I live in a sizable city on the West Coast, within a few minutes of downtown. There are two local neighborhood business districts (grocery stores, book stores, drug stores, restaurants, specialty shops), one a couple of blocks to the east, another a couple of blocks to the west. I live in a secured building (locked outside doors, and you have to be buzzed in by someone in the building). We live on the ground floor. Our windows can't be opened wide enough for anything larger than a cat to crawl through (and they are screened, so we don't get many cat visitors), and since they are double-glazed thermo-pane, breaking one would be neither easy nor quiet. The chances of anyone breaking into our apartment are pretty slim.

When my wife and I are out and about, either together or separately, we don't carry more money than we figure we'll need, and we don't carry our credit card (we have two copies of one credit card) unless we plan on using it, and we don't carry the credit cards in our wallets. If someone holds me up, I'll just hand him my wallet. No big deal. I'd be ticked off, but it wouldn't bust me up in business.

As I have said, I own a number of handguns which I used primarily for target shooting and plinking. They are safely under lock and key, and stashed away. I regard them as something like a bagful of golf clubs stuffed into a corner of a closet, and I no longer go golfing. They have appreciated in price since I bought them (one that I purchased for $125 in 1968 is now selling for over a thousand), so when I want some extra cash for something, I'll take them to Stan's Gun Shop (highly reputable; he won't sell a gun to anyone without a background check).

There is a chance, of course, that I could be taken out in a killing spree like the one recently in the news. But statistically speaking, the chance of this happening to me is somewhat smaller than my chance of being struck down by a grapefruit-sized hailstone.

I feel perfectly safe in my own domicile, and when I go out, I do not feel the necessity of loading up my .380 (9 mm. kurtz) Walther PPK and slipping it into its belt holster.

Also, the chances of my getting involved in a bloody uprising seem a bit unlikely. But that depends on a number of things, and I wouldn't totally rule that out.

Don Firth

P. S. Yes, I know the PPK is not a target pistol. The one I used most on the target range was a Smith & Wesson Model 41 (.22 LR).