Very interesting article

[AggieDave 6]

I was crusing around the 'net and came across this article, I thought it was very interesting and also thought I'd share.


http://www.keepandbeararms.com/information/XcIBViewItem.asp?ID=3552

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Learning the Value of Handguns the Hard Way

by Erving Holcomb
[email protected]

January 22, 2002

KeepAndBearArms.com -- My name is Erving Holcomb, I am 63 years old and I work for the Harris County judge’s office in Houston TX. I never owned a handgun in my life until Jan. 19, 2002. On that day my life changed dramatically and forever.

This is my story.

On Saturday, January 19th 2002 at about 8:30 a.m. I was on my way to the auto store to get a few things for my car. I was driving along a three-lane boulevard in a typical commercial neighborhood, not a neighborhood known to be dangerous. Suddenly, a pickup truck pulled up on my right and abruptly cut in front of me and stopped to make a left turn. I applied my breaks, stopping quickly, and as I did I felt a bump from behind. I had been rear-ended. At first I wasn’t going to get out, I was in a hurry and it wasn’t that much of a hit to cause any damage I thought. On the other hand, as we all know, the insurance company and police will generally tell you, if you have an accident of any kind you should get out and exchange insurance information with the other driver, for even the most minor collision can oftentimes result in back or neck injuries that don’t show up for days or even weeks afterwards. So, I decided the wisest thing to do would be to get out of the car, go back and get the other driver’s license and insurance information.

Immediately the other driver accused me of causing the accident by stopping too quickly. I asked him if he saw the pickup truck cut me off abruptly as it passed him. Of course he hadn’t, it was his partner! After some discussion he politely insisted we exchange information in case I was hurt.

I should have been suspicious.

We pulled into a shopping mall parking lot. As he got out of his car and approached my vehicle I reached over for my insurance papers in the glove compartment. As I opened my door I was violently attacked. I was struck in the left eye with a large revolver. He hit me repeatedly in the face and alongside my head. I was immediately blinded in my left eye, my nose was broken, and my facial bones below the left eye were fractured. He pushed me into my car forcing me to lie down on the front seat. My wallet was ripped from my back pocket and he got all my identification including my bank ATM card. He demanded my wedding ring and other jewelry I was wearing or he would kill me. Next, he drove my car to a nearby bank drive-in repeatedly hitting me on the side and back of the head with the gun. At one point the gun went off narrowly missing my head and blowing a hole through the windshield. At the ATM machine he jammed the gun into the back of my head demanding the PIN number or he would “blow my head off”. As we left the bank I was laying on the front seat bleeding from the eyes and nose wondering how I was going to get out of this situation. He had everything he could take and now he didn’t have any use for me. My first thought was, to reach up and grab his gun hand in the hopes of causing an accident, which would attract attention; of course I might get shot to death in the process. Another thought was to open the car door at some point and try to jump out, but landing on the pavement at 35 mph didn’t sound too good either. Suddenly, a thought occurred to me: if I were to die in this situation he would be guilty of murder, capital murder, so why not die now! I took in a deep breath, held it as long as possible and when my lungs were about to burst, I started gasping for air and calling out: “I can’t breath, I can’t breath.” He hit me several more times saying he would kill me if I was faking. He then asked me what was wrong and I said, “My heart, my heart I can’t breathe.” He asked what I needed and I gasped “nitro, nitro glycerin, I have got to get to a drugstore, Walgreen’s, Walgreen’s”. He fell for it! He panicked; he thought I was dying right there in the car. Suddenly, he was on my side. Quickly he drove to a nearby Walgreen’s drugstore, opened the door and pushed my body out the door onto the pavement.

I laid there for several minutes just enjoying the warm sunshine, breathing and being alive. Several passersby walked around me, looked down, and kept going. A motorist came down the driveway and was kind enough to drive around me. Finally, after several minutes I got myself together, got up and walked into the store where the Walgreen’s manager called 911.

The Houston Fire Department took me to a nearby hospital where I spent the weekend, getting out late Sunday afternoon. Afraid that my attacker might come back again when he realized I had fooled him, I immediately contacted a friend, Houston Police Officer Bill Howard, whose daily patrol includes my office. I asked him if I was in danger. Officer Howard advised me to go immediately to the nearest gun store and get a police riot gun. Assuming he was a drug addict there was no telling what he was capable of doing. This kind of gun Bill said, I could take home without a waiting period, as might be the case with a handgun.

I arrived at the Collector’s Firearms shop minutes before closing time. When the staff saw my face and heard the story they closed the shop and turned out the front lights. The staff was very helpful and stayed nearly an hour to find me just the right gun and show me how to load and use it, if I had to. This was the first time in my life that I ever owned a gun. They also directed me to a gun instructor for lessons in shotgun shooting. Later, one of the salesmen known as “LD” would work with both my wife and I to select the most appropriate handguns for each of us.

I spent Sunday night sitting in a recliner with the shotgun across my lap wondering where my attacker was. The gun store had given me several “snap caps” to practice loading and firing with. By dawn I was the fastest shotgun in Houston.

Monday was spent notifying a great many people about the details of my accident. We were afraid to leave our apartment for fear we might come home and find him there.

Tuesday was a day of great irony. My spouse and I spent the morning in trauma counseling. My wife’s employer insisted we get some trauma counseling immediately. After spending an hour and half with a counselor we had lunch and then proceeded to an outdoor firing range where I received two hours of training in what the instructor referred to as “defensive shotgun shooting.” “We aren’t shooting ducks” he said. I was beginning to feel much better!! Upon arriving home, as we entered our apartment my wife switched on the TV. Suddenly I heard her scream: “the car, the car” as I turned to look at the TV I heard the announcer say “you are watching a live broadcast from our helicopter of a police chase in progress of a suspected armed………….” There it was, my car being chased by five Houston Police cars along a street not more than a few blocks from where we live. At first I couldn’t believe it, I thought I was watching something out of a TV movie, but there it was, I could see the bullet hole in the windshield, it was my car. The driver eventually crashed my car into a concrete barrier destroying it completely. I watched as several Houston Police officers dragged the man out through the passenger side window and handcuffed him.

A week later I was able to return to work. I immediately decided to become trained and licensed to carry a concealed weapon. Fortunately my office building has full time police security, Harris County Deputy Constable Wilbert Jue of Precinct 1 is on duty during business hours. Constable Jue is not only a law enforcement officer with several years experience, but is also a Texas licensed handgun instructor and a competitive marksman. Constable Jue and I made arrangements to begin my training program. In Texas you are required to attend ten hours of classroom instruction and two hours of actual shooting instruction. Wilbert helped me with the paperwork including the required finger printing and photographs. We went through the required program together and then he took me to the firing range and showed me how to use my newly acquired handgun.

I am very fortunate to know both Officer Bill Howard and Constable Jue. It has been over a year now, we still meet frequently and they give me tips on being street smart and gun wise.

As a result of all of this I now have a new interest, shooting. I own three handguns and practice weekly. My wife is learning to shoot and will be getting her license soon. I have told many people who I work with and meet throughout the day that it is especially important these days that they consider personal security and self-defense. I would like to lend my full support to any and all organizations that support the right of the individual to own and carry firearms for self-defense. I feel uniquely qualified to answer that old, worn out question that the anti-gun establishment always asks: “to protect yourself against who?” I can answer that. While a great many others may have viewpoints and opinions I have the experience.

Here are a few twists to my story:
[submitted Jan 19, 2003]

Upon being admitted to Hermann Memorial Hospital my roommate, a young man who was in for a knee operation, was an experienced handgun marksman. He and his wife spoke with me on the urgent need to get handgun training.

Another twist: I was already blind in my left eye, from a childhood accident, when the attacker struck me. The eye doctor at the hospital told me that had the gun struck my face just 2 inches further to the right I would have been totally blind. She said "you would be learning to read brail and use a white cane, you were unbelievably lucky".

Yet another twist. My attacker committed the exact same crime three days earlier on Wednesday, attacking a woman, stealing her purse and her car. After taking her car the police found it totally burned up, he had set fire to it. HE ATTACKED HER WITH A KNIFE. He put a knife to her throat in a K-Mart parking lot and threaten to kill her. A tough little lady, somehow struggled and got away.

My accident happened one year ago today. I went shooting this morning.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[quade 3]

Ok, this is gonna sound a little weird, but doesn't that "article" sound amazingly like a Penthouse Forum letter?
I don't mean, ya know, like it's sexy or anything, but the story and sentance structure.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[blewaway5 0]

Good for him, stories like that make me think very dark and twisted thoughts toward people who prey on those weaker than them. I hate bullies.

Truman Sparks for President

[AggieDave 6]

Penthouse has letters?

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[Jessica 0]

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Ok, this is gonna sound a little weird, but doesn't that "article" sound amazingly like a Penthouse Forum letter?

No, because Penthouse Forum letters have fewer spelling mistakes.

Skydiving is for cool people only

[hagar 0]

About as reliable and unbiased as an article in High Times about why shrooms are healthy. Would you trust information about W from www.awolbush.com?

---
PCSS #10

[AggieDave 6]

It was a guy writting about his personal experience, of course it'll be biased, it was his personal experience. Eitherway, I do agree with him.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[riddler 0]

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the story and sentance structure.

Methinks you've been reading them a little much if you can attribute style characteristics.

Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

[jaaska 0]

Well, that was a nice story
The thing that daunts me a bit is a hypothetical situation where there's an emergency on a nearby street. Picture this:

A elderly guy gets assaulted.

He get's a gun and training how to use it (that's a good thing) and a set of handguns.

He is haunted by this incident.

He wake's up in the middle of the night; someone is banging his front door really hard.

(Meanwhile there's a foreign guy outside, partly covered with blood of his girlfriend who's stuck in the smashed car nearby - he's lost some blood too and is very disorientated and in panic; he does not know that much English).

The elderly home owner gets downstairs with his gun and is getting really scared by the yelling and and doorhitting...

He loads his gun and opens the door, pointing the gun towards it.

The foreigner steps in, yells with a thick accent: "It's my girlfriend, I think she's dead! Call the amb..."BAM!

HE'S DEAD TOO!

OK, this was a nice story too - fiction, but there has been incidents similar...

Yes, I know, this whole issue has gotten so out of hands that since there's a gun with every jerk around, by getting your own is about the only way to counter-react to it. A good friend of mine was, and as far as I know, still is a member of NRA. While staying in Europe, he said that for the first time in his life he actually understood what would it be like to live in "gunless" (true, there's no such thing) society - he loved it! BUT he said that since things are as they are in US, there's no way US would ever get even close to that point in gun control.

A bad simile:

Since drugs are everywhere anyway, let's just give up on that all together! IMHO getting rid of drugs in US is as hard as getting rid of guns - I don't see "a war on guns" posed as an alternative though...

[AggieDave 6]

Yup, fiction. You have "similar" instances, I can pull a ton of real life stories up where an innocent person saved their life/family members life/friend's life/etc by having a weapon...

But then again, I'm also VERY biased, I know that, and I'm ok with that. Infact I'm proud of that...especially since I know I'm right.

Seriously though, I've read both sides of the issue enough to have come to my own conclusion. That and I still have this great memory of someone pulling a gun on me on the highway when I was 16.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[Genie 0]

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Learning the Value of Handguns the Hard Way

by Erving Holcomb
[email protected]

January 22, 2002

***We pulled into a shopping mall parking lot. As he got out of his car and approached my vehicle I reached over for my insurance papers in the glove compartment. As I opened my door I was violently attacked. I was struck in the left eye with a large revolver. He hit me repeatedly in the face and alongside my head. I was immediately blinded in my left eye, my nose was broken, and my facial bones below the left eye were fractured.

I hate to be the one to inject a note of reality into this - but what exactly would he have done in that situation if he DID have a gun? In the story as written above, would he pull it and aim when getting his insurance papers, or after he has been blinded?
I have no doubt that it was terrifying, and if it gave him an interest in shooting great! But exactly what use would a gun have been in the above scenario? And then he went and bought a shotgun! Great! Coz a shotgun would have been really helpful in the above example wouldnt it? His logic sucks! He'd be better off with a taser, he would have been able to use it to stun the guy more easily than hed be able to use a 9 mm and then he could have kicked the crap out of him!
I must say i always find America weird in this respect. You cant have a 3% alcoholic beer til you are 21, but you can own something to kill other people at any age!

Genie

[hagar 0]

And I am biased against controversial articles posted on websites with a name that suggests a particular stance on the subject the article is about.

---
PCSS #10

[jaaska 0]

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Yup, fiction. You have "similar" instances, I can pull a ton of real life stories up where an innocent person saved their life/family members life/friend's life/etc by having a weapon...

Like someone pointed out already, how exactly would a gun, let a lone a shot gun, helped that old guy in his situation? At least he's alive - he might have ended up dead if he had tried to pull out a gun in the first place...

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But then again, I'm also VERY biased, I know that, and I'm ok with that. Infact I'm proud of that...especially since I know I'm right.

Seriously though, I've read both sides of the issue enough to have come to my own conclusion. That and I still have this great memory of someone pulling a gun on me on the highway when I was 16.

Well, nobody ever pulled a gun on me, except in the army and that's a totally different scenario (training), so I'm biased too... Like I said, things in US might have just gone too far to back off.

[jfields 0]

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I can pull a ton of real life stories up where an innocent person saved their life/family members life/friend's life/etc by having a weapon...

And I can pull up a ton of real life stories of people killed by legally obtained guns, or killed trying to use guns for self defense.

The facts do not support gun ownership as a safety improvement. They may improve your chances of retaining property and material posessions, but not your life.

It is all about what you want to do. If you want to own a gun, you will find justification to do so. That is fine. Rather than false or misleading statistics and sketchy anecdotes of how someone might have done better had they had a gun, just say, "I want to own a gun because I like them." No statistics, no "facts", just your personal opinion. There is no rebuttal to that.

Damnit, I just gave you a way to get in the last word in this arguement.

[AggieDave 6]

You can pull up real truthful stories about people being killed with legally obtained Ice Picks too, I think maybe once or twice someone has actually used one successfully in self defense, maybe we should have an Ice Pick ban...
Alright, for the two people who think that he would have been SOL since he had been attacked. Maybe, maybe not, that depends a LOT on where he kept/carried his weapon and if it was locked and loaded, one in the chamber ready to go; moreover, if he had had the proper training/mindset, he wouldn't have been in a victum situation. He would have been out of his car, immediately, since that would give him the advantage against an attack. He would have also been armed on his person (not visably, that's illegal, but concealed). If he's anything like me, he can draw from his concealed carry rig, chamber a round and empty a 10-round magazine into the 10-ring in well under 10 seconds.

The point is, there is a mindset that is required to help prevent yourself from becoming a victim, he now has it because he was a victim. If you're not attictively prepaired/prepairing for your self defense, mentally gaming scenerios, practicing your self defense, you have a much higher chance of being a victim of violence.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[jfields 0]

Dave,

It isn't about ice picks, or buckets, or whatever else people say can be used to kill. We are talking about guns.

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if he had had the proper training/mindset, he wouldn't have been in a victum situation

That is incorrect. With training, someone can lessen, but not eliminate their chance of being a victim.

There is a great fallacy circulating, that many people are buying into. It is the premise that in gun/knife/icepick/bucket fights, the good guy always wins. The problem is that it isn't true. Moral validation does not grant divine reflexes and aim. You could buy your gun legally, go to the range, then get needlessly shot and killed drawing your weapon in a confrontation. How is that a victory?

Forcing a confrontation to escalate from a robbery to a gun battle only serves to polarize the situation. Than chances that someone will die in the confrontation go up. It may be the attacker, or it may not. It could be the person trying to defend their posessions.

I make the personal decision that a few belongings are not as important as my life. So far, I've never been in a situation where the only way to survive was by shooting someone. Neither have you. Chances are that neither of us ever will be, despite the fact that you are preparing for and almost welcoming the situation.

Come on, Dave, just drop the pretense of "rights" and safety. Make an irrefutable statement that you just like owning firearms, and we can be done with this debate.

[AggieDave 6]

Many times over I've stated I like owning firearms, I have quite a few, rifles, handguns and shotguns, that's not the point.

I can own all I want, BUT I carry a handgun for my personal defense. His situation was not totally about a robbery, either, his life was indeed in grave danager.

The premise isn't a moral issue, its the fact that people who prepair for situations are much less likely to become victims.

God help me if I'm ever in a situation where my life depended on my ability to defend myself, but if it happens, I'll be in a much better position to defend myself (successfully and safely) then the majority of the American public.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[BikerBabe 0]

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So far, I've never been in a situation where the only way to survive was by shooting someone.

Obviously, the man in the posted story wasn't, either. Yes, he was traumatized, but is he dead? Nope. Did he NEED a gun to get out of his bad situation? Well, the obvious answer is no!

I would even argue that having a gun may have placed him in more danger, not from himself, but from the other guy. Beaten and bloody, if the victim had tried to draw a gun, the perp in this case probably would have shot him and been done with it.

He's alive to tell the tale not because he did or didn't have a gun. He's alive because he used his head and kept his cool in a shitty situation.

Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

[wmw999 2,123]

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people who prepair for situations are much less likely to become victims.

And part of the debate is how you prepare for these situations, and how much time you spend preparing for unlikely ones as opposed to likely ones.

I know people who won't wear a seatbelt because they might be trapped. Yes, they might. But a seatbelt is more likely to help them.

Personally (and I live in Houston, a fairly major US city), I don't think that being mugged in a manner that a gun will help me is likely enough to prepare for it by owning a gun. That's based on having lived and traveled in more violent places, and on having lived and worked in some fairly undesirable parts of Houston.

If you're a single guy who's looking to get laid, every encounter with a woman is more likely to be seen with "will I get some" eyes. If you're carrying a gun for self-defense, then situations are more likely to be seen from that perspective.

If you see every person as a potential threat, you might increase your own personal safety in one sense. But the cost in treatment of those people, and in the peace of mind you're willing to give up for personal safety is pretty high. Peace of mind isn't just knowing you're safe. It can include not having to spend too much time worrying about it, too.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[jfields 0]

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Obviously, the man in the posted story wasn't, either. Yes, he was traumatized, but is he dead? Nope. Did he NEED a gun to get out of his bad situation? Well, the obvious answer is no!

My point exactly.

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I would even argue that having a gun may have placed him in more danger, not from himself, but from the other guy.

Yup.

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He's alive to tell the tale not because he did or didn't have a gun. He's alive because he used his head and kept his cool in a shitty situation.

Once again, yup. One problem is that, once armed, many people use their weapons instead of their brains.

[AggieDave 6]

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It can include not having to spend too much time worrying about it, too.

I'm weird, I actually really enjoy the training I've been through, it sharpens the mind and hones a skillset that a lot of people don't have.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[AndyMan 7]

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Maybe, maybe not, that depends a LOT on where he kept/carried his weapon and if it was locked and loaded, one in the chamber ready to go; moreover, if he had had the proper training/mindset, he wouldn't have been in a victum situation

The weird thing is that I've spent 28 years living in cities that have some of the nastiest neighbourhoods around. In Toronto, Chicago, Cleveland - all cities with urban problems, I've managed to live my life without ever being a victim.

I've never even met a victim. I've never met anyone who's actually been in one of these situations, and it's not like me or any of my friends try to avoid them. I've never lived more then 10 minutes from downtown in two of the continents biggest cities, and never once have I been mugged, or even threatened. I literally walk through some of these cities "worst" neighborhoods, and do so without fear.

It's not something that I "will" myself to do. It's not something I prepare to do. It's just something that I've always done, and never feared doing.

The other thread abot columbine touched on the notion that Americans are largely afraid. I can't agree more. I'm not afraid. I don't need to carry a gun to make myself feel safe. I pity those who do.

That you need to go to the website of an organization that pushes not for gun rights, but actually encourages guys like me to carry a gun, is testamony to the rarity of these events actually happening.

Don't get me wrong - I'm actually not anti-gun. I like guns, and I even use them - usually about once a year when I head up north for some hunting.

I do think America is obsessed with guns, largely because they have a mostly irrational fear of being a victim. Amerians always seem to think that there's a person just around the corner that's gonna "get them" if they're not careful. That can't be a very nice way to live.

_Am

__

You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

[AggieDave 6]

And I grew up in a quiet country town, and some pulled a gun on me there...go figure.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[jfields 0]

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I'm not afraid. I don't need to carry a gun to make myself feel safe. I pity those who do.

Touche!

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I do think America is obsessed with guns, largely because they have a mostly irrational fear of being a victim. Amerians always seem to think that there's a person just around the corner that's gonna "get them" if they're not careful. That can't be a very nice way to live.

I think there is a lot of truth in that, Andy. If you look through all the gun debates we've had in the forum, each one seems to have common occurrences. The first is a gun owner citing the need for self defense. The second is the gun owner referencing the right to own weapons, so they can continue to defend themselves.

The right and the safety are both illusions, and the threat is exaggerated.

Many Americans feel just like you do. We often get overshadowed by a vocal minority because we aren't putting NRA stickers on our cars and lobbying for the right to be walking arsenals. Other than when gun topics come up on dz.com or a sniper uses a gun from a crappy dealer (who was defended here by gun advocates), I never even think about the issue.

I am just as safe without a gun as I would be with one. I just refuse to live in fear, or arm myself in an overcompensation to fear.

[kallend 1,625]

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Yup, fiction. You have "similar" instances, I can pull a ton of real life stories up where an innocent person saved their life/family members life/friend's life/etc by having a weapon...

I'm truly amazed. I am more than twice your age and I have worked on the south side of Chicago for 25+ years, and I can't come up with a single instance of anyone I know being saved by someone having a weapon - or even needing to be saved at all. And you can come up with "a ton" of instances.

I really believe that most of these "saves" are saves only in the minds of the weapon owner.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.