Defining moments - what made you decide to carry?

[Tote 9]

I live in the country where things are rellative quite. Crime is not as bad here as in the larger towns.
I suddenly reallized that no place is immune to crime.

One day my wife and her mother were returning from town and were waiting for the garage door to
open. My wife noticed a truck backed up to my tandem trailer in the back yard, which drops off sharply
down hill. There was 2 young men hooking the trailer to the truck and a young girl in the truck.

They hadn't completely hooked up, when they looked and saw her watching them.
Instead of just driving off without the trailer, they slammed the hitch on to the ball
and took off down the drive, passing within 20 ft. of my wife sitting in the car.

To make a long story short, they were caught within 30 min. As it turned out, 1 of the men was on
parole and the other had been in trouble with drugs.( crack ) Both men were procecuted and went to
jail.
I decided then if things were getting so bad that they would steal in broad daylight with someone
watching, then things were getting bad.
This is when I decided to get a chl and carry every it was legal. Now if I'm outside I have a gun handy.
If I come in the house for as much as an hour I lock the door.
My wife never opens the door to anyone she doesn't know.
I never go to the door especially at night whithout my pistol in my hand.
As they say, live and learn.

[Mark G26]

The growing crimnal population in society.

[SC1903A3]

My best friend works for the Irving Police. He was on my case for several years to get licensed. He believes the more good guys there are on the street with CHLs makes his job easier.

[Glock 23]

He believes the more good guys there are on the street with CHLs makes his job easier.

how true. Nice, for once, to meet a victim who doesnt have a completely helpless story to tell you for the report.

[Stupid]

Simple truth, yet so many out there just cannot get.

My best friend works for the Irving Police. He was on my case for several years to get licensed. He believes the more good guys there are on the street with CHLs makes his job easier.

[anygunanywhere]

Prior to CHL I packed illegally. Saved me and my family's skin several times.

Packed illegally in Kalifornia a few times.

I realy despise governments telling me when and where I can pack.

It is a freedom thing.

Anygun

[catwoman]

My husband was probably one of the first to get a CHL in Texas. I had no problem with that, just didn't see the need for one myself...he could take care of me, yes? In late 1995, I was returning to Pt Neches from my mother's home just the other side of Lake Charles. My eight-year-old son was with me. If you've ever driven between Sulphur and Vinton, you know there's nothing there but road. I check all mirrors regularly while driving, and when I was in the middle of nowhere, a white Ford truck right behind me flashed headlights...I kept driving...a few minutes later headlights flashed again...I know no one with a full-grown white Ford truck. I was coming up on several vehicles, decided to put some between me and the truck. When I took the Hwy 62 exit off I-10, a full-grown white Ford truck was on my back bumper. He (?) turned on to Hwy 62 and followed for 100-200 yards, then did a Uturn and headed back north. When I got home, slightly shook, I announced that I was getting a CHL, and proceeded to do so. From that day to this, no one I know has ever come up and said they were behind me in a white Ford truck that day, so I can only presume that the driver had some nefarious plan which, fortunately, did not come to pass.

[Stupid]

http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_kill ... way_5.html

My husband was probably one of the first to get a CHL in Texas. I had no problem with that, just didn't see the need for one myself...he could take care of me, yes? In late 1995, I was returning to Pt Neches from my mother's home just the other side of Lake Charles. My eight-year-old son was with me. If you've ever driven between Sulphur and Vinton, you know there's nothing there but road. I check all mirrors regularly while driving, and when I was in the middle of nowhere, a white Ford truck right behind me flashed headlights...I kept driving...a few minutes later headlights flashed again...I know no one with a full-grown white Ford truck. I was coming up on several vehicles, decided to put some between me and the truck. When I took the Hwy 62 exit off I-10, a full-grown white Ford truck was on my back bumper. He (?) turned on to Hwy 62 and followed for 100-200 yards, then did a Uturn and headed back north. When I got home, slightly shook, I announced that I was getting a CHL, and proceeded to do so. From that day to this, no one I know has ever come up and said they were behind me in a white Ford truck that day, so I can only presume that the driver had some nefarious plan which, fortunately, did not come to pass.

[TDDude]

I was working full time at my church and much of it was late at night. All the pastors & staff were encouraged to get licensed because the parking lot kept getting hit by smash & grabbers.

Then 911 & later the Hurricanes. After Katrina/Rita the murder rate in Houston tripled making it one of the most dangerous cities in the US.

Now it's so much of a habit that I feel strange if I leave the house without it.

The biggest danger with this "habit" that I face is forgetting to leave it in the car when I find myself going someplace I can't carry in like the airport or a school.

My younger children now ask from time to time why I carry a gun since none of the other dads do. I simply tell them that I don't want their mother to ever have to tell someone that their dad was killed getting money out of an ATM machine and they accept that answer as gospel. The real reason is that I don't want their mother to have to tell them their dad was killed without having a chance.

[heliguy972]

Summer 1997 Miami going to a church service at a park (named after a famous football player, don't remember who), I accidently cut off a car of youth's going to the park, 2 got out as we were in a long entry line and started screaming and pounding on the hood. Wife and 3/1 yr olds on board. Had a new G27 under the seat, showed it and they left. Applied the next day. Carried ever since but now alter between G27 / XD 45C depending on attire.

[dac1842]

15 years in Law Enforcement, 2 years in SWAT, I carried even after I got out of it. Just decided to make it legal in case I had to use it.

[OnTexasTime]

I was raised around guns and have always had guns. My 1999 pick up was the first one I didn't put a gun rack in the back window. I carried a handgun when I traveled or was out at night checking a building or property. Being in a rural area law enforcement never questioned someone being armed as long as they were acting right.

In 2000 I went out on the farm in the farm truck and did not put a rifle in, like I normally do. I came up on someone tresspassing and hunting on the property. I confronted the guy and when I asked for his hunting license, he pointed his shotgun at me and started backing away. That's the only time I have had a gun pointed at me and it was not a good feeling. I retreated to the truck and since it was before a cell phone I had to drive in and call the sheriff's office. He was long gone, by the time they got in the area. After that I never went to the pasture without a gun on me.

When I started hearing the talk Texas having CHL's I decided I would get one as soon as I could. After George Bush signed the bill, I started watching and reading as things got set up.

I do not carry every day, but I like having the option of being able to do so. Never had an occasion I thought I might need to use it, but I have been some places I was glad I had it with me.

[catwoman]

http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_kill ... way_5.html

ooooh...that scared the stuffing out of me, in a delayed-reaction kind of way!!!

[LeonCarr]

Worked in Corrections for 10 years, LEO for 11. 1 out of every 20 people in Texas is either in prison or on some form of court mandated supervision (probation, parole, etc). That is reason enough for every law abiding citizen in Texas to have a CHL. I have seen too many ex-offenders "out in the free-world".

It is always better to have and not need than to need and not have.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

[zbordas]

For me the after-math of hurricane Katrina/Rita was the shocking dissapointment in the western society. I decided to get my CHL after the 2005 hurricane season and carry ever since. I'm from the EU and not a US citizen so it makes a bit easier to purchase / trade handguns.