[Bighead]

You didn't need a gun in your given scenario. You first need to develop a commitment to awareness, avoidance, and deescalation.

I would like to recommend "The Gift of Fear," by Gavin DeBecker.

[CA357]

Don't give rides to strangers and stay out of the bad parts of town.

The situation is over, you survived and you've learned something. If you now want a handgun for protection, think it over very carefully. Someone taking your cell phone is not a good reason to draw down on them and you risk very bad things if you do.

Not everyone can or should carry a handgun. You exercised extremely poor judgement and under the circumstances I would counsel you to think long and hard about whether you should carry or not.

[orangello]

Originally Posted by trip286

Orangello- How do you like those MS gun laws?

Orangello, what part of MS are you from? I'm in Hernando, just south of the state line w/ TN.

I like them pretty well (except the supposed open carry allowance, if you can find Wonder Woman's invisible forehead holster). I haven't bothered to get a carry permit yet due to the car carry allowance (in your car, in your house, in your business concealed in-part or entirely). The new "enhanced" permit that requires a 16 hour training course sounds really good, depending on how it gets enforced/received at the colleges and such. The new "enhanced" permit may change my mind on getting a permit; of course if Dupree starts looking like a winner for Gov., i will go ahead and apply before he can mess with the permit process. I am down near Hattiesburg, MS, although i lived in Memphis and worked in Horn Lake & Senatobia for a while some years ago, nice area, Hernando area that is.

[sweeper22]

Originally Posted by CA357

Someone taking your cell phone is not a good reason to draw down on them and you risk very bad things if you do.

If someone in my car, of clearly questionable character (which shouldn't happen, BTW), intended to carry off my cell phone right in front me...they might very well be introduced to my gun.

I'm a high school coach, and my phone provides direct access to a number of minors and their families. I guess that's why they call this the information age. If I've got a gun and you don't, guess what? You don't get to rob me. You certainly don't get access to that sensitive information.

That's my take, and I certainly don't expect it to apply to everyone.

[CA357]

The crook was getting out of the car, that means he wasn't a threat.

[Firearm007]

in a situation like yours the use of a handgun may have landed you in jail as the guy had no real threat to your life nor did he have a weapon equivalent to you having a firearm so be careful the law can be tricky . Just a word of ADVICE