I almost shot a young man on Friday night (long)

[SP01715]

It's all training Buzz. From my military and Law enforcement training my trigger finger automatically goes along the fram rail and not onto the trigger until I am ready to fire. I have several firearms with external safeties, but I carried a glock on the job for 12 years, and now concealed, and would not carry it if it had an external safety.

If trained properly (and praticed) the trigger saftery is just as safe as any other weapon with an external safety. The department I worked for even dropped several glocks from helicopters at 500', and not once did they have a misfire.

[bomelia]

Holy crap Buzz! That was amazing. You did good. That SOB never had a clue how close he was to smelling dirt. Idiot.

Stories like that make me want to go out and get trained for a handgun. I have shot many rifles and own some shotguns. But I have never considered a handgun.

During my long run last week, I had a scarry thing happen. I crawled down the side a Tennessee bridge to soak my feet in the water. I had a creepy feeling about the place so I only stayed a short while. When I was back on the road, I looked over my shoulder. A big grizzly of a guy was standing where I had been. A minute later, he shot a shotgun over my head. Yelled at me "yeah, I'm talkin to YOU". Mother phucker scared the $hit out of me. No cell phone coverage for 4 more miles. When I did get coverage, I called 911. Asked if what I had done was wrong... state right of way and all of that. Operator said "No way!" and "stay right there, the sherrif is on the way".

When he got to me, I explained the whole situation. Then, more sherrifs showed up. They explained to me that in Tennessee, you may NEVER use a gun in such a manner. Sure, if someone is robbing you, breaking and entering, etc. But even if I were "trespassing", he could not do what he did. Well, they went and got him. I know nothing more then that.

I could not carry a gun on such a run if I wanted too. Too much weight, plus, I would have to be licensed in 2-3 states. But I wish I had an option to mace. Really.

Mike

[392cobra]

Originally Posted by bomelia

I had a creepy feeling about the place so I only stayed a short while. When I was back on the road, I looked over my shoulder. A big grizzly of a guy was standing where I had been. A minute later, he shot a shotgun over my head. Yelled at me "yeah, I'm talkin to YOU". Mother phucker scared the $hit out of me.
Mike

I'm betting that your pace picked up a bit.

[Buzz]

Holy crap Buzz! That was amazing. You did good. That SOB never had a clue how close he was to smelling dirt. Idiot.

Stories like that make me want to go out and get trained for a handgun. I have shot many rifles and own some shotguns. But I have never considered a handgun.

During my long run last week, I had a scarry thing happen. I crawled down the side a Tennessee bridge to soak my feet in the water. I had a creepy feeling about the place so I only stayed a short while. When I was back on the road, I looked over my shoulder. A big grizzly of a guy was standing where I had been. A minute later, he shot a shotgun over my head. Yelled at me "yeah, I'm talkin to YOU". Mother phucker scared the $hit out of me. No cell phone coverage for 4 more miles. When I did get coverage, I called 911. Asked if what I had done was wrong... state right of way and all of that. Operator said "No way!" and "stay right there, the sherrif is on the way".

When he got to me, I explained the whole situation. Then, more sherrifs showed up. They explained to me that in Tennessee, you may NEVER use a gun in such a manner. Sure, if someone is robbing you, breaking and entering, etc. But even if I were "trespassing", he could not do what he did. Well, they went and got him. I know nothing more then that.

I could not carry a gun on such a run if I wanted too. Too much weight, plus, I would have to be licensed in 2-3 states. But I wish I had an option to mace. Really.

Wow! A shotgun blast over your head is no laughing matter - that situation was potentially even more dangerous than what happened to me. At least I was armed.

How on earth a tired runner soaking his feet could provoke a man to use his shotgun is way beyond me. What threat could he have possibly perceived in you and what you were doing?? Some sort of paranoid psycho, no doubt, and given that the guy is likely playing with less than a full deck, I suppose it could have turned out much worse.

You did a great job of overcoming odds and adversity to finish the run and you also survived a potentially fatal encounter. At the end of the day, buddy you deserve to take some time out and celebrate. Cheers and congratulations on both counts!

PS - If you are already comfortable with guns - and it sounds like you are - by all means get the training and build up some proficiency with handguns. Aside from the obvious benefit of having that extra tool in your toolbox, training and practicing can be a lot of fun and it's very likely you'll meet some good, like-minded people along the way.

[DAVID GAGNARD]

How on earth a tired runner soaking his feet could provoke a man to use his shotgun is way beyond me.

Well, he WAS in Tennessee!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There are numerous places like this in the US, way down in the swamps of South Louisiana is another place this could easily have happened, I know first hand!!!!!!!!!

Mike: glad everything turned out o-k for you..Like Buzz said, get the CCP and practise,practise,practise........You'll meet a lot of good folks that'll be more than happy to help you along getting the CCP and learning how and when to use a handgun.......
Been there,still doing it......

David

[bomelia]

I think I will do just that. BTW, to give you proper perspective, I was more than a 10th of a mile away when he shot the gun. Actually, that made it worse for him. I have no idea what happened, though I am certain his driveway was occupied by squad cars for a while.

I still cannot get over how I had that "premonition". In my mind, it looked just like it actually happened. Perhaps guardian angels are real?

What kind of hand gun (model) would you guys reccomend? Still, I could not carry one on a run like that. Too heavy and conspicuous. Law enforcement would have me in the back seat way too many times (no matter how legit I was). Plus "carrying" on your person is another bag of worms anyways, is it not?

Mike

[Ron61]

Mike,

I don't know your laws back there but out here a few states will recognize another states CCP. Also it is legal to carry a gun openly in many areas here without a permit. The Sheriff's department prefers that you get a permit and keep it concealed so they don't get all of the calls about some person carrying a gun. That also works far better as a deterrent as the dopers and such around here know many of the people that do carry and they tend to avoid them. How is it to get ammunition back there? I have to cut way back on my shooting as it is hard to find any around here. The range called the other day and they had just gotten in some and I live abut a 10 minute drive away and by the time I got over there they had sold almost all of it. I did get two boxes, so I will go back and shoot again soon.

Ron

[Buzz]

Originally Posted by bomelia

I think I will do just that. BTW, to give you proper perspective, I was more than a 10th of a mile away when he shot the gun. Actually, that made it worse for him. I have no idea what happened, though I am certain his driveway was occupied by squad cars for a while.

I still cannot get over how I had that "premonition". In my mind, it looked just like it actually happened. Perhaps guardian angels are real?

What kind of hand gun (model) would you guys reccomend? Still, I could not carry one on a run like that. Too heavy and conspicuous. Law enforcement would have me in the back seat way too many times (no matter how legit I was). Plus "carrying" on your person is another bag of worms anyways, is it not?

Mike

Sounds like your subconscious recognized signs of danger that have been quietly ingrained and reinforced by years of seeing, hearing and reading stuff over the course of your lifetime. Good thing too. If you had stuck around any longer, your encounter with Bubba might have been more up close and personal.

Choosing a handgun for carry is a very personal thing and difficult to advise on. Based on your lifestyle, you may want something very small, light and concealable like an Airweight revolver in .38 Special. On the other hand you might not be comfortable with the 5-shot capacity, the caliber itself or the challenge of becoming proficient and consistent with a small short barrelled gun. You may like the simplicity, reliability and user friendliness of revolvers or you may crave the higher capacity of a double stack autoloader. Have fun trying them all and pick the one (or ones) you like.

How on earth a tired runner soaking his feet could provoke a man to use his shotgun is way beyond me.

Well, he WAS in Tennessee!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dave - ! I was going to say I thought that sort of thing only happened with you crazy Cajuns in the Louisiana Bayous and the Hillbillies up in the Ozarks, but I remembered this article I myself posted a little while back. I can understand a person defending his property from hostile intruders, but shooting someone who just wanders by baffles the hell out of me!

Sad story here: http://abcnews.go.com/US/Story?id=7557222&page=1