http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/friday-the-13th-stay-home-go-out-or-hide-from-the-/2010/feb/07/concealed-carry-what-is-the-best-concealed-carry-w/Concealed Carry: What is The Best Concealed Carry Weapon? by RoeDapple
Yes, you already know the answer, or at least we all hope you do. The best concealed weapon you could possibly carry into any situation sits squarely on top of your neck, between your ears, just millimeters below your scalp.Your brain, your mind, your gray matter. Capable of something like 100 trillion calculations per second, yet can leave you frozen, unable to react when faced with an event you have no experience with. Bravado abounds when we discuss what we would do in a given situation, yet very few of us as gun owners have been or will ever be forced to make the split second decision that determines if we or someone we are facing down lives or dies. And most of us hope we never do. Yet, as long we think such an occurrence could befall us, we must prepare ourselves mentally for that day.
Scenario #1: You are driving home from pheasant hunting, tired from a long day of walking through muddy fields, then driving for 6 hours so you can get some sleep before going to work the next day. Stopping for gas and a bottled water, you step out of the QuikMart to find a shabbily dressed male with gun drawn on two men in business suits. You pull your S&W Model 41 from the holster under your jacket, at the same time seeing the men in suits reaching for their own weapons. What's going on here? My first reaction would be that the men in suits were undercover police officers making an arrest. The person who presented this scenario to me said it was just the opposite. The shabbily dressed male was an undercover officer making an arrest of two drug traffickers, and the homeward bound hunter was very nearly mistaken for an accomplice. Luckily no lives were lost in this confrontation. Later the hunter realized the best response he could have made would have been to go back in the QuikMart to warn store employees and customers to take cover or leave by another exit.
Lesson learned; Unless you are in eminent danger yourself, take the time needed to fully assess the situation, determine alternative actions you can take before resorting to using your weapon.
Scenario #2: Not feeling well, you leave your job early and arrive home around 3:30 p.m. The side door entrance to your garage is open, but you know the wife isn't home from her job and your son's car isn't parked in the drive or at the curb. Taking your Colt Python from your belt, you ease up to the door when suddenly your 17 year old niece steps out. Shaken at first, and a little suspicious as to why she has broken into your garage, you finally relax a bit as she makes her excuses. Three days later you wake up in the intensive care ward of the local hospital, suffering from severe concussion inflicted by your niece's meth head boyfriend using the breakover bar from your 1/2" drive socket set. Your son found you when he arrived home from school. Aren't you glad you etched your name in all your tools, made it much easier for the police to track down the niece and her boyfriend. Too bad the firearm was never recovered.
Lesson learned; Never assume a burglar operates alone, or that your own relatives wouldn't steal from you. In this age of instant communication you could easily call for police assistance and wait within viewing distance of your home while they come to your aid.
Scenario #3: It's 2:47 a.m. You haven't set the alarm in months, it's such a bother and none of the neighbors have mentioned any suspicious behavior for a long time. Suddenly you and your spouse are awakened by the sound of shattering glass as the sliding door downstairs collapses inward. Having only fallen asleep a little over three hours ago, by the time you shake off the fog of sleep and grab the Beretta 9mm out of the closet, you already hear at least two voices coming down the hall. Throwing yourself into the hallway, you see two hulking shapes moving toward you, the one in front holding something in his hand and raising it in your direction. You begin firing your weapon, not even aware you fire ten shots into his torso before he finally succumbs and drops to the floor. Meanwhile his accomplice races back down the stairs and is into the night, never to be identified. When you turn on the lights, you find that what you thought might be a gun in this strangers hand was no more than a hammer. A deadly weapon for sure, but you are wracked with guilt, thinking you might not have had to kill him if you had seen the hammer for what it was. Not to worry though, the death of this man is ruled justified, and you breathe a sigh of relief, ready to get on with your life. That is until his family takes you to civil court, where you eventually do get a court ruling in your favor. In the mean time, legal debts skyrocket, your friends and neighbors avoid you, your co-workers call you "Killer". You and your family are afraid to stay in the home you worked so hard for. And you always wonder if the accomplice is someone you know, someone you see every day, someone waiting to even the score. Never have you kept your gun so close by and at the same time wished you had never seen it.
Lesson learned; Even when you do it right it can haunt you forever.
The three scenarios above are purely examples of possibilities. They each could have ended any number of different ways. The telling of this is by no means meant to discourage gun ownership, but to stress that using a gun as a means of self defense or defense of others involves more than being able to place holes close together on paper targets.Your own mind being prepared, staying alert and as calm as possible, ready to act in the most appropriate way is primary to any highly dangerous circumstance you find yourself in. In the event you find yourself endangered by someone who is armed, your gun is secondary, but should be one you are comfortable and confident with. It has been said, "The best gun to have in a gunfight is the one you have with you." May it never need taken from it's holster.
