What Would You Have Done?

I appreciate your sage advice all. At the time of the incident I was acting on gut reaction didn't think about it. I just wanted to return the favor and scare him back. As I continued my commute all I could think about was 'I going to be pulled over by the police ' More I pondered on it, It's really frightening. Living on a tiny Island when you meet someone chances are you will meet this someone again.
What's done is done. I'm very lucky that I didn't get arrested.
Now let's carry on have some fun Aloha Friday today I just arrived at the shop no unnecessary stop at 7/11. Took the normal route via bike path.
Thank you all.
Thank you for your epiphany, a fired bullet cannot be called back. You would not believe the trouble one of my friends in the pen got into, he was fortunate the gun jammed! If that gun had went off He would have never been free again.
 
I concealed-carry with a very pocketable firearm often, particularly if visiting a sketchy area. I tell no one and no one knows. I never expect to ever need to use it, but in a worst-case situation it would change the odds.

I suspect there are many others who do as I do. I also think any Bad Guys these days probably know that there are others who are able to respond. This is a good thing; only a dim-witted perp would ignore those risks.

As for the axe-swinger, I would be cautious but friendly, ready to address a hostile act. But you NEVER show or point a firearm. These are lethal devices. What's interesting to me is the fact that a car is just as potentially lethal, yet we ignore cars passing a few feet from us when we're walking on a sidewalk. So it's not the device's lethality, it's the intention of the user.

EDIT: After reading other comments, I wanted to add that these are very different times from 50 years ago. There are millions of souls who are in the grip of drugs and do not think rationally. The number of fatal drug overdoses is rising spectacularly in the US and is now over 100K in 2022. Fentanyl is amazingly potent and cheap, and the latest thing is "Tranq" (horse tranquilizer). You will at some point meet people who are not "normal." I should mention that we live in a nice suburb 8 miles from Portland Oregon, ground zero for crazies.
 
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Oi ya ya, comparing an automobile to a concealed weapon is so far out it is unimaginable.
Okay, why?.

My point is that both devices can kill, but that it's the user that would make that happen. And fortunately, nearly all users of both devices accept that responsibility.
 
Give a cracker a gun, with no muscle memory and no frequent practice and I'll show you one bad gene gone from the evolutionary process
 
Oi ya ya, comparing an automobile to a concealed weapon is so far out it is unimaginable.
Though we have read in this very forum about wackos who do use their vehicle as a weapon to harm cyclists or groups of people. Of course the auto or pickup is not a "concealed" weapon.
 
Got it. The auto or pickup is the "wackos weapon" choice. Very useful and convenient in road rage incidents when other drivers or pedestrians piss you off. Just run the suckers over. Be careful though you don't kill them though as one could end up in bad dodo. If you want to kill them dead use an instrument designed for killing. The problem is usually the consequences for the killer is not a place anyone wants to be.
"Leave your guns at home son".
 
What scares me are people carrying loaded weapons. Legal or not, it makes me very uncomfortable. My fear of death comes from an errant bullet. It could even come from a biker on a trail shooting at a bear, misses and hits me.

I realize I am way off base with gun lovers, but that’s me.

I fear less a hiker with an axe or machete. The guy with the gun will always win the argument.
How would you know they were carrying? Normally its in a bag. What if the bear was attacking you? would you rather everyone watch?

I would have turned around even though I have protection with me all the time... Sometimes I bring the wife too.
 
How would you know they were carrying? Normally its in a bag. What if the bear was attacking you? would you rather everyone watch?

I would have turned around even though I have protection with me all the time... Sometimes I bring the wife too.
Bear spray vs. concealed carry.
Like Kayakguy, but I am only 71, never have I felt a need to own or carry a firearm.
 
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As for bear spray, if you don't remember, you can google the story about the ex-cop at a movie theater in Florida who shot and killed a guy who threw his popcorn at him AND got away with it. If it's justifiable to kill a guy for throwing popcorn, I would think being bear-sprayed would a sure way to get shot.

I own guns but I also have never felt the need to carry.

TT
 
My personal take regarding caring a gun for protection from the unknown dangers that lurk out there..
I have had had well over a dozen guns in my life but sold them all. They were all hunting guns. I never for a second considered them a weapon for personal protection. The only time the guns in my hands were considered a weapon is when in the military because that is how the referred to them. Even on the rifle range it was still a gun to me. Lots and lots of rounds at targets. That was fun and it took some skill to be a good shot.
In my 80+ years of life I can not ever remember a time when I would have needed a gun to ward off any aggression.
 
I bet statistically an assault victim is at greater risk of physical harm if they have a gun at the time.
 
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don’t know where you live and the laws there but sounds threatening.

Says mandatory 30 days jail in Cali and you posted all the evidence needed to convict.


Looking back through the thread I see you know this already.

(Typical, I get into the highest drama convo on my first day here)
 
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At the time of the incident I was acting on gut reaction didn't think about it.
This is something 2nd amendment "advocates" never take into account. Emotion and adrenaline can cause anyone -- ANY OF US -- to lose our heads and escalate a situation. You have to have been there in that type of moment to understand that rational thought can get tossed out the window.

And as the old joke goes, hindsight is 20/20.

Panic and fear also work much the same -- look at the OP's reaction to a guy practicing chop-fit. Pure fight or flight response, when they guy was probably just doing an upper-body workout. Possibly with a workout weight that just LOOKS like an axe. 30-40 years ago in New England there would be nothing out of the ordinary about it!

Overcoming these mental shortcomings and panic reactions takes training, discipline, understanding, and sometimes even sympathy. Things in painfully short supply in our current society.

I mean maybe those guys were just compensating for being hung like a gerbil; like the nutters who feel the need to carry their AR-15 with four mags just 'cause they're going into Walmart. Like my neighbor who feels the need to walk around the yard in open carry with an array of penis extensions every time a black friend of mine comes over to visit, as his wife runs inside and locks all the doors.

And that comes from someone who carries (.357 snub DAO revolver) on longer trail rides just because I live in bear and wolf territory. I do not carry if I'm going downtown for groceries or take-out.

I'm one of the most hated types of gun owners in 'Murica since I'm in favor of gun control. There's a difference between legitimate use / personal defense, and a paranoid fear-driven midlife crisis.

Like my father who's midlife crisis by all reports started around age 16.
 
This is something 2nd amendment "advocates" never take into account. Emotion and adrenaline can cause anyone -- ANY OF US -- to lose our heads and escalate a situation. You have to have been there in that type of moment to understand that rational thought can get tossed out the window.

And as the old joke goes, hindsight is 20/20.

Panic and fear also work much the same -- look at the OP's reaction to a guy practicing chop-fit. Pure fight or flight response, when they guy was probably just doing an upper-body workout. Possibly with a workout weight that just LOOKS like an axe. 30-40 years ago in New England there would be nothing out of the ordinary about it!

Overcoming these mental shortcomings and panic reactions takes training, discipline, understanding, and sometimes even sympathy. Things in painfully short supply in our current society.

I mean maybe those guys were just compensating for being hung like a gerbil; like the nutters who feel the need to carry their AR-15 with four mags just 'cause they're going into Walmart. Like my neighbor who feels the need to walk around the yard in open carry with an array of penis extensions every time a black friend of mine comes over to visit, as his wife runs inside and locks all the doors.

And that comes from someone who carries (.357 snub DAO revolver) on longer trail rides just because I live in bear and wolf territory. I do not carry if I'm going downtown for groceries or take-out.

I'm one of the most hated types of gun owners in 'Murica since I'm in favor of gun control. There's a difference between legitimate use / personal defense, and a paranoid fear-driven midlife crisis.

Like my father who's midlife crisis by all reports started around age 16.
As the OP of the thread, I agree with MOST of what you say but please don't associate my experience with any of the gun related incidents which followed later in the thread.

In my case, there was no fear or panic, nor was I carrying any form of weapon. I was simply relating an incident which required a level of concern. I seriously doubt the guy I encountered was doing chop fit with a sharpened, double bladed hatchet on a deserted trail, miles from a house or road.

At no point did I wish I had been carrying my handgun, nor would I have considered pulling it if I had. These recent handgun posts are totally unrelated to my experience.
 
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