Never leave the gun at home again

Use this forum to post your experience with encounters with law enforcement, criminals, or other encounters as a result of your firearm or potential to be carrying one.

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Coolhead2001
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Never leave the gun at home again

Post by Coolhead2001 »

Hello,

So I think it’s safe to say that, as CCW licensees, we will all eventually experience a moment in time that makes us we’re glad we happened to be carrying, or are hating the fact that we weren’t.

Yesterday was my day. For the latter, unfortunately...

Here’s how it went:

The company I work for has a strict policy that prohibits employees from bringing their firearms, even in their personal vehicle, under penalty of immediate termination. Now wherever this policy doesn’t apply, I’m usually carrying whenever I’m out-and-about. Even though she usually thinks it’s unnecessary, my wife has grudgingly appeased my desire to carry when we’re out on errands or the like.

So when I leave work early to take my wife to the hospital for her very first pre-natal checkup (e.g.: ultrasound, blood work, etc.) – side note: Yes, I am about to be a first-time father and can’t be more excited! – I come home, pick her up, and go. Since I didn’t already have my firearm in the car (due to the above aforementioned reasons), and because we were in a rush to get out the door, I didn’t grab my holster or my M&P Shield from the safe. Once we got out of the hospital, confident that baby is doing quite well, both wife and I decided it was high time to let the family know there was a new member coming. We head to a nearby bookstore to get a couple “how to babysit your grandpa/grandma books”.

That was when I started to notice him. Some guy, always hanging around pretty close to where we are – it’s a big store. And every time I looked at him, he would look startled before turning towards one of the stands as though one of its contents had just caught his attention. Ok, I thought. That's weird. But maybe it’s just a coincidence. We grab our books and then proceed to checkout, but he’s never too far away.

At this point, the hairs on the back of my neck are raising. Still, all of this could just be coincidence.

Certainly, I’m feeling a little more protective now that I know I’m going to be a father. I consider mentioning something to my wife so she can tell me how I’m just being paranoid, but decide against it. We exit the store together, turn, and start moving to a nearby Target so we can pick up some wrapping paper. I happen to look behind me again. Curious, more than anything. But sure enough, guess who’s there. He’s following us over.

At this point, I’m kicking myself for having not grabbed my holster and firearm before leaving the house. While I couldn’t have brought it into the hospital, I could have locked it up and then holstered up once we left. I could have had it on me right now. I could have been prepared in case this jerk-off decided to try something. But instead, all I have on me is my work knife.

Now I’m an Army Combat Veteran with a tour in Iraq. Over there, there’d been plenty of times I’d gotten nervous or even scared. But I never felt quite as naked and defenseless as I did walking from a Barnes and Noble over to a Target store in Columbus-freaking-Ohio.

The guy turns into the bathroom as soon as we get inside, and I decide it’s time to ask my wife if she’d noticed him.

“Oh yeah,” she said, rather tensely. Her eyes scrutinized the small of my back where I imagine she was hoping to see a bulge. “Are you carrying?”

At this point in time, the first time my wife has ever asked me that question in that ‘I-hope-you-are’ way, I’m kicking myself even further. I have to tell her that I'm not. And with no other choice but to continue on, that’s exactly what we do. We pick out some wrapping paper and move to the register. I tell my wife that if we see him hanging around the bathroom or even outside, we go back inside, contact a manager, and call the police. She agrees with me wholeheartedly.

Thankfully, bozo was nowhere to be seen.

Our drive home was as uneventful as it could ever have been. Whether it was just an unfortunate set of coincidences that put her and me on edge, or this guy had genuinely been considering trying to do something to us, we won’t know. But I think that the next time I'm in a rush to get out the door, I'll make sure to make a quick stop in the bedroom beforehand.
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Re: Never leave the gun at home again

Post by Newcomer »

Glad all turned out OK. It's that "you just never know" feeling that I presume all of us on here have and the reason we own a firearm whether it's to carry, protect our home or both.
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Re: Never leave the gun at home again

Post by WestonDon »

Good on ya for situational awareness and a hearty WELCOME!
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westsidebestside
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Re: Never leave the gun at home again

Post by westsidebestside »

I'm happy it worked out the way it did for you.

Thanks for sharing your story. You never know, you may have helped save a life by doing so.
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pirateguy191
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Re: Never leave the gun at home again

Post by pirateguy191 »

Did you always carry small of back?
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Re: Never leave the gun at home again

Post by BEAR! »

pirateguy191 wrote:Did you always carry small of back?

Are you gonna tell him he'll fall on his back and be paralyzed? :P
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MyWifeSaidYes
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Re: Never leave the gun at home again

Post by MyWifeSaidYes »

I don't follow company policies very well.

That may be why I've been self-employed for over 15 years.

:P
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pirateguy191
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Re: Never leave the gun at home again

Post by pirateguy191 »

BEAR! wrote:
pirateguy191 wrote:Did you always carry small of back?

Are you gonna tell him he'll fall on his back and be paralyzed? :P
No, it's just not an optimal position to draw from.
"In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem." - Ronald Reagan

"When democracy turns to tyranny, the armed citizen still gets to vote." ~ Mike Vanderboegh

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Re: Never leave the gun at home again

Post by Brian D. »

Never ignore those gut feelings. And, it sounds like in the future your wife won't be quick to do the eye roll thing.

I take grief from friends and especially girlfriends for going up a def-con level around "homeless" people. More so than the general population, they have mental health issues, and criminal tendencies. To me it's not arrogance or paranoia, just acknowledging the percentages. And of course, even among the non-homeless, you have weirdos, or people that seem to be acting weird for several minutes at a time. Again, just don't let yourself mentally go into sleepwalk mode when you're out and about.
Quit worrying, hide your gun well, shut up, and CARRY that handgun!

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Re: Never leave the gun at home again

Post by eye95 »

MyWifeSaidYes wrote:I don't follow company policies very well.

That may be why I've been self-employed for over 15 years.

:P
You've never set a policy on yourself, disobeyed it, and then fired yourself for it?
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Re: Never leave the gun at home again

Post by Lone Wolf »

Good job on paying attention to your "Spidey Sense". So many people have their eyes glued to their phones. Interesting read if you have the time, "The Gift of Fear" by Gavin de Becker. It is about intuition and how you pick up on signals you might not even be aware of.

My wife has an incredible sense of intuition. There has been a time or two that she has asked me if I was carrying because something spooked her. She is not one to jump at shadows and so when she asks me that I'm right on the edge of drawing and going to "low ready."

LW
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Dr. Watson : "Yes, I thought it well to take them."
Sherlock Holmes : "Most certainly. Keep your revolver near you night and day and never relax your precautions"

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charliej47
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Re: Never leave the gun at home again

Post by charliej47 »

There have been times when in a rush to get going, I have forgotten to get armed. I have returned home to pick it up when this happens even if I am late.

There might come a time when in a mad rush to get to ER that I forget, then I will have to live with the consequences.
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The Second Amendment is about the right to be able to protect oneself from all who would do us harm including Legislators!
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MyWifeSaidYes
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Re: Never leave the gun at home again

Post by MyWifeSaidYes »

charliej47 wrote:There have been times when in a rush to get going, I have forgotten to get armed...
Why?

If you can remember to put on your shirt, pants and shoes, put your wallet in your pocket and grab your car keys...but NOT remember to arm yourself(?), I would posit that your 'arming' process is too complicated.

I once forgot to bring my open carry handgun to an open carry walk ( :oops: ) but I DID remember to bring my BUG in a pocket holster.

I realized that I spent far too much time (although only a few minutes) threading my belt through my holster and retrieving my OC handgun from the safe and putting everything in its place.

My BUG is stashed with my wallet and is used as my nightstand gun, so it doesn't go into the safe. It stays in a wallet-sized pocket holster that goes in my pants pocket right after my wallet does. The process is far simpler and easier to become habit.

Take a look at what YOU do each day and see how you can streamline it.
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Re: Never leave the gun at home again

Post by charliej47 »

MyWifeSaidYes wrote:
charliej47 wrote:There have been times when in a rush to get going, I have forgotten to get armed...
Why?

Take a look at what YOU do each day and see how you can streamline it.
You have to realize that as you get older, you get into routines. If you break a routine then you will have forgotten something.

I have broken routines where I forget to put in my hearing aids and have to return. Same thing.

I am in the habit of checking my pockets to ensure that I have what I need. There are time when as I am checking, something pops up like loosing power and then having to deal with that can throw you off.

We are all creatures of habit, we just have to remember how to deal with that.
Charles Johnson Jr
12GA. pump - Home defense
40 Cal. Main Carry
380 BUG
22lr Live fire practice
The Second Amendment is about the right to be able to protect oneself from all who would do us harm including Legislators!
I came into this world screaming and covered in someone Else's blood, don't care if I go out the same way

Everyone who receives the protection of society owes a return for the benefit. John Stuart Mill, On Liberty
(English economist & philosopher. 1806 - 1873)
andiamo
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Re: Never leave the gun at home again

Post by andiamo »

Congrats on the baby news!
I liken my carrying to wearing a seatbelt...
I dont wear it when I think Im going to get into an accident, I put it on incase of the event I do get into an accident.
Make it a habit and it gets easier.
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