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Texan oc in ballard, freemont, tacoma, port orchard

dirtyrice

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2013
Messages
20
Location
Texas
Well I got back from my vacation last friday. I was slighlty paranoid about ocing in seattle due to what some people post about the city on here and other carry groups. That paranoia was completely unfounded. I did not get to go to pikes or the international district because I slept in and even though I planned less this time, I still had limited time.

Got in saturday just went to dicks drive in after dark. Sunday me and my friend walked to bauhaus which is a coffee chain with a new location in ballard, my cappuccino tasted like a latte but the staff was friendly, she happily answered my questions about food items. Plenty of customers, maybe got a glance or two walking in. After that we went to puffin glass which is a pipe shop in the U district. This place got robbed late last year so I didn't know how they'd react. One guy was working, he was very nice and chatted with me and my friends for 30min or so about music and stuff in general while we browsed. One other customer came in while we were there.

Then we headed over to moshi moshi sushi in freemont. The spider and rainbow rolls were delicious. We were in a booth but waited at the door for a couple minutes and I went to the restroom once. Not a word, waitress was pleasant. Next I hit up chucks hop shop in ballard which is a beer store with a good selection that fills growlers. Browsed for a bit, grabbed a bottle of beer and then got a growler filled. Plenty of customers, once again not a word. At some point we went to fred meyer.

Monday I went to the port orchard sheriffs office, quite a few people were coming in to apply or renew. Unfortunately they do not print licenses there anymore. One guy who was renewing asked about it and she said they had gotten more strict so it would have to come via mail. I waited a little while for her to enter my info, then walked back and was fingerprinted. The staff I worked with was pleasant. Some armed officers walked by and didn't seem to pay me any extra attention. After that I headed to the family pancake house in port orchard. They had dishes named Bettsy Ross, George Washington, and Paul Revere. Waitress and host were friendly, portions were huge, and no one batted an eye. After that I headed back to seattle to get my friends and head to diablo lake in north cascades national park.

Tuesday we wanted to cook dinner so we headed to bill the butcher which has four locations in seattle, guy running the place was pleasant but was all out of filet by the time we got there. So we decided to go to whole foods. Browsed for 30 - 40 minutes, got a lb of cooked shrimp and some salmon at the seafood counter, got some steaks at the meat counter, a bunch of other stuff, checked the out the hot food counter. When checking out I got a girl around my age (mid 20s) I could tell she noticed my m&p, but I didn't think much of it. As I was putting items on the belt she says "why do you have a gun?" my friend said it came off rude, I didn't think it was that rude. I kind of paused to formulate a response which wouldn't end up in a debate. She saw this and said "Am I allowed to ask you that?" I said yes you're allowed and just told her well there are bad people out there that want to harm innocent people, and telling them please don't hurt me doesn't work so well. She made a facial expression that basically said fair enough and was ok otherwise. Had I not been focused on making it a positive encounter I would have told her to ask her boss if shes allowed to ask that. Bag lady was pleasant just like all other staff. My buddies landlord asked if I was a cop while we were cooking lol.

Wednesday I woke up late so we weren't able to get to kitsap county rifle and revolver club. We ended up at bullseye shooting range in Tacoma. Shot 300rds of 22lr and 200rds of 9mm over 3 hours until they closed. My friend doesn't own any guns but has shot before, it had been a couple years. So we started with a s&w .22, then to my 9mm hipower, and finally a few rounds through the m&p9c. He definitely showed improvement by the time we were done. Couldn't shoot my ak there. We went to tacoma sportsmens club first but their office closes a couple hours sooner than the range which made no sense. That night we stopped by Safeway then went to 9 million in unmarked bills and canon whiskey and bitters emporium unarmed of course. At some point I went to dicks again around 2a.m.

Thursday I took a day trip to vancouver and had to leave my freedom at the hotel. Friday I flew out, overall it was a great trip and I look forward to open carrying in seattle again next year. Probably go camping this time. I hope we get handgun oc next year, rifles are heavy lol.
 
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dirtyrice

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2013
Messages
20
Location
Texas
I'll be back for sure. I grew up in Utah and Montana, I can only take the flatland for so long. Cost of living is just so much lower in Texas and jobs are more plentiful. The friend I was visiting went to hs with me in Montana. I also have family in Olympia. This forum has been great, last year when I posted someone told me about cape flattery which was awesome. This time two members offered to take us shooting. Next year I should have more time so i'll probably take someone up on their offer. I see some people in the area do oc breakfasts, would love to attend one. Probably gonna take two weeks and drive up next year. Might have to rent the camaro ss from budget for a few days too. Had the mustang this time and it was a lot more fun than my daily driver lol.

Also I forgot to mention on the way to the cascades we stopped at an organic berry farm where you can pick your own. Got a blueberry shake which was pretty good. My friend's gf's friend got something too. My friends said they see the products in stores up there "Cascadian Farms". Kind of killed it when the lady told me it was owned by general mills. It was right after the area the mudslide which I didn't know was up that way. Sobering moment for sure.

I'm hoping 2015 will be the year for Texas. Though we may end up with licensed handgun oc like Oklahoma first. One day I hope we get constitutional carry. While some hate on the longgun oc groups here it is all we have. Many leo agencies and citizens have been educated about their rights and state law. Laying the ground work to make sure when we get handgun oc, open carriers will not be harrassed or have their rights violated by an uninformed or over zealous leo. Even wendy davis came out saying she supported open carry.

The media and bloomberg backed mda has been doing everything they can to deter pro 2nd groups via infighting. Bloomberg gave mda 50 million dollars to push gun control. Besides the few businesses mda has been able to get to show their true colors, many more have welcomed us multiple times. We also have a good relationship with local leos, now if they stop it's to b.s. about guns. Last time I went to a walk we had three that chatted with us for a while about gun accessories. They said they thought about getting their long guns and join us. One officer stopped at a redlight next to me, he said he thought it was great we had some females out there, that they should all carry a gun to cut down on rape and such. Lots of positive honks and waves. People will pull in to get more info and take photos. But you won't see that on the mainstream news. They want drama and controversy to get higher ratings. Otherwise we just pass out business cards and pocket constitutions, go to lunch etc.
 
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Alpine

Regular Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2012
Messages
671
Location
Idaho
Your biggest problem is all the Texans who believe that they are pro-gun but aren't, probably the same sort of idiots who were behind the NRA scoring TX higher than WA on the "carry" aspect even though TX bans OC and WA doesn't!
 
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dirtyrice

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2013
Messages
20
Location
Texas
Yeah. We've started referring to them as "butters". Because they usually start off with, I support the second amendment but....
 

FattyKrack

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 20, 2013
Messages
86
Location
Bainbridge Island, Wa
Yeah. We've started referring to them as "butters". Because they usually start off with, I support the second amendment but....
Man here I was assuming they were butters because they were fat and greasy, better with a pinch of salt, and still not liked by vegan liberals. :)
And glad you had a good experience here in Seattle area. I OC downtown almost every day, and rarely more than a glance. Except actually this morning when an older woman looked me over, saw the bulge under my sweatshirt (hey now, not funny. OWB concealed near work) and asked if I carried a gun. Everyday was my reply, and she said she wished she could too. Assumed by the look of her it was because she was an ex felon, but she says she carries a knife instead. I warned her it better not be a fixed blade (illegal in Seattle wtf?!) And went on our ways..
 
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