What Would You Have Done?

[Djangodog]

I would have ran over him at 35mph and left tread marks on his scalp!

Just kidding and I probably wouldn't do that

Yeah, he “probably wouldn't do that”.

 

[Zekeer]

Why would you even think about it, as there was no threat at that time?
Does he NOT have the same rights as you do at that time/place,
Being in a public place enjoying a walk along a public trail etc.

Maybe HE was afraid of the section of trail/area, bears, cougars, bad people,
Maybe he was clearing another trail/pathway, unknown to you?

Carrying/swinging a hatchet is NO crime, unless that action is directed at you or another person, (unless there is a law in your area, prohibiting such action.)

I personally would have asked, if he was OK or needed help,
from a respectful distance, (I do carry 24/7/365), if he stated that everything was OK,
I would have thanked him and rode off down the trail. Just M

In the thousands of trail miles I've logged, I thought I'd seen it all. I was riding a rural and fairly remote section of the Pine Creek Trail this morning and came up behind this middle aged guy. He was walking down the center of the trail, idly swinging a double edged hatchet! I stopped about 100 feet behind him to decide what to do.

There was no-one else around and we were several miles from houses or a trailhead. I was in an area where I rarely encounter a walker let alone one wielding a weapon! Do I turn around and try to detour around him? Should I follow at a safe distance to see what he does? Should I call the police? There was no cell service at that spot so this wasn't an option. Besides, he hadn't actually threatened me so no crime had been committed.

There was no easy detour around so after thinking about it, I decided I was just being paranoid. I moved closer and rang my bell. He hadn't seen me at that point and it startled him. He stopped swinging the hatchet and, moved to the side of the trail but made no threatening move toward me. He was neatly dressed and didn't look deranged so I passed giving him as much space as possible. I watched in my mirror as he moved back to the trail center and resumed swinging his ax! It was one of the most bizarre experiences I've had on the trail so far!

In retrospect, I wonder if I made the right choice. What would you have done?

I hate those bells : First thing I took off . A Simple on y0our left/Right is far less alarming to whoever you are approaching

 

[teskow]

I was in Walmart the the other day and a young fellow with a women and young child that was packing a pistol . I was wondering if he was afraid of being attacked, just plain chicken s*it, a bit funny in the head, looking for a reason to use it or what. Maybe it just made him feel powerful and important? Whatever it was with any sense one should give these people a wide berth just in case they are nuts.

 

[Solarcabin]

I was in Walmart the the other day and a young fellow with a women and young child that was packing a pistol . I was wondering if he was afraid of being attacked, just plain chicken s*it, a bit funny in the head, looking for a reason to use it or what. Maybe it just made him feel powerful and important? Whatever it was with any sense one should give these people a wide berth just in case they are nuts.

Armed 'hero' stopped mass shooter at Indiana mall

Elisjsha Dicken, 22, gestured to other shoppers to flee "as he engaged and closed in on the suspect", say police.

www.bbc.com

I agree most civilians should not be armed but trained people can save lives with a gun as that article illustrates.

 

[6zfshdb]

I was in Walmart the the other day and a young fellow with a women and young child that was packing a pistol . I was wondering if he was afraid of being attacked, just plain chicken s*it, a bit funny in the head, looking for a reason to use it or what. Maybe it just made him feel powerful and important? Whatever it was with any sense one should give these people a wide berth just in case they are nuts.

In many cities & states, off duty police are required to carry their sidearms. They usually carry them concealed though so as not to alarm the public.

 

[Solarcabin]

In many cities & states, off duty police are required to carry their sidearms. They usually carry them concealed though so as not to alarm the public.

Most retired officers and current and former security carry CC and are POST trained.

 

[Tars Tarkas]

And here we go.

Then there are things like this: Florida juries be crazy.

I noticed you said POST trained as opposed to POST Certified. In TN POST Certification requires 40 hours of training each year, and I believe it expires when one leaves their police or security job.

Most of the carry people I know have what I think of as Mighty Mouse Syndrome, where they imagine themselves as would-be heroes who will swoop in and save the day. Of course they also think they'll get to kill someone else before someone else kills them. Both ideas are at least a bit wacky in my opinion.

I've had firearms all my life but never felt the slightest need or desire to carry one around. After 70+ years, I have never encountered a situation where the need to be armed was necessary or might have even seemed like a good idea. I get out a good bit too.

Obviously, opinions differ.

TT

 

[Mr. Coffee]

If we assume that this is a civilian, you have to ask the practical question: if one judges that there is a significant risk of a gunfight at Walmart, what in blazes are you doing bringing your child along with you?

 

[Solarcabin]

If we assume that this is a civilian, you have to ask the practical question: if one judges that there is a significant risk of a gunfight at Walmart, what in blazes are you doing bringing your child along with you?

Maybe to protect that wife and kid in the event something does go down.

Could be armed security, off duty cop, armored car duty or just a guy that wants to protect his family.

In my town there are probably a dozen people in walmart at any time carrying concealed and you wouldn't know it but see an open carry and people freak out.

I agree most civilians should not be armed but trained people can save lives with a gun as that article illustrates.

 

[Sparky731]

Rather futile to carry an unloaded gun . Besides if it's your day to die . Regardless of what you do or how often you worry . Death comes on your appointed day and time . And worrying changes the outcome of nothing . Other then possibly your general health while you wait to die .
Gun Lovers are usually collectors . The vast Majority who carry daily whether concealed or open . Are well trained and usually at least average in marksmanship. And nobody in their right mind shoots at something in the bushes . And if it's a bear even more so . All you'd do is piss it off .
People who carry guns aren't going to shoot you to win an argument . To even suggest that sounds like you are influenced by leftest ideology . People who carry guns aren't hot headed as a rule . We are the level headed calm one in an argument . After all we have a gun
Your thinking appears to be based on misinformation that you constantly hear from the Media . Who are pushing a political agenda/ When I was in High School . Almost every guy had a Gun under his seat at school. If he had a pickup he had a rifle or Shotgun in the window . Far more people had guns 50 years ago then today . Gun-Owners aren't the dangerous one . Nor are they carrying hoping to shoot into bushes

My local city newspaper published my letter to their editor with my comments regarding an article they published wherein our local Senator was quoted as saying he would have pulled out his gun and gut-shot the young kid who brandished an unloaded gun at a local mall one Saturday afternoon. Lucky for everyone he was not at the mall that day. No one was hurt. Most shoppers were not even aware of the kid.

The only thing that would have stopped the Senator’s behavior is a posted sign on the mall’s entrance door prohibiting guns.

In additional comments within the article he said he would never set foot in that shopping mall again until they took down that sign.

The chaos and unspeakable terror among the mall shoppers that would have ensued with his shot — even possibly other gun-toters pulling their weapons and also firing —would have been a shooting gallery of abject mayhem.

And I am not convinced, given our State’s no training requirement for concealed carry, that all or even most of the potential shooters would have even a basic training equivalent to the gun safety training we all went through as kids back in the 50’s and 60’s. I earned my marksman badge 60 years ago. From the military trained fathers in town.

I would still feel safer on our posted trails if I knew there were no mobile loaded guns.

 

[Djangodog]

My local city newspaper published my letter to their editor with my comments regarding an article they published wherein our local Senator was quoted as saying he would have pulled out his gun and gut-shot the young kid who brandished an unloaded gun at a local mall one Saturday afternoon. Lucky for everyone he was not at the mall that day. No one was hurt. Most shoppers were not even aware of the kid.

The only thing that would have stopped the Senator’s behavior is a posted sign on the mall’s entrance door prohibiting guns.

In additional comments within the article he said he would never set foot in that shopping mall again until they took down that sign.

The chaos and unspeakable terror among the mall shoppers that would have ensued with his shot — even possibly other gun-toters pulling their weapons and also firing —would have been a shooting gallery of abject mayhem.

And I am not convinced, given our State’s no training requirement for concealed carry, that all or even most of the potential shooters would have even a basic training equivalent to the gun safety training we all went through as kids back in the 50’s and 60’s. I earned my marksman badge 60 years ago. From the military trained fathers in town.

I would still feel safer on our posted trails if I knew there were no mobile loaded guns.

I’m with you. There are places that are dangerous, but arming everyone is’t the answer. If I thought that I had to carry a firearm to take my wife and kid to a store, I don’t think that I would bring my wife or kid to that store.

Someone shoots someone that they see as a threat, someone else thinks that that person just shot someone without cause and shoots them, and on and on it goes.

Guns make some feel powerful and safe, but in reality, it more often makes them look weak and paranoid and puts their families in danger. Guns have their place, but they are not an accessory.

 

[Solarcabin]

My local city newspaper published my letter to their editor with my comments regarding an article they published wherein our local Senator was quoted as saying he would have pulled out his gun and gut-shot the young kid who brandished an unloaded gun at a local mall one Saturday afternoon. Lucky for everyone he was not at the mall that day. No one was hurt. Most shoppers were not even aware of the kid.

The only thing that would have stopped the Senator’s behavior is a posted sign on the mall’s entrance door prohibiting guns.

In additional comments within the article he said he would never set foot in that shopping mall again until they took down that sign.

The chaos and unspeakable terror among the mall shoppers that would have ensued with his shot — even possibly other gun-toters pulling their weapons and also firing —would have been a shooting gallery of abject mayhem.

And I am not convinced, given our State’s no training requirement for concealed carry, that all or even most of the potential shooters would have even a basic training equivalent to the gun safety training we all went through as kids back in the 50’s and 60’s. I earned my marksman badge 60 years ago. From the military trained fathers in town.

I would still feel safer on our posted trails if I knew there were no mobile loaded guns.

I agree with you that all gun owners should pass a field and written test and have ongoing testing for gun ownership. If we require it for driving cars then it should be required for guns.

I grew up in the country where we hunted to fill a freezer and my father who was a WW2 drill sergeant trained us well and I also took the NRA training course at 12 as was required for a hunting license and later I did POST training and cert for work I was doing.

I no longer hunt and I love animals but I do carry for self protection because of meth heads in the oil patch and to scare off a bear or cougar when I am riding the trails.

 

[PedalUma]

I encounter mentally ill homeless people on drugs with weapons on public paths. Places like Vegas have been one-way ticket bussing mentally ill patients to California. We have huge encampments with no sanitation. Some are barking mad. We have the unamendable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness while in public in the United States. Amendable (temporary and changeable) amendments take second position to these primary rights. Guns not in private, but in public, are a threat to our public pursuits off life. They demonstrate intent to kill. Just as much as processing materials for poaching shows intent to poach. Or why else would you have it? Just like carrying lock picking tools shows intent. 25% of all men go through a period of mental illness. Should they be packing in public? We don't know who they are or when. We used to have ashtrays in elevators. Then it was thought of as a private right to smoke in an elevator. Public rights have changed and taken precedence. I do not want to be in an elevator with someone smoking a big green cigar, nor someone with a gun.

 

[pmcdonald]

I encounter mentally ill homeless people on drugs with weapons on public paths. Places like Vegas have been one-way ticket bussing mentally ill patients to California. We have huge encampments with no sanitation. Some are barking mad. We have the unamendable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness while in public in the United States. Amendable (temporary and changeable) amendments take second position to these primary rights. Guns not in private, but in public, are a threat to our public pursuits off life. They demonstrate intent to kill. Just as much as processing materials for poaching shows intent to poach. Or why else would you have it? Just like carrying lock picking tools shows intent. 25% of all men go through a period of mental illness. Should they be packing in public? We don't know who they are or when. We used to have ashtrays in elevators. Then it was thought of as a private right to smoke in an elevator. Public rights have changed and taken precedence. I do not want to be in an elevator with someone smoking a big green cigar, nor someone with a gun.

That's a reasonable shorthand for the social contact we've settled on in Australia. Gun crime is not something that occupies my mind. But then our rates of economic inequality and crime are also significantly lower.

 

[PedalUma]

Independent variables do not exist except in theory. Still theory can be useful. In AU the top 10% control 46% of wealth. In the US the top 10% control 70%. Gun deaths in Australia are 0.9 per 100,000 people per year. That is 0.000009. In the US gun deaths average 13.6 per year, per 100,000. 15 times higher. In Montana the gun death rate is 25.9 per 100,000 people per year. 29% higher than AU. More guns in public make the public less safe. A few days ago a manic was swinging around a manual lawn edger.

 

[DaveMatthews]

Independent variables do not exist except in theory. Still theory can be useful. In AU the top 10% control 46% of wealth. In the US the top 10% control 70%. Gun deaths in Australia are 0.9 per 100,000 people per year. That is 0.000009. In the US gun deaths average 13.6 per year, per 100,000. 15 times higher. In Montana the gun death rate is 25.9 per 100,000 people per year. 29% higher than AU. More guns in public make the public less safe. A few days ago a manic was swinging around a manual lawn edger.
View attachment 134360

That's a true, tough edgey comment!
***EDIT***
And I ain't lawn!

 

[Mr. Coffee]

If we assume that this is a civilian, you have to ask the practical question: if one judges that there is a significant risk of a gunfight at Walmart, what in blazes are you doing bringing your child along with you?

I thought about this a bit. If you judge that there is a significant risk of a gunfight at your local Walmart, why don't you move elsewhere?

 

[PedalUma]

I thought about this a bit. If you judge that there is a significant risk of a gunfight at you local Walmart, why don't you move elsewhere?

Somewhere like Montana? In a community of 1,000 people there, 2.6 will die from a gun within 10 years. And 156 over a 60 year period in your town. That is 6.4 % of the town's population lost to guns.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

Somewhere like Montana? In a community of 1,000 people there, 2.6 will die from a gun within 10 years. And 156 over a 60 year period in your town. That is 6.4 % of the town's population lost to guns.

I live in a well-armed community. But I judge the risk of a gunfight at the local store as approximately zero.

 

[DaveMatthews]

I am glad I don't have to GAF about whether someone is carrying or not, cuz they ain't.