BOOMcat12B
Regular Member
Last Saturday I had a date with a lady that I had been seeing and we decided that we were going to go to the Demo Derby being held at the Phelps county Fairgrounds. We show up a little early to pay for our admission and get our seats. As we walk into the bleachers there are already quite a few folks there and as our seats were to the right I was walking by everyone with my strong side facing them. So naturally I noticed I was getting alot of looks from folks but no one said anything which is usual around this area...we do not have many OCers however the area is very pro 2A. The derby was running alittle behind schedule and MO was doing it's usual indecisive act about the weather and it started getting alittle chilly, so we decided to head back to the car real quick to grab her jacket. We walk out, I inform the attendant we will be right back in, go to the car grab the jacket and start heading back in. As we are just about at the entrance a lady walks up to me wearing regular clothes (Nothing to denote that she was with the fairgrounds or the event) and asks me why I am carrying a gun. I respond that I am carrying for three reasons-
1) Because I am exercising my second amendment right
2) Because I take the right to protect myself and my loved ones very seriously, and therefore like to be prepared for any contingency
3) Because I can not have a police officer with me every where I go.
She responds by saying that she knows there are no signs posted at the grounds about carrying but there were alot of children around and that there was a heavy police presence already (which I find hard to believe as the entire night there I did not see one officer so unless the LEOs were working plain clothed there was definitely not a heavy police presence), and would I please place my firearm in my vehicle. I told her that carrying was perfectly legal at the fairgrounds and therefore I respectfully declined to remove my firearm. ( I had checked the Grounds rules a few days before the event to ensure that it was indeed legal). She thanked me for my time and we went back into the grounds and enjoyed the derby.
The only other "incident" was, as I was walking back to my seat from the restroom an obviously drunk lady several feet behind me screamed out "that guy has a gun, Why does he have a gun" followed by her daughter telling her to be quiet. I just ignored the comment and continued to my seat. I figured it was best not to engage someone who was so intoxicated.
Now this was my first real interaction with a situation like this. I have been OCing for almost a year now and have never had a problem so I am curious what you guys have to say about how I handled the situation.
And to end this on a happy note... As we were walking out of the area between the bleachers after the derby was over I had 2 little boys maybe 5 or 6 years old come up to me with their mom and ask me why I was carrying a gun. I stopped and knelt down and told them "Because many years ago when our great country was formed some very smart men wrote this amazing document called the Constitution and in it they gave us alot of awesome rights and freedoms." The kids smiled and said cool, I told them to pay attention in school so they can learn about this awesome document. I looked at the mom and she just smiled and told the boys to say thank you and then she thanked me and told me to have a goodnight. I said the same and we left. So all in all I would say it was a good night.
1) Because I am exercising my second amendment right
2) Because I take the right to protect myself and my loved ones very seriously, and therefore like to be prepared for any contingency
3) Because I can not have a police officer with me every where I go.
She responds by saying that she knows there are no signs posted at the grounds about carrying but there were alot of children around and that there was a heavy police presence already (which I find hard to believe as the entire night there I did not see one officer so unless the LEOs were working plain clothed there was definitely not a heavy police presence), and would I please place my firearm in my vehicle. I told her that carrying was perfectly legal at the fairgrounds and therefore I respectfully declined to remove my firearm. ( I had checked the Grounds rules a few days before the event to ensure that it was indeed legal). She thanked me for my time and we went back into the grounds and enjoyed the derby.
The only other "incident" was, as I was walking back to my seat from the restroom an obviously drunk lady several feet behind me screamed out "that guy has a gun, Why does he have a gun" followed by her daughter telling her to be quiet. I just ignored the comment and continued to my seat. I figured it was best not to engage someone who was so intoxicated.
Now this was my first real interaction with a situation like this. I have been OCing for almost a year now and have never had a problem so I am curious what you guys have to say about how I handled the situation.
And to end this on a happy note... As we were walking out of the area between the bleachers after the derby was over I had 2 little boys maybe 5 or 6 years old come up to me with their mom and ask me why I was carrying a gun. I stopped and knelt down and told them "Because many years ago when our great country was formed some very smart men wrote this amazing document called the Constitution and in it they gave us alot of awesome rights and freedoms." The kids smiled and said cool, I told them to pay attention in school so they can learn about this awesome document. I looked at the mom and she just smiled and told the boys to say thank you and then she thanked me and told me to have a goodnight. I said the same and we left. So all in all I would say it was a good night.
