[100_Percent_Juice]

I am very aware of my surroundings always, especially since I am a father of 3. Unless absolutely unavoidable, I never put myself or family in a questionable location. Obviously you cannot always control your environment and crazies are everywhere, I know that. When my oldest son was in the children's hospital in Philidelphia I had to walk 2 miles each way, morning and night to the hospital from the Ronald McD house. During the month I was there I was approached by over 25 unique individuals who would walk straight up to me in daylight and night trying to get money off of me. I totally agree with the OP that you need to squash the interaction immediately and every answer is a firm no. Once I started doing this it worked every time and they would leave me alone.

Personally, I will never carry a concealed weapon(gun) and I will probably never fake that I do have one. I feel that pretending to have something you don't might have its own consequences. I don't have an issue with someone who chooses to carry a weapon for personal safety and I don't know how the whole legal process works but, I do feel that the citizen should have a good reason to carry other than "what if al qaeda tries to take over the mall".

In my short time on this earth I have had 2 encounters with people(non criminals) who threatened me with a gun. One of the times I was in a car loaded with women and kids. It was evident that both men were cowards and or carrying because they were looking for conflict. I feel that carrying a gun can cause more harm than good but again its just what I choose to do and I am not debating anyone's right to carry themselves.