I've been lurking here for a while but now I have a reason to post. It's long, but I don't want to leave out any details.
I was out for a late night walk last night in my rather peaceful Ft. Wayne neighborhood. I had my .45 XD in an IWB partially exposed. It's late, no one's likely to notice it and I dressed business casual so I don't "fit the stereotype".
As I'm walking home through the Northcrest appts. I notice a couple fighting loudly on the street and I stop about 100 yds. away to observe. It's pretty heated and I don't want to see any violence. After a few minutes the man notices me and yells at me, "go inside and mind your own business."
"Is everything is alright?" I reply.
"Yeah, go inside!"
"OK, maybe you should relax and go inside too."
"Why don't you come over here and say that!"
"No, I'm not looking for a fight I just want to be sure you are both OK," I reply calmly.
Then he approaches me. My left hand goes smoothly onto my .45 as he closes in. "I'm not looking for trouble," I state.
"Oh, you got gun. You going to shoot me? I'll take that gun and shoot you!", he postures defiantly.
As he's approaching me, I'm backing away keeping a gap. Then the woman drives up with an infant in the back seat.
"Are you OK?" I ask.
She steps out and starts to berate me then gets back into the car and calls the police stating "there's a man with a gun and I don't know what he's doing."
They drive back down the street and I go talk to a neighbor and get the scoop on them. He's a druggie, no surprise there.
Cops arrive, I raise my hand and alert them to my XD, he politely remove and unload my .45. I then explain the situation first "I was concerned for the child's safety and remained a good distance away until he came after me."
"OK, I'll run a check of your license and we'll let you go on your way soon," the officer says.
After talking with them and then briefly to me, his partner hands over my license, open XD and magazine - I'm free to go. No lectures on open carry at all. The only words were "Be careful, you don't know if the other guy has a gun." None of the neighbors I talked with had any problem with my pistol.
He was right. I thought about it later, what if he did have a gun? During the altercation I never even considered this.
Lessons learned:
1. If there's no immediate threat of loss of live or extreme injury, Retreat, observe and report are the rules of the day.
2. Just because you have a gun doesn't mean the bad guy will back down.
3. Some people are reasonable (Cops, neighbors) and some are not (BG). Don't try to confront or reason with those that cannot be reasoned with.
4. Remember others may be armed and keep a wide gap (6-8 feet is not enough! He could have jumped me.).
Comments?
I was out for a late night walk last night in my rather peaceful Ft. Wayne neighborhood. I had my .45 XD in an IWB partially exposed. It's late, no one's likely to notice it and I dressed business casual so I don't "fit the stereotype".
As I'm walking home through the Northcrest appts. I notice a couple fighting loudly on the street and I stop about 100 yds. away to observe. It's pretty heated and I don't want to see any violence. After a few minutes the man notices me and yells at me, "go inside and mind your own business."
"Is everything is alright?" I reply.
"Yeah, go inside!"
"OK, maybe you should relax and go inside too."
"Why don't you come over here and say that!"
"No, I'm not looking for a fight I just want to be sure you are both OK," I reply calmly.
Then he approaches me. My left hand goes smoothly onto my .45 as he closes in. "I'm not looking for trouble," I state.
"Oh, you got gun. You going to shoot me? I'll take that gun and shoot you!", he postures defiantly.
As he's approaching me, I'm backing away keeping a gap. Then the woman drives up with an infant in the back seat.
"Are you OK?" I ask.
She steps out and starts to berate me then gets back into the car and calls the police stating "there's a man with a gun and I don't know what he's doing."
They drive back down the street and I go talk to a neighbor and get the scoop on them. He's a druggie, no surprise there.
Cops arrive, I raise my hand and alert them to my XD, he politely remove and unload my .45. I then explain the situation first "I was concerned for the child's safety and remained a good distance away until he came after me."
"OK, I'll run a check of your license and we'll let you go on your way soon," the officer says.
After talking with them and then briefly to me, his partner hands over my license, open XD and magazine - I'm free to go. No lectures on open carry at all. The only words were "Be careful, you don't know if the other guy has a gun." None of the neighbors I talked with had any problem with my pistol.
He was right. I thought about it later, what if he did have a gun? During the altercation I never even considered this.
Lessons learned:
1. If there's no immediate threat of loss of live or extreme injury, Retreat, observe and report are the rules of the day.
2. Just because you have a gun doesn't mean the bad guy will back down.
3. Some people are reasonable (Cops, neighbors) and some are not (BG). Don't try to confront or reason with those that cannot be reasoned with.
4. Remember others may be armed and keep a wide gap (6-8 feet is not enough! He could have jumped me.).
Comments?
