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"See That Man? He's Going To Shoot You!"

20K views 156 replies 74 participants last post by  JD 
#1 ·
This what what I heard last night at my local Walmart. I was there with my girlfriend, doing some Christmas shopping. I don't generally like to open carry in Walmart, but after walking around for an hour, my coat got too hot, so off it came. I got some looks, but no issues, until we got to the toy section. Some lady had a couple of kids with her. One of them, who looked to be about 4 or 5, was acting pretty horribly, just screaming, kicking his feet, and carrying on. I'd expect that from a toddler, or a kid still in diapers, but not a kindergartener. I just ignored it and kept walking. The lady was trying to hush the kid, without much success, then she saw me walking past, and told the kid, "See that man? If you don't shut up, I'm going to tell him to shoot you! Then you'll be quiet, won't you!"

That bothered me. It bothered me a lot, and I stopped and told her so. "Lady," I said to her, "if you can't handle your kid acting like a brat, that's your business, but don't use me like a damned boogeyman. I don't know you from Adam, and I don't need you using me to terrify your kid, for Christ's sake." My girlfriend thought it was funny, and that I may have overreacted, but I was really pissed.

I normally don't get mad when a stranger walks up to me and put their hands up and says, "Don't shoot!" I can tell they're joking. But this really got under my skin. What kind of person does that to their kids?
 
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#5 ·
^^^^^I am somewhere in this camp^^^^^^^^^^





BUT,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

OTOH,,,,She was probably frazzled to the core dragging a couple kids around for maybe the better part of the day.
She, in perhaps desparation blurted out the first thing that may have come to mind.

You may , may have been a bit harsh, under the circumstances, but maybe she will tone it down in the future, and think before she says something of that nature again.
 
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#3 ·
What kind of person does that to their kids?
A bad parent, which was already established, by the way the child was behaving. It isn't the child's fault, it is the parent's, the kid can only know what he has been taught.
 
#4 ·
Next time keep your coat on. If it was concealed it would not of happened. Just saying.....
 
#16 ·
Thanks for the non-feedback. :rolleyes:

I was concealed, for at least an hour. Like I said, I started dripping sweat like it was fashionable, so the coat came off. Open carry isn't that uncommon around here, and it's never been an issue for me, although, like I said, I normally conceal in Walmart.
 
#51 ·
Noticed fine. Used to scare a kid not fine. I OC all the time it is my RIGHT please all you people who don't believe in OC don't berate those of us who do. It is like me saying if it is legal for you to OC and you don't your just plain stupid for not doing it. This is the most stupid debate ever carry how you want to when you want to but don't look down on people who don't feel the same way.
 
#8 ·
Whenever I acted like that brat, my mom hauled me outside the store and straightened me right out. I loved her all the more for it, too!
 
#44 ·
My mom must have been mean, she beat on the spot if I looked like I was out of line.

I did it with my kids and and my oldest (who has 3 under 9) said she would never do that to her kids. She has had a change of heart and takes care of business. The kids are all well mannered.
 
#9 ·
I think you handled it fine...as a parent, that woman was an idiot. There will always be ignorant people when you OC. If otherscan't control themselves when you OC, that is THEIR problem.
 
#10 ·
That bothered me. It bothered me a lot, and I stopped and told her so. "Lady," I said to her, "if you can't handle your kid acting like a brat, that's your business, but don't use me like a damned boogeyman. I don't know you from Adam, and I don't need you using me to terrify your kid, for Christ's sake."
The lady was an idiot of course. As for me I see no need to try to educate idiots in a place like Walmart. I'd have kept moving. You surely didn't need a hassle with a fool in Walmart at that point.
 
#13 ·
I think you did fine. I probably would have done the same thing in your situation. However, I do not open carry, although technically it is legal to do so in Ohio. Just too many hassels with "liberal" idiots! And I hate going to WallyWorld! I do so on occasion because of their prices, but not very often because of the "crowd" that frequents the store!:yup:
 
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#15 ·
I think you did fine. I probably would have done the same thing in your situation.
In my opinion he did not do fine. He didn't need to verbally engage with the woman but if he did it would have been more profitable to have done it politely. Had the lady become irate and then escalated to hysterical a real scene could have unfolded in the aisle at Walmart between a not too smart excited woman and a not too smart man with a gun. If you're going to open carry in Walmart be prepared to pass off comments and stares with a bit of finesse for God's sake. No need for the drama IMO.
 
#19 ·
In my opinion he did not do fine. He didn't need to verbally engage with the woman but if he did it would have been more profitable to have done it politely. Had the lady become irate and then escalated to hysterical a real scene could have unfolded in the aisle at Walmart between a not too smart excited woman and a man with a gun. If you're going to open carry in Walmart be prepared to pass off comments and stares with a bit of finesse for God's sake. No need for the drama IMO.
I normally don't engage rude people. I don't get confronted often about it, and the one or two times I have, I simply shurg it off or laugh it off, because I couldn't be bothered with what some moron says to me. But I guess some stupid woman using me as a boogeyman for her kid, and basically instilling an unnatural fear of guns in a kid, ticked me off some. Now that kid is going to have an irrational fear of guns, and not because of me. Ah, well. I guess I know better than to try and use sense on an idiot. I just hope that she isn't a total idiot, and thought about her actions afterwards. I would never talk to my kids like that. Then again, my kids never acted like once they stopped wearing diapers.
 
#20 ·
I will say this. For the situation at hand you handled yourself fine. The woman was am idiot and by confronting her you may have stopped her from doing it to another OCer
 
#23 ·
Maybe. I hope so. I didn't post this to get a round of high fives from the open carry guys here, and I didn't post it to get criticized by the concealed carry guys here. I was just venting about my frustrations about bad parenting. This is why I hate going to Walmart, LOL. I prefer going to Target. They also allow open carry, but around here, their customers are generally of a better...quality?

I just wonder about people like that. What kind of person tries to intimidate their kid by threatening them with violence from a stranger? What if this kid sees me on the street a few years from now? How will he react? Or worse, how will he react to anyone he sees carrying a gun? That would be like me telling my kids that if they misbehave, a black guy is gonna punch them in the face. They'd probably grow up being afraid of black people, and then eventually become racists. Or something, I don't know.
 
#28 ·
Yeah, I know how open carry is seen. Like I said, I do it out of convenience. I'm not walking around with a videocamera, walking up to police, and shaking my hip at them, daring them to violate my rights. Those people irritate me to no end. But, open carry has it's place, and I utilize it when I need to. I conceal for the same reasons. I'm just lucky to have the option; in Texas, I could get arrested for open carry. I just have to wonder what goes on in people's heads sometimes. It's like people who walk up to open carriers, and tell them that they're terrifying them. Well, if you walked up to them to tell them that, then you can't be all that terrified, can you? When someone scares me, I usually walk the other way, and look for cover, just in case. I think I'm going to stick to internet shopping. LOL
 
#29 ·
But, he wasn't concealed at that moment, which is perfectly fine. It wasn't a "Put yourself on display...." He was carrying in a perfectly legal manner of HIS choosing. He posted his story in the OPEN CARRY section of the forum. I just can't figure out why the cc crowd here trolls this portion of the forum so often. Every thread seems to draw someone to espouse their cc gibberish to let us OC'ers know how much better cc is. We don't go to your concealed carry section and stir you guys up.

In my opinion of the op's actions and not having ever had a situation like this happen to me... I think it would have been better to reduce the comments to a milder state. but, I'm not so sure I could have done that either and may have done and said the same thing. Also may have notified the store management of her comments just to be proactive to anyone listening nearby that didn't know how the event started
 
#30 ·
Yeah, I would have probably said something too. Except it might have been along the lines of, "Well, you may be kidding this time. But if you don't get a handle on that kid soon you might have to worry about guys with badges having to shoot him."

I have 2 kids. We have issues when we are out and about occasionally. They get handled, quickly. I never had to spank one in public, and they are getting almost too old for it, but it's still an option and they know it. Funny how discipline changes things.
 
#33 ·
Display in the sense that it was there. Your post came across to me that you felt it was an intentional "put yourself on display". there is a difference between just being there and being on display. If I am driving my car it is not on display. If I am open carrying my 1911 it is not on display.

Yes, it is a defensive carry discussion board. There is a Concealed Carry section and an Open Carry section. I just find it amazing that the cc crowd comes in to the oc section to espouse that their way is better. I don't think the oc crowd goes into the cc section and claims that cc'ers have to hide behind whatever. Seems like every thread has that happen here. That is the definition of trolling. Sorry to rant today. Didn't get my coffee this morning.

So, Mike, how about a cup of coffee with me this morning? Moxie or Starbucks, You can cc, I'll oc and we'll both enjoy a good coffe and talk about guns, fishing or whatever. Well, next time you're in the area or I am in yours anyway.
 
#34 ·
Marion County, Ohio is a very long way from Nampa, Idaho, but thanks for the offer. I am drinking a cup of Old Bisbee's Cerro las Ranas del Salvador as I type. I try not to put too much emotional attachment to particular words. Unless one's car is parked in the garage with the door down, it is on display, subject to the commentary of blue light shoppers wherever one may go. With a firearm, it is unrealistic to expect everyone to react with discrete decorum by pretending they do not notice.
 
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#36 ·
I respect your right to open carry if you state allows it.....I live in Texas where it is not allowed.

There has been talk about allowing open carry in Texas, but even if passed I don't think I would do so for two reasons:

1) IMO one of the biggest advantages to concealed carry is that the "bad guy" doesn't know you are armed. If he sees you're armed, he may just shoot you first or take your weapon....... in any case open carry removes your element of surprise.

2) I've read and seen several videos on Utube where in some states were OC is allowed, the armed citizen still receives quite a lot of harassment from law enforcement and private citizens. Not saying this is right because it's not, but OC does put it out there for everyone to see.

Again, don't misunderstand where I'm coming from. I fully believe we have the right to be armed under the 2nd amendment, but I just don't see a real advantage to open carry.....



I live in Texas where it is
 
#38 ·
I think the OP did fine. Try wearing a uniform and have people say stupid crap like that all the time... Like
"see that officer?, I'll have him throw in in jail" to their kids- Way to go brainy ac. Or the ever annoying "I didn't do it" or "arrest him" Whatever... what a way to show off your unimaginative and lack of intellect brain.

When people do that to their kids, I'll almost always go out of my way to be extra nice and engage the kids with a friendly conversation and out the parents as meat heads. That way, they'll remeber the friendly officer that made them laugh, and not hide from me when they are lost etc.
 
#40 ·
I don't even see this as an OC issue, it's not like the lady was freaked out by it. Instead she was threatening violence on her child from a stranger. IMHO, that is not cool and I think the OP did just fine. She needs to suck it up and learn how to discipline and not attempt to bestow her problem upon someone else, even if hypothetically.
 
#41 ·
It is not an OC issue as I see it either but if the woman had responded in kind to the OP's comments and the situation escalated to a full blown verbal confrontation witnessed by other shoppers it could well have become an OC issue with a life of its own. I don't open carry myself but if I did I would try to steer clear of conflict and drama in places like Walmart.
 
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