Have you ever NEEDED your handgun?

[esrice]

techres' post actually made me remember that I did have a close-call (perceived) one time.

Several years ago I was working the overnight (11pm-7am) shift at a hotel. As I was accustomed at that time, I was carrying a P3AT in an ankle holster.

Around 1-2am, a guy walked in and came right up to me at the front desk. Several things about this person's demeanor, appearance, and attitude immediately set-off my spidey senses. I first noticed that his right hand remained inside his jacket pocket the entire time.

He asked the usual "Do you have a room?". I was suddenly extremely aware that I could not access my ankle-gun in a covert or quick manner. I (lied) told him I thought we had one room left, but that I had to check something to make sure. I then went back into the manager's office, where I could watch him on camera-- I also took the opportunity to unholster my gun and place it in my front pants pocket.

Still having a bad feeling about him, I went back to the front and told him (lied, again) that unfortunately the room wasn't available after all, due to a housekeeping mistake. He was still acting shifty, but he walked back out the front door.

I then immediately went back to the manager's office and locked myself inside. I called 911 and reported the incident and gave them a description of the man and his vehicle. I also called several other local hotels and put them on the lookout as well.

The big lesson learned was that I no longer felt my choice of gun or holster was appropriate for possible future threats.

 

[Rookie]

I agree with you. An ankle holster has its place, but it should never be used to carry your primary defensive weapon.

 

[esrice]

I agree with you. An ankle holster has its place, but it should never be used to carry your primary defensive weapon.

As a secondary location it would be great.

I initially chose it for being so discreet, as I got the gun/holster when I first started working there, and didn't want it to be discovered.

It was later that I realized that I only had to be "discreet" for 5 minutes while the second shift person was wrapping up, and then another 5 minutes when the first shift person arrived.

 

[Annie Oakley]

How did it make you feel? How did your perspective and outlook on life change? Did it change your path in life? If you had to pull the trigger and drop the BG, what was (if you recall) your first thoughts?

I can't say I wasn't shaky after it was all done, but I was proud of myself. It taught me that the training I had and the beliefs that I had come to were the right ones for me. Am I glad I didn't have to shoot, yes. Would I if the situation had gone differently? Absolutely, and I would have been OK with that. I will say I was never so glad to see a man in uniform appear!

 

[VN Vet]

I have a question (or two) for all those who have had to draw and/or shoot someone. Not really for the military people but then again shooting the enemy, at least in my mind, wouldn't be MUCH different than killing some average druggy out to kill/rape/rob you.

How did it make you feel? How did your perspective and outlook on life change? Did it change your path in life? If you had to pull the trigger and drop the BG, what was (if you recall) your first thoughts?

Of course free will, no one HAS to answer, and I'm sorry if I'm out of line for asking. If I am just say so. I'm just curious since I've not been put in this specific situation. I've been shot AT before, but never had a weapon to defend myself with. The closest I've come is me and a buddy getting cut off, chasing the guys down and they jumped out with a knife. I hit one guy with my truck as we sped off. More like sideswiped him. I've never had to pull my knife and never my gun. So I'm just curious about the above questions.

My family knows I had to kill in Vietnam. They do not know any more than that. All I can say I will remember the happening all my life, February 3rd, 1973. The last time I had to kill. I do not even go hunting anymore. I did before the War, but not after. I have posted on this Forum before that if you don't need to, then don't. You may think it is a manly, even heroic a thing to do at the time, but you will not like the feeling later. I had to do it because three Gooks came after us at a small cafe with weapons drawn while we were having a drink. As our offical reports detailed, we had no choice at the time. We had to explaing why our sidearms had been discharged. None of the Gooks lived and we got the hell out of there.

 

[Annie Oakley]

My brother is a VN Vet also. I am really the only person he has talked to over all these years. Some things he won't discus but what is sad is that for the years he was married his wife wouldn't let him talk. Our parents have never uttered a single word about his service either. At family gatherings people have made comments about our Dad's service in WWII and some of the nephews in the Middle East but not a murmur about his service. I find that very odd.

All you vets deserve to decide if you want to talk about your experiences and deserve to have some one to listen to you if that is what you choose. Regardless, you have my thanks.

 

[SavageEagle]

I don't think it's manly or "awesome" to take a life. But if it's them or me, it's gonna be them. But I also have watched people be destroyed because they had to take a life. I just wondered how different experiances affected different people is all.

Like Annie, I'm always willing to listen.

 

[right winger]

Not yet. But I am prepared.

 

[Flintlock]

I did once, but it turned out to be nothing. I was sitting in my living room on my computer when the dog comes barreling down the hallway barking like crazy at the door so I immediately whip out the M&P9, rack the slide, and face the door. I go and look through the window and see nothing, then go check outside around my house. Nothing. I just locked the door and went back to the computer.

My dog does tend to be kind of bipolar though, barking at things that don't exist!

 

[slamer283]

very common man. i believe everyone gets nervous in that situation. same thing happened to me when i was walking down main street in my town. a car full of kids thought it would be funny to point their air soft pistol at me. at first i did not see the orange tip. i drew my barretta .45 and needless to say their eyes were as big as softballs. ha ha. i was very shaky afterwards as well

 

[JLB768]

I've never had to even think about pulling my weapon.

 

[jsgolfman]

You need to think about it, at least from the standpoint of tactics. Situational awareness is something I take very seriously.

 

[Bucky623]

I had an incident in my yard a few years ago involving a pit bull. Living out in the sticks of northern Indiana we get the occasional stray animal (I suspect most are dropped off). One afternoon I was outside and I saw a dog I didn’t recognize coming out of a field and head in the direction of the house so I went inside and grabbed a 9mm and stuck it in my back pocket and went back out to yell at the dog to “GET OUTTA HERE”. Most times that’s all it takes to send a stray on its way. Not so this time. The pit didn’t see me till I yelled. It came toward me at a run with its head down and emitting a low growl. I immediately went for the Smith 469 but before it cleared my pocket the dog had gotten to within about 10 feet from me and had circled around behind me. I faced him as he circled and fired as I raised the handgun hitting him in the chest at about 4 feet away. He bit at the hole in his chest and before he could turn back toward me he had a hole in his head.

Packs of dogs are sometimes a problem around here. Not sure why. Maybe some folks think their unwanted dog will live a happy life on a farm somewhere and all they have to do is drop it off on a back road out in the country.

I have since lost my that sweet compact 9mm to a little pi$$-ant neighbor kid who only did 18 months for stealing the 9 and a .357 as well as breaking into several other places. (can you tell it still irks me to think about it?)

Bucky

 

[esrice]

I've never had to even think about pulling my weapon.

I think I understand what you're saying here, but if you're being literal, might I suggest you take a peek at Tactics and Training - INGunOwners

 

[40calPUNISHER]

Its 9:40pm and I just answer my door gun in hand. One of my neighbors came to the door and was standing off to the side. I thought I recognized him but not 100%. My wife laughed at me and called me paranoid. I asked her if she remembered not long ago the old people that got their door kicked in, beaten and robbed. She still thought it was kinda funny that I had my gun...

 

[esrice]

I asked her if she remembered not long ago the old people that got their door kicked in, beaten and robbed. She still thought it was kinda funny that I had my gun...

If you're referring to the old folks in Brown County, the man was shot and killed and the woman had her throat slit but is still alive. . . . all done by a 13- and 16-year-old.


Be paranoid.

 

[40calPUNISHER]

If you're referring to the old folks in Brown County, the man was shot and killed and the woman had her throat slit but is still alive. . . . all done by a 13- and 16-year-old.


Be paranoid.

That is precisely why I asked her if she remembered because I sure as hell didn't. I believe that was what I was referring to. I just told her the more detailed description of events and her eyes lit up. She said "well, I guess your not that paranoid".

 

[bwframe]

If you're referring to the old folks in Brown County, the man was shot and killed and the woman had her throat slit but is still alive. . . . all done by a 13- and 16-year-old.

That has certainly got me rethinking my approach to living my quiet country life.

 

[rhino]

Good reason to always carry, even when you're at home. You might not have time to get to where you have something stashed, even if it's in the same room with you.

So I suppose a related question is, how many of know (or knew) someone else who really, really needed to be armed (including the will to act and the skills/knowledge to do), but were not, and paid a huge price for it?

One that still bothers me was the daughter of a woman who used to work with my father. She was a student at Ball State, living off campus, and had an ex-boyfriend against whom she had a protective order. She knew he was going to violate it, but her only action was to have a male friend stay with her. She's dead and the guy was there to make her feel more secure is a quadriplegic. Being armed would have at least given them a chance, so I'll say they really needed to be armed, but were not.

 

[esrice]

So I suppose a related question is, how many of know (or knew) someone else who really, really needed to be armed (including the will to act and the skills/knowledge to do), but were not, and paid a huge price for it?

The Volands (referencing above story) live less than a mile north of my parents down in Brown County. The killers lived just 100 yards SOUTH of them. That means they had to PASS my folks' driveway to get to the Volands house. Thank God for their 1/2 mile long gravel driveway and lazy boys I suppose. . .


Because of their proximity, I've been following the story as close as possible. A few key things stand out in my mind:


1. Apparently another neighbor had the boys knock on their door that same (early) morning. Instead of opening the door, they told them to get lost. What they DIDN'T do was call the police and report it. I hate to say it, but if they had, Dude Voland might still be alive. Moral of the story: if something suspicious happens to you, and it ends up ok for you, STILL REPORT IT!


2. Dude Voland was a life-long NRA member and big-time supporter of the 2nd Amendment. When he answered the door he was armed. BUT, he OPENED THE DOOR! This allowed the boys to burst in and shoot him with their own gun.


These two stories show that even when you ARE armed, bad things can happen if your Mindset and Tactics are bad. This is why Equipment is at the bottom of the list.