Almost Had A Problem Today

[jonconsiglio]

This is ridiculous, but let me tell you guys what happened and you guys tell me what I should have done differently. Let me state that I rarely print let alone accidentally expose my weapon...

So, we were driving through what wasn't the nicest part of town today around 5pm. My daughter, who is 5, wanted a toy so we stopped at a local store in a shopping center. I get out of the driver's side of the car and I guess my shirt rode up and exposed my gun. In the beater parked next to me, the guy with no shirt and no shoes, knotted hair and a scruffy beard (typical South Texas Tweaker) looks at me funny.

At this point, my wife and daughter are in the store already. I go in behind them and a few seconds later, this guy walks in. I'm about 10 feet away and turn towards the door. He's standing there with his chest puffed out (still no shirt, shoes or socks) and says "What are ya doin' with that gun, you gonna rob this place" as he takes a step towards me. I have my right hand free and my keys in my left hand which has some spray attached to it. I though, here we go!

I said "What?" as I told my wife to take a walk. "What are you doing with that gun?" he said with an attitude. At this point I felt myself getting more and more irritated and I told him it was none of his ****ing business. I was getting ready to let him know what I really thought, but tried to calm myself down. Then I said, I'm licensed to carry a firearm and I'll only use it if someone is a problem. He then asked "Why would you bring it in here, you can't do that, what are you planning to do?"

Again, I felt myself getting ready to say something out of line, but chalked his comments up to ignorance. I said a CHL holder can carry anywhere, unless it's posted or a bar, etc. He basically calmed down pretty quick, explained that his girl and child were in the store and was scared for them. When he said that, my attitude changed as well, so I explained a little more about the concealed carry law and we actually had a laugh about other's views, etc.

Now, I learned a few things.

1. Keep my gun concealed at all times (which I thought I always did)

2. If confronted, be ready for anything, but diffuse the situation if you can and don't escalate it with anger.

3. Don't judge a person by how they look. I thought this guy was looking for trouble because of how he looked, but really he was concerned and looking out for his family. I didn't judge him because of the beard or clothes, but he did have that well-known "tweaker" look. Sorry, just how it is.

So, I don't know. Did I handle it right? Did I handle it wrong? It ended well, but it could have went a ton of different ways. By-standers (about 5 watching this whole thing) could have called the police. He could have tried to fight or go for my gun. I could have escalated the whole thing with my attitude. The list goes on.

The thing is that in the two times I've had to defend myself (one serious, the other prevented) and what I've always thought about defensive scenarios is that there was a clear cut "bad guy" that was trying to get something from me and I was the clear cut "victim".

What about when someone else thinks YOU are the bad guy? That's a scary thought. Defense is defense regardless of why someone attacked you, but it would be a hard thing to cope with having "defended" yourself against someone trying to do some good!

Good night guys - stay safe out there! This whole thing just had me thinking.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[SIGguy229]

I think your SA was down (IRT checking your gun as you got out of the car).

Other than that, as long as you are calm, most people will listen. However, the guy was an idiot if he saw your wife and kid go in ahead of you and thought you were going to rob the place. Unless he was so tweaked out he thought your wife and kids were his...and was looking for an excuse to confront you (and maybe determine if you were a cop or not). If he really thought you were going to rob the place, why didn't he call 911? Maybe he wanted to score some of the action? (if you were also a BG)...and used the ruse of "wife and kid" to find your intentions?

[jonconsiglio]

I usually lift my shirt over my gun while I'm driving and fix it before I get out, but I guess this time I didn't, or I did and it wasn't a very good job! Either way, I should have paid more attention. Also, I usually carry a 1911 inside the waistband (VMII), but for the past few weeks I've been throwing the Sig 226 or 229 SCT in the mix in an outside the waistband holster. Just thought I'd mention that!

[cammo]

The thing that caught my attention was......... "in the beater parked next to me". Was it a mistake to park next to a beater car? I was told to avoid parking near old vans, yukky cars, etc.

Just thinking. Sorry you had this experience. No fun.

[Shackleton]

Sounds like you handled it pretty well to me, sir. I mean, the attitude is understandable, some biter comes up with essentially nothing on and demands to know about your gun like that...suspicious to me. When I CC I have a tendency to discreetly check the hem of my shirt, just as I've always checked my wallet. It looks more like a nervous "do I have my wallet?" tick than anything else when I check. Cheers!

Also, it would have been really funny if you had done a half turn and said "Sir, you need to be wearing a shirt and shoes in this store." Just me

[jonconsiglio]

Ha! My wife said that same exact thing! She said it was pretty funny watching the look on my face when this half naked dirtbag came up to... Man, I just wanted to smack him for being so blatantly stupid and to question me like that in front of other people.

I have a bad habit of just parking in the closest spot. I have a new Mercedes and apparently we're supposed to park them on the other side of the lot so they don't get dinged! Go figure, I didn't know exercise was a part of Mercedes ownership.......or I never would have bought one!

..And that's the thing, I always check when getting out of my car. I guess one of the few times I don't pay as much attention someone happens to be watching.

[9MMare]

I think you did a good job Jon.

[Tala]

The thing that caught my attention was......... "in the beater parked next to me". Was it a mistake to park next to a beater car? I was told to avoid parking near old vans, yukky cars, etc.

Oh well I guess you don't want to park next to me. I promise what my truck has (age, it's 18 hard years and 285k hard miles old) isn't contageous to your new mercedes, unless you keep it for 20 years that is.

BUT parking next to a questionable looking OCCUPIED car was probably a mistake. I don't like parking next to people who are sitting around in their cars, no matter how nice the car looks. They could be waiting on a friend/relative to come out of the store, or they could be scoping the lot for the next target(s). I'd rather keep a little distance, just in case it's the latter.

[ItsMyRight2]

I say you handled it well. But I would pay attention to your printing.You must have been showing pretty good for someone to spot it that easy.

[ctsketch]

If you were really a BG what the guy did was dumb, lol. if you think someone is armed and robbing a place, would you just walk up tot hem shirtless and unarmed and escalate the situation? lol. If I thought a crime was in progress I would probably alert something, not go up to the armed man and say "scuse me Mr. are you going to shoot us?"

[ppkheat]

It sounds like the guy was very concerned about his girlfriend and child in the store, you really can't blame him for that, though I can't necessarily agree with how he approached you and handled it. IMHO, he played his cards too quickly by being too reactionary and confrontational. It's also sort of strange that, it should have been obvious to him, that you were in the store with your wife and child. That shouldn't necessarily have the appearance as something ominous.

Plus you are in TEXAS.........isn't everyone armed?

[bladenbullet]

i would have asked him if he was with law enforcement and recommend he contact them if he felt uncomfortable...then i would suggest that he dress himself properly as i am offended by his lack of personal hygene and would rather not have my family exposed to it...wish him a good day and walk away as i remind him he should mind his own business...

but i would say you did fine...

[carryon]

The thing that caught my attention was......... "in the beater parked next to me". Was it a mistake to park next to a beater car? I was told to avoid parking near old vans, yukky cars, etc.

Just thinking. Sorry you had this experience. No fun.

Good call. I usually keep open spaces on either side of me when I park. It's a very easy way to avoid getting attacked from someone sitting in a parked car. Plus you get a little more excercise b/c you have to park farther from store!

[SIGguy229]

It sounds like the guy was very concerned about his girlfriend and child in the store, you really can't blame him for that...

If they existed in the first place....

[oneshot]

It sounds like the guy was very concerned about his girlfriend and child in the store, you really can't blame him for that, though I can't necessarily agree with how he approached you and handled it. IMHO, he played his cards too quickly by being too reactionary and confrontational. It's also sort of strange that, it should have been obvious to him, that you were in the store with your wife and child. That shouldn't necessarily have the appearance as something ominous.
Plus you are in TEXAS.........isn't everyone armed?

^^^^^^^^^YEP^^^^^^^^^

I'm in this camp on this.
I think you handled the interaction well.

Just a point on what I have in bold above;

Think about what people do when in the commission of a crime,with regard to their family being present, and he may have thought ,(dumb as it may sound)you were using them as a diversionary tactic of some kind .


Other than (not)keeping covered up, you did fine.














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