Some years ago a group of young men armed with baseball bats showed up to express their displeasure that I, a gay man , had moved into their neighborhood. They told me, "We're going to beat the **** out of you!". At that point I reached behind the door, retrieved the shotgun that I always kept there, and told them "No. You are not." They all decided at that moment that they had something else to do and they all drifted away, and I never had a bit of trouble from them again.
The point is, As I go through my life I am not always going to have a shotgun within easy reach, like I did that day. Now that I live in Washington - a shall issue state - there is no reason that I cannot always be as prepared as I was that day. And I am. I carry a Glock 17 from the time I dress in the morning until the time I go to bed. I pray to God that I never need it, but if the time ever comes when I do, I will have it.
This incident below happened last summer less than a mile away from where I and family members were enjoying a barbecue in what is normally a VERY non-violent area. You never know when or where....
As far as carrying concealed, I am an old fart now. I don't want to get into a wrestling match with some young whippersnapper who thinks (probably rightly so) that he is in good enough shape to take my gun away from me.
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