Great posting! My DH and I keep planning to take the course and get a concealed permit, but have not as yet. Since our german shepherd passed away recently I feel much more vulnerable when I am alone, and am glad to have guns in case I should need one. It isn't a secure world anymore. There are immigrant gangs in small towns in VA now that were peaceful havens until recently. By the time someone else came to protect me and mine, we would be well beyond help.
We live on a farm, and I have had to defend my chickens from predators more often than most people can imagine. I shoot groundhogs and rabbits that would denude my garden in an afternoon if left alone. If not for my 22 and shotgun, all the work and money spent on raising food would be totally wasted and we would be without. My electric fence helps, but venison in the freezer is a better deterrent to deer helping themselves to my corn. I appreciate our right and ability to take care of ourselves.