It's certainly not out of the question that some sociopathic thug might actually kill someone over a parking spot. In fact, it happened in October in Baltimore. An off-duty BPD officer was killed over a parking spot near a popular downtown club when some thug hit him in the head with a "fist-sized chunk of concrete":
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/20...detective-baltimore-officer-anthony-guglielmi
However, THAT particular thug was "armed"--with a stone--but "armed" with something other than fists, none-the-less.
But a loud-mouthed thug, standing in the open, in a WalMart parking lot punching someone in the face (who, BTW, didn't require medical treatment, according to the OP) doesn't really qualify as an "imminent deadly threat".
As much as we'd like to be able to just flash our guns at people, or put our hands on the butts of our guns, or otherwise allude to the fact that we are armed as a method to circumvent low-level social annoyances, under NC law, it's not allowed.
The OP was OCing.
That makes him--whether he wants to be or not--an ambassador for ALL Open Carriers. He needs to KNOW the law and conventions in the state where he is acting, and abide by them. His actions will be interpreted by the media, the police, and other bystanders as beng representative of ALL OCers, and I for one, don't want some hotshot cowboy who doesn't know the law speaking for me. He needs to re-adjust his way of thinking, and understand that when he's not in uniform, the rules of engagement are RADICALLY different.
If he wants to have a lifestyle where he can inject himself into unknown situations, flash a gun, and through the threat of deadly force, persuade thugs, criminals, and sociopaths to act in a more civil, lawful, and personable manner, then I suggest he apply to the NC Police Academy and try to become a cop. The government sanctioned "monopoly on force" isn't fair, it isn't right, and I think it's downright dangerous to Liberty. But it is the law, and until we change that,
citizens do not have the legal right or authority to threaten people with massive escalation of force like police do. Even if we may be
morally justified in doing so,
the law says we can't.
Personally, I think that the OPs response to this situation went wrong LONG before he manipulated the retention on his holster. His mistake happened in his head, when he decided that he would intervene in a situation that did not concern him, which he knew nothing about, and was already being addressed by the property owner's "agent".
Had the OP been the one to be punched in the face, then perhaps I might be a little more sympathetic. Bu the wasn't. Nor did he know, or have any connection to the "victim". He was a passer-by who injected himself into an unknown situation, and then attempted to "play cop" when the offending party came back for "round two".
Had he positioned himself, while attending to the "victim" and talking with the manager, so that his OC'd firearm was clearly visible to the "BG", I doubt the "BG" would have come back, shouting threats. But he apparently injected himself into this situation, and then AFTER the BG made his second approach, he very purposefully and visibly manipulated his holster so that the BG would be sure to see it.
That is a VERY different action than just walking up on a situation while OCing.
For citizens, the "rules of engagement" are MUCH different, and he needs to know them.
I hate to sound like a broken record, but
the OP needs to find a qualified instructor and sign up for a Self Defense class in NC, or perhaps a CHP qualification course. He needs to study and KNOW the law here in NC, or else he will eventually find himself arrested--or worse.
The rules of engagement for citizens in NC in self-defense situations are NOT the same as the rules of engagement for an armed security guard, and they sure as hell are NOT the same as the RoE for an Army EOD operator.
He needs to get it through his skull that when he's acting as a citizen, the rules are VERY different. I don't know how to put that any clearer...
We don't want to read a news story about the OP's arrest, or worse yet, his obituary because some LEO mistook him for a BG because he was reaching for his gun to try and defuse another WalMart fistfight in the future.
Please, "Scott", I'm begging you.
Find a qualified instructor, and take a freaking course.
Your safety, your freedom, and your LIFE depend on it...
