so is this false bravado, or standing up for myself?

For the past 2.5 hours, some jerks around the corner have been booming their "music".
It was loud enough from 100yds away that I had to turn up my TV volume, & was
wondering about earplugs & sleeping pills for tonight.

Finally screwed up my courage (I'm really not a confrontational person), put on shoes,
& walked over there to ask them _politely_ to turn it down.

"Hi guys, it's getting late & you've been having this turned up loud for a couple hours now.
Would you please turn it down?" Amazingly enough, they did!
I told them I thought I should ask politely before calling police. (Not that police are likely
to come by before the boomers get tired of it and shut down for the morning.)

Then after I said thank you and started to walk away, the guy who turned down the radio
said, "you didn't have to come over here with a gun, you could have just asked."

I didn't say anything, but I figure it's a good rep to have in this neighborhood. 'Sides, I
didn't touch it or say anything about it. It was just there, as always. Three on one, I like
having a little help hanging around Just In Case.

Glad the situation didn't have to escalate to police being called.

You did the right thing. Going armed was the responsible course of action to take with regard to your personal safety and your rights. Anything less on your behalf would have been foolish. You might have walked into a very bad situation. You did those people a favor by asking them to turn down the tunes instead of just calling the cops. If they don't like you taking responsibility for your personal protection, too bad for them.

Another thing to consider: Had you walked over there unarmed and alone, would the people you encountered have been so willing to oblige in a civil manner?

bluehighways said:

You did the right thing. Going armed was the responsible course of action to take with regard to your personal safety and your rights. Anything less on your behalf would have been foolish. You might have walked into a very bad situation. You did those people a favor by asking them to turn down the tunes instead of just calling the cops. If they don't like you taking responsibility for your personal protection, too bad for them.

Another thing to consider: Had you walked over there unarmed and alone, would the people you encountered have been so willing to oblige in a civil manner?

Click to expand...

An armed society.....

Good job!

Amazing how easy it is to correct behavior....

It wasn't as if you ran up and drew a bead on the guy, you just politely asked him to respect and consider another persons peace and quiet. Nothing intimidating or false bravado there.

"Walk softly, carry a big stick"

Or, as Theodore Roosevelt said, "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far"

Nathan Miller said:

Looking back upon his handling of the incident, Roosevelt thought he 'never saw a bluff carried more resolutely through to the final limit.' And writing to a friend a few days later, he observed: 'I have always been fond of the West African proverb: "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far."

Click to expand...

Two thumbs up MKEgal. I wager you would not have had the same response had you been concealed carry.

MKEgal said:

For the past 2.5 hours, some jerks around the corner have been booming their "music".
It was loud enough from 100yds away that I had to turn up my TV volume, & was
wondering about earplugs & sleeping pills for tonight.

Finally screwed up my courage (I'm really not a confrontational person), put on shoes,
& walked over there to ask them _politely_ to turn it down.

"Hi guys, it's getting late & you've been having this turned up loud for a couple hours now.
Would you please turn it down?" Amazingly enough, they did!
I told them I thought I should ask politely before calling police. (Not that police are likely
to come by before the boomers get tired of it and shut down for the morning.)

Then after I said thank you and started to walk away, the guy who turned down the radio
said, "you didn't have to come over here with a gun, you could have just asked."

I didn't say anything, but I figure it's a good rep to have in this neighborhood. 'Sides, I
didn't touch it or say anything about it. It was just there, as always. Three on one, I like
having a little help hanging around Just In Case.

Click to expand...

Right on.

I myself am a pretty mild and laid back person. I don't think I would have been quite so cordial when I talked to them. I guess the one with the big mouth just hasn't had time to grow up and realize that other people live in this world too.

I probably would have tried to talk to them personally first, as you did. And carrying to talk to them I don't think was out of line at all, given what you've described of your general area in the past. Plus, it's your right and it's what you do, you don't need to not carry just to make someone else feel more at ease.

Nice work!

silent moderator at your side makes for pleasant encounters!

McX said:

silent moderator at your side makes for pleasant encounters!

Click to expand...

Nicely put!

Great handling of the situation too.

Thanks for the responses & thoughtful comments.
And I made a bit of a mistake last night - they're more like 60 yards away.
Funny thing is, if I could have held out another 30min, they packed it up for the night anyway - rain moving in.

bluehighways said:

Had you walked over there unarmed and alone, would the people you encountered have been so willing to oblige in a civil manner?

Click to expand...

I really doubt it. They all had beer bottles in their hands, too.
I've noticed that people are much more likely to be at least as polite to me as I am to them when I'm armed.
:hmmmm:
[removed gratuitious jab at a few police officers]

In the past, I haven't gone over to talk with them, for fear the group of guys would be less than cooperative, possibly violently so. In fact, this same "neighbor" frequently does this, often in the summer, so now I think I'll be a bit more forward about asking him to turn down the noise... er, "music". As long as I can't hear it I really don't care what they listen to.

Odd thing is, I was wearing jeans & a dark olive long-sleeve shirt, the gun & holster are black, & it was dark except for the street light on the corner. Yet their little brains were still able to pick up on the fact that I was carrying.

Well, I think you can expect more trouble. They are probably going to be/get angry that you entered their private property while OC'ing. I know I would be. I think it was a foolish thing for you to do. What if they were armed and saw you coming; an armed stranger walking onto their property? You are lucky you didn't find yourself staring down the barrel of a gun.. or several.
I'm a bit bemused that so many show the bad judgement to agree with your foolish actions.



You admit you are afraid of them yet you've never spoken to them before....

1FASTC4 said:

Well, I think you can expect more trouble. They are probably going to be/get angry that you entered their private property while OC'ing. I know I would be. I think it was a foolish thing for you to do. What if they were armed and saw you coming; an armed stranger walking onto their property? You are lucky you didn't find yourself staring down the barrel of a gun.. or several.
I'm a bit bemused that so many show the bad judgement to agree with your foolish actions.



You admit you are afraid of them yet you've never spoken to them before....

Click to expand...

I see no foolish actions here. She open carrys everywhere else she goes so why should she change her behavior now?
I think she did well.
why would we now start telling people not to OC because it might upset someone?
No Way! Carry On!

J.Gleason said:

I see no foolish actions here. She open carrys everywhere else she goes so why should she change her behavior now?
I think she did well.
why would we now start telling people not to OC because it might upset someone?
No Way! Carry On!

Click to expand...

Well I'm not trying to change your mind.

For my part, we are talking about someone's domicile here. It's a bit different than OC'ing around town. Once the OP stepped onto the property while thusly armed, and didn't ID herself as a police officer, she became lucky she didn't encounter people prepared to defend their home against an armed stranger.

Opinions were asked for, I gave mine.

Too Fast To See stretches 'defense', to the point of offensiveness.

60 yards being nearly 200 feet reminds me of Charleston's (South Carolina) nuisance noise control law, that it not be audible from 200 feet away. I lived on the seventeenth floor of the ONLY building higher than St. Marks' steeple, making the entire city more than 200 feet away. When I heard noisy 'music' or motors then I regularly reminded the city cops of the stupid ordinance unenforced.

"Well, I think you can expect more trouble."
And when they get the noise going again, I'll ask them politely to turn it down again.

"They are probably going to be/get angry that you entered their private property while OC'ing."
I didn't make the picture clear enough. They were standing around their car (windows open, hood up, radio blaring), which was in a very short driveway (barely longer than the car), then there's a sidewalk, then the slope to the street. I didn't go past the sidewalk.

"I think it was a foolish thing for you to do."
Thanks for your opinion.
You would suggest that I don't approach them again, simply call police?
(Which doesn't solve the problem. I've never had police respond before the 'party' was over, sometimes several hours after I got fed up with the noise & called them.)

"You are lucky you didn't find yourself staring down the barrel of a gun.. or several."
That could have been a possibility. This isn't the inner city, but isn't a very nice neighborhood, either. (As evidenced by neighbors like these.) Looks like a pretty decent place, for being in the city of Milwaukee, but for the most part the people aren't.

"You admit you are afraid of them yet you've never spoken to them before"
I haven't gone to speak with them before, no, and yes, it's because I was concerned for my safety - one of me, many of them, and having your rudeness pointed out tends to make people less than pleasant to deal with.

That's part of why I asked the original question - I did something out of character because I felt safe enough to do it because I was carrying. Most people (most of the ones who've posted here have interacted with me online or in person) seem to think it wasn't out of line to talk with them, even though I wouldn't have done it unarmed.

Pay no attention to the Nay Sayers, you did fine. As usual, the critics got it wrong.