Why I carry

So I wanted to share my story, not for any self promotion, but to hopefully add value to those who carry or are considering taking personal responsibility for their self defense.When I started dating my wife, she had recently broken up with a boyfriend of 5 years due to his issues with addictions and anger management. It was a bit of a mess considering they lived together at the time. Although she kicked him out of the apartment, he still continued to harass her. This lead her to asking me to stay the night with her for a few days, because she did not feel safe.At one point in time, the three of us had been friends, and done stuff together like watching live music or bowling. I had never seen a dark side to him, so I had my guard down while staying with her. He had also only verbally harassed her, with no indication of physical violence.I imagined that if he showed up uninvited, I'd be able to talk him down and de-escalate the situation easily. So I didn't feel the need to bring my firearm. At this point in my life, I only carried when in large public environments, which was only 1-2 days a week.Of course he shows up at 4:00am completely intoxicated, banging on the her apartment door, and calling her cell repeatedly, and yelling at her in a complete rage. Our first thought was to call the police, but we could hear him start to break in through the window. This window didn't lock, and he had used it to enter the apartment previously when had been together with my girlfriend.She went down to confront him and threaten to call the police. When she opened the door, he pushed her aside and ran at me.I was able to block his first punch and pin him down, I spent my high schools years very active with marshal arts and wrestling.After he calmed down a little, I let him up and he left yelling and screaming in an intoxicated rage.Her brother came over to help, and I left to my apartment to deal with the shock and adrenaline dump I just experienced. Around 10am, the ex-boyfriend sent a harassing group text to my girlfriend and I, which I respond by politely with a cease and desist. He then, sent a request to share my location with him via GPS.I already shut him down hand to hand with out throwing a punch. I've hurt his ego, and he thinks I stole his girl. He isn't coming unarmed again, he's coming with a weapon and/or friends. When he first assaulted me, it was clear he wanted to hurt me and with rage he had at time (he had a long history of severe anger management issues), killing me was not out of the question.To wrap this up, I relocate until the police and court is dealt with over the next month. The whole situation ends with a 5 year non contact between my now wife and him, and nothing between he and I. The good news is that nothing has happened since.Lets talk about what can learned from thisPoint 1. Letting my guard down in the beginning and staying the night unarmed was a huge mistake. This guy wanted to do serious harm to me and likely would have killed me if given the opportunity. If he had a blunt object, knife or gun, I may not here right now.You cannot predict the future, and just because you feel safe, doesn't mean you will be safe. I now carry 24/7 because of this. I highly encourage everyone to as well.Also, we should have barricaded ourselves in a room called the police. We had no weapons to defend ourselves, and did not know if he was armed. Confronting him could have gone terribly for both us.Point 2. Your firearm is not your weapon, you are the weapon. A firearm is a force multiplier and a tool. I defended myself that night because of training I had 15 years ago. I also work out 4-5 days a week and have good cardio, which made my training useful.Taking personal responsibility for your self defense includes knowing how to use your body as a weapon and having the physical capability to do so. Strong people are harder to kill, and only you can make yourself stronger.Point 3. After a traumatic situation, you will go through a massive adrenaline dump, and you will not think clearly. It will take time to recover, my body was in a state of shock for a few days afterwards.It is extremely important to know how interact with 911 and a LEO while in this state, you will say or do things that could be used against you, or make a decision under poor judgement.When the ex boyfriend sent me the GPS location request, I mistakenly accepted it, thinking my girlfriend sent it so I could track him (she had sent me a GPS location request 20 minutes earlier, so we could find each other if something happened again). The adrenaline dump and state of shock caused to completely misread it. I am very very fortunate that the actual app was disabled, and he could not find me. He would have come after me a second time with some sort of a force multiplier, and I now with my gun on me, would be dealing with the legal had psychological repercussions of a DGU.Point 4. Have legal help ready to go in your contacts. I am very fortunate to be friends with a very knowledgeable attorney, and I was able to call him for help. This situation would have been that much more of a mess if I didn't. I also have the contact information written in my wallet for the attorney I'd use if I was in a DGU. This is because you will not have your cell phone available while in police custody post DGU.Point 5. This is the last and most important. There is evil in this world. There are good people who will do evil things, and evil people who will do evil things. No one goes looking for evil, but evil can and will find you.Prior to this event, I lived an extremely sheltered life in low crime city. I'd never been in a fight let alone had to defend myself from someone who wanted to take my life. Just because you have never seen or experienced a terrible situation your entire life, doesn't mean one won't happen to you completely out of the blue.We all have loved ones. And there is evil in this world that can and will kill your loved ones if given the chance. This idea was something I never took seriously until that night. Now I live with one I love dearly, knowing that there is someone out there who potentially would harm or kill us if given the opportunity and was intoxicated enough to do it.Just because you haven't met evil yet doesn't mean its not out there and it won't find you one day. via /r/CCW https://ift.tt/2moGAGP