Your tale is like many others where that “a ha!” comes as a moment of sobering clarity. Having had to use a firearm to defend my life not once, but twice, I thank God every day that I live in this great nation. Had I not been armed, I would’ve died one of those days back in 2002.
Your training will come back to you, and you’ll always be prepared. There’s a price to be paid for that eternal vigilance, but it’s the price we all pay for freedom. It’s well worth the investment.
You knew the answer all along.
Luke 22:36
“... my wife was against it”.
Please consider taking your wife with you at the range. My point being this: you aren’t always at home. She should be able to properly use the firearm as well. She may never “like it” but she should know HOW to use it if the situation arises. Not sure the age of your children but teens should know how to use it as well. Just my honest opinion... (((Hugs))) Mom
I’m considering two wise recommendations from your post.
1) Buy a gun.
2) Move back to Texas.
I’ve been in almost that situation. The difference is I was armed, while the similarity was the police took forever.
I had multiple unknown teens attempt to enter my home at night, without permission, behaving in a manner that was a major concern. The police were polite and helpful . . . and extremely slow. I didn’t like the idea of multiple intruders, but at least I was armed. Glock and Remington together make all the difference!
Great news: A permit to carry concealed in TX is now also a permit to open carry!
The supermarket HEB says no guns. Kroger says yes guns.
We no longer go to HEB. We DO go to Kroger.
In 1983 my wife decided that having guns in the house was a bad thing. She wasn’t happy until I locked them in a large cabinet in my garage. A week later, she went to visit friends in California. The first night she was away, someone thought our house was vacant and broke in. I wrestled with the intruder and wound up with a large hunting knife embedded in my shoulder.
The burglar ran off and I called the cops. They didn’t catch him, but I remember the Chief of Police asking me if I owned a gun. When I said, “Yes.”, he then asked me, “Why didn’t you use it?”
In the days following this event, my firearms came back into the house and I’ve never since investigated a noise at night without my 12 Gauge.
I live in a very rural area in NC. On the rarest of rarest occasions will someone come to my door, and I’m talking in the daytime.
If I were to hear a knock on my door in the evening, it’s sop for me to go into a level orange mode. Specific alert to probable danger. Ready to take action.
For me it’s better to be prepared and it just be someone who is totally lost, than to be complacent and it be someone who wants to do me harm.
Our Preacher is armed and advises all other members to arm themselves. Jesus Himself said, If one does not have a sword, which today would be at least a pistol, let him sell his cloak and buy one.
Ping
“I waited and waited and still no police.”
The money phrase.
There are some folks who don't want a gun available to them because they are simply inexperienced. Gun classes, range time, etc. can help overcome that.
But there are also some folks who don't want a gun available to them because of moral reasons. Those folks may well hesitate in critical moments. A study of WW II combat vets showed that there are more of this second type than you'd think.
My strong advice: Get your wife some high-quality, police-grade pepper spray. Fox is a good brand, and it's available on Amazon. Is it as effective as gun? Of course not. But it fills in the gap between having no weapon and having a gun.
A gun is like insurance. You should always have it and hope you never need to use it.
If you can’t defend it, you don’t own it.
This applies to your wallet, car, home, body.
If you need to hand over the keys to a criminal, you do not own that.