I'm here in Colorado Springs on a five week course of radiation as part of my treatment program for cancer. Ugly word, cancer, but I don't see it that way. It's a condition that's sometimes very bad and sometimes not so good. I'm in the not so good camp. Treatment is possible and promises a good outcome, so life goes on. My alien pest, as I call it, has taken me to Colorado Springs to live for five weeks while this part of the treatment continues, so I'm now in the Urban World. Our little town where we live is definitely not 'urban', but really a village in the sense of being small, having primarily dirt streets, few choices for places to shop and eat, and the nearest stoplight being fifteen miles away.
The other evening, I ventured downtown here in Colorado Springs for some exercise, change of scenery and dining choices. Because of the circumstances I am currently living with, I am relying on my Ruger LCP as my carry gun. I had it with me in a small holster at 2:00 o'clock and a spare magazine clipped on the other side in it's Kytex holder. Now, living temporarily in a nice neighborhood and frequenting a hospital daily, I leave the LCP locked in a secure box in my room unless I venture out. I certainly did not leave it behind the other night and was glad I had it. Not that I needed it, but the security that it offered was comforting. But, walking the streets with the other urban dwellers, some of them sketchy enough that one needed to keep an eye out, made me realize an uncomfortable fact. My usual level of situational awareness has dropped considerably. I live in a non-threatening world most of the time. Our little town is pretty tame with few instances of crime or violence. This has tended to make me a little too comfortable.
While I do believe in carrying where legal and possible, I have come to take it for granted that I have a gun, and my level of situational awareness has dropped. But here in the urban world, where there are many more people, and more opportunity for crime, that is not appropriate. It's become obvious to me that the most important self-defense tool is that of situational awareness. Always thinking one can rely on a firearm to survive a bad situation is not a good idea. That might turn out to be the case, and we'd rather be armed than not, but being aware and avoiding or defusing a potential situation is much more effective and has no subsequent consequences.
So, I'll still carry, but even at home, but I will work to keep my situational awareness more keen and on the job. I suggest that you do too.
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