When have you come the closest to shooting someone?

[Jer]

This is also why I carry even when on longer roadtrips. I'm always worried that I'll have a blowout or there's a road side emergency of some sort and I'll hop out to take care of it and be w/o my gun and something goes down. It's funny because I joke that I have CPR certification as well as a CCW so I can handle most any emergency. 'Hello, I'm here to help! Do you need someone saved or shot?!?'

[MichiganMilitia]

'Hello, I'm here to help! Do you need someone saved or shot?!?'

It never hurts to be prepared!

Who else has experiences that the rest of us can learn from?

[Irving]

I once got into a big fight with my girlfriend, and left the house during a blizzard at like 2:45 am. We were both pretty upset and I didn't want to have a gun on me if I encountered any law enforcement and try and have to explain why I'm driving around in the middle of the night, in the middle of a blizzard, all pissed off, and with a gun. So I left it at home in the safe.

As I'm driving down the road, I see this car parked on the side of the street with flashers on and three people standing outside waving a gas can around. I was driving down Federal, so I figured there had to be a near by gas station. I pull over and it is a girl and two guys. The girl is arguing with them because they just want to walk and she wants a ride to the gas station. I told her that is fine, but since I had a car full of stuff, I only had room for one. They continue to argue and then I see her throw her hands up in the air, and start storming back toward my car. She opens the door, throws her gas can in and says, "Those dumb assholes don't want to come, can you please just take me?" I said, no problem, we'll be back in a jiffy. She closes the door, I do a U-turn, and one of the guys runs in front of my car, arms waving. I stop, he comes to her side, opens the door, tells her to get the fuck out of the car and that he'll go. So he hops in, looks around and says, "How many people you got in here? Oh...just you? I thought you had a car full of dudes or something and were going to drive off with my girlfriend." I told him I'm just trying to help some people who look like they are freezing their asses off in the snow. He says, "Alright, thanks man."

So I'm driving back the other way on Federal, and he's talking to me and I just get more and more uncomfortable by the second. He opens the conversation with, "You smoke man?" (He means weed). I told him no. He goes on and the conversation is pretty one sided with a bunch of stuff that went pretty much like this:

"Man, I love getting high. Tonight we were drinking. I love getting drunk and fighting and shit man."

ME: Oh yeah, where were you drinking at?

"The greenbelt. We're homeless. We just hit the liquor stores and then drink outside by the creek man."

"Hey man, that was my girlfriend and my friend back there. I didn't want you to take off with her you know man? I wasn't gonna let you take off with her. I would have thrown my knife at your car...or something man." short pause "She knows how to handle herself though man. I got her this knife....I got my own knife man (pats his jacket) but I got her, her own knife and I taught her how to use it you know? I mean she will put up a fight if anyone tries to mess with her you know? But I love her and didn't want her going with you."

ME: Yeah, I understand what you mean buddy.

Then just various other stuff about how much he loved his girl, getting high, getting drunk, and how they were homeless and living out of their car (Dodge Stratus). I made some comments about how I used to work with a couple that was homeless and had some pets in the car with them, etc etc.

So after an eternity (about a mile) I finally find a gas station that was open and pull in. He seems wary about getting out. Originally the girl said she only wanted a ride one way, and would walk back, but I told him that I was going back that way anyway, and there was no reason for him to freeze. He tried to give me like five bucks, but I told him that I was pretty sure that he needed it more than I did. So after awhile, when he seemed sure enough that I wasn't going to take his gas can and leave him there, he finally got out to get the gas. I drove him back to their car and dropped him off.

I didn't have anything with me except for an extra magazine (full) that I was holding in my hand in case I needed to use it as a fist pack. I haven't ever really had to defend myself, and am generally not real comfortable in the face of a potential physical encounter, so this trip was pretty nerve wracking for me. I already wasn't having the best night, since just an hour before I got locked out of my place during the fight without a jacket.

Like Graves said, it was about the longest driven mile in my life; and like gnihcraes said, never again do I want to be caught unprepared like that.

Also, don't pick up hitch hikers, even when it's snowing.

[gnihcraes]

I always take something with me when traveling before I had my ccw permit, just for those reasons stated above about having to fix a flat tire or something in the middle of nowhere land.

Ok... I got a few minutes... here is another one... (you'll like this)

Fine summer day, in the garage, cleaning the guns... all of the guns. Hear a loud screeech and a quick acceleration then screeech again as this old Jeep Grand Cherokee goes sliding by my driveway. I hear loud yelling... so I wander out of the garage and to the street. As I step to into the street this big thug of a guy gets out of the jeep (which is sideways in the street) "mind your own f*cking business!" uh? so I keep my distance as I try to figure out what is going on? He yells some more at me and gets back in his truck and drives off like a mad man... I finally figure out that there is a girl at the neighbors door beating on it asking for help. I go over and talk to the old couple and her, asking the old couple to go get me the phone and I call 911. The girl is pretty beat up and apparently he's been chasing her through the neighborhood with his truck. She's been doing pretty well keeping him at bay. Police show up and we go through the normal reporting routines. The officers were laughing at me because all my guns were at my disposal, but in pieces. I never had to go to court, he pled guilty to domestic abuse or something and got locked up for a bit.

Note: Always keep one gun assembled and functioning at all times. Doh!

Not sure that I would have done anything with a gun, other than keep myself safe, which is hard to do when they are not together...

I've got one more "wish I had a gun" story I'll post in a little bit...

kc.

[Irving]

Crazy that you posted that! Whenever I clean my guns, I like to always keep at least ONE fully operational and ready to be loaded. Lately I've been feeling stupid doing that though, since nothing ever happens. Great story!

[Jer]

Crazy that you posted that! Whenever I clean my guns, I like to always keep at least ONE fully operational and ready to be loaded. Lately I've been feeling stupid doing that though, since nothing ever happens. Great story!

+1

Just like whenever I clean guns or go to the range or a competition or whatever I ALWAYS have at least one gun loaded with carry ammo on my person. I've heard WAY too many stories to think I'm safe at a gun range or at a 'designated shooting place' out in the sticks. I rotate what guns I shoot/clean and always have another one loaded with carry ammo ready to go just in case. Some days I train with my target handgun (G17) and keep my carry gun (G26) on me. Other times I will practice with the carry gun and at those times I load my target gun with carry ammo to keep on me. Call it paranoid but it makes sense that if you carry in places you think are safe you also carry in places where there's lots of guns and things might not be as safe.

[gnihcraes]

true... a friend that I take with me to shooting areas and ranges, always has a loaded weapon other than the one he is practicing with for those same reasons. He's more than once had some stranger walk up while they were shooting and not feel comfortable with that person being there...(non shooters, just strangers) (usually happens at the outdoor shooting places on public lands)...

[BigMat]

The Doh! Moments remind me of a story. Speaking of going shooting and no keeping a gun handy

About a year ago I was out in the desert outside of Tucson and doing some moving and shooting practice on a few targets with a friend of mine. It’s about 11pm and we think we are totally alone, as we are way out of town. We wrap up shooting for a while and the two of us are down range picking up brass, all hunched over with flash lights, just talking about form, and women, and so on. As we are doing this a car pulls up next to our campsite, where ALL of our guns were, and aims its headlights right at us. We are sitting there, fully blind to what this guy is doing and he spends a few long seconds in his car just looking at us.

The guy is in a really old beat up car so we put police out of the equation right away, which just makes us more nervous. He starts shouting out of his car, asking about what we are doing and what we are up to and so on, and you can tell the guy just isn’t right in the head. Words are slurred and he isn’t always making sense. He starts asking questions we don’t like to answer, about where we live, if we have women at home alone, what/how many guns we have. My friend is an Army sniper(shame on him) starts moving off to one side and I start going the other direction as best we can, making our way towards our guns, real slow, as he is going on with his questions. I did my best to keep my strong side away from him, didn’t have anything on me, but I figured it would be best if only I knew that.

After about the 2 longest minutes I had in a long time, I am standing behind my truck’s engine, trying to get to my rifle, and my friend is behind my truck, in the dark with his rifle. The guy eventually took off, no idea who he was or what he was up to, but we sure got the wrong vibe and got caught completely unprepared.

We felt un-believably stupid that night. The deserts out there are generally not a safe place, at night especially, and some fool weirdo is the least of one’s worries, but he caught us, just lucky it wasn’t a drug runner or something of that ilk. I switched form a one-point sling to a two point sling, so as I could pick up ammo with my rifle on after that night.


I have a few storys from the desert come to think of it