Reply #43: Here's an example of "guns save lives"...

[Ergotron]

A few months ago I was in a "good" area of town, walking to my car with my wife after seeing a movie. As we approached our car we noticed two men sitting on a curb nearby. One of the men got up, approached us and asked us for "some change or a couple of dollars" so he could "get back home". When I told this man I didn't have anything to give him, he produced a knife from inside his coat and insisted that I hand over my wallet and car keys to him. Also, at this time, his 'friend' got up off of the curb and walked toward the two of us. This is where it gets interesting...for him at least. He showed me his knife again, and I then showed him my everpresent Taurus .45 and asked him, none to politely, to drop the knife. His 'friend', meanwhile, was circling around behind me...where he was introduced to my wife's .32 auto. Both "gentlemen" were kind enough at that point to drop their weapons and, as they turned to leave, ran headlong into an off duty police officer who happened to see what had transpired. He also had a pistol out and pointed at the guy with the knife...Long story short, the two "panhandlers" went BACK to jail for another of their many visits, and my wife and I went home to our children...alive and uninjured.

One important note: If you are going to own and carry a firearm it is IMPERATIVE that you get proper training in it's safe and legal use. Your life, or that of your loved ones, may someday depend on it.