Any non LEO ccw holders had to draw a weapon?

[thefamcnaj]

I was on vacation with my wife and we were out just walking and taking in the scenery and time slipped away from us. Before we knew it, it was getting up into the wee hours of the morning.
As we were walking back to our hotel we saw to bug eyed dope heads on the street begging for money quiet aggresivly. They were obvisouly strung out on something. The people walking past them were alarmed at how they were behaving and begging. As we get closer I'm getting a little nervous because we see them grabbing peoples arms asking for money loudly. They weren't being violent but I didn't know if they could possibly become aggitated from not getting any money and get vilolent. So I had my hand at the ready just incase. Luckily my wife and I went down a side street and avoided the two individuals.
Upon getting in the hotel room I thought to my self," That could have been the first time I'd ever had to draw my weapon...Then I played all the "what if's over in my head" I must admit I'm glad we avoided the situation all together.
But it got me to wondering if any of you non leo ccw holders have ever had to pull your weapon. Did you have to fire or did the sight of the gun scare the BG off. Was there a feeling of panic at that moment? Just wondering because my heart was pounding and I didn't even have to draw.

 

[Mike1234567]

I carry small bat in open view. I have a somewhat mean-looking expression most of the time too... although it's not intentional. Most folks leave me alone.

 

[Creature]

Nope. I avoid walking around an unfamilar areas at night.

 

[JustinJ]

It kind of takes the fun out of living in a free country if one lets fear of crime dictate when and where they walk.

 

[thedrewcifur]

twice. both times i defused the situation. one time i was walking back from checksmart at 2am after getting a money order to pay my rent. two guys came towards me from a doorway and one pulled a knife "asking" me for money. i said i didn't have any. one of them said he'd take my wallet and check for himself. at that point i drew my hi point c9 and aimed it center mass at the guy with the knife. i ordered them but to the ground and i got the hay out of there. the other time was when a guy kicked in my front door mistaking it for my neighbor's apartment. well i had one of my friends over and he has a ccw permit. well my girlfriend grabbed her pistol, i grabbed my shotgun, and my friend drew his pistol. we held them till the police arrived. (my drug dealer neighbor escaped out his back door) this was when i lived in a bad part of town. i have never had a problem in westerville.

 

[thefamcnaj]

Yes JustinJ I did mor or less let the dope heads dictate where I walked, but it didn't make sence to walk up to them "just to see what would happen", that seems kind of juvenile. So we took an alternate route to the hotel.

 

[JustinJ]

"Yes JustinJ I did mor or less let the dope heads dictate where I walked, but it didn't make sence to walk up to them "just to see what would happen", that seems kind of juvenile. "

Sorry thefamcnaj, i wasnt reffering to your thread. Another said he avoids walking in unfamiliar places at night which seemed to imply you shouldnt have been out at night on vacation. That is what i was reffering to. I prefer not to walk within arms length of scuzzy people too. I was reffering to places, not specific pathways on a street.

 

[Wingwalker]

I'm a LEO now but when I was a freshman in high school I talked my mom into taking me to a basketball game where my school was playing against our cross-town rival on THEIR court. Most, but not all, of the students at this school were from very low income families and the school was riddled with crime.

It was obviously dark after the game and my mom had parked behind the gym in a dimly lit area of the parking lot. We were almost to the car and a group of four older teenagers began yelling at us simply because I was wearing a t-shirt with my school mascot on it. We tried to ignore them but they started walking, and eventually running, toward us. We hurried to the car, got in, and locked the doors. Just as we locked the doors, the group made it to the car and started pounding on the windows and trying to open the front and back doors. My mom was surprisingly calm as she reached over and opened the glove compartment and retrieved a .38 S&W. She never pointed it at anyone. She simply laid it on her lap. The guys obviously saw it and scattered like roaches and we drove away while making sure no one followed us.

 

[MikeNice]

I even wrote a thread about it.

First SD Use In Public

 

[wheelgunslinger]

Yeah.
It's pretty normal to have some physiological and psychological reactions to the stress the first time (and really every time) you get in this situation.
The whole thing about people having ice-water in their veins is good for Louis L'Amour and Mack Bolan books, but ccw holders are only human.
Lots of law enforcement and military types do stress inoculation to mitigate the effects of adrenaline on the body and psychological stimuli on the perceptions. But watch a few of those police chase vids where some guy gets throttled by 10 cops when they finally drag him out of his car or he surrenders. Even they, with the inoculation training and regular stress of the job, get drunk on the adrenaline cocktail.
It's just a normal reaction to have your heart pounding, adrenaline pumping, and your heart in your throat, at least for the majority of humans.
I joined the High Road years ago after I was involved in an incident where a firearm helped resolve a situation. (I find that posting details about these things really isn't helpful to anyone. You just get a lot of monday morning quarterbacking and chest thumping, so I won't get into details.) Since that time I've had 1 more incident and a couple of very close calls. Each time was a varying degree of the first time, in terms of physiological symptoms. It's normal.

 

[MikeNice]

I've had to pull again since the thread I linked to above. I must say that wheelgun is right. Every time is just like the first time to some degree. It doesn't get a whole lot easier to deal with. Adrenalin always plays a part in what happens.

Even though I work for a police department and have been in rough situations it didn't help much. I was able to process and think a little better. I caught certain things that told me danger was coming. When the moment came experience helped me stay calm when addressing the people planning the atack. It didn't slow my heart, erase my fear, stop the time creep, or stop the tunnel vision. All experience did was help me hide it long enough to survive. Afterwards I went through all the psychological and physiological "events" I did after the first time I had to draw my gun.

The weird thing is that I never had those issues when I used a rifle for defense. The situation had more time to develop and I had time to mentally prepare and make the decision. (We're still talking in seconds here.) That made a large difference. When it is something you can decide to do it is easier. It is like heading off to handle a necessary chore.

When you're reacting to a situation in the heat of the moment everything changes. It is extremely different when it is close quarters and every move seems magnified.

I've never had to shoot anyone usually showing confidence, authority, and a gun will scare the bad guy away. Predators don't usually like to go after prey that fights back.


Wheelgunslinger, I like your sig. That particular travesty really pushed me torwards carrying. Anybody that reads that story should understand why law abiding citizens need to be armed.

What your sig link leaves out is that both of those guys should have been in jail. The justice system screwed the pooch twice and Eve Carson paid with her life. One guy should have been charged with B&E but the cops failed to ever file the paper work. The other was out because of a clerical error that earned him a continuance in a criminal trial.

 

[wheelgunslinger]

Yeah, a lot of dropped balls led to Eve's unfortunate last day.

I tear up every time I think about what her last moments must have been like.

But, I've seen enough bad in the world that I resolve myself to not hesitate when I need to act in a self defense situation. Eve's death was a horrible example of what can happen to the unprepared by the people who are prepared to do whatever they want to get whatever they want.