You Only Have To Go Unarmed Once

Inspector Ricky J. Parisian

Not long ago my wife asked me to go to the supermarket for some item. She noticed me take my S&W J-Frame .38 Special out of my pocket and begin putting on my SIG P320. She asked "Do you think you will need that at the store?”

I said of course not. If I actually thought I would need a firearm at the store I either wouldn’t go at all or I would take a rifle. A pistol is for an unexpected, lethal threat that you have to address right that moment. It is not the proper tool for a foreseeable fight. 

It does not matter how many firearms you have at home if you find yourself in a gunfight and didn't bring a gun--you may well die for the oversight. This is an example via Duane Thomas and Tom Givens:

From Jay Hohenhaus, 1994:  My neighbor Ricky J. Parisian was a NY State Trooper who worked with an organized crime task force in White Plains, NY. He was never unarmed on-duty.

However, he was unarmed when he was home in rural Oneonta, NY.  Rick made a habit of not carrying off-duty telling me that the New York State Police discouraged it.

One day Rick went to the grocery store to get chicken for a BBQ and a robber with a sawed-off, single-shot shotgun killed him.

YOU ONLY HAVE TO GO UNARMED ONCE FOR IT TO CATCH UP WITH YOU

He went to the grocery store on the Wrong Day, without his Smith & Wesson 9mm. A disgruntled ex-employee came in with a sawed-off, single-shot .410 shotgun to rob the store. This bothered Rick and he attacked the robber--UNARMED. The gun discharged during the struggle, killing Rick instantly.

Rick’s Tom Campbell-tuned S&W 469 was home in his sock drawer. He had never heard the mindset lecture and interpreted what came down from his leadership as discouraging off-duty carry. The New York State Police DID put on a nice funeral for him.

YOU ONLY HAVE TO GO UNARMED ONCE FOR IT TO CATCH UP WITH YOU

Note: I edited the story above for clarity.