[Eaker]

that line, by the way, was uttered over the levelled barrel of a Calico M950 carbine, and was uttered in all sincerity.

You did what was required for the situation.

Praise to you for taking care of bidness.

I have only drawn my sidearm to prevent a crime twice. As you know, it is less fun than it appears.

[King Prout]

waaaaay less fun.
no fun, at all.
as you and I (and everybody on the *bang_list) know full well, firearms are a highly restrictive responsibility.

I can NOT stress it enough: a firearm is NOT a magic wand the waving of which will automatically make trouble go "boink" and disappear... It is a last resort and if you decide to use it you must be absolutely ready to follow through to the total bloody end.
At the point I described earlier: it was the last resort, I most certainly was ready to follow through to the hilt, it showed, they knew it, they shut their (expletive) off immediately, and they skipped out on their rent the very next day.
Only to be replaced, less than a month later, by another set of illegals who were almost as bad.
*sigh*
Like I said earlier, I'd hate to live on the border.