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OC prevents a confrontation

possumboy

Regular Member
Joined
Jun 14, 2006
Messages
1,089
Location
Dumfries, Virginia, USA
I was travelling from NOVA to SWVA. It was a late night/early morning - I normally avoid traveling these hours anymore.

I stopped at a rest area on I-81 and pulled into a spot just has someone opened his door. I wasn't close to hitting it so I just got out and went to make use of the facilities. As I was walking away from the car (with NJ plates - take that as important or not important), I heard the driver talking to the passenger.

Driver: I can't believe that MFer stilled pulled in.
Passenger: He almost hit your F'ing car.
Driver: We need to kick his MF'ing A** when he come back out.
Passenger: MFer not know what hit him.

So they are waiting at the bottom of the stairs as I come out. They say "Hey you MF". I look at them and say "You do know this is Virginia don't you?" and glance at my hip.

One falls backwards down the stairs and I look at the other and say "Can I help you?"

His reply??

"Nothing sir, we just want to say have a safe trip."

I smile and tell him to have a safe trip and enjoy Virginia.

It's been awhile since anything like this has happened. I think most of the people where I carry are used to seeing me.

I was in a Subway the other day and the person behind the counter asked why I wasn't carrying.
 
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Maverick9

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Apr 7, 2013
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Mid-atlantic
Good deal. How about a general description of these guys who confronted you?

Did you get their license plate and report them for threatening you with bodily harm? You did say you heard them.

I'm simply amazed at the people who report incidents on here and don't get a description, photo, license number or make a report on potentially serious crimes. Here, conspiracy to commit grievous bodily injury.

Though the cops might not have done anything in this case, if these thug-wannabees tried something like this again down the road the cops would have some leads. They might even have a talk with them.

In addition, by some definitions, you brandished, 'displaying' the firearm on your hip. What if they called it in and said a MWAG frightened them?
 
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SouthernBoy

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May 12, 2007
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Location
Western Prince William County, Virginia, USA
Good deal. How about a general description of these guys who confronted you?

Did you get their license plate and report them for threatening you with bodily harm? You did say you heard them.

I'm simply amazed at the people who report incidents on here and don't get a description, photo, license number or make a report on potentially serious crimes. Here, conspiracy to commit grievous bodily injury.

Though the cops might not have done anything in this case, if these thug-wannabees tried something like this again down the road the cops would have some leads. They might even have a talk with them.

In addition, by some definitions, you brandished, 'displaying' the firearm on your hip. What if they called it in and said a MWAG frightened them?

Not so. The mere display of an openly carried sidearm is not brandishing. And he did not say that he pointed to it. I seriously doubt if any officer would charge him for brandishing (unless he was in Surry County). But you do make a good point about calling this in asap to get one's story on record and hopefully, first.

I say he did just fine and from what he reports that he heard, he probably avoided a serious beating. This is precisely why we choose to open carry. To avoid a dangerous encounter or to stop one before it begins. Good for him.
 
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Fallschirjmäger

Active member
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Aug 4, 2007
Messages
3,823
Location
Cumming, Georgia, USA
In addition, by some definitions, you brandished, 'displaying' the firearm on your hip. What if they called it in and said a MWAG frightened them?
There's an apocryphal joke attributed to Abraham Lincoln about how many legs a horse would have if you defined a tail as a leg.

By some definitions, merely possessing a firearm makes you an unstable, psychopathic, antisocial individual with delusions of paranoia and the means to kill whole schoolyards of innocent children.
... by some definitions, of course.
 
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possumboy

Regular Member
Joined
Jun 14, 2006
Messages
1,089
Location
Dumfries, Virginia, USA
Good deal. How about a general description of these guys who confronted you?

Did you get their license plate and report them for threatening you with bodily harm? You did say you heard them.

I'm simply amazed at the people who report incidents on here and don't get a description, photo, license number or make a report on potentially serious crimes. Here, conspiracy to commit grievous bodily injury.

Though the cops might not have done anything in this case, if these thug-wannabees tried something like this again down the road the cops would have some leads. They might even have a talk with them.

In addition, by some definitions, you brandished, 'displaying' the firearm on your hip. What if they called it in and said a MWAG frightened them?

I was on the phone with 911 as I was pulling out of the rest area. Gave a description of them, the car, the plates, location, and time. The officer I talked to said he could talk with them, but no real threat happened. He also stated that he doubts they will threaten someone in Virginia again. It was offered to meet an officer, but I was on the way to try to say goodbye to family member and didn't want to waste anymore time.

The few time my gun has come into play, I have called the police.
 
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independence

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 10, 2013
Messages
339
Location
Tennessee
possumboy,

I'm glad everything turned out alright in the end. However, it may have been a mistake for you to exit the building without calling the police first, knowing that these guys were waiting for you. What if they jumped you from around a corner, etc.? Maybe calling the police from the building would be a better idea. I mean, what if it wouldn't have gone so smoothly when you exited the building? Having a gun doesn't mean you are invincible.
 

TFred

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2008
Messages
7,750
Location
Most historic town in, Virginia, USA
Not so. The mere display of an openly carried sidearm is not brandishing. And he did not say that he pointed to it. I seriously doubt if any officer would charge him for brandishing (unless he was in Surry County). But you do make a good point about calling this in asap to get one's story on record and hopefully, first.

I say he did just fine and from what he reports that he heard, he probably avoided a serious beating. This is precisely why we choose to open carry. To avoid a dangerous encounter or to stop one before it begins. Good for him.
As we are all now painfully aware, (some more painfully than others), Virginia's brandishing law is horribly ill-defined. There is case precedent (Morris vs. Commonwealth of Virginia) for upholding a conviction for brandishing without ever touching the gun, but merely exposing it and making reference to it. Obviously that case is slightly different since here, the gun was already exposed, but given the wrong LEO, judge and/or jury, there are no guarantees until we can get this law fixed up.

TFred
 

peter nap

Accomplished Advocate
Joined
Oct 16, 2007
Messages
13,551
Location
Valhalla
Good deal. How about a general description of these guys who confronted you?

Did you get their license plate and report them for threatening you with bodily harm? You did say you heard them.

I'm simply amazed at the people who report incidents on here and don't get a description, photo, license number or make a report on potentially serious crimes. Here, conspiracy to commit grievous bodily injury.

Though the cops might not have done anything in this case, if these thug-wannabees tried something like this again down the road the cops would have some leads. They might even have a talk with them.

Never...NEVER....call a cop Maverick! NEVER!!!
 

Roverhound

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2012
Messages
84
Location
Stuarts Draft, Virginia
This is a good example of why open carry works. If PB had been CC'ing, he probably would have been jumped. Trying to keep off two attackers while trying to fumble with your clothing to get to your firearm would not be easy.
What rest area was this? I live pretty close to 81.
 

PistolPackingMomma

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 1, 2011
Messages
1,884
Location
SC
possumboy,

I'm glad everything turned out alright in the end. However, it may have been a mistake for you to exit the building without calling the police first, knowing that these guys were waiting for you. What if they jumped you from around a corner, etc.? Maybe calling the police from the building would be a better idea. I mean, what if it wouldn't have gone so smoothly when you exited the building? Having a gun doesn't mean you are invincible.

Having a gun doesn't mean you are invincible, but it also doesn't mean you should depend on anyone else to defend you, especially when you already have the means to do so. It might have been a mistake if he was unaware of the threat, but he wasn't, and he prepared himself.

Good job OP!
 

BB62

Accomplished Advocate
Joined
Aug 17, 2006
Messages
4,069
Location
Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
I was on the phone with 911 as I was pulling out of the rest area. Gave a description of them, the car, the plates, location, and time. The officer I talked to said he could talk with them, but no real threat happened. He also stated that he doubts they will threaten someone in Virginia again. It was offered to meet an officer, but I was on the way to try to say goodbye to family member and didn't want to waste anymore time.

The few time my gun has come into play, I have called the police.
Nice work!

My wife got a chuckle from reading your comment about nodding toward your gun!

Have a nice day! LOL
 

SouthernBoy

Regular Member
Joined
May 12, 2007
Messages
5,837
Location
Western Prince William County, Virginia, USA
As we are all now painfully aware, (some more painfully than others), Virginia's brandishing law is horribly ill-defined. There is case precedent (Morris vs. Commonwealth of Virginia) for upholding a conviction for brandishing without ever touching the gun, but merely exposing it and making reference to it. Obviously that case is slightly different since here, the gun was already exposed, but given the wrong LEO, judge and/or jury, there are no guarantees until we can get this law fixed up.

TFred

I agree that our brandishing laws are in dire need of revision. Had he been concealing the gun and when confronted, exposed it, that could have been construed as threatening, ergo brandishing by a court. However the fact, as you pointed out, that the gun was already exposed removes any brandishing charges from the table. If not, there would be a whole lot of folks in the commonwealth defending themselves from trumped up charges of brandishing as there are a whole lot of folks here who OC.

But yes, we certainly do need to fix these laws. But I still think that no serious officers is going to arrest someone who is confronted by multiple threats who decides to expose a firearm as a means to quell the threats. My guess is a pat on the back and a "job well done" may be more likely in such a case. No shots fired, no injured or dead victim... it's all good. Could be wrong here, but I'm going to put myself in this situation.

I am walking out to my car from a movie where I choose to conceal. As I approach my car, three young toughs decide they want my keys, my wallet, my car, and maybe more. I pull up my shirt to reveal a sidearm and they back off and move on to other pursuits. That little move saved me a hell of a lot of grief and maybe more. I see no problem at all with that.
 

Maverick9

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Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
1,404
Location
Mid-atlantic
I was on the phone with 911 as I was pulling out of the rest area. Gave a description of them, the car, the plates, location, and time. The officer I talked to said he could talk with them, but no real threat happened. He also stated that he doubts they will threaten someone in Virginia again. It was offered to meet an officer, but I was on the way to try to say goodbye to family member and didn't want to waste anymore time.

The few time my gun has come into play, I have called the police.

Excellent, but I think the officer was very wrong. One person muttering something is one thing, but two persons planning an assault is a whole new level. You did a great job, and covered things, but it galls me when the cops just blow off things like this. Think about the level of innate aggression for two people to agree to confront and actually carry out the confrontation just due to someone pulling into a parking space. Too bad you didn't have it on tape. Also for him to say he had doubts is specious. He has no idea, he just didn't want to be bothered to put down the donut.

Glad things worked out.
 
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papa bear

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Jul 25, 2010
Messages
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Location
mayberry, nc
Another case where a gun saved lives, both of the OP and the aggressors. i think i know which RS this was. and you have to come out of the building to get to the steps.

i have to agree with PETERNAP, i never call the cops.

to comment on the CC for the "surprise Factor", i have gotten this from a lot of CCers, they want to surprise their attackers. i interpret that to mean they want to shoot somebody, by making themselves to be soft targets
 

possumboy

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Jun 14, 2006
Messages
1,089
Location
Dumfries, Virginia, USA
to comment on the CC for the "surprise Factor", i have gotten this from a lot of CCers, they want to surprise their attackers. i interpret that to mean they want to shoot somebody, by making themselves to be soft targets

I don't even have a CHP. I've been considering it since they no longer make the info public, but just haven't gotten around to.

I do not want to hurt anyone. That is the last thing that I want to do. I do hear a lot of OC'er and CC'er making statements about shooting someone, or someone would be dead if they tried that with them.

I do not believe in making those statements. They make us look like we are just waiting for the chance to legally shoot someone. I don't believe that of most of us.
 

peter nap

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Valhalla
I don't even have a CHP. I've been considering it since they no longer make the info public, but just haven't gotten around to.

I do not want to hurt anyone. That is the last thing that I want to do. I do hear a lot of OC'er and CC'er making statements about shooting someone, or someone would be dead if they tried that with them.

I do not believe in making those statements. They make us look like we are just waiting for the chance to legally shoot someone. I don't believe that of most of us.


Too many here do PB. Last week I was talking about something and said "Shooting someone is a pretty serious step".....Dan Hawes almost choked on his drink and said , Can I quote you on that (Laughing).
I said "you really need to read some of the crap that comes up there. The license to kill bunch that have never been in a serious scrap, never hurt anyone or been hurt. get a license to stuff a gun down their pants and all of a sudden are James Bond and ready to rid the world of evil".
The Massad I'maboob followers.
 

WalkingWolf

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Jul 31, 2011
Messages
11,930
Location
North Carolina
[/B]Too many here do PB. Last week I was talking about something and said "Shooting someone is a pretty serious step".....Dan Hawes almost choked on his drink and said , Can I quote you on that (Laughing).
I said "you really need to read some of the crap that comes up there. The license to kill bunch that have never been in a serious scrap, never hurt anyone or been hurt. get a license to stuff a gun down their pants and all of a sudden are James Bond and ready to rid the world of evil".
The Massad I'maboob followers.

That's funny, I don't care who you are. Thanks for the chuckle, I will remember that line.
 
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