Originally Posted by
Ed L
It's always your choice and your decision.
You can always downsize to a smaller, less capable gun that will be easier to carry--like a J-frame or a Kahr PM-9 in a pocket holster. They don't carry the number of rounds as say a Glock 19, they may be harder to place rounds accurately with, but they are certainly light years better than being unarmed.
Tom Givens previously wrote two things that really impressed me:
"You can never make an appointment for an emergency."
and:
"A couple of posters have used words like “never” to describe the odds of using defensive handgun skills, or stated that one is FAR more likely to die of heart disease or stroke than to find himself in a gunfight. I disagree.
About 600,000 people a year die of heart disease in the US (CDC figure). In 2011, 5.8 million people were the victims of violent crime (US DOJ figure). That’s almost 10 times as many people falling victim to violent crime. By the way, that figure only includes four crimes: Murder, Aggravated Assault, Forcible Rape and Robbery. These are precisely the events that we carry guns and train to counter.
I’ve never had a heart attack, but I have had to use a gun to defend myself as a private citizen. I refuse to let whether I live or die be dictated by an illiterate scumbag. That’s why I train and carry.
Violent crime comparison, 2009, source- FBI Uniform Crime Report
City population Violent Crimes Murders Robberies Aggravated Assaults Odds
Memphis 667,421 12,055 132 4,139 7,402 1 in 55
Los Angeles 3,848,776 22,250 312 11,106 9,991 1 in 173
Miami 419,205 4,983 59 2,094 2,765 1 in 84"