I have an XD40 as well. Stays locked up in my safe though. I owned the gun for about a year, almost a year and a half before I got to fire it on my in-laws ranch.

I thought about getting a CC license, and even heard a stirring lecture about the wolves and sheeps (analogy referencing those who do and those who aren't prepared for hostilities). But I've never been in a situation where a weapon was required... aside from one knife fight (I was unarmed, assailant pulled knife, buddy clocked him with a tire iron) and another altercation where the kid wanted to use a metal bar (weak, never stood a chance with the bar or without). I've never been in a sitiuation where a gun was required.

Well, almost... a girlfriend's father had a rifle in his lap when he explained how I should carry myself around his daughter.

The only time I have actively carried a weapon wasn't on our own soil... somewhere else protecting the Air Force folks from the baddies...