My gun probably saved me.

Levi · May 8, 2012

The UN and the IMO (International Maritime Organization) outlaw the possession and use of firearms by ships crew on commercial ships in international waters. Piracy is a significant and growing problem in the world's commerce shipping lanes. We are told to use evasive maneuvering and fire hoses to defend ourselves. If we are boarded, we are instructed to just comply and wait for rescue.

Many tactics have been tried. Spraying with fire hoses just gets people sprayed with lead. Evasive maneuvering just slows the ship down and does nothing to stop hook ladders. Locking up the ship doesn't do any good because they just cut their way in with torches. LRAD http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Range_Acoustic_Device didn't stop them from trying to get on the ship I was on.

When pirates do get on, the abuse the crew receives would get life sentences issued in the USA. Beatings and torture are a daily occurrence. Rape, on both genders, happens frequently. When crewmen finally do get releases after months of this, they are 10 - 25 lbs lighter, disease ridden, and frequently missing body parts. Punishment executions are increasing to get compliance from the remaining crew.

The only effective way to prevent the boarding by pirates is firearms. The only legal way to do this is to have a special detachment of arms security "professionals" on board to provide the needed firepower.

When piracy comes up, I tell my stories. It blows my mind when I hear someone say that several months of hell and possibly being murdered is preferable to us using guns to defend ourselves. One quote "It's your fault for being in open water." Another "they have a right to earn a living too. You should learn to reason with them."

Keep arming yourself and don't listen to numskulls that think being a victim is better than defending yourself.

rushcreek2 · May 8, 2012

Perhaps the pirates would also disarm if they were made aware of the UN, & IMO laws ?

Ken56 · May 8, 2012

All those with the "just be a victim" attitude can just keep on living in their little bubble of 'it wont happen to me'. I know for a fact too that open carry is a deterrant. the cock roaches seem to scatter when they see someone who can shoot back. I tell any anti that I promise not to defend them if something should happen while I am near. They just kinda look at me like a deer in the head lights..... not really knowing what to say to that.

decklin · May 8, 2012

Levi said:
The UN and the IMO (International Maritime Organization) outlaw the possession and use of firearms by ships crew on commercial ships in international waters. Piracy is a significant and growing problem in the world's commerce shipping lanes. We are told to use evasive maneuvering and fire hoses to defend ourselves. If we are boarded, we are instructed to just comply and wait for rescue.

Many tactics have been tried. Spraying with fire hoses just gets people sprayed with lead. Evasive maneuvering just slows the ship down and does nothing to stop hook ladders. Locking up the ship doesn't do any good because they just cut their way in with torches. LRAD http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Range_Acoustic_Device didn't stop them from trying to get on the ship I was on.

When pirates do get on, the abuse the crew receives would get life sentences issued in the USA. Beatings and torture are a daily occurrence. Rape, on both genders, happens frequently. When crewmen finally do get releases after months of this, they are 10 - 25 lbs lighter, disease ridden, and frequently missing body parts. Punishment executions are increasing to get compliance from the remaining crew.

The only effective way to prevent the boarding by pirates is firearms. The only legal way to do this is to have a special detachment of arms security "professionals" on board to provide the needed firepower.

When piracy comes up, I tell my stories. It blows my mind when I hear someone say that several months of hell and possibly being murdered is preferable to us using guns to defend ourselves. One quote "It's your fault for being in open water." Another "they have a right to earn a living too. You should learn to reason with them."

Keep arming yourself and don't listen to numskulls that think being a victim is better than defending yourself.

I'm not surpised the LRAD didn't work for you. My platoon had three of them attached to three different Strykers in '07-'08. We found they were more useful to pass on messages to the populace. We had a few people that would just ignore them.
For those that don't know hearing loss starts at about 83-84db. We were able to push the LRAD, with no wind in a static environment, up to 125db.
So yeah, I'm really not surprised it didn't work for you guys on the open ocean. Firearms would definitely be the way to go.

decklin · May 8, 2012

rscottie, this is an excellent story. It's good you learned your lesson and thank you for relaying your experience to the rest of us. Good thinking on flanking you truck. Way to stay focused!

paramedic70002 · May 8, 2012

rscottie said:
In this case a foley cath would not have helped... ;-)

Depends!

paramedic70002 · May 8, 2012

Levi said:
The UN and the IMO (International Maritime Organization) outlaw the possession and use of firearms by ships crew on commercial ships in international waters.

The UN and the IMO write and enforce international shipping law?

Levi · May 8, 2012

paramedic70002 said:
The UN and the IMO write and enforce international shipping law?

Yes. The IMO is a treaty organization that nearly every country with merchant ships has signed on to. Essentially, after an IMO agrees on a rule, the member countries then turn it into their national law and then empower the UN to make it international law. The US Coast Guard enforces IMO rules to the same level and aggression as US laws.

paramedic70002 · May 9, 2012

Levi said:
Yes. The IMO is a treaty organization that nearly every country with merchant ships has signed on to. Essentially, after an IMO agrees on a rule, the member countries then turn it into their national law and then empower the UN to make it international law. The US Coast Guard enforces IMO rules to the same level and aggression as US laws.

So I'm assuming the operative word in your previous statement is "crew" since many ships have contract armed security on board. I myself have been contracted to provide armed security on ships of several nations while in port in Hampton Roads, even riding the ship in/out and getting ferried back and forth on the pilot boat (20 years ago).

Levi · May 9, 2012

paramedic70002 said:
So I'm assuming the operative word in your previous statement is "crew" since many ships have contract armed security on board. I myself have been contracted to provide armed security on ships of several nations while in port in Hampton Roads, even riding the ship in/out and getting ferried back and forth on the pilot boat (20 years ago).

You were also in US territorial waters. The rules are different there.

Blk97F150 · May 9, 2012

Ultimately the 'bad guy' probably did you a favor by relocating to lean on your truck.... when you came out of the bathroom, if he had've moved, but wasn't directly against the truck, your radar sense may not have triggered as high as it did. And the outcome could have been much different.....

Gun Totin' Liberal · May 9, 2012

If all you had to do was urinate, why even wait for a rest area? That late at night, or middle of the day for that matter, you could just pull over on the shoulder and pee on the side of the road, lol. I am so overly cautious, whether I am carrying or not, that if I pulled in there that late and saw two dudes there, I would have kept on going. Even if it was just far enough to get out of their sight, then get out and pee. Then again, I don't trust anyone.

My job forces me to have to urinate in public, at my truck door, and nobody knows I am doing it. All you need is one of those hospital urinals, the plastic thing with the angled neck and a handle. I can even use it while staying seated, and just open a door and pour it out.

I am glad everything turned out alright, but next time, just keep going!!

rscottie · May 10, 2012

Gun Totin' Liberal said:
If all you had to do was urinate, why even wait for a rest area? That late at night, or middle of the day for that matter, you could just pull over on the shoulder and pee on the side of the road, lol. I am so overly cautious, whether I am carrying or not, that if I pulled in there that late and saw two dudes there, I would have kept on going. Even if it was just far enough to get out of their sight, then get out and pee. Then again, I don't trust anyone.

My job forces me to have to urinate in public, at my truck door, and nobody knows I am doing it. All you need is one of those hospital urinals, the plastic thing with the angled neck and a handle. I can even use it while staying seated, and just open a door and pour it out.

I am glad everything turned out alright, but next time, just keep going!!

Unfortunately it was for #2 and I had already driven through Richmond on I64 and found nowhere that looked safe to stop.

twoskinsonemanns · May 11, 2012

Levi said:
One quote "It's your fault for being in open water." Another "they have a right to earn a living too. You should learn to reason with them."

This kind of attitude makes me sick inside.

But the truth is these people are brain washed and have never been in a position of fear for their lives or their children's live's.
I suspect if the situation ever arose their instincts for defending their children would have them wishing very earnestly for the most powerful weapon they could possibly wield to save their young.

Gun Totin' Liberal · May 12, 2012

rscottie said:
Unfortunately it was for #2 and I had already driven through Richmond on I64 and found nowhere that looked safe to stop.

Ohhh. Well, don't ya have a bucket? :lol:

Eeyore · May 13, 2012

rscottie said:
This gentleman that was now yelling at me. Ya know, the funny thing is that with all the adrenaline I had going, I was only hearing some of it. (This worries me as it could have a bad effect if it was a police officer yelling at me) Anyway, I digress.

This is a typical physiological reaction to high stress. There's a technical name for it, but I can't remember it at the moment. We see it all the time reviewing aviation accident reports--the cockpit is full of audible warnings and/or radio calls, but the mishap pilot usually reports he/she didn't hear any of them. As the fecal matter impacts the air circulator, the pilot becomes task saturated and the brain blocks out auditory stimuli.

HKcarrier · May 16, 2012

I wonder what happened to the next poor soul that wandered into that rest stop... you should have called the police to report the idjuts.

rscottie · May 16, 2012

HKcarrier said:
I wonder what happened to the next poor soul that wandered into that rest stop... you should have called the police to report the idjuts.

I can understand why you would think that.

I did think it over. The drive from that Rest Area to the Langley area allows a lot of time to think. There were are not many places to stop through there and few pay phones. No one but the uber rich had Cell phones at that time.

My thoughts were that if I called the police, they would tell them that some crazy man pulled a gun on them when they just wanted to ask for directions.

It would be two guy's word against one, the one with the gun.

So, to avoid any chance that I may get the tables turned on me and end up getting in to trouble for having a gun, I chose to stay silent.

I was not hurt, I did not crap myself as I had just taken care of that prior to the whole incident, and I did not want trouble.

I do not think I was wrong for not calling the police.

But, that is just my opinion.

Ruby · May 17, 2012

Eeyore said:
This is a typical physiological reaction to high stress. There's a technical name for it, but I can't remember it at the moment. We see it all the time reviewing aviation accident reports--the cockpit is full of audible warnings and/or radio calls, but the mishap pilot usually reports he/she didn't hear any of them. As the fecal matter impacts the air circulator, the pilot becomes task saturated and the brain blocks out auditory stimuli.

It's called auditory exclusion.

dudeman1 · Aug 9, 2013

Oh man, I never ever leave my gun in the car when I travel,(I never leave my gun period, or it never leaves me, whatever) or especilally have to pull into a rest stop. Thats a prime location for thieves and thugs. Glad you made it out alive. If I dont have my gun on me, I feel naked, and vulnerable, which I am. I do not like that feeling.

My gun probably saved me.

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