My personal journey toward self-defense

In December of 2006, a wonderful friend from church (Mike) gave this pastor the wonderful gift of a four day defensive handgun course at Front Sight. Up until that time, I was pretty much a handgun virgin and except for one or two shots from a friends .22 Ruger had never really fired a handgun. Since Mike had invited me to the class, I figured I needed a handgun, so I went out and bought a Beretta 92 FS 9mm like my dad's so that I could go learn and then teach my dad about his.

I hafta admit that I was pretty scared of handguns. I'd never had an interest in them, and even though I'd dropped a pretty penny on this Beretta, I actually owned this weapon for over a month before I even opened the box - and then I waited until I was the only one at home.

Mike took me out and I fired about 100 rounds through it so that I'd at least be assured I could shoot it and not hurt myself. It helped, but I was still pretty uptight.

Since that week at Front Sight, numerous friends have quietly and hesitantly approached me about how I, as a pastor, could own a handgun - and they nearly all followed with the question, "Would you actually shoot someone with your handgun?"

It's to those people I dedicate this blog. I had to struggle with that question, too, but not from the normal wishy-washy emotional, humanistic, liberal point of view. I had to grapple with it from a studied and intelligent spiritual point of view as a pastor, believing that God would hold me to a higher standard than the average person with an opinion. With that responsibility in mind, I worked hard to really develop a position I could support in context with my beliefs.

Over the next few weeks, I'll share those thoughts and questions I had to raise and answer. And in the meantime, I'm looking to tansition from my Beretta 92 to a Glock 23 or 27 in .40 for concealed carry. : )