10+ years ago I was driving on the interstate around 2am near Birmigham, AL and realized I was about to run out of gas (needle was dipping below the E line).  I pulled off the freeway and quickly discoverd that I was in a fairly unsavory part of town, but I could see a gas station that still had the overhead lights on even though the attendant booth was shut down for the night.  I was concerned about running out of gas while trying to find a better location so decided to refuel as quickly as possible and then depart the area.  The automated pumps processed my payment just fine so I started pumping gas.  I engaged the lock on the fuel nozzle handle and let it do it's thing so I could place my back to the vehicle and look outwards.

Just then I noticed a ghetto goblin walking towards me from 20 yards away.  He started to ask for spare change / a cigarette / some other bullshit.  I maneuvered to the other side of the bed of the truck to keep a barrier between myself and him and told him I didn't have whatever it was he was asking for.  He just kept coming closer and closing the distance.  As he started to walk around the tailgate area of my truck I retreated back to the nose of my truck and told him again "I don't have anything for you".  He continued to move around the corner of my truck to get ever closer to me.

Now, at the time I did not have a valid carry permit.  I did, however, have a loaded Bersa Thunder .380 in my cargo pocket.  I REALLY did not want to have to discuss with the local PD why I had a gun in my pocket with no CCW license, but it became was becoming more evident by the second that the guy walking up to me did not have my best interest in mind, and a brandishing charge increasingly started to seem like the least of my concerns.  By this point the hair was standing up on the back of my head and my spidey sense was tingling.

I was still nervous about pulling out my pistol (being ever mindful of the video tapes from the overhead cameras), but as the dude rounded the corner of my truck (and was now less than 15 feet away) I reached down in to my pocket and flicked the safety off my pistol.  I decided if he took one more step towards me I was pulling out the pistol and pointing it at him, and if he took another step after that I was going to empty the mag in to his chest and deal with the legal repercussions.

The dude instantly froze, then mumbled something about "sorry to bother you", and then beat feet in the opposite direction at a high rate of speed.  All of this happened in the span of a few seconds, but to this day I am utterly convinced that I was sized up by a predator / was moments away from a violent encounter.  I don't know if it was because he guessed what I was doing in my pocket, or at a sub-conscious level realized that his "prey" had made the decision to kill in order to defend himself.  Either way, although I did not physically draw my pistol I know to my core that it's presence kept me from being a crime statistic that night.

Haven't had to draw yet, but almost, once:

When I was stationed at Ft. Bragg, the wife (fiancee at the time) and I had gone to Michael's to pick up some decorations for our wedding. As we were putting the stuff in the trunk, this POS blue Buick rolls up and parks perpendicular to the rear of my car. As there was cars to the front and both sides of mine, I was now blocked in. I immediately recognized the car...it was the same two assholes that rolled around Fayetteville trying to sell knockoff perfume. (I had run into them prior to my deployment) I tell my wife to get in the car and lock the doors.

The dude in the passenger seat starts off with the whole "you wanna buy some perfume for yo lady?!" spiel, and when I tell him no, he asks if I want to buy some cologne. When I tell him I already have more than I can use, he says that "they ain't letting me leave unless I buy something." At that point, I flipped open my cell phone, pulled back the tail of my shirt, and set my hand on my XD45. I then told him that he had three choices: "they could leave, they could sit there and wait for the cops, or they could get shot." They chose to leave.

Running through my mind was "fuck, I don't wanna be the subject of a safety brief next Friday!"

Almost did plenty of times, but thankfully no.

I do practice every day just in case and I believe everyone should as well. You never know when that day comes.

That has been my experience as well.  I saw that as a regular person as well as when I was a police officer.

I totally agree about staying out of it as well.  That is why I went there when the police where there to drop off the purse.  I didn't want anything at all to do with their domestic issues.  The guy literally was pulling in as he police were leaving.

That has been my experience as well.  Whether I was a private individual or when I was a police officer.  Most men that beat woman are not in too big of a hurry to fight another man.

Thus far in my short 21 year old life and my even shorter 8 months of carrying, only once. Me, the girlfriend and her sister, real late one night last month, around midnight or 1 am, decide we all want cookout for dinner. As we were riding down a main road in Chesapeake, some idiot, who appeared to be quite thuggish which gold and diamond teeth, obnoxious amounts of gold jewelry and such,almost side swiped us while trying to change lanes, so of course we all throw our hands while yelling various versions of "what the fuck?" Or "watch what the fuck you're doing."

When this happened, we were less than a quarter mile from the turn in for the drive thru. Well we pulled into the left drive thru lane, and few seconds go by, and the thug pulls up next to us, and says "so what the fuck was it you bitches said?" Since it was warm, we had the windows down. My girlfriend and her sister start to kinda freak out. Trying to defuse the situation, I calmly said "nobody said anything" while discreetly pulling my Glock 19 out my holster. At this point he starts getting out his car with something in his hand but slightly behind his leg and the coming towards us, and says "well how about I beat some respect in y'all motherfuckin' asses." Now my girlfriend and her sister are really freaking out.

So I pulled my gun up just below the window of the car and told him not to come any closer. That's when he pulled the pulled the crowbar from behind his leg. Instantly I held the gun up and aimed at center mass and told him he needed to get back in his car and leave immediately.  He just threw his hands up and as he was getting in his car, told us to watch our backs. And then just drove off. We went ahead and ordered our food but I was too shaken up to eat.

There's no doubt in my mind that I could've pulled the trigger to protect my girlfriend and our family members, if the need has arose. But it was definitely not something I would ever want to do.

Thank God I am too old to be out getting food at midnight.

They're there.

Many years ago I left a bar and some asshole was smacking around his girlfriend(?) wife(?) in the parking lot.  When she hit the ground and he kept going, I intervened; I'm mostly MYOB, but enough is enough.  I got my ass kicked ... though I can normally hold my own, I'm not a street brawler and this guy was hopped up on something other than alcohol.  Probably a bad choice, but ultimately it had the desired effect.  Witnesses told the cops (I was out) that the guy high-tailed it when I went down.  She and I both went to the emergency room, nothing serious on my part, not sure about her.  They did eventually catch him, but I declined to press charges... figured my involvement was already deeper than it should have been and I wasn't at a point in my life where I needed extra complications.

I'd do it again tomorrow if it came up.

I think you did the right thing...sometimes doing the right thing is worth getting your ass kicked a bit. I agree that when he kept going after she hit the ground, was the right time to intervene. My wife thinks differently, but then again she has no concept of safety, fear, etc.
I got my ass kicked by an almost brother in law - complete and utter sucker punch - for intervening when the two sisters were duking it out. My fiance was winning, but I can't stand that kind of family strife so I intervened - biL came from the side and knocked me against the wall. He almost got shot that night. I decided not to retaliate, because I couldn't see straight. I still have the scar on my lip. I haven't had any time for mma/ cage fighter wannabees since then.

At least you had the balls to jump in there.

Then you haven't seen many at all, they are quite often men who can't control their anger and are more than willing to fight whoever shows up next

Came to post this. This is just a stereotype, the whole 'they're not real men that's why they only fight women' cliche. Usually they just have anger issues, and happen to be fighting a girl at the time, but will/can just as easily attack whoever else their anger turns towards next.

Yup, a guy I grew up with is a woman beater and will fight anyone and always resists arrest.

....

Never as a civilian (thank God), but I almost had to blow away an extraordinarily dangerous Kuwaiti driver with my M-4 once. One of the few times in my life I've ever truly been afraid. Thank the lord he bugged out when I shined the M3X in his face, because if he'd kept going for about 3 more seconds it would've been bullets rather than light.

Nope, never.

I just did this, this past July 4th in my own house. I woke up around 9am, went in the kitchen to make coffee, turned around and there was a stranger standing not 3 feet from me. He was late 20's, looked like he had been drinking for weeks on end. Guy says "what's up man". I was so taken aback and startled, the only thing I could say was, "who are you". He says "you let me in last night".

At this point I hauled ass down my hallway and to my bedroom, and slammed the door shut. I yelled to my girlfriend that the was someone in the house, and reached under my mattress and grabbed my Rifle Dynamics AK74. Girlfriend didn't believe me, opened the door, went down the hallway, saw him, and came running back.  I came down the hallway with the rifle aimed in front of me, and confronted the guy. He saw the rifle and almost shit himself. Ordered him down my staircase, and to sit on the landing by the front door, girlfriend had 911 on the phone. Lots of shouting, the guy begging me to put down the rifle. No fucking way was I doing that.

Cops showed up within 5 minutes and I ordered the guy out into my front yard where they arrested him.

Long story short, the guy was drunk, opened my front door during the evening, came in the house and passed out on my couch. He is very lucky to be alive.

Have never been that frightened before. It happened so quickly, and I would say that we were very lucky, could have been much worse. I COULD NOT GET TO MY RIFLE FAST ENOUGH!!  Never want to go through that again, and yes I fucked up by leaving my door unlocked. I live in a nice neighborhood, and never expected this to happen, but it did.

Learned some lessons.

ETA:  this was the second time I've had to pull a firearm on a person. First time was almost 20 years to keep a drunk from entering my house that was snooping around my garage in the middle of the night. That time I used a Remington 870 Marine.

Back in the day before I was married and I was dating.....I dated a girl that had some nut job X-boyfriend that decided to bang on my front door for a few minutes while I had the girl over for dinner.  Just as I was getting ready to do something about it, the banging stopped.....and the guy drove off.   Later on that night when we were watching a movie , my dog starts barking in the backyard....next thing I know the guy opens my backdoor (I guess it wasn't locked), and walks right in to my house.  I didn't know who the guy was, what his intentions were, or if he had a weapon. Massive adrenaline dump.  I grabbed my XD-40, and from about 25ft drew down on the guy.........his eyes instantly got huge, his jaw dropped, and he hauled ass back out the door....over my fence, into his truck....and he was gone...never to be seen again.

Needless to say, I ended up finding out that the girl I was dating had told this guy where I had lived, and she was stringing him along telling him who knows what.  She was gone by the end of the week.  

That's the closest I've ever come to ever pulling the trigger on someone.

I used to have a thread here similar to yours, full of stories from Members who had CHL's, ect. Unfortunately, I think it is lost in the archives at this point.

aquí? - http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_5_10/116631_Situations_where_carrying_saved_your_life_.html

You'd let your fiancée get beat up by some guy?

Only when I was LEO.

Si!

Thank you sir!

Yes. I didn't shoot him, but some days I wish I had. He only lived about two more weeks anyway. Sheriff's deputies shot him. In that space of time he kidnapped and raped two teenage girls.

He was driving around in the desert when they caught up with him, and after they shot him they discovered the girls bound and gagged in the trunk of his car. They think he was looking for a place to murder them and dump the bodies. They were pretty roughed up and dehydrated (he'd had them for three or four days), but they lived.

Yup, that's exactly what I meant

Only once in the mid 80's. I was driving from Ellensburg WA to Spokane WA on I 90. I was doing about 70mph and noticed headlights coming up fast behind me. This car pulls out from behind me and nearly hits my front fender pulling in front of me. He then slows down to 50mph. A little backstory at this point. There had been a group of guys running that stretch of highway and boxing people between them and stopping them on the highway. Then robbing the folks in the car they just squeezed to a stop. This was before cell phones and the PD was few and far between. So I slowed down and looked in my rear view mirror and didn't see anyone close. So I pulled out into the left lane and passed this jerk and went about 3 miles down the road. After a few minutes here comes this idiot again and does the same thing. So I passed him as soon as it was safe and added some more distance this time. He does the same thing again but this time I had my S&W 457 45ACP pistol sitting on the dashboard!! He starts to pass me and sees the pistol and takes off like a scalded cat!! I never saw him again the rest of the trip. When I got to Spokane I called the State Patrol and gave them his license number and description of the vehicle. They said they would look into it. Never heard back from them.

I wasn't sure what he was up to but I wasn't going to play his game!!!!!! This all happened in broad daylight about 3:00pm in the afternoon. Had he tried to run me off the road there WOULD have been bullet holes in his car!!

Yes, twice once in a vehicle and once in a compound.
I had picked up a hitch hiker early one morning while going to visit some friends.  While going down the road the hitch hiker turned towards me (had bucket seats in a Dodge Ram charger) and directed me to take the next right hand turn. I had slowed down to about 35mph and laid a Ruger 44 mag across my arm and asked if he really wanted me to make the turn.  For some reason the passenger door latch 'failed' and the hitch hiker jumped out of the vehicle while going down the road.  Guess he really did not want me to turn.
The one in the compound did turn into a shooting and had to go through a full 15-6 investigation.  That was not fun, it took about 6 months, but I was cleared of any wrong doing!  By the way 10mm Black Talon ammo does do the job!  Since that time I attempt to not have to draw my firearm if at all possible, but will if pushed.

Once outside work.  I went to a comedy show with my friend in downtown Portland and after a couple beers I naturally needed a McChicken for my walk back home.

Transient kid asks for money because his car broke down and I told him I didn't have anything.  He proceeds to get angry and starts yelling "Fuck you," along with a few other choice words.  Mind you I'm just sitting on the steps outside the restaurant trying to enjoy my McChicken.  I tell him again I'm sorry, I don't carry cash.  He responds with "Well it looks like we're going to fight" and starts approaching me.  At this point I stand up, pull my j-frame mostly out of my pocket and tell him to step the fuck back.

He stopped right quick and left the area saying "Did you draw down on me bro" almost in shock, like trying to rob a stranger might get you shot.  I finished my McChicken and walked home.

I've had to draw many times at work.  One shooting thus far.  Shit head fired from his pocket and killed my partner.  I returned fire and killed him.  Life can be a motherfucker.

   Sorry you lost your partner but I am glad you were able to end the worthless shit's life.

I own a chunk of land that has good hunting on it and people like to sneak onto it hunt most of the time when I approach they shoulder there riffle and start BS excuses.
A few times they have tried to hide when I approach. Once I even got glassed.
If you act squirrely while holding a gun on my property it escalates quickly.
I have never had to bury anyone but pointing a gun at me for any reason upsets me and I react in a fashion that may upset you. Hiding on my land is dangerous as I do a lot of target shooting.
Local LEOs pay to hunt there and they can get upset as well.

One of them a few years ago that said he just got out of the pen after 5 years and just wanted to shoot something as he held his rifle! I was at low ready as he climbed back over the posted fence.

There is no cell service where I am and it takes an hour plus for a response if I called 911 for help so I dont screw around when I am alone in the field confronting people.

Ditto

SHIT! Pocket carry has not been on my radar. Sorry you went through that.
I am glad that you have prevented that piece of shit from ever doing it again.

No kidding.  I still don't know exactly what he had.  I do know it was some sort of POS .380 and it did stovepipe on him.

Have only one time ever gripped the gun in a situation i thought i would need it for self protection --

Got home late one friday night (midnight ish).   In the garage walking to the house door from my car and i hear from behind me "Freeze" --- I spin quickly and my .45 is about to come out of the holster when i realize what i'm facing...

group of neighborhood kids that like to play with our dogs saw me come in and they were out playing capture the flag.  This kid -- maybe 11 -- starts laughing like crazy "Mr. ***** you should have seen your face.. hahaha" all that.

I pull my shirt back over the gun and walk out of the garage. "Go home... and don't ever sneak up on people like that again."

I about collapsed from adrenaline when i walked into the house. couldn't sleep for hours -- scared me to death. fact that I almost drew a gun on my neighbors kid didn't sit well.

I had a similar experience in a parking lot with a kid and a cap gun

I was sitting in a Baskin Robbins with the wife one night around 8:30 PM.  As I normally do, I was seated with my back to the wall facing the entrance.  Two people walked in wearing ski masks (in the middle of summer).  While still seated at the table I pushed back my cover garment and grabbed the butt of my pistol as they advanced up to the cashier.  My wife saw what was happening and slid to the edge of the table to be as far out of the line of fire as possible.

Then the two idiots took of the ski masks and started laughing at their friend (the cashier) saying "you should have seen the look on your face".  

I opted not to lecture them about how close they came to being shot as I didn't need a 911 call from some lib-tard (there are plenty of them in Portland, OR) saying I was threatening some teenage kids with a gun.

Reminds me of the hidden cam incidents. One was in a park in NYC where i guy in a freaky clown costume and a bloody axe ran from a "body" on the ground, towards people walking in the park, at night. One guy ended up drawing on them, actors looked to poo their pants.

There was another one I saw at a gas station, similar setup but with the "clerk" in a puddle of blood on the floor behind an isle. I notice how they're always in democratically run liberal cities, they never try those stunts here in TX.

2:20 ish

As close as I've come was Several years ago I was staying at my parents house one night when I was awoken around 2 am to someone banging on the front door.  I happened to have had my Glock 22 with me so after throwing on some gym shorts I grab my pistol and walk to the living room.  My parents and brother were already there and my Dad is yelling to some drunk chick that she has the wrong house and to leave.  Thankfully she left and my gun stayed hidden behind my leg the entire time.  The one thing that stands out in my mind was my idiot liberal brother yelling at me for bringing the gun out.  Some people just don't get it.  I was thinking this is a perfect setup to the girl acting as a decoy while someone snuck around back and kicked open the very flimsy back door.  


On a side note, when I was 8 or 9 I went fishing with my dad at a local lake. We rented a John boat and brought along out trolling motor, a really nice Johnson that belonged to my grandfather.  After a couple of hours of minding our own business these 2 yahoos come motoring up to us in their John boat claiming to be game wardens and they were doing inspections.  These guys were dressed like Larry the cable guy wannabes.  My dad happened to have his big buck knife strapped to his hip and when they came in close and saw it they said never mind we're good and took off.  When we got back to the boat ramp there was a real game warden there and after we told him what happened he was able to locate them and arrest them.  Dad had to later go to court and testify against them.  They did some time for impersonating a police officer.  They claimed they were just doing it to get some girls.  Dad thought they were thinking of robbing us or maybe trying to take our motor.

Wrote about it in an earlier thread in this forum.

In 1994 I was living in Ft Lauderdale, working at a major music/video retail store at a storefront on Federal Highway.  My apartment was two blocks west of the store.  I'd gotten a CWP a year or so earlier as I had to make nightly deposits after we closed (against company policy to be armed but I didn't care).

One night I was at home watching TV and remembered I needed to drop some stuff off at the store before they closed at midnight.  I had a sweatshirt and a pair of cargo shorts on, and had a Springfield GI in a IWB holster on my right side under the shirt.  I went up to the store and walked inside at around ten thirty pm.  About ten or twelve customers in the store, three employees on the registers/floor and an assistant manager.  She came up to me as I entered, looking scared, and said a guy was walking around the store with a garbage bag, throwing videos and CD's into the bag.  WTH?

I see a skinny, crackhead-looking black guy in his late thirties heading rapidly towards the exit with a BIG garbage bag over his shoulder, at least thirty VHS movies and some CD's in it.  I yell "Hey, STOP!" and run after him as he goes out the door, and holler back for the girl to call the cops and report a thief.

The guy gets maybe twenty feet into the parking lot when I reach him.  I announce that I'm the store manager, take the bag of tape with one hand and take him by the upper arm with my right hand, and begin taking him back into the store.  As we get to the doors a few or the customers are coming outside and begin to step around us as we come up to the sidewalk in front of the doors.  First two customers go past us (my opsec was for shit) and the third customer pivoted as he passed me and straight-arm punched me in the left side of the head (he was the crackhead's drug dealer/accomplice.).

He hit me right in the ear/jaw and I slmmed into the concrete.  The two guys started kicking me and I curled into a fetal position.  I took a couple dozen hard kicks to the head, back, and sides.  Suddenly I remembered the gun at my side and I was terrified that one of them would see it and grab it.  I rolled onto my knees, left elbow under me, and pushed myself up to a crouch, drawing the Springfield with my right hand.  As the gun came out they both backed away, and I got one knee up and pushed myself up on the other knee.  My glasses had gotten knocked off when he punched me and I had 20/325 uncorrected vision; I could see them as blurry shapes.  Crackhead ran into the darkness and the bigger guy who'd hit me grabbed the bag of tapes and CD's and dove into a shitbox sedan parked about twenty feet across from me.  He got into the car and I followed him with the gun, centering the rear of the slide silhouette across the shape of the guy's head and shoulders through the windshield.

I don't know how many minutes went by; I was trying to keep from falling over.  Blood was pounding in my ears, and I didn't know how bad I was hurt, all I knew was that I could barely see and my head was ringing.

Fire Department Captain drove into the parking lot in a lime-green SUV, lights and siren on.  Then a FD ladder truck and an ambulance.  Captain came up and asked who I was and I told him "I'm the manager, we just got robbed, guy who attacked me is in the car, other guy ran off!"  An ambulance and two FLPD cars came into the lot and the cruisers blocked in the car.  I lowered my gun and placed it on the concrete and put my hands above my head.  One of the cops knew me and told me to put down my hands.  By now the employees were outside and the ass't manager was in tears, explaining what had happened to the cops.  Cops cuffed the suspect and the ambulance guys worked on me.  They said I needed to be transported, so I had the manager call my roommate to come up and I gave him my gun.  The cop that knew me asked why I didn't shoot the guy when I'd drew my gun and I truthfully told him I could barely see, and behind the car was Federal Highway and four lanes of traffic.

I ended up with my jaw wired shut, four chipped teeth, broken nose, black eye and a cracked rib, with a huge array of bruises.  I was interviewed by the police and a DA, and my employer tried to fire me.  Little crackhead never turned up, big guy got charged with strong-arm robbery and assault, and pled no contest.  DA told me he got three to five.  About three years later a detective contacted me, told me the guy was up for release.  I no longer worked for the company.  They had tried to fire me, but since I was off the clock at the time of the incident they ended up doing nothing.  Next six months they nit-picked everything I did and generally made my job so annoying they hoped I'd quit.  Left the job the following spring.

Lessons learned:  Be aware of your surroundings and keep other people in sight; I think I was so focused on the shoplifter that I didn't notice the guy who hit me.

If you're myopic, wear contacts! I was blind as a fucking bat without my glasses.  Even now, 22 years later, I HATE wearing glasses.

Are you a candidate for lasik? I had mine done a year ago and would do it ten times over. I mainly got it done because trying to shoot rifles with my glasses was a PITA for me. Glad to hear you're ok.

Some great stories in this thread.  Great reminder to always carry.  Always.

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

My eyesight has continued to change.  Actually my myopia has improved to 20/225, but now when wearing contacts I need +1.50 reading glasses for anything within 12 inches of my eyes.  When my contacts are out, no reading glasses necessary.  Last time I asked about Lasik my doctor told me I could get it but within five years I'd need it again.  No thanks.

I drew and nearly fired in Seattle once. It was date night with my girlfriend at the time, who didn't know I carried at the time. So, we had just left the restaurant and were headed back to the car. There were three guys dressed in very baggy black jeans and baggy black hoodies (read: suspicious at 10:30pm) ahead of us. I told my girlfriend to move to my left side, away from them and my pistol. As we get closer, maybe 30 yards, these guys start heading out way. At about 20 feet, they go from walking single-file to three wide and stop. One of them pulls out something, I think it was a knife, then demands my wallet. I tell him to be cool, I have my left hand forward and reach back with my right and draw. Two took off as soon as they saw my pistol. But the one with something in his hand thought for a second, then took off.

Yes, I hesitated for a moment and I'm glad I did. After the incident, I couldn't help but wonder what that guy had in his hand. Regardless, if he had taken a step forward I would have opened fire.

It was a sunny Friday in Jacksonville NC, I was leaving the Kmart from just getting a fishing license to purchase a new pistol. (you have to have something to show proof of residency if your stationed here.) As  get in my car and im going over the paperwork I hear a tap on my window. its a crackhead on a bike. He pulled in right between my car and the one next to me and was demanding I open the door. I looked him in the eye and old him no. This went back and forth a few times until he peddled around to the back of the car and blocked me into my parking space. I cracked the window and told him to leave. He refused and said "Fuck You man" I pointed my pistol at the back glass of my vehicle and told him I would shoot him if he didn't move. Im pretty sure he set the land speed record on that bicycle lol.


Saw him again a few months later as I was leaving the gun store, he made eye contact with me and kept on peddling by. Not the most dramatic thing ever but that's the first time ive had to draw my pistol on someone. I think I handled the situation ok.

Almost ...


  I come outside and find a rather large homemade kite tight around my car side mirror slamming against it in the wind.
I can still see the string trailing along god knows how far, I cut the string and begin to break it apart and throw it in the garbage. (Honestly I should have probably just held onto it, and see if anyone comes looking for it though I never thought someone would).
Two Hispanic gentleman come pulling up in a car as I'm throwing it in the garbage, the driver clearly intoxicated gets out of the car and persuades to walk onto my property screaming profanities. His friend is holding a folding knife in his hand (still folded).
I ask him to get off my property, and try to tell him I found it wrapped around my car mirror.
He continues to advance towards me, hurdling profanities. I put my hand on my on my G19 holstered behind me.
I was extremely uncomfortable with his friend holding the knife in his hand, though he was the more reasonable out of the two in the situation.
My neighbor heard the noise and came over as well.
Needless to say, I didn't have to draw and they got back into his vehicles and drove off.
Not before screaming that he'll be back with his friends and take care of me.
No one ever showed up.

A few times at low ready.

The last time that could have ended very badly was a very close call.

I manage a pharmacy and one cold December I was short handed and made the deliveries as well as had the deposit with me and when I pulled up to my house a white car that had been about a half block behind me killed its lights off pulled up to the house in a dark area as I went in. I assumed it was someone visiting a neighbor. I had just gone inside but kept an I on it through the window while getting a snack before bed and it just sat there idling with 2 guys in it.
It had been about 15 minutes and decided I couldn't go to bed with that car out there as I was imagining them waiting for the lights to go out before the home invasion fun started.
So I went out a side door and came up on the car on the back right in the shadows with my  weapon with light drawn and by my leg. There window was down so from about 8 feet I loudly called out could I help them. I managed to startle the shit out of two local LEOs in an unmarked car.
They were cool (they didn't see my weapon) just let me know they where LE and there wasn't a problem. I told them I lived there and was just checking.
I turned away and quietly tucked mw ccw in my belt as I was afraid holstering would have been more obvious and called it a night.

I often reflect on how badly that could have gone and will be calling the local LEOs next time to handle suspicious vehicles.

Duck season while heading to Arkansas.

Left Nashville in the evening after work on a Friday.

Stopped to get gas that night in West Memphis.

Upstanding gentleman approached my vehicle asking if I could spare $20. I moved my jacket around to express I was armed.

They looked at one another and turned around.

Moral of the story, west of the TN river is a shithole