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I grew up anti. In 5th grade, I remember writing a paper about my great-grandfather, who was shot before my grandmother's eyes by a drunk guy at the door who got into an argument with him. I wrote about how, in Texas, there are three times as many guns as people. So I assumed guns were the problem. Didn't occur to me for a while that had my great-grandfather been carrying a gun when he answered the door, he might have lived. Or that bad people will have weapons no matter what the law says, so you better be prepared.

Fast forward to college. My grandfather passed away, and me and the cousins and uncles are asked to divest his guns from my grandma's house. For some reason, I took one of his handguns. I had never fired a gun before, so got my roommate to teach me how to shoot and how to clean it. Took the CHL class a little while later, so as to better know the laws and have a CHL, mainly for legal protection purposes, like when traveling (this was pre-MPA). But I didn't finish all the paperwork due to a long story. Later on, I get married, have a kid, then we go through Hurricane Ike. Being in a huge city like Houston with no lights on anywhere and your alarm system isn't working makes you really wake up. Especially when you've got loved ones to protect. Nothing bad happened to us, but it was all the possibilities. Took my CHL class right afterwards, and this time I went all the way.

As I look back at my life, there were several other contributing factors:

- A dangerous relative who has repeatedly tried to re-enter my life
- A few experiences, most of them at gas stations, where I believe I was cased by potential robbers
- A guy I made friends with in college who was later arrested for sexual assault (of another guy)
- My friend watching a carjacking take place 50 ft in front of him in broad daylight near the Galleria
- The potential of civil unrest from terrorism, the economy, etc.
- Church shootings (like in Colorado Springs, Waco, etc.) and other mass shootings (Virgina Tech) which shockingly taught me that even peaceful places are not safe

Clark