[panther76]

Here is another real personal experience. It is first hand, although it was my friend carrying a firearm, not me. Just another scenario to think about. And one, I would add, that is more likely to happen than the whole "getting jumped by ninjas" type of gun-related fantasies that some gun-writers dream up when they tell you need the latest and greatest hi-cap whatever.

A drunk stumbled out of a local bar, in the middle of the afternoon. I think he had been told to leave. We were passing by on the sidewalk. When he asked us for bus fare my friend told him to “go to H$%#*”. The drunk then threatened to “shoot” us, in those words. My friend was lawfully carrying a gun. I think because the other guy was visibly drunk and because of the tone of the drunk guy's voice, I didn't take the threat all that seriously. Nonetheless, my friend told him he was armed, to keep his hands in plain view and that we were going to call the police. The drunk promptly retracted his statement and began running, or sort of quickly staggering, off down the street.

We walked about a block away and reported it to a Pittsburgh city cop. The cops ran the guy down, cuffed him, searched him, and made him apologize to us. The guy was unarmed and started literally crying and yammering about his problems and how he just wanted bus fare to go home, and didn’t even own any firearms. After we agreed we didn’t want to press charges, the cops gave him change for the bus, and physically put him on it with instructions to go home or go to jail for making threats and public intoxication.

They took things seriously and offered to take statements and charge the guy, so I’m not saying LE didn’t do their jobs. I thought they handled things really professionally, and never threatened anyone verbally or drew a firearm at anyone including the drunk guy. They never asked to see our permits or tried to disarm us. They took the guy's ID and I think ran his license before they let him go. At the same time they completely maintained control of the situation and sorted things out. As no one ended up in jail or the hospital the only person unhappy with the outcome was the PAT bus driver who didn't really want a drunk guy on his bus.