mobiushky
Regular Member
I didn't want to hijack M-Taliesins thread, so I decided to post my own. I took my 9 yr old with me to Wal-mart in Parker last night to do some standard grocery shopping. I hadn't had time to change from work, so I was still dressed in business casual. Polo type shirt and dress pants. Anyway, first place I went was the ammo counter. It's become a ritual for me now to just go straight to the desk and check to see if they have any target ammo in stock. They run out so fast it's ridiculous. But at $20 for 100 rounds it's really hard to beat the price. Anyway, they did have some, so I decided to buy 200 more rounds. As the guy was picking it up, he was saying that he has people who come in every day just to check on ammo. He never knows when the shipment is coming in, so he told me I should buy it if I see it cause you never know when it will be back. About that time he noticed my handgun. Now I'll admit, in my work clothes and because I have a Glock in a Kydex holster, I can easily be mistaken for some kind of LEO. It's not intentional. Anyway he looks down and says to me "Glock?" I said yeah. He asked "9mm" I said yeah, it's a 19. His eyes lit up, "Oh that the same one I have!" So all of a sudden we're talking Glocks and cleaning and what he uses etc.
Well after talking for a good 5 minutes, he asked if I had more shopping to do. I told him I did. So he handed me the 2 boxes and says, "you know you can just pay for this up front." I asked, are you sure? "He said yeah, some stores make us ring you here at the desk, but we don't. And I trust you." Check one for a positive example of OC.
So we went about our shopping. Have you ever seen a guy that you just knew was carrying concealed? Not a BG, a normal guy but somehow you just knew. Well there was an older gentlemen there who was very friendly and talkative to the workers that I just knew.
As we were checking out at the front, that same guy walked past on his way out and stopped. Ok, I knew he was coming over to me. I wasn't worried or anything cause I didn't get that "here we go" vibe. He walked over and very quietly asked me "Officer, don't you feel a little naked having your gun out like that?" I said "I'm actually not a police officer." He looked quizzical and said "I didn't know it was legal to carry that way." I explained a little, but you know some times people like that are really talkative and it's tough to keep up... Anyway he suddenly asked "Well you are going to get a permit right? To carry concealed." I said, oh yeah, but that's not the point. Even if I have a CCW permit I'm not required to conceal. So then he starts talking about how he just worries about people (particularly police) who have their guns on their side where someone could take it from them. I said, I understand that but I take certain small steps to minimize that chance. Always try to keep my right hip away from other people in line, resting my elbow on the top of the gun, that kind of thing. Then suddenly he goes, "I see, that's good. I concealed carry and I'm just not sure I'd feel safe." Bingo!!! Told you I could just tell! Anyway, he mentioned one of the standard lines about open carry makes you a target in an assault. And that's when it hit me.
You know, maybe OC does make me a target. Maybe a guy runs into the store and starts shooting and sees my gun. And goes for me. I'm ok with that. Really. I'd rather that crazed lunatic focus on me than my 9yr or my wife or that lady over there or her 3yr old or whatever. If my being a focus takes him off track long enough to get that family of 4 out the door, I'm ok with that. Then again, maybe he sees that gun and decides today's not the day. Either case, maybe some lives were saved. I'm ok with that.
Anyway, we talked a little and he left. On the way out the door he was still getting into his car in the handicapped area. He said it was nice to talk to us and introduced himself and asked my son his name. I told him to have a good day and he said he really appreciated taking time to talk to him.
Overall it was a VERY positive experience. And my son couldn't WAIT to get home and tell my wife all about it. (He's becoming a gun guy, little tear rolling down my cheek...LOL!!!)
Well after talking for a good 5 minutes, he asked if I had more shopping to do. I told him I did. So he handed me the 2 boxes and says, "you know you can just pay for this up front." I asked, are you sure? "He said yeah, some stores make us ring you here at the desk, but we don't. And I trust you." Check one for a positive example of OC.
So we went about our shopping. Have you ever seen a guy that you just knew was carrying concealed? Not a BG, a normal guy but somehow you just knew. Well there was an older gentlemen there who was very friendly and talkative to the workers that I just knew.
As we were checking out at the front, that same guy walked past on his way out and stopped. Ok, I knew he was coming over to me. I wasn't worried or anything cause I didn't get that "here we go" vibe. He walked over and very quietly asked me "Officer, don't you feel a little naked having your gun out like that?" I said "I'm actually not a police officer." He looked quizzical and said "I didn't know it was legal to carry that way." I explained a little, but you know some times people like that are really talkative and it's tough to keep up... Anyway he suddenly asked "Well you are going to get a permit right? To carry concealed." I said, oh yeah, but that's not the point. Even if I have a CCW permit I'm not required to conceal. So then he starts talking about how he just worries about people (particularly police) who have their guns on their side where someone could take it from them. I said, I understand that but I take certain small steps to minimize that chance. Always try to keep my right hip away from other people in line, resting my elbow on the top of the gun, that kind of thing. Then suddenly he goes, "I see, that's good. I concealed carry and I'm just not sure I'd feel safe." Bingo!!! Told you I could just tell! Anyway, he mentioned one of the standard lines about open carry makes you a target in an assault. And that's when it hit me.
You know, maybe OC does make me a target. Maybe a guy runs into the store and starts shooting and sees my gun. And goes for me. I'm ok with that. Really. I'd rather that crazed lunatic focus on me than my 9yr or my wife or that lady over there or her 3yr old or whatever. If my being a focus takes him off track long enough to get that family of 4 out the door, I'm ok with that. Then again, maybe he sees that gun and decides today's not the day. Either case, maybe some lives were saved. I'm ok with that.
Anyway, we talked a little and he left. On the way out the door he was still getting into his car in the handicapped area. He said it was nice to talk to us and introduced himself and asked my son his name. I told him to have a good day and he said he really appreciated taking time to talk to him.
Overall it was a VERY positive experience. And my son couldn't WAIT to get home and tell my wife all about it. (He's becoming a gun guy, little tear rolling down my cheek...LOL!!!)
