JokersWild
Member
I headed to my neighborhood grocery store to return a dvd the wife had rented the night before and pick up a box of popsicles for her. As I was driving through the parking lot I noticed two a-typical gangster looking thugs watching me as I drove by the car heading down the isle they were parked in. The intensity they were watching me automatically set off my internal alarms.
I drove back around and decided to park near the store front that was east of the grocery store's eastern entrance. I went inside dropped off the dvd and picked up the popsicles. As I exited the store the one that had been sitting in the passenger side of the car got out and started to approach me. Having planned ahead I was already in my car and pulling out as he stopped about two car lengths from where I was and continued to look in my direction. My heart was pounding 100 miles a minute as I knew, without doubt, that I had just avoided some type of confrontation as he stared at me as I was watching him through my rear view mirror.
As I drove back to my apartment the only thought running through my mind is what if they decide to follow me? What if they recognize my car at my complex? It's at that moment that I decided I had came to close to becoming a victim and that I wasn't going to allow that to happen to me or my wife. I came home and talked with my wife and explained to her what had happened. I had been talking about getting a shotgun for home defense for several weeks now and she'd been reluctant to the idea. She acquiesced to my plans and I went straight to the sporting goods store to picked up the Maverick 88 I'd been looking at the week before.
Still I wasn't happy. That near confrontation had taken place not in my home but while I was out in public. I knew that in order to protect myself and my wife that I would have to start carrying a pistol on my person. My wife had reluctantly agreed to the shotgun and she appeared that she was going to be stone cold set against it.
Fortunately since we were out looking for a new apartment complex I happen to swing by one of our local gun shop/range and took her inside. When she heard the firing going on inside I could tell by the excited look she was giving me that I was going to able to persuade her. I told her that I was going to take a class on pistol shooting and then take my conceal and carry license at the same location. On the way home she asked me if I would pay for her to take the class and I said, "Absolutely. I want you to be able to protect yourself."
Once we got home we sat in the car and had a conversation regarding conceal and carry, guns, government and survivalism. I do understand about her objections to firearms. She grew up in a city in Latin America that has the highest murder rate per capita of her country. She'd been witness to murder on her father's farm. When I asked her what would have happened to her and her family had her father not been armed she really began to understand.
So this Thursday I will be taking the class and next week I will be taking the conceal and carry class/exam and purchasing a pistol as well. So what began as a missed confrontation ended up being a beginning after a bit of communication and a decided task of preparation for any future possibilities of encounters. We were already in the process of moving out of the complex we're currently in and moving toward the suburbs not only to get away from the higher crime areas but will allow us to more effectively bug out if the need arises.
I drove back around and decided to park near the store front that was east of the grocery store's eastern entrance. I went inside dropped off the dvd and picked up the popsicles. As I exited the store the one that had been sitting in the passenger side of the car got out and started to approach me. Having planned ahead I was already in my car and pulling out as he stopped about two car lengths from where I was and continued to look in my direction. My heart was pounding 100 miles a minute as I knew, without doubt, that I had just avoided some type of confrontation as he stared at me as I was watching him through my rear view mirror.
As I drove back to my apartment the only thought running through my mind is what if they decide to follow me? What if they recognize my car at my complex? It's at that moment that I decided I had came to close to becoming a victim and that I wasn't going to allow that to happen to me or my wife. I came home and talked with my wife and explained to her what had happened. I had been talking about getting a shotgun for home defense for several weeks now and she'd been reluctant to the idea. She acquiesced to my plans and I went straight to the sporting goods store to picked up the Maverick 88 I'd been looking at the week before.
Still I wasn't happy. That near confrontation had taken place not in my home but while I was out in public. I knew that in order to protect myself and my wife that I would have to start carrying a pistol on my person. My wife had reluctantly agreed to the shotgun and she appeared that she was going to be stone cold set against it.
Fortunately since we were out looking for a new apartment complex I happen to swing by one of our local gun shop/range and took her inside. When she heard the firing going on inside I could tell by the excited look she was giving me that I was going to able to persuade her. I told her that I was going to take a class on pistol shooting and then take my conceal and carry license at the same location. On the way home she asked me if I would pay for her to take the class and I said, "Absolutely. I want you to be able to protect yourself."
Once we got home we sat in the car and had a conversation regarding conceal and carry, guns, government and survivalism. I do understand about her objections to firearms. She grew up in a city in Latin America that has the highest murder rate per capita of her country. She'd been witness to murder on her father's farm. When I asked her what would have happened to her and her family had her father not been armed she really began to understand.
So this Thursday I will be taking the class and next week I will be taking the conceal and carry class/exam and purchasing a pistol as well. So what began as a missed confrontation ended up being a beginning after a bit of communication and a decided task of preparation for any future possibilities of encounters. We were already in the process of moving out of the complex we're currently in and moving toward the suburbs not only to get away from the higher crime areas but will allow us to more effectively bug out if the need arises.