Churches offering concealed-carry weapons training to attract members. ...

[spin]

54. The point of my post was that gun owners are a very diverse group ...

To make assumptions about all gun owners or form stereotypes that broadly paint all gun owners in a negative light is foolish.

I am a gun owner and I do not regularly attend church although I study the Bible on a daily basis. It is a fascinating book filled with many stories which bear a close resemblance to the mythology of other religions. I have read the entire Bible in several different versions at least four or five times. Many Christians have never read this book once. I have faith that a God does exist but I believe that many religions have a partial picture of this entity or force and no religion is entirely right. I do not believe that this God places a protective force field around all churches or those who sincerely believe in him although in some cases he may. Since I am not a very photogenic individual I avoid having pictures taken of me with or without firearms. I sometimes compare myself to a B52 bomber which is nicknamed the BUFF by those who work on it. BUFF stands for Big Ugly Fat Fellow (or F**K*r).

Like some members of your family, I have served in the U. S. military although never in combat. I am considered to be a expert marksman with a variety of handguns. My handguns, loaded or unloaded, are always locked in safes. I have an old bolt action Swedish Mauser hanging in my living room but the ammo is locked in a safe. I also have a 12 gauge double barreled coach gun unloaded and hidden in my bedroom but I can open the safe where the ammo is secured and load this weapon very quickly.

Over the years I have lived in some dangerous areas. I have some martial arts training but realistically even a martial arts expert can find stopping an attack from an individual armed with a knife or a gun extremely challenging. If an unarmed individual is attacked by an individual who is skillful with a knife, he can expect to get cut -- perhaps seriously.

Against a knife? Maybe not so easy…

***snip***

Guy Mezger, recognized as a more than proficient kick-boxer, boxer, and full contact karate martial artist, is perhaps most recognized as a former MMA champion fighter with UFC, and Pancrase, and PRIDE. He retired professionally in 2005 but still teaches at his gym in Dallas.

Last week (Jan 2012) he was shopping with his daughter and saw a guy beating up his girlfriend. He stepped in and took the guy down, but the guy came back at him with a knife. Mr. Mezger definitely “won the day” with the attacker seriously injured and arrested, but got one nasty cut on his hand from the fight.

Before you get cocky about your abilities and decide if the “run away” strategy might not apply to “you vs. knife”, check out the photo of his hand in the hospital (fair warning – it’s a bit graphic…): Ouch and keep in mind… He was a top level professional fighter…
http://www.piranhagear.com/blog/?p=136

To view the injury go to the link. It is indeed rather graphic.

My martial arts training taught me that it is extremely difficult to disarm a man with a gun if he has the commonsense to be well beyond your reach.

You state:

Only cowards feel the need to carry guns around and how "faithful" can you be if you need a gun to feel safe in church. The hypocrisy is hilarious.

People who have concealed carry permits are often accused by those who do not like honest citizens carrying firearms in public as being cowards or scared to leave their houses without a couple of guns.

Since I live in Florida and enjoy the shooting sports I know a fairly large number of people who have concealed weapons permits. Over 800,000 resident Floridians have such permits so if you are a Floridian there is an excellent chance that your neighbor, your co-worker, your boss or his boss, your accountant, your preacher or your doctor might have a carry permit.

While I personally have never had to use a firearm for self defense either at home or on the street I know several people who have successfully stopped attacks by armed individuals. Not one shot was fired in any of these cases. The attacker broke off the confrontation and withdrew when he realized his victim was armed.

I will describe these incidents.

On a chilly Sunday winter morning in downtown Tampa, two Hispanic co-workers of mine were using magnetic detectors to check for valuable items in a lot where a building had just been torn down. A guy walked up to them, drew a large knife and demanded their wallets. One of my co-workers pulled his jacket to the side to reveal the .45 auto he legally carried in a shoulder holster. The attacker turned and walked off muttering to himself. My co-worker held a black belt in karate for many years but chose to merely display his firearm rather then engage in a fight that might end in preventable injury. Both of my co-workers found the incident somewhat humorous. They did contact the police but the attacker was never apprehended. All ended well as they did find a very valuable ring and several old coins.

Another co-worker was traveling to work late at night as he worked with me on the graveyard shift. He did something that caused road rage in another driver. They both arrived at a stop light and the angry individual left his vehicle and walked up to my co-workers driver's window with a tire iron in his hand. My friend who had a carry permit drew his semi-auto handgun from his glove box and held it in his hand on his steering wheel. The angry person noticed the weapon and returned to his vehicle. My friend stated that if he would have had the opportunity, he would have simply drove off even if he would have had to run the red light. Unfortunately he was blocked in traffic with cars in front of him and beside him and a deep ditch on the passenger's side of his car. While the incident shook my friend up, he was glad it ended peacefully.

One of my friends who often shot at the range with me was an immigrant from England who had became an American citizen. He ran a locksmith service and was on call during the late night hours. He got a call from an individual on the south side of St. Petersburg. His customer wanted my friend to open the trunk of a car. After he accomplished the task he turned to the customer and found himself facing a knife. The customer demanded that my friend give up his wallet. My friend drew his legally concealed snub nosed S&W revolver and stuck it up the attacker's nose. He got paid for opening the trunk but didn't bother to give the customer his change. He did consider shooting his attacker but wisely realized that there were a number of witnesses who might have told the police a false story. My friend had served in the British military and had combat experience. He also had come from a circus family and had been a tight rope walker in his youth.

Are these people cowards because they choose to legally carry a firearm in public? I also know a number of police officers who have retired after 20 years on the force and they have carry permits and carry on a regular basis. I also know combat veterans who served in the Normandy invasion in WWII, Korea, Vietnam or our recent actions in Iraq or Afghanistan. Some have concealed weapons permits. Are they cowards in your view?

One night on my way to work on the graveyard shift I stopped in a Walgreens liquor store to buy a pack of cigars. Two young customers in the store set off my situational alarm. Both seemed unusually nervousness and one was rapidly walking up and down the aisles without appearing to be looking for anything. The one who was at the counter asked me if I wished to check out before him. I politely refused and moved back several feet nearer to some cover if necessary.

I placed my right hand on my S&W revolver which I carry in my pocket and simply observed details about the two other customers such as their age, height and dress. The customer at the counter said, "Damn, I forgot my wallet. I must have left it in my car." He walked out and seemed somewhat surprised when he returned several minutes later and found I was still waiting and watching with my hand in my pocket. He finally paid and both of these somewhat suspicious characters left the store and drove off. I then paid for my cigars and talked for a couple of minutes with the clerk. We often exchanged pleasantries as I usually stopped at this store on my way to work. I did notice that the clerk seemed relieved that I had been present as he was even more friendly than normal but I never mentioned the two customers nor the fact that I was armed.

Of course this situation might have been totally harmless but it is extremely rare for my personal radar to alert me so strongly. Had the guy at the counter pulled a weapon and robbed the clerk, I would have simply observed and not intervened. Pulling my own weapon could have escalated the situation and a simple robbery might have turned very violent. If however the robber would have turned aggressive and shot the clerk or looked like he was about to, I would have tried to use my own weapon to stop his attack.

I didn't leave the store because had my suspicions been right and a robbery occurred that resulted in the injury or death of this clerk who was merely a causal acquaintance, I would have had a hard time living with myself. Had I been unarmed I would have also strayed and watched and attempted to intervene if truly necessary. This would have make me a fool rather than a coward or a hero.

I have absolutely no desire to ever be a hero. I am not a cop or a vigilante. If I find myself in an argument that has the potential to escalate into a violent confrontation, I am more than willing to simply walk away even when it makes me look like a coward to others. I am a very peaceful person by nature but I am willing to fight if truly necessary. Sometimes I have qualified as a fool but maybe I have been lucky or perhaps a superior being was watching out for me.

Years ago my wife woke me up in the middle of the afternoon which was my night time as I worked the graveyard shift for over 30 years. She told me that some young men had broken into our neighbor's house across the street and were stealing his firearms. I pulled on a pair of shorts and walked to the living room window. I witnessed a guy handing a rifle from inside the house to another individual who carried it to the neighbor's carport.

I told my wife to call the police and did a very stupid thing. I decided to leave my home and I raced across the street pulling a "Geronimo" which means I was yelling and cursing as loud as I could. A neighbor five house from mine heard the commotion and looked outside of her home. She saw two young men running down the street.

There was a total of four guys robbing the house and the neighbor's teenaged daughter was the brains behind the heist. I was trying my best to catch at least one robber but when I ran into the carport of the teenager girl's house I hit an oil slick left by an old Volkswagen Beetle. I slipped and landed on my ass right beside a pile of firearms, archery equipment and some swords and knives. I figured that was a good place to stay and waited for the police to arrive.

Three of the male robbers were juveniles in their late teens. One was in his twenties and eventually was caught and spent a year in prison. All four had criminal records and the cops immediately knew who they were when they arrived on the scene.

The cops didn't feel I was a hero, nor did my sensi in my martial arts class. We all agreed that I did acted in a very foolish manner on that day.

One of the police officers showed me one of my neighbor's handguns, a Colt .45 auto. A round was stovepiped in the ejection port of the weapon. The officer said, "It looks like one of the robbers tried to load this handgun but didn't pull the slide back all the way. You may have been damn lucky that you didn't get shot. In the future call us and wait."

I had a loaded .357 magnum in my bedroom but I wisely decided to leave it behind when I charged from my house. Had I shot one of the robbers, I might have faced charges as I was definitely not acting in self defense.

I did get a really good steak dinner because of the situation. My neighbor who owned the firearms greatly appreciated the fact that I had stopped their theft.

But if you still feel that those who legally carry firearms are all cowards that's perfectly alright with me. Your opinions and the opinions of others are largely irrelevant to me. However since I am retired, I do enjoy a good discussion or a polite disagreement. It makes a day pass a little more quickly and helps to keep my mind active.