****MORE JUSTIFICATION FOR THE SECOND AMENDMENT

Early one morning I was working on a fence on the back part of my property. All of a sudden, a couple of pit bulls came trotting into the yard. As soon as we made eye contact, one of them, growled and ran toward me in full-on attack mode. I'm generally not afraid of dogs so I just stood my ground and began growling back and yelling commands to “get out o’ here.”  

But he was undaunted. I was certain that there would be some physical contact and I was going to be hurt. He stopped about three feet and stood there, teeth bared and growling. During the next few moments, every time I stopped yelling, he lunged a few inched closer to me. I got louder and more commanding, waving my arms in threatening gestures. By this time he was less than two feet away. 

I'm not as young and strong as I used to be. Everything on me hurts. I knew I couldn't outrun that beast and, if he ever sensed my fear, he would take me down. And I knew that if he ever got his teeth into my neck I was probably going to die.  My feigned, aggressive and threatening stance worked. Suddenly the dog retreated and trotted off with his partner.

It was only a few minutes later when they returned and the scene played out similarly. This time he seemed fiercer and more intent.  But I was prepared. I had my 24 oz. straight-clawed, waffle-faced framing hammer in my hand. I was determined to hurt that cur before he could hurt me. So there he maintaining eye contact, hammer raised and yelling back. I figured that, if he got within striking distance, the sharp claws of my assault hammer were going right through the side of his skull. Even though he was out of my reach, I wildly swung the hammer in his direction and, once again, he retreated.  

I called Animal Control but they never showed up. You know the old saying, "when seconds count, the police are just minutes away." 

Well, I knew I had no chance of winning a fight with the beasts so I went into my house and loaded my hand gun, strapped it on my side and went back to work. Sure enough, about ten minutes later they returned.  This time they were on my driveway near the door to my house. It occurred to me, that if my wife had come out into the yard, she might have been severely injured. 

The dogs saw me again and the aggressive one charged down the bank on a full run. By the time I pulled my handgun, he was within six feet and still coming fast. I had no time to take aim; I just blindly fired  

Drat! I missed him but the noise startled him and he turned and ran.

From that day on, I always wear my gun on my belt while working outdoors on my property. I am determined that, if there ever is another imminant threat to my life or the lives of my family, I will not fire a warning shot; I will empty the magazine and make sure the threat is dead. In the meantime, I need some more practice at the range.