The day I decided to get armed. A very near miss story.

[aa1911]

remember one when I was about 12 years old with my folks on a month long vacation in CO, WY and MT; we stopped early morning in a deserted trailhead area in the national forest somewhere in CO to make breakfast before the day's drive. Couple guys in there mid to late twenties looking like less than desirable characters pull in next to us and get out, acting all shifty and eyeballing the three of us. My father is a retired LEO and while these guys were deciding how they were going to rob us or whatever, he calmly retrieves his snubby out of the truck cab and shoves it in his pants.

Suddenly the two wierdos decided it was time to leave... what a coincidence!

[Houston Bear]

First time poster here. My particular story is somewhat lamer than most of yours. Two guys in a pickup truck pull beside me in a parking lot in broad daylight. They then signal me to roll down my window; I wasn't extremely suspicious at this point, so I did. They then told me they had a $9000 LED TV they were willing to sell me for cheap. They wanted me to pull over and talk about it. When I said that I wasn't interested, they became irritated and almost insistent, asking me to pull over and "make them an offer". Now, I'm only 20, so I obviously can't carry a handgun, but I do have a decent knife with me. Anyways, after about the third time I told them 'no', the guys started looking around suspiciously. One of the guys yells OK, and they drive off. Here is what I concluded afterwards: 1. No TV that can fit in a truck bed costs $9000 2. Something about it just didn't feel right: I'm almost certain they were targeting me, thinking I was some kind of ignoramus. My guess is the tv was broken or stolen, and they were trying to pawn it off on me. Maybe they had something more sinister in mind?

[bwiltgen2]

New member and first time poster.
Back in Oct. 2011 my fiance and I were headed to my dad's house one night. Traveling through a part of down nick-named "The war zone". (Central and Wyoming for those who live in Albuquerque) Was around 2130. Came to stop light next to bus stop. Four druggies immediately come up to my car. Two of them stand in front and two on the passenger side where my fiance was sitting. They start hitting the window trying to break it. At the time I was unarmed. I called the police right away but I would've hated myself if they got into my car. Light turns green and I start inching my car forward letting the two druggies, in front of my car, know I had no intention on staying there. The next day I went out and purchased myself a P95 that I carry in my car or openly on my hip. Working on scheduling a CC class.

[skidmark]

Welcome to OCDO!

.... I start inching my car forward letting the two druggies, in front of my car, know I had no intention on staying there. The next day I went out and purchased myself a P95 that I carry in my car or openly on my hip. ....

So you start out with 280,000,000 grains* at - what? - 42.33 fps** and are now dropping down to 124 grains at 1120 fps? Sure shows the compromises one makes for convenience, doesn't it?

stay safe.

* about 2,500 lbs.

** about 0.5 mph

[Riana]

Self Repost:
Driving home late one night, bartender....its raining. I lived in downtown Hampton, Va at the time and take a shortcut through the ghetto (Shell road > Quash). The road takes a 90 degree turn and I see a big hooptie (caprice, town car, etc...) in the middle of the road. I immediately think "break down" but grab my pistol anyway (it was in the cup holders, yeah yeah it was a long time ago). An urban gentleman gets out of the passenger side of the vehicle and approaches my window. I had it open about 3 inches bc I had been smoking a cig. He pulls out a knife (no clue what kind - shiny - metal) and says "Get out the car." I point my pistol at his chest and say "No." I could think of nothing witty at the moment. He bolted, tripped over something, got in the car, the driver backed up and hit a chain link fence and took off. I sat there and was all , WTF, WTF. Then I sped home. Didnt report it to the police, didnt get the license plate number, there are many hoopties around hampton and I couldnt even tell what color it was. Oh well. Hopefully homey shat himself.

I don't know - I think that was quite appropriate. I'm glad it had the reaction it did, too.

[Jeffersoniantoo]

This was back in the early 80s. I was in the US navy and assigned in San Diego. I had taken a few days off to go watch the second landing of Columbia at Edwards Air Force Base. I had hitch-hiked up to Lancaster and had a motel room for the night. The next day I hiked and hitched out to the base entrance, I got a ride from a guy in small foriegn vehicle and told him that I had military ID an could get us to a closer public viewing area. The regular public area was about three miles from the strip. But the military and news media viewing area was only one mile from the strip. I got us in on my military ID and we watched a great landing. When we were getting ready to leave, I mentioned that I was going to catch a train to San Luis Obispo to meet a friend. He said that he could take me to Glendale and that I could catch the train there.

While in route we had some small talk, but then he started putting his hand on my leg. I moved it off several times, trying to be polite (I was tryiing to hitch to Glendale) and then told him that I was not interested and that I was hetero. He seemed to accept that and he took me to the train station. I went in and bought my ticket and noticed him hanging around in the back of the terminal. I was hungry and hadn't eaten much that day. I had about an hour before my train was there, so I asked if there were any fast-food joints around and someone told me there was a McDonalds a few blocks away. So I set off for a gnash, and this guy starts following me. I am carrying my camping backpack, which had a hatchet loaded last, at the top. After a few blocks this guy is closing and I really don't know what his intentions are. When he gets within about 20 feet he starts to talk to me. I turn around and tell him again that I am not interested. He continues to advance. I take the pack off of my back and pull out the hatchet, my only weapon. I explain that now he has crossed a line and that his only chance for survival is to walk away. (it was actually a little more crude than that, but memory fails me as to the exact wording). He makes a quick apology and does an about-face and heads back to the train terminal, where he left his car.

So far, that is the closest I have been to having to defend myself.

David

[CaptainHoneySmacks]

Ugh, sick weirdos! Glad you didn't become a rape victim. People do not think it happens to males, but it does. No, means no.

[Jack House]

First time poster here. My particular story is somewhat lamer than most of yours. Two guys in a pickup truck pull beside me in a parking lot in broad daylight. They then signal me to roll down my window; I wasn't extremely suspicious at this point, so I did. They then told me they had a $9000 LED TV they were willing to sell me for cheap. They wanted me to pull over and talk about it. When I said that I wasn't interested, they became irritated and almost insistent, asking me to pull over and "make them an offer". Now, I'm only 20, so I obviously can't carry a handgun, but I do have a decent knife with me. Anyways, after about the third time I told them 'no', the guys started looking around suspiciously. One of the guys yells OK, and they drive off. Here is what I concluded afterwards: 1. No TV that can fit in a truck bed costs $9000 2. Something about it just didn't feel right: I'm almost certain they were targeting me, thinking I was some kind of ignoramus. My guess is the tv was broken or stolen, and they were trying to pawn it off on me. Maybe they had something more sinister in mind?

You can carry a rifle, head over to the Texas subforum for more information if you're interested!

[MKEgal]

...it's raining ... An urban gentleman gets out of the passenger side of the vehicle and approaches my window. I had it open about 3 inches ... He pulls out a knife ... and says "Get out the car."

I wonder how many people that would work on?
I'm in a steel cage, door is locked, window is mostly up, he'll have a hard time getting to me before I can drive away, yet he thinks I'm going to abandon my safe place to get closer to a strange guy holding a knife on me?
He's an idiot, & anyone who would do what he says is a worse idiot.

I know someone who did basically the same thing, only leaving her house.
Two gals came to confront her about her putting her hands around their son/nephew's neck a bit earlier.
Tell her to step out on the porch, & like the idiot she is, she did.
They beat her up.
Then she called the cops.
I figure, if you're going along with the proposed plan when you could easily stay safe, you want to participate in the fight.

I point my pistol at his chest and say "No."

That works for me.
Despite what Hollywood would have us believe, there's no need to be witty (or coarse).
Clear concise communication gets the job done.