops get here."
The guy stopped like he'd hit a brick wall. His eyes got the size of a silver dollar, he shut his mouth, dropped the tire iron, walked slowly back to the van, got in shut the door, got into the passenger seat, and stared straight ahead until the light changed. As far as I know, I never saw him before or since. I don't know if he mistook me for the guy that got his sister pregnant, or just what his problem was.
I've had a fair number of similar experiences, from the guy I was passing, who decided it was going to be a lot of fun to keep me in the opposing traffic lane by slowing down or speeding up, matching my speed all the way, and having a big laugh - until I pointed a pistol at him as we neared the crest of a hill. The range was only about 10 or 15 feet, and I'd decided that he would die the moment I saw an on-coming car. He got all upset at my lack of a sense of humor, and called the cops on me. When they had all the facts, the cops didn't think much of his sense of humor either.
It doesn't take too many experiences like that, and you won't give a BLEEP what the law says either: You'll go armed. Legally if possible, but armed.
kbmoly
