FireBreather01
Member
I am so sick and tired of this state's non-carry situation. Although my wife is not an enthusiastic gunner, and at times a bit more ambivalent than I would like (I've tried!) with regards to firearms rights, she recognizes the necessity of being armed and if legal, she would carry. There is no way she would ever carry illegally - as in without a permit.
A few days ago she stopped by the cemetary where her parents are interred - about 3:00 pm. No other people or vehicles were in sight. As she pulled in and got out of our Suburban to go and sit next to her parents grave she noticed a van that pulled around her and parked about 30 yards ahead of her location. There were two men in the van and they parked in an area where there are no graves sites. The Van had IL tags.
One guy got out and the other stayed in the van. He approached my wife in a slow and somewhat winding manner and she started to get nervous. She noticed that he stopped at none of the graves and when he got about 30' from her she stood up and loudly said "That's far enough! - stay there!!!" She grabbed a metal stake from the ground and began back tracking toward the Suburban which was also about 30' away - at 90 degrees to her left from the position of the guy. The guy began stammering something about they only stopped to tell her that her brake light was out - it is. Now putting myself in the situation of the guys - if they truly wanted to tell her about her brake-light, fine - you stop, roll the window down, tell her and be on your way. I would never approach a woman, or any stranger for that matter, that way. Clearly, they were up to no good.
Anyway, she made her way back the car, locked up and headed out. Then the guys blocked the only exit for about 3 minutes - not letting her pass. She could have easily made it out by driving through a shallow ditch but eventually they drove off. WHY she didn't call the police at that point is beyond me - she said she was afraid she was making a big deal out of nothing (I know, I know...). And she wasn't close enough to get the plate number.
Now I know there are a host of things my wife did wrong - basically in condition white, or worse, until the guy got far too close, she didn't retreat back to the the car when she noticed the guy get out, didn't call the PD, etc, etc - we've talked about all of those things. My point is that this is at least the 3rd time she has had an experience like this. And she suffers from very bad arthritis and she does not move quickly or easily, in short she's an easy target for a BG. Eerily, the same thing happened at another cemetary years ago when she was 'visiting' a friend that had recently passed. That was an even more ominous situation as both guys got out and approached from opposite directions. She ran back to the car when she noticed them before they got too close.
My point is that she would carry if she has a permit, but this state won't allow it. And really, I hate to even have to consider to have to ask her to do something that is illegal and could end up with her sitting in a local PD waiting for me to pick her up. I know she could have avoided this if she had been more aware and taken more decisive action but in the end, the predators are out there and it would be nice if she had a firearm at her side if and when situations like this happen again.
I wonder if Governor Doyle would apologize to me if anything had happened to her.
A few days ago she stopped by the cemetary where her parents are interred - about 3:00 pm. No other people or vehicles were in sight. As she pulled in and got out of our Suburban to go and sit next to her parents grave she noticed a van that pulled around her and parked about 30 yards ahead of her location. There were two men in the van and they parked in an area where there are no graves sites. The Van had IL tags.
One guy got out and the other stayed in the van. He approached my wife in a slow and somewhat winding manner and she started to get nervous. She noticed that he stopped at none of the graves and when he got about 30' from her she stood up and loudly said "That's far enough! - stay there!!!" She grabbed a metal stake from the ground and began back tracking toward the Suburban which was also about 30' away - at 90 degrees to her left from the position of the guy. The guy began stammering something about they only stopped to tell her that her brake light was out - it is. Now putting myself in the situation of the guys - if they truly wanted to tell her about her brake-light, fine - you stop, roll the window down, tell her and be on your way. I would never approach a woman, or any stranger for that matter, that way. Clearly, they were up to no good.
Anyway, she made her way back the car, locked up and headed out. Then the guys blocked the only exit for about 3 minutes - not letting her pass. She could have easily made it out by driving through a shallow ditch but eventually they drove off. WHY she didn't call the police at that point is beyond me - she said she was afraid she was making a big deal out of nothing (I know, I know...). And she wasn't close enough to get the plate number.
Now I know there are a host of things my wife did wrong - basically in condition white, or worse, until the guy got far too close, she didn't retreat back to the the car when she noticed the guy get out, didn't call the PD, etc, etc - we've talked about all of those things. My point is that this is at least the 3rd time she has had an experience like this. And she suffers from very bad arthritis and she does not move quickly or easily, in short she's an easy target for a BG. Eerily, the same thing happened at another cemetary years ago when she was 'visiting' a friend that had recently passed. That was an even more ominous situation as both guys got out and approached from opposite directions. She ran back to the car when she noticed them before they got too close.
My point is that she would carry if she has a permit, but this state won't allow it. And really, I hate to even have to consider to have to ask her to do something that is illegal and could end up with her sitting in a local PD waiting for me to pick her up. I know she could have avoided this if she had been more aware and taken more decisive action but in the end, the predators are out there and it would be nice if she had a firearm at her side if and when situations like this happen again.
I wonder if Governor Doyle would apologize to me if anything had happened to her.