Reply #18: They aren't "current" according to CO's definition, but...

[slackmaster]

...the fact that they happen at all is enough reason for me to retain the right of people to keep and use guns for their own defense.

On two occasions over the last 10 years I have armed myself with a gun and a flashlight while investigating things that went bump in the night outside of my house. In one case a neighbor had told me she saw a man lurking by the side of my house. I'm pretty sure it was one of my cats peering at her over the fence. The other time it turned out to be a large dog that was running loose and tearing up my vegetable garden looking for something smelly to roll in.

I didn't have to fire or brandish the weapon either time, but having it handy made the difference between me taking an active role in verifying the safety of my surroundings vs. calling the police and waiting 45 minutes for them to possibly show up and find no problem. That's an hour and a half of sleep I would have missed otherwise.