Brno
Member
I live in Colorado and have been carrying concealed for about two years. Yesterday, my wife, son & I experienced an unprovoked altercation in a mall parking lot with an extremely aggressive "assailant." We suspect the guy may have been coked up or high on something, but we don't know for sure. His eyes were widely dilated and his anger was off the charts.
He pulled up along side our car in a theater parking lot, bailed out of his truck and, shouting angrily, began accusing me of "looking at him funny!!" He acted as if he was gonna beat the snot out of me - which he could have easily done; he was 6' 4" or 5" and built like the Incredible Hulk. I'm a small framed 67 year-old disabled vet, and one punch from this animal would likely have sent me to the promised land.
My 40 year-old son, who was parked next to us, saw what was going down, got out of his truck and immediately stepped between us, but even at 6'2" and a solid 220 lbs., he would have been no match for this maniac.
They stood there inches apart in a face-to-face standoff for what seemed like an hour though I'm sure it was probably only a minute - if that. Right about then it occurred to me things could get nasty real quick if this guy continued to press the issue. I tried to reason politely with him, but he now wanted "a piece of my son" and paid no attention to me. My son just stood there still as a stone, never saying a word, staring straight into the guy's eyes. It was unnerving as hell.
I was just about to advise the guy that I had a .357 in my pocket aimed straight at his nuts, and that if he so much as raised a hand to strike my wife, my son or me, I'd assume he was trying to kill us and be forced to take the "appropriate defensive action" - hoping he'd be smart enough to understand the consequences.
Thank God, at precisely that point, he mysteriously backed off, got in his truck and drove away. We were all pretty rattled. A day later my wife is still freaked out. It's given us plenty to think about regarding concealed carry. We really believed this guy was going to pound one, or all of us, into pudding for reasons we still don't understand.
My question is this: In a confrontive situation like this, is it ever wise to warn an impending attacker you're armed and ready to shoot him if he continues to threaten you... or would that be seen by authorities as further provoking an already disintigrating situation? Or is it just a bad idea?
He pulled up along side our car in a theater parking lot, bailed out of his truck and, shouting angrily, began accusing me of "looking at him funny!!" He acted as if he was gonna beat the snot out of me - which he could have easily done; he was 6' 4" or 5" and built like the Incredible Hulk. I'm a small framed 67 year-old disabled vet, and one punch from this animal would likely have sent me to the promised land.
My 40 year-old son, who was parked next to us, saw what was going down, got out of his truck and immediately stepped between us, but even at 6'2" and a solid 220 lbs., he would have been no match for this maniac.
They stood there inches apart in a face-to-face standoff for what seemed like an hour though I'm sure it was probably only a minute - if that. Right about then it occurred to me things could get nasty real quick if this guy continued to press the issue. I tried to reason politely with him, but he now wanted "a piece of my son" and paid no attention to me. My son just stood there still as a stone, never saying a word, staring straight into the guy's eyes. It was unnerving as hell.
I was just about to advise the guy that I had a .357 in my pocket aimed straight at his nuts, and that if he so much as raised a hand to strike my wife, my son or me, I'd assume he was trying to kill us and be forced to take the "appropriate defensive action" - hoping he'd be smart enough to understand the consequences.
Thank God, at precisely that point, he mysteriously backed off, got in his truck and drove away. We were all pretty rattled. A day later my wife is still freaked out. It's given us plenty to think about regarding concealed carry. We really believed this guy was going to pound one, or all of us, into pudding for reasons we still don't understand.
My question is this: In a confrontive situation like this, is it ever wise to warn an impending attacker you're armed and ready to shoot him if he continues to threaten you... or would that be seen by authorities as further provoking an already disintigrating situation? Or is it just a bad idea?