quick oc encounter

I went shopping this weekend at Smith's with my family. They never have enough checkers these days so I did the self checkout thing. Well anyways after I finished, I start walking away when the computer tells me to "don't forget you receipt". I turn back to find a middle aged man staring at me. Like REALLY staring at me almost frozen in fear. I say to him "hey how's it going?" no response. Well I figure he is just another weirdo so I head out to my car. The same guy shows up as we are putting the groceries away and is now on his cell phone. I assume he is calling the cops. We wanted to test our theory out so we drove around the parking lot one. The whole time he watches us and we are all laughing. On our way out we passed him again and my little sisters started waving at him while saying hi. He took cover behind his truck because 16 and 20 year old blond girls who are students are SUPER SCARY!

Crazy. Was that the Smith's on Boulder Highway in Henderson? I shop there a lot and the only time anyone's mentioned my sidearm (so far) was one time last week. As I was leaving, a gentleman who was sitting on a bench outside smoking a cigarette said something to the effect of "you're the second guy I've seen today with a gun." I struck up a brief conversation with him - turns out he used to carry all the time in CO but didn't know that OC was legal out here.

Funny how someone who was obviously terrified by you (simply because you were carrying) would make it so obvious that he was "turning you in." You would think that if he was really afraid he would try to avoid any potential confrontation with you. I wonder if he would have acted in the same manner if the person he was turning in was some thug with an illegal gun stuffed down the front of his pants.

greengum said:

I went shopping this weekend at Smith's with my family. They never have enough checkers these days so I did the self checkout thing. Well anyways after I finished, I start walking away when the computer tells me to "don't forget you receipt". I turn back to find a middle aged man staring at me. Like REALLY staring at me almost frozen in fear. I say to him "hey how's it going?" no response. Well I figure he is just another weirdo so I head out to my car. The same guy shows up as we are putting the groceries away and is now on his cell phone. I assume he is calling the cops. We wanted to test our theory out so we drove around the parking lot one. The whole time he watches us and we are all laughing. On our way out we passed him again and my little sisters started waving at him while saying hi. He took cover behind his truck because 16 and 20 year old blond girls who are students are SUPER SCARY!

Click to expand...

I was at the gas station by All Weapons yesterday grabbing a red bull when the guy working the counter by himself spotted my sidearm and asked me if I was a police officer. I said "no, would you like me to call one for you?" his reply was "I just wish there were more of you around, it makes me feel a lot safer."

My reply probably won't be the popular one, but I gotta ask: Did it make you feel better to screw with this guy? Driving around and trying to antagonize him in this manner?

I'm glad you tried to initiate a positive encounter at first, and sadly he chose to ignore you because he possibly believed you to be a threat. When he followed you, to possibly report you but you don't know, you escalated the situation to the point he felt the need to flee. I know the intent of this forum's members is to bring a positive light to the OC movement, and you my friend fail.

FAIL!!!! I will stop oc'ing and stop posting because clearly I am a bad influence and do not represent the views of the community which consist of about 15 active members in Southern Nevada.

Thankfully we live in state that accepts OC and we don't have to go out in groups as a defensive tactic like in California. I know of at least 3 people who used to be very active here and no longer post or go to meet ups because of over simplifying or under simplifying a post about an encounter or just being trolled.

Bottom line is this is a really small community of open carriers here in Nevada and it is not a big deal to OC. I have had so many encounters that it just isn't a big deal. If you guys want to walk around all high and mighty with a serious look and never laugh or have fun then go ahead. That just isn't me. I have the mind set that it should be an every day occasion to see people armed.

By the way this was the Smith's on the corner of Eastern and Windmill. Another encounter that happened last week there was a bag girl walked up to me and thanked me for being armed.

If acting natural is unacceptable then buh bye.

greengum said:

FAIL!!!! I will stop oc'ing and stop posting because clearly I am a bad influence and do not represent the views of the community which consist of about 15 active members in Southern Nevada.

Thankfully we live in state that accepts OC and we don't have to go out in groups as a defensive tactic like in California. I know of at least 3 people who used to be very active here and no longer post or go to meet ups because of over simplifying or under simplifying a post about an encounter or just being trolled.

Bottom line is this is a really small community of open carriers here in Nevada and it is not a big deal to OC. I have had so many encounters that it just isn't a big deal. If you guys want to walk around all high and mighty with a serious look and never laugh or have fun then go ahead. That just isn't me. I have the mind set that it should be an every day occasion to see people armed.

By the way this was the Smith's on the corner of Eastern and Windmill. Another encounter that happened last week there was a bag girl walked up to me and thanked me for being armed.

If acting natural is unacceptable then buh bye.

Click to expand...

Come on man. You know you have to have thick skin when on the interweb. I know you where just showing the guy that you meant no harm. I mean really how threating can your sister be. Besides that she is a better shot than you.

I kid, I kid. I always liked when you showed up at the meets. Don't stop just because you received a bad comment.
As far as the meets go, you busy on the 16th or 17th of July. I'm thinking it's time to hit the strip again.

I would love to hear the 911 call recording and what the dispatcher told him.

"I'm sorry, sir. The Department of Public Safety does not investigate self-soiled shorts. This line is for emergencies only. If you like, the non-emergency dispatcher can refer you to a good therapist in Social Services."

I could just imagine when asked "what is he doing now?" Him "Well he just drove past me and his hostages are waving at me!"

Sabotage70 said:

I could just imagine when asked "what is he doing now?" Him "Well he just drove past me and his hostages are waving at me!"

Click to expand...

The dispatcher replies, "Sir, some nice gentlemen in white coats will be along shortly to help. Did you miss any of your medications today?"

Thanks for posting. Every positive encounter brings me one step closer to open carrying more than just in groups, at shooting board meet-ups, and when going home from the range or shooting in the desert. I really think we need to get to the point where it's more accepted to have a gun on your hip than a full-sleeve tattoo on your arm.

Yep thick skin is a necessity. One reply said I was not a cop and real life is not like what is seen on TV. Now that was some very valuable information. I am 56 years old and you would have thought I would have known that. I immediately dropped my standard dirty Harry responses and John Wane actions when carrying. My favorite replies have been you are wrong. Another one was here is what you did wrong; now this one, you failed, all coming from which I believe requires a B.S. degree to self-appoint as an expert. Greengum did open the door to a friendly conversation.With no reply from the person not sure at that point what I would have done however if I thought there was a good chance his problem was my firearm I may have said it is a legally carried gun. Not being there this is a guess reaction. What makes this a great site are all the opinions. At least that is my opinion. I learn so much from the actual encounters from the person posting and the reaction from the public. In addition, a big thanks to the ones that takes the time to research the NRSs that may apply. The way I take the statement he took cover behind his truck because teenage girls students are scary was a statement done for humor and not one of the person thought the need to flee.

28kfps said:

if I thought there was a good chance his problem was my firearm I may have said it is a legally carried gun.

Click to expand...

I rarely do this. I would say "never," because I can't think of a time when I have, but such an occasion may come along someday. I don't make a reference to my pistol at all unless they bring it up.

I want THEM thinking that THEY are out of step, and I don't want to seem like I'm defending my choice to carry.

The only time I've ever talked about the legality of carrying is when they are asking for the information, such as "Can ANYONE just go around carrying a gun?" (which often means "Gee, can _I_ carry a gun?"), or "what kind of permit do you need?"

When someone as a serious problem about my pistol, but don't bring up the issue, I leave them pondering the encounter. I don't tweak them, I don't bring it up, I let them think about the fact that I didn't act any different than I would have if I weren't carrying. For most people who have a problem with guns, that doesn't compute -- they can't correlate the fact that I was CARRYING A GUN and it was no big thing.

Once you get them to THINK, they go a long way on their own toward conquering their hoplophobia.

Its always great to see another person my age who is passionate about OC and stands up for the cause!

Im on the other side of town in stuck up Summerlin, and if you look around, ive had a couple issues, but nothing that would stop me from carrying. One lead to an awesome encounter with a police officer, and the other lead to Sears changing their company wide no gun policy.

Hope to see you at the Strip meetup!

paintsnow said:

Its always great to see another person my age who is passionate about OC and stands up for the cause!

Im on the other side of town in stuck up Summerlin, and if you look around, ive had a couple issues, but nothing that would stop me from carrying. One lead to an awesome encounter with a police officer, and the other lead to Sears changing their company wide no gun policy.

Hope to see you at the Strip meetup!

Click to expand...

Sears has changed its policy? Would you clarify this for us perhaps in another post on what happened and how this came about? Any documentation?

Green, I don't think you were too far out of line. Glad it turned out ok. Continue to be polite.

http://forum.opencarry.org/forums/showthread.php?75778-Sears-and-Kmart-Defense-Free-Zones

Page 2, post 37.

paintsnow said:

http://forum.opencarry.org/forums/showthread.php?75778-Sears-and-Kmart-Defense-Free-Zones

Page 2, post 37.

Click to expand...

All I can say is....WOW! Good job!

Gum wrote:

Thankfully we live in state that accepts OC and we don't have to go out in groups as a defensive tactic like in California. I know of at least 3 people who used to be very active here and no longer post or go to meet ups because of over simplifying or under simplifying a post about an encounter or just being trolled.

Tread wrote:

Bottom line is we do not need another strong OC'er leaving the thread for no reason. we are all human and not on the top of our game every day, even so I have heard situations handled much worse. Small community' like ours need to support as well as critisize, I got ripped once for misspelling a word. I learned from it on both ends, the support end (negatively) and the spelling end. stay on here Gum we need you.

DON`T TREAD ON ME said:

I got ripped once for misspelling a word. .

Click to expand...

<--------Borderline illiterate.J/K

But seriously if I didn't have spell check, the grammar nazi's would have ripped on me hard. I'm kinda surprised I don't get ripped on my composition.

I'm not going anywhere, I simply wanted to make the point that being an internet tough guy on these boards is counter productive. I mean these are social skills we should have learned in high school. For example it could have been phrased " Do you think your actions could have caused him a lot of stress and freaked him out even more?" I'm sure there are a ton of people who browse the forums and are hesitant to post out of fear of being put down or told that they fail in life. Another way is to PM someone if you wanted more details of a situation. I had this happen to me a few months ago with one of my post. I wont say who it was or what is what about, but at the time it kind of pissed me off but looking back at it he did the mature thing and left the drama off the public boards. I agree that these boards should be used to cast a positive light on OC but more importantly I believe it should be real. Positive or negative the more we discuss the more we learn.

To any of you guys who just browse the forums I can tell you meet ups are sooooo much fun. I encourage you to come out and meet us all.

carracer said:

All I can say is....WOW! Good job!

Click to expand...

+1!!!

Tenacity....