Just Had My First "Official" OC Questioning.

Gallowmere · Apr 26, 2014

And it was at the hands of what appeared to be a group of six to eight year olds playing in the back yard of the apartment where I live.

First kid- "Are you police?"
Me- "Nope."
Second kid- "So what are you then?"
Me- "Just a regular guy."
First kid- "I was just wondering because they were all like 'ohhh, there's a guy with a gun over there; don't go over there'.
Me- "There's no reason to be scared of it. It's perfectly safe in it's holster."
Third kid- "So why do you have it if you aren't police?"
First kid- "He's probably just carrying it for protection."
Me- "That's exactly what it's for."
Fourth kid- "Like if someone tries to hurt you or something?"
Me- "Exactly."
First kid- "See guys? I told you. Stop being stupid. Okay let's go. Bye!"

I have to say, I didn't imagine that my first round of pointed questions would come from such an unlikely source.

conandan · Apr 26, 2014

They haven't been brainwashed yet lol. Let's hope when they go home and tell there parents they talked to a guy with a gun the parents don't freak out. You could get a visit.

Gallowmere · Apr 26, 2014

conandan said:
They haven't been brainwashed yet lol. Let's hope when they go home and tell there parents they talked to a guy with a gun the parents don't freak out. You could get a visit.

I'm fairly sure I know who the parents of two of the kids are, as they live in the same building that I do. The others, I've never seen before, but you may well be right. I'm kind of shocked that they aren't already here. Henrico cops tend to show up if someone even thinks about calling them.

conandan · Apr 26, 2014

I did like the response from the first kid. Potentially a future oc'er when he grows up.

sudden valley gunner · Apr 26, 2014

Get some info in them while they are young, great job!

I often ask a question to make them come up with the answer. Like "who do you think will protect you if a bad guy came here?"

Gallowmere · Apr 26, 2014

sudden valley gunner said:
Get some info in them while they are young, great job!

I often ask a question to make them come up with the answer. Like "who do you think will protect you if a bad guy came here?"

I'll have to remember that for the future.

I can't say that I ever really thought about how to answer such questions directly from children, when they don't have a parent around. I'd like to be able to get the point across, without being overly convoluted. I doubt much but confusion would come from me trying to be too detailed in my answers.

stealthyeliminator · Apr 26, 2014

conandan said:
They haven't been brainwashed yet lol. Let's hope when they go home and tell there parents they talked to a guy with a gun the parents don't freak out. You could get a visit.

This was exactly my thought. The sad part is, what you're saying is actually most likely completely accurate.

Edit: Great answers to their questions, though! Sounds like they were enlightened!

countryclubjoe · Apr 26, 2014

It appears you came upon four children that are more intelligent then most adults. You may have just became a role model for 4 young boys.
This is a great encounter for the open carry movement..

My .02

Regards

CCJ

SouthernBoy · Apr 28, 2014

conandan said:
They haven't been brainwashed yet lol. Let's hope when they go home and tell there parents they talked to a guy with a gun the parents don't freak out. You could get a visit.

From whom? And why?

Gallowmere · Apr 28, 2014

SouthernBoy said:
From whom? And why?

From the Henrico five-o, for a mwag "terrorizing muh kids" call. With as many bad stories as I've heard about the civilians and police around here, I'm honestly shocked that such wasn't the case. That being said, my personal experience with Henrico police has been pretty much non-existent, even though I do encounter them on a very regular basis. I tend to go to Wawa a lot. Pretty good way to be exposed to all of the police that you could ever hope for.

SouthernBoy · Apr 28, 2014

Gallowmere said:
From the Henrico five-o, for a mwag "terrorizing muh kids" call. With as many bad stories as I've heard about the civilians and police around here, I'm honestly shocked that such wasn't the case. That being said, my personal experience with Henrico police has been pretty much non-existent, even though I do encounter them on a very regular basis. I tend to go to Wawa a lot. Pretty good way to be exposed to all of the police that you could ever hope for.

Wow, that's kinda strange. It'd be one thing if you really were scaring some kids but just talking to them.... that seems pretty normal and pretty harmless.

Blk97F150 · Apr 28, 2014

SouthernBoy said:
Wow, that's kinda strange. It'd be one thing if you really were scaring some kids but just talking to them.... that seems pretty normal and pretty harmless.

So does transferring a firearm from the glove compartment to a holster..... but we know how that turned out in Henrico! :cuss:

2a4all · Apr 28, 2014

Gallowmere said:
And it was at the hands of what appeared to be a group of six to eight year olds playing in the back yard of the apartment where I live.

First kid- "Are you police?"
Me- "Nope."
Second kid- "So what are you then?"
Me- "Just a regular guy."
First kid- "I was just wondering because they were all like 'ohhh, there's a guy with a gun over there; don't go over there'.
Me- "There's no reason to be scared of it. It's perfectly safe in it's holster."
Third kid- "So why do you have it if you aren't police?"
First kid- "He's probably just carrying it for protection."
Me- "That's exactly what it's for."
Fourth kid- "Like if someone tries to hurt you or something?"
Me- "Exactly."
First kid- "See guys? I told you. Stop being stupid. Okay let's go. Bye!"

I have to say, I didn't imagine that my first round of pointed questions would come from such an unlikely source.

It sounds like 1st Kid isn't a stranger to guns, or to those who carry them. The other three don't seem to be as familiar. The question is how their parents will react when they tell them that they were talking with a neighbor who was carrying.

1st Kid: "Mom, Joey, Dave, Jimmy and me saw Mr. Gallowmere wearing his gun outside today. Joey was scared, but Mr. Gallowmere said not to be because his gun was safe in a holster."

Mom: "Really? Outside? Did anyone else see him? What do Joey's, Dave's & Jimmy's moms think about this?"

Phone calls.

You may not have heard the last of this.

SouthernBoy · Apr 29, 2014

Blk97F150 said:
So does transferring a firearm from the glove compartment to a holster..... but we know how that turned out in Henrico! :cuss:

Yes, you're right about that. That case is up for appeal I believe.* It was blatant BS to have even been charged with brandishing in the first place.

* Yes, I know who the member was with this one and who his attorney was, too.

dorangolv · Apr 29, 2014

Child in the grocery store.

I passed by one family where the young girl seemed really afraid of me because I had a gun on my hip. Never had that happen.

jmelvin · Apr 29, 2014

Nicely handled! I find that a significant number of the conversations I have regarding my sidearm are sparked by curious kids. In some cases they don't yet have the stupid ingrained into them yet.

Gallowmere · Apr 29, 2014

jmelvin said:
Nicely handled! I find that a significant number of the conversations I have regarding my sidearm are sparked by curious kids. In some cases they don't yet have the stupid ingrained into them yet.

I can definitely see that. However, it's a bit of a double edged sword. Children are rarely paranoid, generally curious, and fairly open to logical thought, when it's broken down in a simple format. On the unfortunate side, the people most responsible for shaping these young minds are paranoid, walled off, and allow emotion to dictate their arguments. "Because I said so" was never so dangerous, as when shaping social outlook, within young minds.

I do get the feeling that child number one, is a product of parents who own firearms. I could be wrong though. If I had have followed in the mindset of my parents...well, let's just say that I would be a very different person than I am today, and not in a good way.

jmelvin · Apr 29, 2014

One thing I've had fun with at times is when kids ask me why I'm carrying a sidearm in the presence of their parents. The conversation occasionally goes something like this:

K = Kid
M = Me

K - Are you a police man?
M - Nope, I'm an engineer. How about you?
K - I'm just a kid. How come you have that gun?
M - Well I have it to use against people who might try to harm me or my wife. It's my responsibility to take care of me and her, so that's why I have a pistol. I'm sure your mom and dad have them as well to protect you from harm too, since they love you and want to keep you safe! Right?

Depending on the mom or dad I can get glares or nods that I've hit the mark.

Just Had My First "Official" OC Questioning.

Gallowmere

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conandan

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sudden valley gunner

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