A Reminder Tonight of Why I Carry

[jmf552]

Yes I have several guitars under a sheet of dust. I played bass at church for a while but gave up on that. I have some decent acoustic guitars but none of them have any songs in them. I kept buying them thinking one would have songs inside. Funny thing is when my friends play them they do just fine.

There's a great story a guy told about having the opportunity to jam with Earl Scruggs at a festival. At some point, the guy got Earl to agree to let him play Earl's magnificent, custom 5-string banjo for a tune at the jam. While he was doing that, Earl played the guy's cheapo entry level banjo. He guy remarked, "The sad thing was that Earl still sounded like Earl and I still sounded like me!"

[AZ Desertrat]

Sounds like you did the right thing. I leave for work very early, on the road by 5:15AM usually. I stop at convenience stores near my house
to pick up lottery tickets on most mornings. I frequently see "homeless" or obvious scumbags hanging out in front of the stores quite often.
I am armed when I go into the stores. I will always tell the clerk that he has suspicious characters outside in the parking lot, and at his
option he may want to call the police. Just saying.....time to be alert.

[sdh91]

Seems like a good degree of assumption was in play. The guy didn't threaten, didn't ask for money, didn't show any sign of aggression, and only tried to initiate verbal communication. like one of the above posts suggests, there are numerous possibilities to his desire to converse.
Let me just ask this...was the bicyclist wearing a spandex riding suit or similar biking clothes that would have made concealment of a weapon difficult for him? Was he wearing baggy pants and a hoodie? Did he look homeless? What was it about his appearance that sent you into alarm mode and gave you reason to move to conditional response with your weapon? And if you were not in your car but on the sidewalk and someone approached you, speaking, maybe even asking for money, would you have responded similarly or simply said no and moved on?

Baggy clothing. Unshaven, voice became louder and he appeared agitated when I asked what he wanted. I asked what he wanted twice and he never answered the question. Instead he asked if I wanted to see his drivers license and moved his right hand toward his back pocket. When he reached for his back pocket that is when I perceived a much higher threat level (right or wrong). When I asked him to back away from the vehicle his voice became louder stating that he wasn't homeless and appeared to become much more aggravated.

[Okeechobee]

Could that guy on the bike been in traffic and you and he had some kind of interaction that you were not aware of?
Maybe he wanted to be a smart ass and show he had a Drivers License like you except he was on a bicycle.

[sdh91]

Could that guy on the bike been in traffic and you and he had some kind of interaction that you were not aware of?
Maybe he wanted to be a smart ass and show he had a Drivers License like you except he was on a bicycle.

I seriously doubt that based on the location where he came from when I pulled into the parking spot. Also, if that was the case I think he would have said why he was confronting me.

[Okeechobee]

I seriously doubt that based on the location where he came from when I pulled into the parking spot. Also, if that was the case I think he would have said why he was confronting me.

There is no telling what he wanted. I could not imagine someone walking up to a car window asking if you wanted to see his license. There are some STRANGE people out there.

[graydude]

Mission mode is dangerous.

What is mission mode? People are wired to enjoy success; failure brings discomfort. These tendencies reinforce following through on a planned series of steps toward a desired goal. Once a mission is chosen and a plan of action is started to accomplish it, completing the plan brings pleasure, while deviating or not accomplishing the plan brings failure and discomfort. Mission mode is the unconscious drive to complete the plan with minimal deviation.

In this case the mission was to go to a particular store to shop for something, and the plan for accomplishing this mission included parking and walking from the car and into the store.

When faced with a potential threat, the mission mode response is to fixate on executing the plan with minimal deviation. The subconscious mind was focused on achieving mission success (shopping in that store at that time) and fumbling for a gun was the option closest to staying on track to accomplishing the plan with minimal deviation.

It’s important to interrupt these mission mode small deviation decisions by realizing there’s a higher priority mission (staying alive, unharmed, and out of jail). The higher priority mission (staying alive) may cause the lower priority mission (shopping) to be delayed, and that’s okay.

Mission mode in this case led the OP to reach for a gun to continue the shopping mission rather than immediately reaching for the PRNDL to achieve the higher priority staying alive and out of jail mission. Of course he got there shortly after and got out of Dodge anyway, so in the end it turned out okay.

[The Old Anglo]

Always Carry,Never Tell!!!!. My Lifelong Mantra!.

[malexander]

I think OP did just fine.

[Fallsrider]

I think OP did just fine.

I agree. He was there, I wasn't. Based on his account of the incident, the potential perp's actions were strange. Can't say for sure what I would do under the exact same circumstances, but he left with nothing happening, which is the goal.

[alabamaguy]

sdh91's story reinforces how quickly a possible threat can happen. Seconds or even less. So what this translates to is that if you are in a situation where a sudden assault or ambush could happen, parked in a car, walking in a parking lot, in a store, etc... the ability to pull the weapon efficiently and the ability to use it quickly and simply if need be is just as important as the act of carrying itself.

In a car scenario like sdh91's, it's critical that the possible threat not see what you have unless and until you must use it. Any prior notification is at best a tip off and at worst an invitation for a bad guy to shoot first. There are exceptions to this... you may in fact choose to have someone see what you have for a weapon if the situation and your instincts suggest it. That's the only valid reason to spill the beans that you are carrying.

So this all means one thing: make sure your carry and transportation methods don't get in the way of effectiveness and concealment.

[CreedDryrot]

I would think pan handling in a music store parking lot would be like fishing on a football field. Im sure you can cast your hook but not much of a chance of catching anything. Most musicians I know dont have or carry a lot of cash and most are cool with that.

Unsure why you assume that was a panhandler. Nothing in the OP's post indicates that. The guy said he wasn't homeless and offered to show his ID. Beyond that, we have no idea what the intention of the stranger on the bicycle is. He could've been an off duty cop trying to advise the OP that his taillight was out. That may not be the case but would cover both the reason to approach to car and offer to show his ID. We'll never know as the story offers no more data or the possibility of getting it.

OP, you made the right choice to leave. You may think again about how to carry your pistol in the future, and you may think again on what constitutes a threat and how getting more info is often important. But your reaction worked here regardless, as leaving is always better than escalating.

[CDW4ME]

Thread should be titled "A reminder of why I should carry".
IMO carry means on person, easily & quickly accessible and firearm wasn't.

[Fizban]

This sounds like a hammer and nail situation.. you carry a hammer, so every issue must be a nail.

I don't know anyone who enjoys being approached by odd ball strangers in public but there is a substantial difference between what is possible is regard to a potential threat and what is probable. I would certainly be suspicious of this guy and make meaningful efforts to drive away. I would pay very close attention to him while also looking for an accomplice who may be nearby. Getting your hands on a gun at the first uncomfortable circumstance is a pretty big leap considering that you could have simply driven away in half the time it took for you to get your gun. Its a pretty big leap considering that this guy really didn't do much in the way of projecting ill intent. If you tell a guy to go away or back off and he doesnt.. thats a problem, I agree. That said, its not likely a gun problem without some sort of substantial compounding issue. There is an entire universe between zero and GUN or at least there should be. I think this whole thing was more of an avoidance issue and not a "I need a gun" issue. Life is full of adversity, jackasses, rude people, dumb people, disturbed people, intoxicated people and all levels of ODD but not all misbehavior warrants putting your hands on a weapon. Some of those people roaming around in public may be dangerous but I think it is necessary to qualify those dangerous circumstances with reasonable indicators and certainly a little more than just odd behavior.

I think you did a good job of being aware but I would give you a demerit on the general availability of your weapon and what I see as an over-reaction to adversity.

[Blades]

Your trusted your gut. A lot of people dismiss their "spydie sense".