Why I carry a handgun for protection, Vol.7

So that if the Fluffy Bunny Crew, a gang primarily made up of white, middle-to-upper-class teenagers decides to invade my home, I will be prepared to defend it along with my family.

"The violent exploits of the 100 or more members have played out in upper-middle-class neighborhoods around Desert Ridge, Cave Creek and Deer Valley, police say."

I take it that joyriding in Daddy's BMW no longer generates the kick it once did.

I know, I know, this sounds like a bad joke, but it most assuredly isn't. The group is suspected of committing several felonies in northeast Phoenix and my new home city of Scottsdale, including one homicide. Far from being wannabe thugs, these are dangerous criminals running loose in some of the supposedly safest areas in the Phoenix Valley.

"'The biggest problem is we undercut and minimize what these kids are about.'"

Warning duly noted. This is a good reminder that threats to one's personal safety don't always look like that on the surface. One always has to be ready to thwart a violent attack, so never let your guard down, no matter how nice an area you are in. The one time you don't go armed to the Safeway for milk "because it's just down the street and will only take a minute" may be the very time that you desperately wish that you had your handgun with you.