Rio Rancho OC

Alright, I thought I had posted here before but apparently I'm just lurking around and thinking I have... Hello from the north side of town, up here in Rio Rancho.

I'm new to OC. I own a Springfield XD .40, and my wife has a little (hah, little...) Charter Arms .357 pug. I love to shoot, I'm not a bad shot but definitely not a competition level shooter by any means... and I still find myself getting nervous about OC from time to time and as such haven't done so in a few of the places I frequent (grocery store, etc). I do around my work, my wifes work, when we go for walks around the neighborhood... around my house of course. I don't know why, I think because I didn't grow up around guns I still get this feeling like I'm doing something wrong, even though consciously I know it's not.

I've already benefited from it though. My wife has a bit of an issue from time to time with criminal activity in the parking lot of her hotel, and one night when I went to visit her there we caught somebody siphoning gas from a guests truck. The man ran for his car, hopped in and started to pull out... then started to aim his car at me, opened his mouth... saw my weapon (still in its holster, but quite visible), and left rather haphazardly. This reaction gave us time to record the car on our phones and capture the license plate as he left. Nevertheless before the police arrived I had already deposited my weapon in the glove box of my car to avoid any confrontations.

I will eventually acquire my CC. But I don't want to use CC as a crutch for being nervous about OC, just as an option for places where OC isn't possible... so I'm hoping if we're not working we might be able to meet some other NM OC folk at the upcoming Denny's meet.

Welcome to the forums. Hope to see you at the next meet

@ mwaterous:

My sister worked full-time in the ABQ/RR hotel business (part-time now) and yes, it's ANOTHER dangerous line of work (just below convenience stores and pizza-delivery drivers). Usually, the owners refuse to spend the $$ to hire armed security for the property -- let alone to aid the front desk person if need be (even at night) -- so he/she is on his/her own with only 911 as an option (no, not 1911). She even experienced an attempted robbery once by some armed gangster trash at a hotel there in RR (no physical barrier/protection for the front desk person so he/she easily could be harmed from a dstance or if someone jumped the counter). The rest of the time it's the occasional highly irate (or even drunk/high) "guests" -- anything can happen in that context.

And that's just INSIDE the building: The parking lot is another story entirely! Like that homeless guy who alternates between the nearby Starbucks and the hotel...and the police "can do nothing about it."

IMO, people should do whatever they need to to be safe...

"Don't Ask - Don't Tell" at its finest. ;-)

Well I decided to get my feet a little more wet today. I had a few hours before work so I accompanied my wife on her usual Saturday garage sale romp, and oc'd the whole time. I only left it in the car once, and that was when we were across the road from a school; I've read that some states have a "within a certain distance" statute, and could not recall our own rules on it so I erred on the side of caution. I have since read 30-7-2.1 and familiarized myself with our states stance on the subject.

I was fully prepared to have at least one person ask me to vacate their property, and since I went into the situation knowing I would be primarily on private property I was more than willing to do so if asked. I never got asked once. There was only one lady who stared for a moment, then seemed to forget about it, and everybody else went about their business as usual. All in all a pretty good experience.

"I never got asked once." -- mwaterous

Probably because most people just assume we're off-duty cops, on-duty plain-clothes detectives, or maybe even Homeland Security people -- since 99.9% of guns in public are worn by LEOs -- and leave it at that

In the meantime, however, you may want to have a standard "prepared" response for people who DO inquire, or for those who disapprove/want to argue...rare as that may be. Some OCers even print-out/carry an "OC info card" they hand out.

Whatever, work through some scenarios and have responses, just in case.

Putting those few words into quotes just reminded me of something... I need to pay more attention to my grammar. I was not approached directly about the gun, at any time. Though as you point out that could be for any of a few reasons; they thought I was a LEO (I helped one gentleman pick up a clothes rack that fell over and was greeted with a "sir"); they just didn't see it; they were okay with it; they were too frightened to speak. I'm guessing it was mostly the last, at least that's what I've read online... except that I had casual conversations with most of the people about how their day was going.... so they must not have been rooted to the spot.

I just wish we didn't have the silly liquor establishment laws.... it's become a pain locking it in the car every few stops... I know I've already moaned about that, but I don't see myself being any less whiny about it until it changes!

mwaterous said:

Though as you point out that could be for any of a few reasons; they thought I was a LEO (I helped one gentleman pick up a clothes rack that fell over and was greeted with a "sir"); they just didn't see it; they were okay with it; they were too frightened to speak.

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Every time I'm asked about my gun they have gone with the, "are you a cop?".

TravisNM said:

Every time I'm asked about my gun they have gone with the, "are you a cop?".

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I think it's the extension of you don't see what you don't want to see. Concealed carry imprints are the easiest to overlook because why would anyone carry? That person doesn't have a weapon on his hip, it must be a ridiculously large cell phone... and when all else fails, it's okay, they're either an off duty officer or ex-military. Whatever floats your boat I guess. I prefer oh, s/he doesn't intend to be a victim and would be happy to defend you from becoming one as well.

Added Sportsmans Warehouse to the list today. Holy hannah I was nervous in there... went in to buy a range bag and a box of Golden Sabers, the minute I got to the ammunition I could almost feel guns being pulled on me. Went straight from there to S&S on southern for about an hour, drooling over a class III AR pistol and shopping for a 9mm for the wife. Chatted with a couple of really cool employees there the whole time... Those fiber optic sights, wow. Can't wait until my birthday.

We're going to try and make the meet this weekend, but I work Saturdays normally so we'll have to see how late I finish up. If we can make it in time, we'll definitely be there.

When you were at Sportsmans did you unload? I believe they have signs requesting customers to do so.

TravisNM said:

When you were at Sportsmans did you unload? I believe they have signs requesting customers to do so.

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Definitely not. The sign specifically states (but in slightly different wording), "any weapons that are to be removed from their holster". Since I had no intention of drawing except in a life or death situation, I'm pretty sure I could use the excuse that I "unloaded through the barrel" to protect myself from corporate policy on that one. I had numerous employees pass by me, and the only one who spoke to me was the kid at the front counter that rang me through.