marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

Sure, why not a bear? I saw millions of acres of forest on the way to Savannah last week, and SC and GA have bears. One wouldn't think of there being a Bengal tiger in southern Ohio very often either but a guy who owned a dangerous animal habitat became bankrupt and couldn't feed his animals, so he released them into the wild and committed suicide less than a month ago. It became a national story on cable. The local police ended up shooting and killing 47 of the animals (5 Bengal tigers if I remember right) who I didn't think deserved to die because they were lost and helpless - instead of tranquilizing them - but officials said it was to protect residents before nightfall. And the reason the shooting couldn't have been tranquilizers instead of bullets was what?

Anyway... I only mentioned a bear but one could make a very long list of humans and beasts who could lurk anywhere. I'm not trying to make you paranoid but just more aware of why your husband is encouraging you to get a permit.

And I'll bet you don't only spend your time in a cemetery. The concealed carry movement swept this country because of a woman in Texas who was a trophy winning longtime sharpshooter but wasn't allowed to concealed carry so she left her gun in the glove compartment of her car while she was having lunch with her parents in a McDonald's. A crazy man came in and shot the place up, going from table to table killing point blank - which he did to her parents and she couldn't fight back with her gun in the car. So McDonald's, the bank, a retail store, a cemetery, a parking lot, a forest, a stop light, a gas station, a campfire near a beautiful sunset over the Atlantic, or any place else you can think of is a potential violence location - and not only after dark.

11:20 a.m. in my brother's retail store in March 2010 and a guy pulls a gun and sticks it to the employee's head and tells him, "I'z wants 300 dolla" and the employee quickly responded, "there's no money up here, it's in the office." (which wasn't true) and was walked to the office with the gun still against his scalp and a left arm around his neck. The employee called out to my brother that he needed some help in a very weird nervous voice to be obvious and my brother sensed something was very wrong. He stood up and took out his .45ACP Kimber which he carries legally and started slowly toward his office door. The robbers arm and gun came around the corner to the office door before the rest of their bodies and my brother took stance in a flash. The guy fired at him "gangsta" style and missed by 3 feet, the employee dove off to the side, my brother fired back hitting the guy's gun and blowing the trigger guard off and sending a bullet into the robbers palm with it sticking out the back. The criminal kept trying to fire back while my brother put 3 more into his leg, meat of the lower back, and shoulder. The only reason he didn't get a chest hit was because it was deflected by hitting the robber's gun. The guy ran out and down the street where he collapsed and was arrested. He had been out of jail for 3 months after 8 years because he had robbed a Taco Bell just 2 miles north of my brother's store. He was tried and eventually sentenced to another 11 years without parole in September 2010 but the police kept my brothers gun until the following Spring in case the attorney tried to get the case reversed based on the testimony from the robber that, "Man...dat man, he shotz me just 'cuz I was askin' fo a job." But nothing happened. My brother had a another full-sized .45ACP he carried during the confiscation. Who would expect this in a retail store in a nice part of town at 11:20 a.m.?

SDav612 Loc: Texas

I second that!

SDav612 Loc: Texas

You have got that right! In TX, you can actually shoot someone near your car, yard, or house, and be fine, as long as they did something to make you feel threatened.

Mudshark Loc: Illinois

I was an E5 photographer, also...I would say the vast majority of people who served in the Vietnam Combat zone...never shot anyone.

Mudshark Loc: Illinois

foghornleg90 Loc: All over USA - Medford, OR & Knoxville, TN

Personally, I've never carries a pistol... even on backpacking trips... I do carry, and have handy, a stun gun (it's a flashlight, with a million volts of kick), a couple compact boat horns, a couple knives, and a 12 gauge flare gun (usually packed in my back pack - in case I have to signal for help... or really have to shoot something for self-protection).

Now, with all that said... I do carry 'bang sticks' and 'shockers' when I'm swimming with sharks... and do take precautions (having someone packing & watching my back) when shooting where there are grizzly bears, lions, etc.

I have many friends that carry... and a few that shoot rattle snakes, cotton mouths, etc. without any thought (or plan to eat). Not my thing... but I accept that is theirs. I've been within 25 yards of wild bull elk... less than 20 yards from a wild bull mouse... a few feet from wild gators, 20ish feet from a wild puma lurking in the bushes, and striking distance of an assortment of critters. One of these days it *might* cost me, but for now... I just try to read their body language, and go from there. Maybe I've just been lucky?!?! But, people in the middle of no where worry me a great deal more than critters. Having someone at your back is always the best form of protection, especially when you're where there are dangerous critters or the potential for unscrupulous people.

One of my best mountain lion shots: http://mercer.smugmug.com/NaturePhotography/Animals/Big-Cats-Lions-Tigers-Cougars/16023113_Qcp2XP/1175582120_Ro8Ei

foghornleg90 Loc: All over USA - Medford, OR & Knoxville, TN

Last May, one of my photographer friends shot this Grizzly Bear from the back of her horse... before getting the heck out of dodge: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennifersphotography/4638090622/in/photostream

(She packs because they were hunting, and because she knowingly goes where there are grizzly's, mountain lions, wolves, rattle snakes, etc. and more to scare away than to kill). Her horse photography is often tough to beat, and has graced many magazine covers... articles, and internet sites. But, this grizzly shot should remind us just how close we sometimes get 'to the action' and what some prior planning can produce (and avoid).

Mudshark Loc: Illinois

Very, very, most excellent work...I knew a Cinema and Photography professor at Southern Illinois University named Mercer....could this be a relative?? Love the eyes seen through the leaves...most excellent...real feel for the animal's world.

foghornleg90 Loc: All over USA - Medford, OR & Knoxville, TN

For those interested in the 'stun gun' laws... http://www.beststungun.com/stun-gun-laws.html

What ever gives you peace of mind and keeps you alive... but some training is suggested with WHAT EVER type of weapon you use for protection & self-defense. With animals, knowing their tactics & striking distance is vital... learning to read their body language important. And paying attention. It's always easier to fight off or keep away something you know is there... than to try to deal with an attack you didn't expect, weren't prepared for, and otherwise caught you by surprise. And, I think, some people just give off something (scent, look, language) that cause some animals to WANT to attack them?!?!

foghornleg90 Loc: All over USA - Medford, OR & Knoxville, TN

No relation, that I know of... though I've heard of such a person a few times (maybe one day I'll stumble across or look him up).

I spent 10 years bouncing around the west coast & east coast... photographing horse events, wildlife, and some other stuff. Fixing to start doing that again in a couple years, now that my kids are old enough...

That particular mountain lion was in Florida... I was about 10 yards away, on an air boat that 'coasted in' when we saw him lurking. So I was pretty safe... and only able to get two 'good' shots of him. If you EVER want an air boat ride, forget the Everglades... hit www.cypresslakeairboattours.com - those guys are really good, and pay attention, and know where most of the critters are... PLUS the critters have less human contact than in the Everglades.

jolly1

Aw, now, after all these years, I know why we lost the good fight in Nam. Very few of our gang shot very few of their gang.
That explains everything.
I can appreciate that you, as an E5 photographer were needed at MACV Headquarters to photograph all of the Generals and
VIP Politicians, but the ones of us in the jungles, with the troops
saw a very large majority of our troops, shoot and kill a very large number of the bad guys. You should have been around for the Tet Offensive.
Thoe only ones you've ever seen "spraying and not hitting anything are movie actors, and police officers on Television. Perhaps you read of the young Marine, home from Iraq, that a Sheriff's Swat Team, out in Tucson, Arizona, fired 82 rounds at while he was standing in a narrow hallway. And would you believe it, they only managed to strike him 21 times, out of those 82 rounds fired.
Incidentally, only the first one or two you kill will haunt you. After that you don't even think of the rest.

TomS Loc: The California Delta

Sounds like a .32 cal. Seecamp. Great little under cover pistol.

Mudshark Loc: Illinois

you are way off base in your analysis of my activities in sunny southeast asia in 1967-69. If you indeed are one of those who are not haunted...I fear for your soul. Also, there have been several government studies showing that in past wars it was very difficult to actually get soldiers to shoot and kill people who were not directly in front of them about to kill them. Many, many soldiers just fired away...not really hitting anyone. There are some very specific psyc studies used by today's military training people to see to it combat troops are prepared to "kill."
We lost the good fight in Vietnam because of greedy, lowlife, pussnutted politicians in washington and chicken shit, left wing, stinking, lowlife, "hippies" dancing in the streets. We had the finest soldiers in the world and would have made an easy job of it had not both hands been tied behind our backs...
Military photographers do indeed sometimes photograph flag officers, VIPs, Playboy bunnies, etc. Just like grunts got a warm beer now and then. However,.....most of the time was spent taking classified images that made your life safer...as much as that can be done...photographing post mortems, processing and printing aerial bomb damage assessment, hand held recon images, etc., etc. Many of these activities were extremely dangerous...even when compared to the average daily life of the grunter. The most dangerous need not be discussed here......

Mudshark Loc: Illinois

I just came back to this site and read what I wrote earlier today and I'd like to add...
You young folks, I know from the outside this sounds like a really bad idea, but if you read photographic history you will note many of the early masters were independently wealthy...how else could they blow all that film, processing, printing, etc., not to mention where did they get the time. I really went through a lot of serious crap to become a military photographer. They had excellent equipment, you were encouraged to shoot all kinds of film, do virtually anything photographic in your spare time plus their basic photo education was first class. Where else can you get all this training and the toys to play with? If you are really serious about a career in photography...do not overlook the military. Did I mention they are often known to have toys that "aren't on the market yet..."
I did five years and took an early out to return to college where I finished my BS in cinema and photography and managed to get in a full year of grad school on the G.I. Bill.

Hoosier in GA Loc: Milledgeville, GA

Although not of the femine persuasion, having worked for the Census Bureau, I would recomend something that would not allow a potential assailant to get that close to you. Keep it for last resort. I carried a spray bottle of pepper spray/tear gas. I never had to use it on a person, but I did ruin one pit bulls day when he came at me. The stun gun can only be used in close quarters....something you want to avoid. Altho it sounds drastic, you might consider taking a course in pistol saftey & use . Provided you can obtain a Concealed Carry Permit, you can purchase a reliable, small caliber weapon for under $400. I would recomend a .380 caliber for considertation.