A reason to carry, or not

[targetshootr]

Went to a vacant house that's for rent and the first thing I noticed was an open window. Some guy in a van had just pulled in the drive way and starting gibbering about meeting someone about pressure-washing the house. I blew him off because I wanted to get inside.

The first thing I saw was two duffle bags on the kitchen floor and then took three steps toward a bedroom and saw the yahoo sacked out on the floor looking peaceful.

What would you do at this point?

I eased outside and called 911 and waited by the curb trying so he keeps snoozing but about a minute later said yahoo is peddling a bike down the driveway with his duffle bags and rode past me and waved as if to say, whassup.

So I stay on the phone with the cops and follow the guy who is in no hurry. He must have thought I didn't have a clue who he was or he didn't care. About a half-mile later he turns into a driveway and stows his bags behind a house and to my surprise gets back on his bike and heads down the road again, waving at me while I'm still on the phone. I stay 50 yards behind him the whole while.

A mile later no cops have shown even though I'm giving minute by minute directions. This is a heavy residential area. Finally he pulls behind a church and dissappears into some thick woods and I circle the block but he's gone. Just then the cops show up and a little later a police dog too but no bad guy.

Anyhow, to make a short story longer, I show them the house where the bags were stowed and ID him as the guy that they had been lookng for similar things and take them back to the house to find a busted out window which was the original point of entry.

I figure the pressure washer guy was his buddy keeping an appointment of some kind. Earlier he was nice enough to hand me a flier with his name and address.

There was a time I would have looked for a bat to have some retribution for all the other break-ins but I don't have it in me anymore. And if I still kept a gun in the truck, I might have let it creep into my thoughts, which is why I no longer do.

I'm still debating if carrying would be a good idea but then I'd be required to let the cops know and I'd surely forget and pay the price for it. I'd be interested in everyone's thoughts on this.

 

[atk]

targetshootr,

Sounds like you handled the situation fine.

Also, I want to commend you for being mature enough to realize that you shouldn't be armed. It's not appropriate for everyone, and it can take a lot to decide not to arm yourself. Good job making good decisions

 

[Amish_Bill]

I knew a marine who made the decision to not carry in civvy life. He knew that he would not have the proper self control.

If you know that you are not cut out for something, then by all means, please don't do it.

 

[Lennyjoe]

Being armed would of come in handy had bad guy decided not to have left anyone behind who could positively ID him.

Even though all ended well, it could of been alot worse.

 

[DigMe]

Hmm....I wonder what the legality would be of say...hitting the guy with OC spray as he's trying to ride off. I think I probably would have been tempted to do that.

brad cook

 

[DelayedReaction]

It's one thing to let it creep into your thoughts. We all have impulses that we later feel we shouldn't; what separates people is whether or not we act on them. Kudos on doing what you think is right though; too many people don't.

I probably wouldn't have followed the guy, simply because it puts you even further into an unknown situation. It's good that you stayed safe though.

 

[obiwan1]

It sounds like you did the right thing. Kudos to knowing your temperment as to whether to carry or not.
As for the pepper spray idea...........not good. To use it in a non defensive situation would have put you in deep doo doo.
Your making the cell phone call was exactly right for that situation.

 

[JamisJockey]

Being armed would of come in handy had bad guy decided not to have left anyone behind who could positively ID him

Or if he had woken from his nap time in a bad mood, wound up on some drug or another.
A friend of mine owns a couple rentals. One was vacant, and he had been doing some remodel work on it. Took a week off, came back, and found some items out of place in it. Opened a closet and was knocked over by a bg trying to get the hell out of dodge. His bro-in-law was right behind him and took the guy down with a shoulder to the chest....they subdued the guy luckily, since he was armed with a bigassknife....it could have turned badly fast. The guy had drug paraphenlia, also.
Vacant homes are bad juju. I've got one next door, I'm watching it like a hawk.

 

[sturmruger]

You need a reason to carry??? I just carry all the time just to be safe.

 

[bogie]

A few years back, a guy I know bought a house in the city to rehab. Went to look at it immediately after the sale. Walked around back, and found a nice new steel door with a hole cut in the middle... Checked it out more, nobody home, but looked like someone was gonna go into business, since the door hadn't been there two days prior.

Walked around front, noticed graffiti sprayed on the road in front.

He went home, got a Class III firearm and a can of black spraypaint. He's painting over the graffiti, holding an automatic battle rifle up in the air, and the cops pull up. He explains what he's doing, they nod, and then they asked him if it was loaded. "Yup." Another nod, and they drove off...

That was back a few years when St. Louis was a bit more wild and wooly, and the urban rehab stuff was just really getting started... If you were improving the neighborhood, the authorities didn't care WHAT you were doing... Used to be able to do major construction stuff without worrying about permits, etc...

 

[JamisJockey]

holding an automatic battle rifle up in the air, and the cops pull up.

Uh, yea....

Let me guess...this guy is a former SEEL, too...right?

 

[nanojath]

not a reason to carry.. probably not a reason not to either

This should I think be a situation where carrying or not would be moot. It did not call for a drawn firearm it seems to me. I'm curious what others think. My stance would be, I would not want to take out a weapon unless I first felt it reasonable that I or somone else was in harm's way and second that I was willing to fire and potentially kill the assailant because of the situation. Do others think this is too rigid? Is it reasonable for a civilian to use a gun to essentially assert legal authority (i.e. the unarmed thief is NOT going to leave your business until the police come) even in a situation of no physical threat?

Since they passed conceal and carry in Minnesota I have not heard of any situation of a person legally carrying a firearm drawing it in an innappropriate or illegal manner. It would certainly seem like a person responsible enough to go through the legal process is also reasonable enough to not escalate an emotional but nonviolent situation by introducing a firearm into the situation.

 

[Lennyjoe]

The current situation that targetshootr explained did not warrant exposing your CCW and stopping the crime.

BUT, had the bad guy decide to attack targetshootr instead of walk away, then it would have been acceptable to defend oneself with a CCW.

You never know when a situation is gonna go south, so its best to be able to defend yourself just in case it does.