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I thought I might share a situation which happened to my wife a few years ago but which is still burned into our minds when it comes to self preservation and handgun carry. Tennessee was one first states to liberalize handgun carry laws. When the opportunity came to get a carry permit I told the wife we should have a go at it. I never really thought she would have to use her handgun to defend herself but knowing she had one made me feel better on those nights she had to work late.
One day at lunch, I get a call at work and she is shook up like I've never heard. She explained that she had to draw down on a man. I asked all the pertinent questions. The following account is how she described it. She pulled up to a red light where a secondary road intersected a major urban thoroughfare. A small pickup was in front of her and a line of cars was in the lane beside her. The lane beside her was obligated to turn left. She was in the lane going across the intersection. When the light changed, the small truck did not move. She said the driver appeared to be busy with something other than driving.
She gave the fellow an opportunity to go but when he didn't, she gave a brief toot on the horn to make him aware of the light being green. She said he casually looked into his rear view mirror and proceeded to give her a hand gesture (the finger). She stated he then began to very slowly pull across the intersection in what appeared to be an attempt to leave her in the middle when the light changed. She began to move forward through the intersection as well. The light was in the process of changing back to red and traffic to her left had abated so she swung out to the left lane and passed the guy in the truck and got back into the lane she needed. My wife doesn't really feed into what people do on the road. She is of the mindset of needing to get where she needs to get so she didn't think much of passing this guy (it was lunch and the wife likes to eat too
).
She said seconds later this small pick up is flashing his high beams and racing up along side of her. A car was in front of her, he was along side and there was a car moving in behind her. She was essentially boxed in approaching another red light. She still really hadn't recognized she was in danger until the passenger side window of the pick up went down and the man behind the wheel was screaming at her, mostly gender related slurs. At this point she got very nervous. The light in front changed and she had to stop.
The small truck swerved diagonally across her vehicles driver fender essentially trapping her against the curb. The man exited his pickup and came around the front of his truck towards her driver door. She had her window down about 1/4 before all this started to help cool the car and in her panic tired to put the window up but hit the switch to lower it. She said he didn't run at her door but was definitely moving in a deliberate and aggressive manner, pointing and spewing profanities at her as he closed the distance. She immediately reached into her purse for her J frame. She stated he was just a few feet away from her window when he caught sight of the barrel coming up at him and he froze. She said his next comment was, "ARE YOU GONNA (expletive) SHOOT ME?!". She said "YES!". With that, he turned, jumped back in his truck and drove off. Neither her or the car behind her got a license plate since both were seriously shook up by the experience.
She called me in tears. My initial reaction was not High Road. I told her she should have shot him but I'm glad she didn't now. To this day, we can't go through that intersection without the though of what went down. I always assumed I would be there to defend her. I always assumed if someone had to draw down it would be me. After nine years carrying a gun for a living, I've never had to draw my weapon to defend myself. My wife on the other hand has. Best money I ever spent was for that handgun permit.
One day at lunch, I get a call at work and she is shook up like I've never heard. She explained that she had to draw down on a man. I asked all the pertinent questions. The following account is how she described it. She pulled up to a red light where a secondary road intersected a major urban thoroughfare. A small pickup was in front of her and a line of cars was in the lane beside her. The lane beside her was obligated to turn left. She was in the lane going across the intersection. When the light changed, the small truck did not move. She said the driver appeared to be busy with something other than driving.
She gave the fellow an opportunity to go but when he didn't, she gave a brief toot on the horn to make him aware of the light being green. She said he casually looked into his rear view mirror and proceeded to give her a hand gesture (the finger). She stated he then began to very slowly pull across the intersection in what appeared to be an attempt to leave her in the middle when the light changed. She began to move forward through the intersection as well. The light was in the process of changing back to red and traffic to her left had abated so she swung out to the left lane and passed the guy in the truck and got back into the lane she needed. My wife doesn't really feed into what people do on the road. She is of the mindset of needing to get where she needs to get so she didn't think much of passing this guy (it was lunch and the wife likes to eat too
). She said seconds later this small pick up is flashing his high beams and racing up along side of her. A car was in front of her, he was along side and there was a car moving in behind her. She was essentially boxed in approaching another red light. She still really hadn't recognized she was in danger until the passenger side window of the pick up went down and the man behind the wheel was screaming at her, mostly gender related slurs. At this point she got very nervous. The light in front changed and she had to stop.
The small truck swerved diagonally across her vehicles driver fender essentially trapping her against the curb. The man exited his pickup and came around the front of his truck towards her driver door. She had her window down about 1/4 before all this started to help cool the car and in her panic tired to put the window up but hit the switch to lower it. She said he didn't run at her door but was definitely moving in a deliberate and aggressive manner, pointing and spewing profanities at her as he closed the distance. She immediately reached into her purse for her J frame. She stated he was just a few feet away from her window when he caught sight of the barrel coming up at him and he froze. She said his next comment was, "ARE YOU GONNA (expletive) SHOOT ME?!". She said "YES!". With that, he turned, jumped back in his truck and drove off. Neither her or the car behind her got a license plate since both were seriously shook up by the experience.
She called me in tears. My initial reaction was not High Road. I told her she should have shot him but I'm glad she didn't now. To this day, we can't go through that intersection without the though of what went down. I always assumed I would be there to defend her. I always assumed if someone had to draw down it would be me. After nine years carrying a gun for a living, I've never had to draw my weapon to defend myself. My wife on the other hand has. Best money I ever spent was for that handgun permit.
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