Ah..ye olde handgun debate..
**Warning...long story**
As a second shift aircraft worker...I was a woman alone on the road at night, 5 to 7 days a week for about 10 years, always driving my 1985 Mustang GT, beginning in 1989 to 2000, roughly. I, of course, recognized the danger in that, and carried a handgun, concealed, in my car for personal protection, knowing that it was a misdemeanor if busted. Did I ever get stopped by police? Yes. Did they ever ask if I had a drugs or guns in the car? No.
In 1996, Texas passed the CHL bill, and the media went nuts about how Texas was now going to be the *wild west* with daily shootings over nothing more than traffic arguments. I ignored most of that, but what I did pay attention to was the media screaming that it had now become a felony to get busted with a weapon in your car sans permit. I found out later that was untrue...however, I believed it at the time and as of Jan. 1st, 1996, put away my weapon.
In March of 1996, driving home just past midnight, in my Mustang as always, heading west on I-20, just about to fork north up the east side of Loop 820, I passed another fox chassis Mustang. I looked them over, they looked me over, you know, fellow Mustang fans, right? This white Mustang was in a lane that would have continued west on I-20 and as I got on past them, I was still checking out the car in my side view mirror. It wobbled, wobbled again and slipped in behind my Mustang.
That's odd, I thought. That hunch that something just took a change for the worse settled in my gut. A co-worker driving a Chevy Z-71 pickup always followed along behind my Mustang until I exited the freeway to my neighborhood in Hurst. This white Mustang was now between me and my co-worker. Their car was easily recognized at night, as the right headlight was aimed way too low, lighting the ground right in front of the car. I left my speed steady, as my cruise control was set, and just kept an eye on their car.
They soon slowed down, changed lanes and slipped in behind my friend's Chevy truck. But as I kept an eye on the rear view mirror, I would see the white Mustang slip out just enough every few seconds to make sure that they still had my Mustang in sight. That hunch was getting stronger.
When I exited the freeway, I watched for them, and sure enough, they exited too. Well, could be coincidence, right?...not so, says my hunch. Keep watching. When I turned off the main road onto my neighborhood street, I already had my cell phone in hand, and as soon as they too made the turn onto my street, I started dialing my home phone number.
My husband answered the phone and I said, "You know, I might be in trouble, why don't you get a gun and meet me at the door." While I was saying this, I was driving along the front of my house, slowing to pull in the driveway. As I pulled in the driveway and shut off the engine, thinking I should get in the house quick, I looked in my rearview...and there was that white Mustang, blocking my driveway. I looked in my side view, and there was a man already at my rear quarter panel, approaching my window with a gun in his hand. I yelled into the phone "He's got a gun! He's got a gun!" but it turns out I was talking to air, since my husband had thrown the phone and run to get a gun. Now, it's hard to express how fast all this happens....but to give you an idea, my husband answered the phone in our living room, 15 feet away in the den was a concealed, loaded and ready to use handgun...that's the gun he was going for.
Meanwhile, the criminal points his gun at me through the window glass and says, "Get out the seat." I said "No." It takes just a fraction of a second for it to sink in to him that I said no. Then he does this little disbelieving shuffle, taps the gun against my window, points it at me again and says, "Get out the seat." Again, and a little louder and firmer, I said "No." He then puts the barrel of the gun through the open inch at the top of my window and aims it at my head. I put my hand on the barrel of his pistol and shove it back out. We go through this odd little Bugs Bunny routine a couple more times before my husband comes out the front door with a handgun of our own and the criminal disappears like a ghost, as he somersaults down the driveway. His buddy in the white Mustang took off and left him there at the sight of my husband coming out the front door. I'm ducking behind the engine block, in case the bullets let fly, because the line of fire from our front door to my car has ME included.
My husband takes two quick sidesteps to change the line of fire and draws down again...the criminal had gotten up and decided to come back. When he sees my husband again draw down, he runs and doesn't come back this time.
Now, we call the cops. They come and ask some questions, take a report and want to know why I didn't call 911. My polite reply was, "Sir, I needed immediate help."
I'm now a CHL holder, and I carry that same gun that I had put away in January 1996, in a holster, on my hip. When I'm in Texas (I'm currently working out of state) I still drive that same Mustang, wearing my gun. Now, if my husband had been any slower, if our weapon had been locked up in a safe, unloaded, don't you think he would have been walking to my funeral?
My point? There's no safer place for your weapon than on your own hip. That way, you know where it is at all times, no child gets their hands on it, no criminal gets their hands on it, and it's ready to protect yourself and your loved ones in an instant. Get your CHL, carry your weapon, practice draw and fire (dry fire) from concealed carry. Practice hitting your target without using your sights. Practice instinct shooting, because chances are, if you have to use your weapon for personal protection, it's gonna be at night. It's gonna be in a fast and furious situation. You're gonna need your instincts to be accurate.
Sad...but true. Sad...but's it's been proved to me.
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