For ease of operation and concealibility, you can't beat a small-frame revolver. A .38 Special might work well for someone with weak wrists. There are several companies out there that manufacture such a pistol. Taurus makes a sturdy, dependable pistol. Or, you can buy a .357 Magnum. Most .357's also fire the .38 special round.
Carrying a gun out in service
by Blind_Of_Lies 72 Replies latest jw friends
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designs
After getting mauled a couple of times in Service and going to the ER it may have some appeal but I think in the city it would have caused more problems. I did keep a tire iron under the seat and a baseball bat in the back seat, it was a tough territory.
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greenhornet
Like many here I also live in the USA and carry a gun. I was trained to not to hang around stupid people, dont go to stupid places and dont do stupid things.
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av8orntexas
Agree with others on here about being responsible.
I stopped for gas. I saw the guy 'hanging out' at the ice machine next to the store and never thought twice about it. Seen people do it before.
Well in the few minutes I had my head off in the clouds day dreaming, he made his way from the machine,between the pumps with his gun in my face. He told me to 'give it up' and I didn't need a translator to know what that meant. I complied and reached into my pants to hand over my wallet like I was asked.......and he pulled the trigger.
I was luckly. It jammed, and he got mad and hit me in the head with it. I was lucky because I went home that night. With a big a%$# knot on my head,but I went home. My hands were shaking to bad to make the call myself and the clerk did it for me.
They showed up about 12-15minutes later. I'm not mad at them. They're already short of people. But if in the same position again thats a long ass time to put my life in danger.
Does it mean I'm paranoid ? No,but if none of you have ever had someone take action to take your life,then don't judge others who have.
And I got my CHL ASAP after that too.
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jamiebowers
Holy sh*t, av8orntexas! While managing a store I was robbed by a guy claiming to have a gun. I stayed calm and calmed him when he freaked out over the noise the cash register was making when he hit a button on it while reaching over to get the cash. He only got $50, as I constantly made drops in the safe, and he was caught within a few hours. Not such a big deal, but that was almost a quarter of a century ago, and I've never worked in a similar job since then!
No, you're not paranoid...you're prepared. Good for you!
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AnneB
No gun in field service story here, how about three guns in the Kingdom Hall in somebody's book bag?
A recently widowed brother with three children (two under two years old) had eloped with a sister 30 years younger than himself (and only 5 years older than his own daughter). When they returned to the KH a publisher spotted three hand guns in his open bookbag next to his chair. After the meeting the elders mentioned to him that he couldn't bring guns into the KH and asked why he had done it. His response was that one was his, one was his new wife's, and one was his teen age daughter's. They were in case the new bride's mother came into the hall.
Wasn't there a WT article in the mid-'70's that said no baptized Witness could carry a gun?
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jamiebowers
AnneB, please check your pms.
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Violia
thanks low ley, I have heard the 38 special was good before. I do hope the gun is powerful enough to seriously wound or kill someone b/c if I ever point a gun at someone-- I would intend to kill them. It feels so foreign to me to even think like that but to protect myself I know I could. Also, I am not going to be a great shot and know to aim at the chest b/c it is the largest part of the body. The gun has to be powerful enough that the bad guy is taken down, even if I am not the greatest shot.
A gun is the preferred weapon for me b/c a knife or blunt object require you to be a little too close to the assailant . No one wants to think about these things but people get attacked everyday.
BTW, once as a medical person we had a patient who said he had a gun. I went in to talk him out of the gun. I was too afraid of the gun to touch it, so i told him to give it to the security guard. All I saw was 3 guards dragging this guy to the psych unit. I think back now and realize how foolish I was as he could have killed me dead as he would have had a straight shot. years later I found out the guards said he was lying and there was no gun. One has to assume if someone says they have a gun - they do.
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TimeBandit
I never carried a gun out in service, but I did get stoned a lot while serving in the feild. Nowadays I answer my door with a gun behind my back because you never know who's out there any more. I think it would be unfortunate if a jw got scared of me at the door and pulled a gun. That would give me the right to shoot him...
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Razziel
av8orntexas, I live in Houston too, and there just isn't enough law enforcement here to expect any help in less than 20 minutes unless you're lucky. Even then it's usually the fire department that makes it first. Only 3 weeks ago there were 3 people shot not 30 feet outside my bedroom window. I called 911 but it took over 20 minutes for the first responders to get here. Even for a normally non-fatal wound, you run the risk of bleeding out before help can arrive.
My fiancee told me I was just paranoid for sleeping with my beretta next to the bed, but after the shooting, she doesn't call me paranoid anymore. Having the means to defend yourself is kind of like having health or life insurance. You hope you don't have to use it anytime soon, and you're definately not looking for an excuse to use it. But if the unthinkable happens, it can make the difference between you and your family becoming helpless victims.
Anyone ever taken a defensive driving class? The underlying message is; don't be a victim. It's not enough to be a good driver, or a law-abiding citizen and just assume eveyone else is too. Good drivers and law-abiding citizens are victims every day through no fault of their own. To avoid being a victim, you have to go a step further than just being one of the "good guys", and practice avoidance, and protection.
Back to the OP, there is a WT article(s) somewhere from the 40's-50's that specifically mentions carrying guns in field service. This might also be mentioned in the booklet "Legally Establishing and Defending The Good News". When I was a pioneer I remember researching it to see if it was banned. All I remember is that it said some brothers in the US carried guns in service because of the persecution during WWI and WWII. The article heavily frowned on it, but did not explicitily say "No, you can't carry a gun in service."
