Conceal and Carry Time: A Punk Harrasses My Wife
April 29, 2010 
18 Comments
I am a non-violent guy unless you mess with someone I love or try to take away my right to defend myself. When it comes to restoring constitutional governance to this country, my method of choice is nullification and non-violent passive-aggressive resistance in the vein of Gandhi and Martin Luther King. Admittedly, there is probably a point where I would turn my back on these strategies and take a – shall we say – more direct approach, but if that ever happened the egregious attack on our liberties would have reached a point where many Americans would be – quite literally – up in arms.
However, when it comes to my family and protecting them forget about that passive-aggressive, diplomatic BS. Mess with a member of my family and you better hope I am not around, otherwise you’ll be unlucky enough to be on the business end of a Glock 45 or AR15 and, if your stupid enough, the recipient of some of the ammo in said weapons. Maybe it’s the Italian in me.
I live in Texas, and by now most of use have heard of the violence that is starting in the border towns and making its way north. Even in Oklahoma, where my brother is a Lieutenant in a police department of a major city, they are briefed on gang and drug violence. It is a growing epidemic, so severe that Sheriff Arvin West from Hudspeth County in Texas told ranchers in his county:
You farmers, I’m telling you right now, arm yourselves. As they say, the old story is it’s better to be tried by twelve than carried by six, and I don’t want to see six people carrying you.
Conceal and carry time for the wife – maybe a P245. A little heavy, but the woman can handle it and I prefer the 45 caliber over a 9mm any day. Just ask a coroner or ER doc and they will tell your a lot more people survive hits from .38’s and 9’s than .45’s or .357 magnums.
Which brings me to what happened to my wife. Before continuing, the woman I married is the type of person who is very passive in a car. If someone cuts her off, she does not honk the horn, flip them off, or pull up along side them to scream obscenities. She knows such actions can have consequences. I am a little more aggressive, but have learned to pull back after spending years with my wife in the passenger seat playing the role of Mrs. Bucket from the British comedy Keeping Up Appearances: “Mind the pediatricians dear!”. Guys, you know what I’m talking about (joking honey).
My wife is driving home from her job when she is cut off by a driver in an old foreign maroon colored car – the type of car so old you know it will never pass state inspection. Inside is a young Hispanic male. My wife slams on her brakes, pulls back, and when the driver does not speed up, she accelerates her vehicle to pass and then pulls back into the lane in front of the punk well enough ahead of him to not give the appearance of attempting to cut him off.
Next thing she knows, she of off on a high speed chase. First he pulls up next to her and starts screaming obscenities. He then attempts to cut her off. She pulls a maneuver and ends up back in front of him and turns onto our street. He follows her. She decides that, instead of pulling into our apartment and letting the little punk know where she lives, she would double back to a gas station where she knows there is usually a police vehicle.
When she gets there, no such luck. She pulls into a parking spot and stays in her vehicle. The punk drives up and opens his window, still screaming obscenities and daring her to get out of the car. Customers walking out of the store turn around and walk back in. He begins to flash obvious gang signs and using language typical of a street thug. At this time, my wife pulls out her phone and pretends she is using it to call the police. As we can’t dial 9-11 on our cell phones, she hopes the ruse will work and begins to act like she is providing a description of the vehicle. The SOB keeps cursing at her and daring her to get out of the car. Big tough man picking on a woman. God, I wish I were there. Oh, what fun I missed and what pain this bastard escaped.
My wife, having exhausted all her options, decides to head back towards our apartment as the gangster follows her. At the last second she makes a dangerous right turn at a high rate of speed and enters our apartment complex. The idiot following her is caught off guard and slams on his brakes too late and attempts to reverse his vehicle. As other cars are already heading his direction, he capitulates and drives on.
For the next three hours my wife is left shaking as she comes down off the adrenaline high. She feels helpless and went so far as to ask me if I would take some time off work the next day and allow her to follow me to where she works. I agreed.
I was actually disappointed he was not waiting. I don’t suffer from fear. Having had four heart attacks starting at age 38 (I am now 43) and 25 stents there is very little that scares me, and some little punk or group of punks or gang is not one of them. I was quite prepared to unload into the sorry bastard if he was stupid enough to return. Thankfully for him, he must have went home and did a few bong hits and fell asleep.
So that’s it. My wife is now very interested in getting a conceal and carry. I don’t blame her and support this decision 100%. We live near a range and I’ll take her shooting as often as she wants. I love to fire a good weapon that reminds me that I live in a country where I can protect myself, which leaves me with a final thought. I would also throw out my passive-aggressive non-violent approach to solving problems if anyone ever tried to take away my right to defend myself. If anyone – ANYONE – ever attempted to take away my firearms, one of us is going to bite the dust.
Politically incorrect? Too friggin’ bad.
In other news and opinion:
Obama: “I do think at a certain point you’ve made enough money”. Oh really? And have you and your wife reached that point yet oh Anointed One, or is your statement just for us plain folk?
Obama trying to weaken sanctions against Iran? China, Russia softest hit.
Barack Obama talks tougher these days about Iran, but actions speak louder than words. That’s why the White House request to provide waivers in a sanctions bill making its way through Congress has eyebrows raised on Capitol Hill. Eli Lake reports at the Washington Times that the exemptions would allow Chinese and Russian companies doing business with Iran off the hook
And yet he leans on Israel. I wonder why that is? Hmmm….
Actual AP headline: “Illegal immigrants plan to leave over Ariz. law”:
That’s tonight’s headline. Tomorrow’s headline, inevitably? “Border states scramble to emulate Arizona’s new law.”
More please.
Riot Police Called in to Protect Obama from Out of Control Tea Party. Look at these vicious thugs!
Thank god the security forces were heavily armed and well prepared with full body armor or this guy with a bullhorn could have done some serious damage:
I carry a Keltek .380. Nice little gun! I would really like a Pink Lady S & W!!!
I'm calling BS. ALL cell phones must have the ability to call 911. It's the law. You can buy one anywhere, and even if you don't have a contract with ANY carrier, just throw it in the glove box. If you can charge it up, and it gets signal, it can call 911. Period.
Tom,
Don't be too quick to jump to conclusions about BS. This is what we heard on a local station in Austin – that our carrier did not allow it. I did check after writing the article and hearing from others via the contact section of this site that cell phones, even if you have been disconnected, must provide 911 capability. We checked with our carrier and the did say we can dial 911, so whether the local news got it wrong – which I doubt – or they exposed a problem, which seems likely, and the carrier made the appropriate changes to comply with what is a federal law, the end result is we do have the capability.
Still getting the conceal and carry because, and I verified this with our carrier and the local police, that with 911on a cell phone they won't know where you are like on a land line. Therefore, you must tell dispatch your location and, if you are in a high stress, fast moving situation and unarmed, you may find if difficult to concentrate on driving and talking about a location which is constantly changing. Our friends who have CCLs say the best thing to do is get one and if you find yourself in a situation like my wife did, pull into a crowded parking lot, call 911, tell the dispatch what the situation it, that you have a weapon, and you are prepared to use it. The police will show up VERY fast.
So CCL it is – for the both of us. Things are getting bad in Texas so I am getting one too. I won't be caught unawares. As for my wife, she if pumped up about getting one and ready for the the SOB should he ever show up again.
You must have the worst carrier in the country, my friend. Search for "E911". I work for a small multi state regional cellular carrier as the "Can you hear me now?" guy. I turn up (activate after construction) new cell sites on a regular basis. One of the things I do after I verify that it is functioning by making mobile to mobile, land to mobile, and mobile to land calls, is call 911. There are two phases of E911. Three, kinda. In extreme rural areas, the number may just go to the operator at the local Sheriffs office. Sounds like you live in a big city though. You would be either phase 1 or phase 2. The first phase gives 911 operators your phone number and the physical address of the cell tower. Phase 2 gives the same as phase 1, plus lat and long within 50-300 meters. Close enough that a call to 911 from a c-store parking lot would get the cops close enough to find you pretty quick. When I call 911, they know who I am, the address of the cell, the direction from the cell (NE, SW, North, etc) and my gps coordinates. We're no Verizon, AT&T, Sprint or T-Mobile, but we have a pretty good sized network, and we have E911 almost everywhere.
great post as usual!
+1
"I would also throw out my passive-aggressive non-violent approach to solving problems if anyone ever tried to take away my right to defend myself. If anyone – ANYONE – ever attempted to take away my firearms, one of us is going to bite the dust.
Politically incorrect? Too friggin’ bad."
Even if you do have 911 available, when seconds count, the police are minutes away.
I don't outsource my self-protection to anyone.
Nice choice in picking a Sig, but you might want to look at the P239 357sig model which is what I own. Its a bit more packable, the only downside is ammo is a bit more scarce but not hard to find.
Big man – and you must be a BIG man to have your heart failing like this – wants to carry guns so he feels safe in his bed at night, hyped up on a steady diet of the White Man's Fear. If your wife can't properly dial 911 and talk to an operator under duress, then there is NO WAY she should be allowed a lethal weapon capable of ending lives, purposeful or accidental, because she got nervous and jittery.
AGS:
It's hard to take your comment seriously. It seems highly unlikely a 'green socialist' would enjoy this web site about liberty and small government.
For the benefit of others who might read these comments, I will simply repeat what others have said about 911 not being an answer in an emergent situation.
It may surprise you to learn that people such as gjmerits (and I) will step up and defend you and your ilk if the system ever fails and your calls to 911 go unanswered. The kind of person who runs a free web site about liberty, justice, truth, philosophy, etc. and recognizes the importance of the need for, and right to, self-defense is your best bet if TSHTF!
I'm not interested in being dependent on someone else if my family ever needs immediate, serious help against violence.
Amen, brother.
The Kimber is a VERY nice gun. I have been VERY impressed with them.
It's funny the gun someone feels comfortable with. I can never guess and I've given up trying. Just let 'em shoot a bunch of stuff and they'll ALWAYS have an opinion, but you'd never guess it in advance! It's a personal thing…
Nice job and kudos to you for helping your wife and supporting her. Women are normally smaller than most men and it must be tough to go through life with the knowledge that a physical confrontation with a man is almost always stacked against you. At least there is an equalizer for her!
Agreed, and the Kimber is much easier to handle. My grouping is far tighter with her .45 Kimber than my Glock 45. Of course, her weapon is twice a much as mine in the cost department. However, mine's much easier to clean and can take a real beating. Give and take.
Coincidentally, I spoke with a man last night who owns a new Kimber 45 and said he had trouble with repeated jams. He said he took it back to the gun store and the owner said he's had more than one such case with new Kimber 45's and they have a 'fix' for it.
I checked the web forums and there are a lot of reports of this but it also seems Kimber is being very good about repairs at no charge. So, be on the lookout for a while. Since she's new, she might think she's doing something wrong when it's really the gun.
Gerald, best suggestion / option might be to look up the main and local storefront locations for S.O. and P.D. online. Keep a list in the car for refreshing your memory. Next time there might be an incident, drive straight to one of these locations, report it immediately, being sure to state you or your wife was in fear for her life. If the perpetrator is foolish enough to persist, and you or your wife has CHL / CC permit, and so equipped, be sure to use this means of defense in the parking lot of such a law enforcement agency as long as it is not aimed across a street or at a business and pointed toward bystanders, which is against the law. It says nothing about pointing the weapon at a suspect. Just don't pull the trigger until all lawful conditions are confirmed. It's just as legal to use protection in a parking lot as anywhere else. You may find that the law enforcement officers on duty are more than willing to back you up.
H&K USP Compact .40 S&W. Same caliber they used to shoot a tiger at the LA zoo about 2-3 years ago. My wife was frightening at the range-about 2 weeks after the wedding, in ’71. A .38 Special snub nose, all 5 in about 6 inches at 50 feet.
I just said, “OK, that’s enough for today.” & we did the drill with any number of toys over the years. Then it was CC Permit time. She was terrified & had not been to the range in over ten years. Never even held the new H&K before. She outscored about twelve men-including me. The instructor was speechless-but so am I when I recall how she looked the first time I meet her.
The moron 'A Green Socialist' inadvertently made a point – you and your loved ones should have a plan, a backup plan, and an 'oh sh!t' plan. Experiences like you describe happen frequently and the better prepared you are the greater the likelihood it will resolve itself in your favor.
Your wife showed good crunch-time thinking – she didn't bring her problem to her own doorstep.
Know the limitations of your equipment (911 on your cellphone, access to a weapon, etc). Know where backup is (the gas station was another good move on her part). Know your own limitations (are you ready and willing to actually pull the trigger). Devise a plan that accentuates your strengths, but does not ignore your weaknesses. Practice your plan and modify when appropriate. Exercise caution and never "be" the problem: be the solution.
Good luck!