And certain members of my family...

... still can't seem to grasp why I "need" a handgun with a 14+1 capacity, or why I "need" an "elephant gun".

And this from an individual who has no blithering clue what an "elephant gun" is. Sheesh.

In case I have to kill more than one large man in order to save my own life.

The fact that I carry a gun does not make me paranoid. It does not make me evil. It does not mean I'm compensating for other .... shall we say, shortcomings.

It means I'm not so immersed in denial that I refuse to see that there is evil in this world. It means I acknowledge that bad people will do bad things to other people who are just minding their own business.

I carry a big caliber because I don't suffer from the delusion that somehow killing a man with a .22 is more acceptable than killing him with a .45.

Bigger, better tools get the job done faster. Last time I checked, I think that was called common sense.

In short: It means I'm prepared.

Living in denial and being unprepared can most certainly get you killed. You don't need to live in L.A. or the ghetto for it to happen, either:

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?idq=/ff/story/0001/20051228/0711783737.htm&ewp=ewp_news_1205milwaukee