we've all talked over and over about situations where our lives may be in danger, yet in our daily lives, we tend to ignore those possibilities. It is far easier to run our mouths on the internet about how "prepared" we are to defend ourselves, but big dangers come in unexpected packages.
My reason for posting this is an experience I had just a little while ago just outside my house.
My neighbors and I noticed a small Mitsubishi SUV parked in a strange place. Furthermore, we noticed that the keys to the vehicle were left hanging out of the passenger side door. First, we speculated that it may be one of those "bait cars" that we've all heard about, but that scenario didn't match a suburban neighborhood setting. But then the owner of the vehicle appeared a few hours later and the situation grew ever more suspicious. He said he had car trouble and parked his vehicle as best he could. He lived a few blocks away and need to run and get his tools to fix his vehicle. Needless to say, I immediately went inside and holstered my handgun in a concealed fashion (even though I don't have a CCW) and waited for the vehicle owner to return.
He came back after a short while and sure enough, he fixed the problem with his vehicle and all was good. It truly was an innocent vehicle problem.
My reason for posting this is to bring to mind the harsh reality of defense and awareness.
The fellow I encountered today was harmless and his claims of car troubles were legitimate. But if he really WAS someone looking to harm me, I would have been 100% UNPREPARED. I was baited into trusting someone. Thank goodness the guy was legit, because if he wasn't, he would have easily had the jump on me. I was prepared with my sidearm the 2nd time he came back, but the first time I didn't have a single defensive tool on me. It would have been my bare fists vs. whatever he had up his sleeve.
How do you handle weapons placement and defense at home when your guard is down?