Some have firearms as EDC, part of BOB , or whatever. My question is not about GUNS specially as a controversial items. The question is about seeing how beneifitial it is to carry a certain prepper TOOL (a gun in this case).

So, you have spent money to buy it and traind on it, and put up with the weight and bulk on daily basis .... Have you already been rewarded by its presence in any way, shape or form ???

The word "used" in the title does not mean (shoot) necessarily, it means (usage) in anyway.

AND , I am not from the U.S. So, I am as neutral as it can get regarding your gun related discussions .

Yes - once on a lonely Texas highway at night many years ago, the brief inadvertent display of my trusty S&W 357 Magnum ended a potentially nasty encounter.

On another occasion, I attempted to dispatch a rattlesnake with a round loaded with small shot using the same weapon. Fired at close range, it did not do the job. So I took care of Mr. Snake in the usual way, with a shovel - a far superior tool.

That 357 Magnum, purchased in 1964, is among my most cherished possessions. I have very little else that approaches its level of craftsmanship. I keep it clean and ready, but it is not central to my preparation plans. Many other items will be more generally useful in most emergencies.

a little background... I'm a competition practical shooter, and have no claim to being anything more than having a better than average skill level at shooting holes in cardboard targets or knocking over pieces of steel...I'm also one of the original 5000 licensees in the state of Florida...since my retirement, I carry daily to those places allowed under Florida statutes...

several incidents led to my decision to do so...

the Luby's Cafeteria shooting in Killeen, Texas
the San Ysidro, California McDonalds shooting
the execution style murder of a Florida Highway Patrol officer on a section I75 that I frequently passed

as a retired school teacher, I have a very low perception of personal threat...so my carry style is rather slow to acquire...I upgrade to a larger pistol when I drive... an AR carbine is part of my hurricane evacuation plan

Not yet.

Nor have I used the fire extinguisher I carry in my car.

Or the Personal Locator Beacon I carry in my pack.

But it's better to have one and not need it than.....

Once I drew my pistol on a large dog that was charging my then four-year-old daughter. Fortunately, I did not have to shoot.

There have been a couple of other occasions where I was glad that I had my pistol but did not have to draw or display it. It appeared to me one of those times that the aggressor saw something in my eyes which dissuaded him from continuing to pursue us.

Yes, I have. I recently retired after seven years as an executive protective services field member. I can't discuss my employment before that. I am very well trained with firearms and carry one daily when not at the ranch. A firearm is a final resort, agressive body language and a deep voice can defuse many situations. Martial arts and hand weapons such as ASP batons, pepper spray, stun guns and light impact weapons such as the kelly come along are next. Using a firearm even in the line of duty on surviellence video and with a ton of witnesses results in many complications with the law. Real life is vastly different than the movies. You don't shoot people and just get released five minutes after the police finally arrive and hand your gun back with a smile. And as a personal note, I have always regretted having to use my gun. You always remember it and wonder if there was another option. Another possible ending where everyone lived to see another day. End of lecture. I'll be watching for the agry letter in my private messages.

Well said bert. I call it the condom principle.

the only time i ever used my gun was back in 1985.
the ran naked out of my tent hitting it on a frying pan to chase a bear away from my food pack at about 5:30 AM...no joke..i have told that story before.as big and as powerful as the pistol was in the face of a very large black bear it felt like a plastic cap gun.
the bear just got some dry egg and when he wandered off to eat it i got the pack and tossed everything in the canoe and paddled away.

It does give one pause, doesn't it?

My Glock 22 shrank incredibly small in its holster as I observed a black bear from downwind across a small clearing as he ripped open rotten logs looking for grubs.

You can always tell who the folks are who haven't had this experience when they ask the question "What handgun should I carry to deal with bears?"

That's why I carry magnums in the back country. They can be loaded down for snake and small game, and even blanks for safely scaring away that marauding bruin.

Cotton mouths are nasty lil buggers. Here we have rattlers. I don't run into them all that often, and prefer to live and let live, but have been in some situations where I had to terminate them sadly. Good eating though.

Nope. I kill paper. I've used the occasional BB to dispatch or disuade birds from roosting next to my bedroom, but that was 20 years ago.

I do NOT conceal carry, though I've dabbled w/ the idea.

I did not need my weapon in military service, fortunately.

While I subscripe to the artfully described "condom principle," I'm not allowed to carry a firearm onto a base, which pretty much means there's no point in carrying one 75% of the time.

Are you limiting the discussion to gun carry? I ask because an important consideration is having a gun ready for use at home, or at camp, or wherever you are stationed at the moment.

Yes, I know a person who benefited from their gun's presence. My folks live in a secluded area where strange things have happened and where the police arrival time is not anytime soon. I won't go into detail about how the person used their gun, but your imagination and common sense should be just as good.

Another thing to consider is that people tend to assume the gun user is healthy and strong. However, it's more appropriate to assume the gun user is relatively weak.

For example, it's more appropriate to assume a gun user is elderly, sick, injured, handicapped, or skinny/frail. If you're empathetic, you should be able to imagine many likely uses for a firearm. Would this relatively weak person benefit from carrying proper protection that would improve the odds in a fight? Should a grandma in a wheelchair be enabled to defend herself against robbers? Or should she just beg for them to spare her life? Or should we assume that she won't get robbed if she locks her doors and turns on the alarm? If grandma has use for a gun and others do not, then where exactly is that line? Can that line be clearly articulated in a law?

The two times in my life I could have really used a firearm were both in states that don't allow their carry. Thankfully I was lucky, but I could easily see how things might have gone another way.

Having lived in states that don't allow carry most of my life, I'm not one that has to have a firearm everywhere I go. However, I do like having the option to carry. For me it provides a level of comfort.

However, I also recognize that, this isn't the case for all people. Some are simply uncomfortable around firearms and I understand that too.

Either way, I personally enjoy going to the range and doing some target shooting every now and again. So even if I never have to use a firearm to defend myself or someone else, I don't feel that time spent at the range was wasted in any way. Especially if I get to enjoy that time with friends and/or family.

Yes, several times. Attempted mugging at knifepoint once, attempted carjacking another time.

Just like I use my knife almost daily and have used both fire extinguishers in the Jeep, first aid kits, pretty much everything I haul around.

The purpose of my question is exploring the frequency and usages of this survival tool for people who have been prepper minded for some time now. It is, in a way, similar to my question about serrations on a knife. The purpose is mainly further education about the benefits and uses of such a tool. Maybe I discover that it is not as useful as popularly believed, or I may discover that it is more useful than previously belived.

ANY story of any type of usage of the gun is welcome , provided it is within the rules of ETS, and has to do with helping somoene in a tuff situation.

For example, regarding guns in this case, someone here may tell a story about being weak/injured in a survival situation, too weak to cut a branch for a stick ( or maybe lost his knife) and he uses the gun to break the limb by shooting 3-4 rounds through it and then pushing it.

I think you might also, then, collect stories about situations where firearms initiated or complicated a survival situation. I suppose you could and should do the same for virtually every survival tool or technique. It so often comes down to proper usage and technique, whether you are talking about revolvers or rope.

Another proper use of firearms. On one of our most serious operations (seven people drowned in a flash flood) I fired a line gun successfully, getting two ladies stuck on a rock in the middle of the flood successfully secured. According to protocol, only the deputies were to use the gun, not volunteers, but both deputies were on the opposite bank, and not available. I had seen the line gun demonstrated, I had firearms training, and I had a LE commission in another agency, so i decided to take a shot, so to speak.

The line secured the two women until an AF chopper was able to perform a hoist operation. You might say that was a very busy day.

I suppose you might ask about situations where you did not have a gun and wished you did - where the absent gun would have been useful or critical. I was charged by a pig once (on Santa Rosa Island) and I would have shot, had I been carrying my 357 or equivalent. Instead, I kicked him in the snout when he got close enough. That caused Mr. Pig to break off the engagement. The gorgeous woman I was accompanying, now Mrs. Hikermor, was suitably impressed.

Firearms are useful tools, no doubt about it. But they are not so generally useful that they need be carried routinely. They are just too heavy, bulky, and specialized to make the ten essentials list. I do own several, and when deemed appropriate, they come along for the ride. I think the most generally useful weapon I possess is my short barreled Mossberg 500, although my 357 is a close second.