In 2014, I left my gun-free comfort zone — my hometown of San Jose, California — and moved to Oregon. For the first time in my life, I was living alone. The thought creeped in, “What would I do if something bad happened?”
At that time, I had no good answer and that scared me. I had no means to defend myself, and I hated feeling helpless. That feeling propelled me into gun ownership, but it certainly didn’t happen overnight. My journey into firearms was slow and intentional. I took private lessons and classes before I even thought about purchasing my first gun.
Fast-forward to today where I now carry a firearm on my person every day. Frankly, I can’t imagine what my life would be like without
