Quote:
Originally Posted by rthorne57
Sorry to bring up an older thread, but I would like to share a personal experience with you all just to give you an idea of what is possible. I'll try to make it short..
I'm driving to work on a Monday morning, carrying a Glock 19 on my hip as usual.
It was a nice cool day with light traffic so I had the windows down while cruising when a driver and male occupant of a Dodge truck pull of next to me. I'll spare the details, but he had some bad road rage for some unknown reason. I'm a few blocks from work as we come to a red light and there's not a car in sight. In my head I thought, "If this a-hole is going to do anything, this is where it's going to happen." As we come to a stop, I'm watching him out of the corner of my eye, trying not to make eye contact. I see the driver door swing open, and I immediately unholstered my gun straight up (like a low ready but high on my chest), keeping my finger indexed and muzzle pointed down. As soon as the driver's foot hit the ground and he looked in my window, he froze. He slowly crawled back in his truck and proceeded to make a right turn. I turned left to go to work and I thought it was all over.
15min later my decision to draw would come back to bite me in the ass, BIG TIME. Two rookie county constables came in the office after they ID'd my vehicle outside and immediately had me put my hands on the desk AT GUN POINT while his partner disarmed me and put me in cuffs. I found out that the two occupants of the truck reported to the police that I was pointing the gun at them and turned the story around saying I was the one with road rage, cussing at yelling at them and that "they were in fear for their lives". I made the mistake of trying to talk with the police thinking they would see the truth and maybe give me a slap on the wrist, but I could see they already made up their minds and were treating me like a damn criminal and threatening me with all kinds of shit. The two males came to my work and ID'd me as the driver and I was placed under arrest. The arresting charge was Aggrevated Assault with a Deadly Weapon!!! which is a class 2 Felony. That sounds lovely, doesn't it?? I spent 2 days in jail, and got out on $30,000 bond. In court, I was able to get the charge reduced to a misdemeanor Deadly Conduct. Geez, that sounds a lot better!  I might have been able to get the hole charge dropped but it was 2 words against mine and I got royally screwed. And the charge came with a bonus too - 2 years probation, seeing a probation officer every month, 80 community service, and my gun was destroyed as evidence. Not to mention stripped of my CHL and I have to wait 5years to reapply!!!
So, like some have said, displaying a gun won't necessarily get you out of a situation. If you have to think about drawing, then you probably shouldn't. It should be a reaction instead. I hope this has opened your eyes a bit. Don't expect LEOs to take your side and think they will trust you because you have a carry licence. |
I've been a police officer for a rather large PD for the last 15 years. I've heard my fair share of stories, and quite frankly, yours stinks. You said you'd spare us the details, unfortunately, the devil IS in the details.
1. Road rage for some "unknown" reason? Right..
2. No other motor vehicles around you? So you weren't pinned in with no avenue to escape? So you were
forced to draw your firearm in order to save your life? Save your life from one (1) person approaching you? Was the other guy armed too?
3. 15 minutes later the police arrive at your work? Well sir, guilty people rarely call the police to report a crime against them. I'm not saying it's never happened. Hell, I've had to go speak with junkies reporting another junkie ripped them off. But seriously, is a guilty person willing to perform a showup, or testify in a court of law? Hardly. Given a lighter sentence? Happens all the time. Plea to a lesser charge; saves the courts time and money.
I'd say the "rooks" showed the right amount of caution. After all, you did show a propensity for drawing your firearm over nothing. This makes you unstable and dangerous in my book.
If there's more to the story, you should have put it in. As for now, it doesn't pass the taste test.