P95Carry
Moderator Emeritus
Damn!! It's been some time since I achieved a 'conversion' like this one today!
Let's call him Dan ..... now Dan works at a local True Value ... real nice guy .... hard worker and helpful in the store. But ......
Back about late last fall, I bumped into him in the local FFL ... I was buying a handgun (SUCH a rare occurrence!
). He was buying some fishing tackle. We got to chatting and he was in that sorta ''guns kill people'' mode ... and the shop boss came in on the chat. Not that I wanted him to but he blurted out - ''oh yeah... Chris carries'', or similar.
Our Dan's eyes grew large and seemed like he was gonna disown me .. despite having known me some time .... this was perhaps the great ''denoument''!
On that occasion, he left the store, almost in a ''huff'' .. seemed way excessive as a reaction. Well ... turns out, I later discovered that his cousin had been shot up by some BG's up in Pittsburg a coupla years back ... and he was not armed ... but despite this Dan had gotten hold of the ''guns bad'' deal and was seriously anti .... even for hunting, tho his Dad does. Probably always been anti if truth known.
Ok ... I ramble - sorry .... let's get to the nitty-gritty ..... dialog is approx sample ...
Well .. today, went to True Value again ... and it happened to coincide with his shift .... hadn't seen him in ages. He saw me come in and appeared to be trying to ''disappear'' but I nailed him ... and initially asked for a snow shovel .. I'm breaking or wearing those suckers out right now like there's no tomorrow!!
''Are you carrying'' he asked ... looking hostile and as if it was a burning question. I replied in the affirmative, and asked ....
''Dan ...... I know now about your cousin's incident but, why are you so bothered by carrying, and guns. If your cousin had been armed he might not have been shot at all''.
''Damn guns'' he said ... ''this sorta stuff (he didn't say ''stuff'' actually!!!)wouldn't happen if there were no guns - they should be banned''.
''So'', says I ......'' And how do you propose to stop bad guys having them''??
He thought hard .... ''Guess you'll never stop them having guns''.
''Right'' ... I respond .....''so potentially, anyone can be potentially at risk from an armed bad guy, yeah?''
''I guess'' ... he reluctantly seemed to agree. ''But if you carry then you are just askin for trouble''. (oh my - where have we heard THIS one before! ).
''So - my carrying makes me somehow ''vulnerable'' does it? Or am I just likely to go off the rails and start shootin at everyone''?
''Well - you could be tempted and start something''.
I then proceeded to remind him ... no tell him, cos he seemed to know very little. That culpability is the norm in a shooting ... of any kind ... permission to carry gives no ''open season'' to go shooting people. I added that jail was not my goal ..... rather ... I simply wished the means to defend self, were it ever needed. The ''equalizer'' aspect. Hoping above all to never have to employ same this way.
This seemed to register .. after he'd thought on it a bit.
''But I've never needed a gun'' he says ... ''hate them things''.
''Ever shot one?'' I retort.
''Nope'' says Dan ... never tried.
''Do me a favor ...... come along to range with me when we are free of snow .. and give it a try''.
This seemed to get his interest ... I detected a chink in his armor.
''Well I just might ..... guess I should 'know the enemy' at least'' ... he even smiled thinly. ''But I would never ever carry''... he added.
At this I changed tack . and this is where things really got somewhere.
''So - do you have home owner's insurance?''
''Yeah ... sure I do - just in case''. (Aha ... the magic words!
''Do you wear a seatbelt?''
''Yeah, always do that''.
''Just in case?'' I add.
''Well, yeah'' ....... I got the impression he was suddenly seeing where this was going.
''What about a spare tire in the truck then Dan .... carry one do ya?''
''Yep ... always do and always have'' .......
''Just in case'', we said almost in unison and he grinned! Yeah, he actually grinned ... he was getting the message.
''So Dan ... you might expect this question now .... why do you think I carry?''
His reply was with a wider grin .. ''Just in case''.
Amazing!! It was like he had never gotten to thinking the thing thru ... he was only looking with tunnel and biased vision .. thinking the (his) solution was logical..... when in fact it was quite the opposite. It was like a switch had flipped.
All that had happened was ... I had stimulated thought in another direction .. somewhere he had not even thought to go ... so he had been stuck with his false premises.. never thinking ouside of the box.
There we are ... sorry long but wanted to tell pretty much as it occurred .... and now I expect .. and believe me I'll drag his a** to the range come what may .... that he will quickly come to respect guns and hopefully enjoy the sport aspect. His demeanor has changed 180º it seems.
And know what?? The last thing he said before I left the store ......
''Guess my cousin shoulda had a gun'' ...........
FAN - FREAKIN - TASTIC!!!
Let's call him Dan ..... now Dan works at a local True Value ... real nice guy .... hard worker and helpful in the store. But ......
Back about late last fall, I bumped into him in the local FFL ... I was buying a handgun (SUCH a rare occurrence!
). He was buying some fishing tackle. We got to chatting and he was in that sorta ''guns kill people'' mode ... and the shop boss came in on the chat. Not that I wanted him to but he blurted out - ''oh yeah... Chris carries'', or similar.Our Dan's eyes grew large and seemed like he was gonna disown me .. despite having known me some time .... this was perhaps the great ''denoument''!
On that occasion, he left the store, almost in a ''huff'' .. seemed way excessive as a reaction. Well ... turns out, I later discovered that his cousin had been shot up by some BG's up in Pittsburg a coupla years back ... and he was not armed ... but despite this Dan had gotten hold of the ''guns bad'' deal and was seriously anti .... even for hunting, tho his Dad does. Probably always been anti if truth known.
Ok ... I ramble - sorry .... let's get to the nitty-gritty ..... dialog is approx sample ...
Well .. today, went to True Value again ... and it happened to coincide with his shift .... hadn't seen him in ages. He saw me come in and appeared to be trying to ''disappear'' but I nailed him ... and initially asked for a snow shovel .. I'm breaking or wearing those suckers out right now like there's no tomorrow!!
''Are you carrying'' he asked ... looking hostile and as if it was a burning question. I replied in the affirmative, and asked ....
''Dan ...... I know now about your cousin's incident but, why are you so bothered by carrying, and guns. If your cousin had been armed he might not have been shot at all''.
''Damn guns'' he said ... ''this sorta stuff (he didn't say ''stuff'' actually!!!)wouldn't happen if there were no guns - they should be banned''.
''So'', says I ......'' And how do you propose to stop bad guys having them''??
He thought hard .... ''Guess you'll never stop them having guns''.
''Right'' ... I respond .....''so potentially, anyone can be potentially at risk from an armed bad guy, yeah?''
''I guess'' ... he reluctantly seemed to agree. ''But if you carry then you are just askin for trouble''. (oh my - where have we heard THIS one before!
).''So - my carrying makes me somehow ''vulnerable'' does it? Or am I just likely to go off the rails and start shootin at everyone''?
''Well - you could be tempted and start something''.
I then proceeded to remind him ... no tell him, cos he seemed to know very little. That culpability is the norm in a shooting ... of any kind ... permission to carry gives no ''open season'' to go shooting people. I added that jail was not my goal ..... rather ... I simply wished the means to defend self, were it ever needed. The ''equalizer'' aspect. Hoping above all to never have to employ same this way.
This seemed to register .. after he'd thought on it a bit.
''But I've never needed a gun'' he says ... ''hate them things''.
''Ever shot one?'' I retort.
''Nope'' says Dan ... never tried.
''Do me a favor ...... come along to range with me when we are free of snow .. and give it a try''.
This seemed to get his interest ... I detected a chink in his armor.
''Well I just might ..... guess I should 'know the enemy' at least'' ... he even smiled thinly. ''But I would never ever carry''... he added.
At this I changed tack . and this is where things really got somewhere.
''So - do you have home owner's insurance?''
''Yeah ... sure I do - just in case''. (Aha ... the magic words!
''Do you wear a seatbelt?''
''Yeah, always do that''.
''Just in case?'' I add.
''Well, yeah'' ....... I got the impression he was suddenly seeing where this was going.
''What about a spare tire in the truck then Dan .... carry one do ya?''
''Yep ... always do and always have'' .......
''Just in case'', we said almost in unison and he grinned! Yeah, he actually grinned ... he was getting the message.
''So Dan ... you might expect this question now .... why do you think I carry?''
His reply was with a wider grin .. ''Just in case''.
Amazing!! It was like he had never gotten to thinking the thing thru ... he was only looking with tunnel and biased vision .. thinking the (his) solution was logical..... when in fact it was quite the opposite. It was like a switch had flipped.
All that had happened was ... I had stimulated thought in another direction .. somewhere he had not even thought to go ... so he had been stuck with his false premises.. never thinking ouside of the box.
There we are ... sorry long but wanted to tell pretty much as it occurred .... and now I expect .. and believe me I'll drag his a** to the range come what may .... that he will quickly come to respect guns and hopefully enjoy the sport aspect. His demeanor has changed 180º it seems.
And know what?? The last thing he said before I left the store ......
''Guess my cousin shoulda had a gun'' ...........
FAN - FREAKIN - TASTIC!!!
).