One thing to remember is that luck plays a big role sometimes when someone is setting you up and watching your movements for weeks. The first attemt I had was someone following me to my moms house, where I sometimes went at the end of my week at work, just to stop by and say hellow, and give mom a couple bucks, and get a decent meal. Prior to the home invasion I have spoken about in here before, I was taking a nap prior to going back to my house, and when I woke up, my mom said someone rang her bell and asked if I owned a brown car, to which she said yes, and asked to be let in. My mom was pretty sharp, as my dad was a vet and fought in 2 wars and always told her , "never open the door" as I had also. So she told him, "or them" that when I got up she would inform me, and to just leave a note on the windsheild if he had any information. So of course i flipped out , saying mom, why didn' you wake me, she said what were you going to do, if they hit the car then you will get it fixed. I wasn't going to open the door to som guy I don't know. So of coures I went outside and nothing was done to my car.
They were testing me, the guy who 3 weeks later held me up after I parked and pressed in my "chapman" lock, Came to the window asking for directions , "in the snow" it was really coming down, and pulled a gun, and had the nerve to tell me remember three weeks ago when someone knocked on your mothers door, that was us, we have been following you for 3 weeks, I said Gee I'm really sorry I inconvienced you. The rest is too long, because they were looking for the big score that a junkie who I gave a chance to, because of his broter who swore he had cleanned up, and I gave him a job, He , as most junkies, never had the facts straight. They did get mostlly my money , not the businesses, but I drove onto the entrance ramp, and he made me wait till traffic backed up, and jumped out. So you never know, that was when I got my permit, 1972, I figured next time I may not be so lucky I had been through several things like this, and was always able to talk my way out, but if I am going to "go", it's going to be on my terms, not someone elses decision. As mentioned it's not good to air out too much stuff here or anyware else, but these were police documented cases, so nothing I said was not anything I didn't report to the cops. That's why when people say they carry sometimes, yes "good luck with that".