Originally Posted by
SnowCamp
Don't know how we got on this topic but I'm prompted to share. I usually have a handgun in the car but not in the boat. Not yet fearful enough to carry everywhere I go, though I can't guarantee that won't change; Nor am I itching to experience a gunfight (couple of years of combat in the army cured me of my curiousity). I do want to remind everyone who carries legally or illegally not to let a gun in your pocket prompt you to take risks. It might not turn out like you planned. If it doesn't cost you your life, it can still cause you money. You can't forget the $25,000 firing fee.
If you're involved in a "gun incident", you're liable to be arrested and taken to jail while the LEOs figure out who did what to whom for what reason. If you need a criminal lawyer to defend you in a capital case, he'll probably want $25K up front. If you're a member of the NRA, they may step in to help defend you. But in the mean time, you need legal representation and bail so that you can get out and earn back the money you just spent on legal representation. (I've also got a $1,000,000 rider insurance policy, that costs me between $300 and $400 a year, in case somebody sues me.)
I have an old friend who had to pay that "firing fee" when he fired on his brother-in-law's car in self defense when he confronted the BIL who then tried to run him over. He later said that if he hadn't had a gun in his pocket, he wouldn't have put himself in that position. The gun saved his life and he was acquitted, but it cost him $25K. Not confronting his BIL would have been a lot less dangerous and a lot cheaper.
The truth is that the odds that the vast majority of us will ever need to use a gun to defend ourselves are extremely low. (and remember your training... you don't get to defend a stranger on the street. YOU have to be in eminent danger).
