A Car, a Gun, and Putnam County

[kevinsr98]

Last week I stopped at a convenience store. Parked my car and went in. On my way back out as I am going to get in my car I hear the sound of an engine revving.

A woman at the gas pumps hit the gas pedal instead of the brake and, well you can see the result. Mine is the car in the building.

Putnam County Sheriff's Dept shows up and starts taking statements. After giving him my DL and registration, I say "I want to inform you that I have a loaded firearm in the glove box"

His eyebrows raise a little in surprise and says " Do you have a permit?"
"Yes"
He replies " OK, just leave it where it is for now"

+1 for the Deputy. Treated me with respect and did not even ask to see my LTCH.

Later, time for me to go. Still haven't retrieved my gun. First Deputy is busy (by this time local police, fire truck and another Deputy are on scene)

I go to the other Deputy and say " I have a loaded firearm I need to get out of the car, I thought it might be a good idea for you to get it instead of me"

He just laughs and says " Your probably right". Did not even ask if I had a LTCH. Another big +1 for Putnam County Sheriff's Dept.

The only negative (other than my car being totaled) was that when he got my gun out (A loaded Ruger SR9 with safety off) he swept 2 other LEO's and a Fireman while clearing it.

If it had been at a USPSA match he would have been DQ'd and probably asked not to come back.

So that's my story, hopefully my luck will start to change.......

 

[Rookie]

How much is the parking ticket gonna cost?

 

[Hammerhead]

"Hey lady, this place doesn't have a drive thru window."

"It does now."

 

[Hammerhead]

Why the h-e-double hockey sticks did he clear the weapon, and why did he not do so inside the car, where it wouldn't cause any more damage than had already been done?

 

[deadeye]

No kidding you would think an officer would know how to handle a weapon thats a bit scary. Sounds like you handled the situation well.

 

[ADT knights]

How did she get the car back into gear without having her foot on the brake? I understand a mistake but geez... I bet the lady working the counter nearly had a heart attack.

 

[Armed Eastsider]

Why the h-e-double hockey sticks did he clear the weapon, and why did he not do so inside the car, where it wouldn't cause any more damage than had already been done?

Yeah, after all, the car is a Ford...

 

[kevinsr98]

Why the h-e-double hockey sticks did he clear the weapon, and why did he not do so inside the car, where it wouldn't cause any more damage than had already been done?

He actually stood by the open passenger door, facing the car. Reached into the glove box, and instead of pointing the gun to the floorboard, he pointed it out the drivers side window.

On the other side of the window were 2 more LEO's and a Fireman. They didn't even know they had been swept with a loaded weapon.

After he cleared it he handed me my mag, gun and single round. He seemed like a good guy, just made a mistake. Luckily he never put his finger in the trigger...

 

[BlueEagle]

Yeah, but mistakes like that can be lethal. I have to give them points for not harassing you about having a weapon, but then I have to take them back for the poor weapons handling training; and for unloading your weapon in the first place. I think it would've been better to just let you get your own gun out of the glove box with him watching.

*shrug* But alls well that ends well I guess.

 

[Plinker]

How much is the parking ticket gonna cost?

Nice catch! 'The yellow zone is for loading and unloading only'.

 

[shibumiseeker]

Nice catch! 'The yellow zone is for loading and unloading only'.

Private property, he couldn't be cited.

 

[Mr. Habib]

Two things bother me about this.
1) Your car hit that brick wall hard enough to move it, but from the pic it doesn't appear that your air bag deployed.
2) You were in Cloverdale with only one gun.

 

[eldirector]

Two things bother me about this.
1) Your car hit that brick wall hard enough to move it, but from the pic it doesn't appear that your air bag deployed.
2) You were in Cloverdale with only one gun.

1) I assume the car was in park and turned off? The airbag circuit wold be off as well.
2) He only mentioned the one in the glove box. Since this is Cloverdale, I MUST have had at least 2 on his person

I've always wondered by folks insist on parking in the no parking zone at the front of the building. I guess it is to provide a cushion for oncoming old ladies.

 

[Colt556]

The car was totaled? Doesn't seem as if there was that much damage and the airbag didn't deploy. Was there frame damage or more damage on the other side? Glad nobody was hurt.

 

[misconfig]

Is that the Casey's in Cloverdale?

What a messed up situation!

 

[Mr. Habib]

1) I assume the car was in park and turned off? The airbag circuit wold be off as well.
2) He only mentioned the one in the glove box. Since this is Cloverdale, I MUST have had at least 2 on his person

I've always wondered by folks insist on parking in the no parking zone at the front of the building. I guess it is to provide a cushion for oncoming old ladies.

I always assumed that they worked no matter what. That's good to know.

 

[singlesix]

Did the Lady have INSURANCE! I don't mean a little card that shows she supposedly has insurance; call the insurance company to make sure she is still covered. Card doesn't mean jack; ask me me how I know.

Good Luck. Could have been a lot worst.

 

[.40caltrucker]

1) I assume the car was in park and turned off? The airbag circuit wold be off as well.
2) He only mentioned the one in the glove box. Since this is Cloverdale, I MUST have had at least 2 on his person

I've always wondered by folks insist on parking in the no parking zone at the front of the building. I guess it is to provide a cushion for oncoming old ladies.

People always park in front of the building there and go inside I don't see a problem with it unless there is a delivery truck there needing to get through.

I always assumed that they worked no matter what. That's good to know.

Even if his engine was running his airbags should not have exploded because of this wreck. The sensors detect G force. If the G forces aren't strong enough to make you hit the windshield the air bags should not deploy. You can hit a deer at 70MPH crush your air bag sensors and your air bags should not deploy either because the G forces wouldn't be strong enough. Generally you have to be traveling 30+ MPH and hit a solid object to deploy them.


Also his car is considered totaled most likely because the $$ of repairs exceeds the cars value. Not because it's completely totaled. I bought a Jimmy about 5 years ago that was totaled twice by the insurance comp before I bought it. It drove like a champ and still drives today.

 

[kevinsr98]

Two things bother me about this.
1) Your car hit that brick wall hard enough to move it, but from the pic it doesn't appear that your air bag deployed.
2) You were in Cloverdale with only one gun.

It was lucky for the cashier that my car was there to take the hit. If that woman had an extra 20 feet to accelerate, she would have probably gone all the way into the store.

I only had one gun, but I had three 17 round magazines!

 

[Glocker39]

Why do they seem to always clear the weapon anyway?