TechnoWeenie
Regular Member
imported post
After going from Tacoma, to Oly, to Seattle quite a few times this past week (gotta love tax #%(&), I've had a few questions/encounters, none negative.
Today, I had THREE questions in one day, the most ever,heh.
I went to Autozone to pick up some shocks, the guy there asked me who I worked for, I told him, and he then asked why I carried. I gave him the usual 'it's a tool, better to have it and never use it..' spiel, which he agreed with, then commented that he was going through the WSP training academy, but didn't make it all the way through (lol), and realized OC was legal, but never saw anyone do it,I was the first. Finally, realized they didn't have the shocks in that I needed, but the store up near lakewood did.
I headed up to the Autozone up there, got the parts, waiting in line a gentleman that seemed to be mentally retarded (or just a really bad speech impediment?) asked me why I carried a gun, I told him the same thing I always say, and he said it was a good idea, I spent about 2 minutes with a small crowd that was interested in the what/why/how of open carrying, explained the basics of the laws, the limitations on carrying in a vehicle, etc, and a few people said they were interested and would look into it a bit further. I refered them here, and to the WSP page on concealed carry permits. Afterwards, paying for my stuff, there was a younger guy that just laughed at the whole thing, wondering aloud why everyone was making such a big deal, since it was just a gun in a holster (I like that kid!). A few 'homies' kept their distance...
Back in Lacey, I grabbed a bite to eat at mcdonalds. I had a middle aged guy in a tie (manager at officemax?) keeping an eye on me, he diverted his eyes every time I looked at him.
There was a couple in the corner who were also keenly interested.... I wrote them off as anti right off the bat, they seemed WAY too interested in what I was doing, how I was acting, etc. They were talking amongst themselves while never taking their eyes off of me. Turns out they thought I was someone else, a sheriffs deputy from Pierce county, looked EXACTLY like me, and figured I was him. Anyway, the 'are you an officer?' came up, I explained the whole thing for the third time that day (gets easier every time), and it turned out that the woman lived in MD about 10 mins. from where I lived (small world eh?)! A short, polite conversation followed, the gun was a non-issue after I explained the 'tool' part,and we chatted a bit about our old 'home town'.
So, in summary, three short encounters, all positive, a few minds educated, not one negative response (although I could tell the one guy at MickeyD's wasn't too comfortable).
However, lets NOT get me started on this middle aged #%(& in a Honda Pilot that cut me off doing about 100 MPH (seriously, not joking) so she didn't get 'stuck' behind a tractor trailer... Running STRAIGHT into the back of the tractor trailer, cut to the left (cutting me off) almost clipped my front bumper, almost clipped the rear bumper of the semi. Anyway, that's for another thread..
After going from Tacoma, to Oly, to Seattle quite a few times this past week (gotta love tax #%(&), I've had a few questions/encounters, none negative.
Today, I had THREE questions in one day, the most ever,heh.
I went to Autozone to pick up some shocks, the guy there asked me who I worked for, I told him, and he then asked why I carried. I gave him the usual 'it's a tool, better to have it and never use it..' spiel, which he agreed with, then commented that he was going through the WSP training academy, but didn't make it all the way through (lol), and realized OC was legal, but never saw anyone do it,I was the first. Finally, realized they didn't have the shocks in that I needed, but the store up near lakewood did.
I headed up to the Autozone up there, got the parts, waiting in line a gentleman that seemed to be mentally retarded (or just a really bad speech impediment?) asked me why I carried a gun, I told him the same thing I always say, and he said it was a good idea, I spent about 2 minutes with a small crowd that was interested in the what/why/how of open carrying, explained the basics of the laws, the limitations on carrying in a vehicle, etc, and a few people said they were interested and would look into it a bit further. I refered them here, and to the WSP page on concealed carry permits. Afterwards, paying for my stuff, there was a younger guy that just laughed at the whole thing, wondering aloud why everyone was making such a big deal, since it was just a gun in a holster (I like that kid!). A few 'homies' kept their distance...
Back in Lacey, I grabbed a bite to eat at mcdonalds. I had a middle aged guy in a tie (manager at officemax?) keeping an eye on me, he diverted his eyes every time I looked at him.
There was a couple in the corner who were also keenly interested.... I wrote them off as anti right off the bat, they seemed WAY too interested in what I was doing, how I was acting, etc. They were talking amongst themselves while never taking their eyes off of me. Turns out they thought I was someone else, a sheriffs deputy from Pierce county, looked EXACTLY like me, and figured I was him. Anyway, the 'are you an officer?' came up, I explained the whole thing for the third time that day (gets easier every time), and it turned out that the woman lived in MD about 10 mins. from where I lived (small world eh?)! A short, polite conversation followed, the gun was a non-issue after I explained the 'tool' part,and we chatted a bit about our old 'home town'.
So, in summary, three short encounters, all positive, a few minds educated, not one negative response (although I could tell the one guy at MickeyD's wasn't too comfortable).
However, lets NOT get me started on this middle aged #%(& in a Honda Pilot that cut me off doing about 100 MPH (seriously, not joking) so she didn't get 'stuck' behind a tractor trailer... Running STRAIGHT into the back of the tractor trailer, cut to the left (cutting me off) almost clipped my front bumper, almost clipped the rear bumper of the semi. Anyway, that's for another thread..
