"Just a Quick Stop"; carry your CCW!

[DFW1911]

No major event, just a brief story about why we should carry when we can.

I stopped by the CVS on the way home to pick up some stuff...just a quick stop, you know the drill...5 minutes tops. I'm CHL and want to guess where my CCW is? In the lock-box in the truck. I take it off occasionally when I drive since I can access it very quickly.

And this is just a quick stop, right?

On the way toward the front of the store to pay some character walks in who gets just about every alarm I have going. Anybody who walks into a store and just starts yelling gets, well, pretty much everyone's attention.

You know what my first thought was, of course :banghead:

This was one big, angry dude. I'm about 25 feet from him and he turns from the cashier and looks right at me . This is a pretty disconcerting as that was one intense stare.

Great. I don't have anything...no phone, no gun, no knife, no pepper spray . I have positioned myself by bottles that could be used if necessary and I was a pretty good Muay Thai fighter and Judo player years ago, but this is not a guy I'd want to tangle with.

So he's still staring at me, yelling at who knows what, and I just give him a slight nod. I didn't break eye contact or say anything, just that nod.

I guess that was enough for some reason (I'm not physically imposing in any manner), maybe I sent the signal that if needed I'd have a go with him. He stopped yelling and, thankfully, the manager started moving from behind the counter to help this customer out.

I decided to make use of the calm in the storm and exit. I never took my eyes off the guy as I walked right past him and out of the store. I called the police.

For maybe 10 seconds I thought I should get my gun and go back in, but I thought it may be tough to explain to a jury if I actually had to shoot.

I learned many lessons in that "quick stop." We just don't know when, where, how, or how fast "it" can happen, but I sure learned something this evening.

I'll be carrying my CCW henceforth. I did get my stuff at another store...my CCW on my side .

Thanks for letting me vent. I guess I could learn something from my own signature line!!!

Take care, and please carry your CCW if you're licensed!
DFW1911

 

[NoneMoreBlack]

Good reminder. I was just kicking myself this evening for forgetting to strap up before running some errands (since I can't carry to my classes earlier in the day). Now I just have to convince my boss to let me carry at work.

 

[Big Daddy Grim]

I am pretty imposing but I still wear everywhere I would rather not go toe to toe with more than two guys because even if I win I will still end up hurt.

 

[Hungry Seagull]

I used to check for bats, knives and other weaponry to and from the truckstop all the time for the so called quick stop.

Now I just load in Walmart at Laramie 5 weeks food and snacks (780 pounds in upperbunk and lower cooler) and take off, no stops. That was then.

We dont do quick stops much anymore. Even today we go out once a month to walmart or something on varying days and times and get everything for 5 weeks.

The Convience stores, walgreens etc... are getting too rough these days.

My next step would be to bury about a 300 gallon tank below ground and manually fill the tanks in the cars from time to time with a fuel truck delivering.

 

[DFW1911]

Now I just have to convince my boss to let me carry at work.

Let me add to my considerable shame: I can and do carry at work...I actually took my gun out of the holster to put in the lock box !

How long does it take to reholster a J frame, a couple of seconds?

Yeah, I learned A LOT from that stop!

Take care,
DFW1911

 

[Fred Fuller]

DFW1911,

Once you learn how to successfully schedule all your emergencies, I'll pay you to teach me how to do it too... .

For the time being for yours truly, the best answers are: J-frame, CorBon DPX and speedloader. Pocket carry in a good holster. From "pants on" till "pants off." The only way to have a gun when you need one is to have one all the time...

Stay Safe,

lpl

 

[Duke of Doubt]

Carry what you can, where you can.

One day earlier this year I found myself in an awkward situation where I had left my regular carry gun (Beretta 92FS) locked in my car across town (town is fairly small, but not SO small), and I had to visit a neighborhood general store -- not in a dangerous area (we don't really have those, despite some local boasting) but in a somewhat sketchy scene. Well, I didn't feel like wearing a revolver on my hip under a topcoat, and my 1911A1 has high aspect sights and is a little too nice to stuff into a SOB holster or to tuck inside my rear waistband, so I settled for a lighter jacket and dropped a vintage but fully reliable .32ACP Ortgies into the right jacket pocket -- and, in a puckish and probably ill-considered moment, tucked a folded straightrazor into my inside left boot (technically legal, as Duke sees it, but a little gray). I literally had a .32 gun in my pocket for fun and a razor in my shoe. Of course, my trip was entirely uneventful.

 

[YammyMonkey]

Glad you learned something & I hope others here can do the same. No telling when or where you'll need it so you better carry your gun.

 

[daveit]

Being in the military, I feel vulnerable going to/from work where I can't carry. Wish I could keep it in a safe in the vehicle or something.

 

[YammyMonkey]

Ask the gate guards if they can secure it while you're on base. PITA beats DOA.

 

[DFW1911]

Once you learn how to successfully schedule all your emergencies, I'll pay you to teach me how to do it too... .

LOL!

Lee, if I could do that I'd retire early!!!

Let's see now, where did I leave my brochure on "How to Build a Great Pyramid...Scheme"?

 

[Hungry Seagull]

I prefer my Emergencies delivered or catered to the door thank you.

Call me spoiled rotten upper class whatever..

There was poster in Dispatchers office long ago. "Your emergency does not equal our problem due to your poor time management."

 

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

Ah yes the old "failure to plan on your part does not constitute a crisis on my part" adage.

 

[Cannonball888]

Sounds like a regular day at CVS.

 

[jerkface11]

You didn't have your knife or phone on you either though? If I have a pocket I've got my knife. I have my phone no matter what.

 

[Deltaboy1984]

Dupe I carry a Tactical folder , Pepper spray and a charged cell phone even if the gun is in the car.