A fellow retired cop buddy recently asked me if I still carry every day after all these years. “Yep,” I replied, “Murphy’s law of inverse proportion still applies.” (The probability of an event increases in direct proportion to your lack of preparation for it.) Let me give you an example.
I was going for a quick little errand on my Harley recently when I decided to leave my gun home due to the hot weather. I passed a local park with a vehicle parking area elevated above a busy playground and, out of the corner of my eye, saw a guy open his trunk, take out a scoped rifle and get back in his car with it.
In cop vernacular, that was an official “Oh S—!” moment.
I positioned myself and the bike uphill behind the subject (still in his car), got dispatch on the cell phone and gave them, in this order; situation, location, description of the vehicle, description of the subject and description of me and then stayed on the phone with dispatch while keeping eyes on the subject. (I figured if he started to set up on the kids, a fifteen-hundred pound Harley made a pretty good impact weapon.)
Three units arrived. The officers made a professional approach, guns at high-ready and proned the guy out. I stayed back and let them do their thing. (Don’t ever approach officers who have their guns drawn or you will instantly become part of the problem.)
It seems he was just a regular guy with no priors — and no smarts — who'd bought an air rifle and couldn’t wait to get it home to take a look at it. After they sent him on his way with a stern admonition the cops came over and thanked me for “dropping a dime” as we spent a minute or so admiring the Harley. Then they left and we all went about our business.
Now, what would I have done had I been packing my pistol? Exactly the same thing.
That's right. This dufus never presented a lethal threat to anybody and being stupid is not a capital offense. I would have begun my response exactly the same way with a “suspicious circumstances” call for uniformed officers.
If he threatened the kids directly prior to the arrival of the cavalry and I had to take action, at least they would know my physical description as the “good guy.” I would have made a stealthy approach (to neutralize the distance advantage of his rifle) got him at gunpoint and commanded him to drop his weapon.
But I wasn’t armed. And so I got lucky. This time.
Lesson learned? Carry every day — or just as sure as I write these words sooner or later Murphy’s gonna get ya!
Editor’s Note: Got a question for Joseph Terry about concealed carry not covered here? Log in and post your question in the comments below.
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Is this some sort of really dumb rhetorical question…Have carried on a daily basis fore 55 years, why would one not…. you think bad guys are fiction…:)
I don’t usually sympathize with open carry people but this story was a classic example of over reaction. The poor guy took a bb gun out of his car at a public park and carried it back to the front of the vehicle and reentered. For his crimes he had three armed men point loaded weapons at him and force him to the ground. All the while a fourth person made plans to run him down with a Harley Davidson. You do realize that his wife and children were possibly there witnessing all of this right? The fact that you refer to a the victim as a dufus makes me wonder your thoughts on private gun ownership in the US. I wonder how you would have responded, if while bending down to give his child a hug in that park, he had exposed his ccw.
Thanks for your comment “renmek” and I do appreciate your point of view. The point of the piece was that the preferred civilian response to this circumstance would be calling for uniformed help prior to use of gun or Harley. Your thoughts? Joe.
Forgive me as I reply to this fairly old article that I stumbled upon. renmek, that’s exactly what came to my mind. I’m former military, have family and close friends that are LEO’s and I am Pro-cop. However, it’s this sort of behavior by ignorant law enforcement that contributes to the tensions we see today. There are at least three different ways to approach this situation and the one they chose was not the best one. I agree that this citizen’s rights were clearly violated by cops pointing loaded guns at him. It’s interesting that the author chose this as his example. I know, from being in the military, that other’s don’t understand what it’s like to be in the military, or in a war zone, or be a cop, which is why he chose this example without much thought to the fact that the individual had not committed any crime as he was thrown to the ground and threatened with his life. This is everyday cop stuff for many LEO’s who believe this is not only exactly what this so-called Dufus deserved, (a.k.a. law abiding citizen), it was the only way to handle it, by many LEO’s opinion. I understand how dangerous that situation could potentially be, in an LEO’s mind, but a badge does not give one the right to violate someone’s rights based on potential fear of a situation. There’s such a thing as investigating or cautiously approaching the individual and questioning him. If he chooses to engage in consensual contact, then the LEO’s “may” find out what he’s doing and why he has a rifle in his car. If he chooses not to engage in in consensual contact, then the only option the LEO’s have is to observe and wait to see if he is up to something nefarious. Taking an otherwise law abiding citizen out of his car and throwing him to the ground, with loaded weapons pointed at him, should not be the first option. That’s Police State behavior, whether you want to agree or not! It’s takes a lot of patience and courage to be an LEO, just as it does to be in a war zone in someone else’s country. If you can’t demonstrate that as an LEO and public servant, who’s oath is to uphold the constitution/laws, which includes protecting citizens’ rights, then I would respectfully ask to find a different profession. Yes, my comments are very late. And, yes, this article was about “always carry”, which I do with either my Glock 26 or my Glock 42. But is too important not to share this comment. Thank you for your respectful consideration of my post.
Excellent answer Mr. Terry —–>” Exactly the same thing.”
Another thought… if you are not carrying every day it is probably because the original gun and holster you purchased is not as comfortable as you had hoped. Think about a smaller model of the same gun type and see if that can’t be your ideal “every-day” solution. Joe