by John Boch
Warning: Course language.
Rocco Wlodarek of Black Flag Firearms Training in Chicagoland once told me at a class, and at the GSL Chicago monthly meeting, that a gas station is one of the three places the average person is most likely to be accosted.
I have lot of respect for Rocco. He knows his stuff, and with that in mind, I’ve always dialed up the awareness a half a notch at gas stations while filling up.
Last night, I stopped on the way home to gas up at the Murphy USA station adjacent to Walmart on the west side of Bloomington. It’s not what anyone would call a “bad neighborhood”, unless perhaps they were raised in Beverly Hills.
I get out, do another quick look around and swipe my card. After I make a couple of selections, I glance around again. Nothing odd. I start the gas pumping and look around once more without even thinking.
I see some guy in a hat, walking in my general direction. He’s twenty plus yards away. It’s dark and had just finished raining. I closed the driver’s side door and moved clear of the pumps so I could get a better view of this person as I had nothing pressing to do.
I saw him on the other side of the island. 5′ 9″ish, white guy, trim, with a “Drudge” type hat (whatever you call those), a black, puffy down-like parka and dark pants – not jeans. He wasn’t a homeless guy, but I wasn’t sure why he was walking. He saw me. “Guns Save Lives, huh?” he bellows. He saw my bumper sticker. He sounded about 40-50 years old.
I couldn’t tell if he was friend or foe, but that didn’t last long.
“Yep,” I replied with a smile.
“You’re those fucking people that put guns in the hands of killers. Guns don’t save lives, gun kill people, you stupid fuck.”
My mind switched into tactical mode. I glance around 360 degrees and consider options. I’m a step away from the relative cover/concealment of the pump stand, but it would pin me between my van, the pump hose and the pump stand. I stayed put. “Move along, pal. I don’t want any trouble,” I told him, extending my support arm in the universal sign of “stop, stay back”. Thank heavens for video surveillance.
He continues, with something along the lines of: “No, fuck you. Are you going to fucking shoot me? Here’s a better idea, you sick fuck: Why don’t you shoot yourself!”
I fish my phone out and try to dial 911. It’s in my strong side cargo pocket. Perhaps I should find a new place for it? I wanted the police to be on the line if this goes downhill any further. My phone isn’t cooperating with me. “Just move along, sir,” I said once more. He was 30-45 feet away, far enough that I was “comfortable” with the distance as a reactionary gap. I wasn’t happy that I had to take my eyes off of him to fumble with my damn phone.
“You guys are fucking nuts. You run around with your guns, ready to fucking snap and start killing people.” He’s not intoxicated. He seems in full control of his faculties. It’s just that he’s in full rage mode.
He sees the phone and my surely focused frustration that I can’t make it cooperate.
“Oh, you gonna call the cops? Why don’t you go fuck yourself. Fuck you and fuck the police,” he screams.
“Oh, boy. He’s one of the ‘fuck the police’ types,” I thought.
“Just leave, sir,” I yelled one last time.
He turns and starts walking away. “Yeah, fuck you!”
Merry Christmas to you too, pal.
“Hello 9-1-1. What’s your emergency?”
I told them where I was and that some lunatic was screaming at me telling me to shoot myself and to shoot other people and I was concerned he was going to try to jump me.
“Please hold while I transfer you to Bloomington,” she says.
I thought, “Jesus H. Christ. I’m surely glad I don’t need the police in a hurry. 911 doesn’t put you on hold? Bullshit. Dialed 911, and I’m on hold. Sure wish I had that gun I sold.”
Yes, it’s funny what goes through your mind at a time like that. GSL’s Burma Slogan was racing through my mind and I watched this guy walk away while I was on hold. I’m glad he wasn’t advancing on me while I was on hold.
What seemed like ten to twenty seconds later, a second dispatcher comes on and I tell her what’s up. Come to find out she doesn’t have anyone in that part of town and it’ll be a few minutes at best. I told her not to worry about it as my unbalanced lunatic was now a block and a half away, headed back to wherever he came from.
I’m glad this guy didn’t catch me unawares, beginning his verbal tirade from six feet instead of thirty or forty.
I’m glad I didn’t need the cops in a hurry. I suspect I could have written a letter or two to Congress before police would have arrived.
That’s why I carry.
Looking back, this guy was just a bully, pure and simple. If he really believed I was a mentally unbalanced gun owner, ready to snap on a whim, surely he would have steered clear of me. Instead, he wanted to bully me in a public setting – unless he was as much of a lunatic as I thought he was for launching his uncivilized broadside against me while I was minding my own business.
Is it time to take the sticker off my van? Hell no. I’m not going to be intimidated by social justice warrior bullies. I’m thinking it might be time to put a second bumper sticker on my back window…
I had a few NRA stickers on my truck and I removed them for this very reason. I carry and the reason I carry is to protect myself and my family. We all know there are plenty of unstable, ignorant and just plain evil people out there. So why would I intentionally put something on my vehicle to draw the attention of one of these idiots and put myself and my family in a position where I may have to shoot someone? Just didn’t make sense to me. Be the gray man.
I call these type of jerks the chattering class for obvious reasons.They have no solution to any problem but running their mouths about how everything is someone else’s fault.Some of them do this trying to provoke a response so they can call the police.The same kind that engage in “swatting”.
Scott makes a valid point.
I would characterize his position as one of surrender to bullies.
Gun grabbers work hard to try to shame gun owners. Screw that!
If gays had done that, they would still be hiding in the closet.
Don’t be afraid or ashamed to be a gun owner. Wear that NRA or GSL sticker or shirt with PRIDE.
I don’t have stickers on my vehicles, but I do wear pro-gun shirts, and I open carry most of the time that I’m out and about. I just don’t want to have my vehicles broken into because some nut thinks he’ll find a gun inside… but I’m not at all concerned about wearing the shirts while I’m obviously armed. And I’ve had only a couple of very minor incidents (stupid remarks from idiots) since I started open carrying just about everywhere in East LA (Lower Alabama).
I’m with you on that. I will wear this stuff on my person but won’t advertise on anything that can’t defend itself while I’m not around.
Never put any stickers on your vehicle. Anyone can follow you home (sure, you’re one big ball of situational awareness, but is your wife? Your teenager?), and either burglarize it for guns or, if Wifey or the daughter is home alone, pull a home invasion with extra fun.
If anyone wants to know your politics, let them ask you.
Our nation owes its very existance to the brave men who risked their lives, fortunes and sacred honor during the RevWar.
Furthermore, we owe many generations’ greatest for their giving their lives to protect and defend against enemies foreign and domestic.
Yes, I suppose a bumper sticker carries a non-negligible risk these days. Honorable men before me willingly risked everything in the face of a real danger of death or great bodily injury to give us what we enjoy today. Claiming that putting an NRA or Guns Save Life sticker on your car is too risky seems a little lame in my opinion.
Yeah, freedom is risky.
Tyranny is far riskier.
That is why I have both the NRA AND GSL stickers on my truck. It is the least I can do for freedom.
Nice rhetoric. I’m not concerned about some asshole accosting me. But once these pricks know where your house is, they can pick their time. (Hint: You’ll be at work.)
If you want to endanger your family in order to tell strangers your politics, be my guest. I won’t do it.
In DC and Philadelphia (and probably some other places that I don’t know about), FOP-type stickers have gotten coppers’ houses burglarized and their families hurt. That doesn’t sound like a lame excuse to me. Of course, you can do what you want.
Several lessons here. Police investigate crimes, they don’t prevent them. You are your own first responder. Get a permit and carry all the time. I agree with Scott about being the Grey Man.
John, you and I live different lives than most. You have a an advocacy website for gun rights, so you have that website on your vehicle as advertisement. Much like a plumber would have their business name and phone number on their vehicle. I’m often times in transit to the range and will be wearing shirts and hats with my company logo on it – I’m at work, and that’s just the way that is.
However, most of us are better of living a ‘stealth existence’. Especially those who carry guns!
We need to be plain, vanilla, and BORING. Attracting attention of, and having conversations with, such unstable strangers is not in our best interest.
I recommend that all of my students refrain from attaching any stickers on their cars, or wearing NRA T-shirts or hats, etc., in public.
I know this next thing I’m going to say will not be popular with some, but advertising anything gun is a form of OPEN CARRY. It attracts not only the attention of “lunatics”, but also police and criminals. Police who may not agree with the carry laws, and criminals who may think your car is worth breaking into.
me being plain, boring vanilla, doubt that’s gonna happen Frank.
Time for a bear size pepper spray can in the car where you can grab it at a gas station? Just so there’s an option between empty hand and drawing? Defensive option, hands up on video, trying to deesacalate before it gets too ugly … makes it real clear if things do go south and the 19 needs to clear kydex.
As we checked into a hotel in Cincinnati a few weeks ago, there was a fight going on across the street–about a dozen people seemed to be ganging up on two others. The desk clerk called the police and was put on hold. He remained on hold a long time as the fight continued. By the time the police finally arrived one person was lying on the ground, not moving (although he did regain consciousness after a little while).
I will not backdown by removing the NRA decals from my, nor will i refrain from wearing NRA,OFCC, clothing etc. We MUST make a stand!
Quite a “stand.”
It’s like the was so many of us have based our vote on a campaign sticker we saw on another person’s car. Happens all the time – in fact, I can’t remember the last time a bumper sticker wasn’t the deciding factor in my choice of candidate!
Far be it from me to tell anyone how to live – do your thing. Just don’t kid yourself about the effectiveness of any given action.
– How did marijuana get approved for medicinal use in states? The advocates were active, vocal, and visible
– How did that expand to recreational marijuana in states? They were active, vocal and visible about it.
– How did the civil rights movement gain equal rights for blacks? They remained active, visible, vocal, and did not back down.
– How did the gay rights movement gain rights, including the right to marry? They wee visible, vocal, and active. They never gave in, and didn’t remain in the closet.
– How did we get concealed carry in all 50 states? By being visible, vocal, and active
The advocates for marijuana, gay rights, and equal rights for blacks were FAR more likely to be arrested (or worse) by cops than gun owners are at risk of being robbed, yet they remained active and visible. They eventually prevailed. There is a lesson there for gun owners: Remain active, visible, vocal, and do not back down.
Divemedic: You got it man!
His words say one thing but his actions say the opposite. Amusingly, he doesn’t even realize it.
Well at least your ok Jon.
These left-wing clowns are everywhere now days.
Yep, everything is fine.
As I wrote earlier, the asshat was just trying to be a bully and a jerk. Perhaps he thought if he could lure me into doing something imprudent, he would have a case. That didn’t work.
I’m all for plain vanilla, but I’m also about advocating for freedom. If dealing with a jerk like that guy once in a blue moon is what it costs, then send them on. I’ll just let the police deal with them.
John
JB, that’s two gas station incidents for you in, what, two years?
He buys that extra high octane…
Gas stations.
Your front door.
Parking lots.
The three places John says you’re most vulnerable.
“All that needed for freedom to be lost, is good men remaining silent” Bumper stickers speak out for our freedoms. The powers to be and their minions want us complacent. I refuse!
I’ll second that.
an NRA sticker or any pro-gun sticker and an out of state plate on your car is the way to get pulled over in some states. on the NH/MA border there are many roads that cross over and then back into NH..and the MA cops will sit there and use an NRA sticker as “probable cause” to pull you over.
better to go “grey man” and not get pulled over 3-4 times a weekend with some cop looking for guns.
You betcha!
Noted firearms rights attorney Evan Nappen has heard PD in NJ (a “gun owners’ hell”) say an NRA or similar sticker on a vehicle is probable cause / reasonable suspicion to believe that a gun is inside. Flush the car, find a gun.
And, the NJ Supreme Court has just ruled that PD in NJ no longer need to get a warrant to search your vehicle:
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150925/20374932366/new-jersey-supreme-court-oks-warrantless-searches-vehicles.shtml.
NEVER advertise! Not in THIS political climate. Post no stickers/decals, and carry concealed.
Warrantless vehicle searches have been legal throughout the United States since 1929 (U.S. v. Carroll) as long as there is probable cause. The reason is that by the time the police can get a warrant, the vehicle will be gone.
The problem is not the warrantless search; it’s what constitutes probable cause. Is a bumper sticker for NORML probable cause to search a car for drugs? If a court rules that bumper stickers showing support for a legal organization is evidence of illegal activity, where does it stop?
I am a 68 year old Vietnam veteran and for a “very short” time was made to feel ashamed and intimidated when I came home in 1968.
I wear NRA and Vietnam hats and tee shirts all the time.
And at the last gun show in Springfield I bought,and will proudly wear, a GSL Tee shirt and GSL Sweatshirt .
I have a “IF YOU CAN’T FEED ‘EM, DON’T Breed ‘EM” bumper sticker on my truck . As you can see I don’t run from controversy.
As far as protecting my family, I taught my wife and three grown sons how to shoot and protect themselves at a very young age.
They have been trained on how to protect themselves, and their families, with and without weapons, and only as a last resort.
That was part of the pioneer mentality that was past on to my Grandfather, to my Father, to Me, and I hope my Sons will pass this tradition on to their children.
It’s time for gun owners to grow a pair of gonads and quit being intimidated by the politically correct pussies.
The only thing grey about me is my hair. But don’t let the grey hair fool you, I’m still pure hell in a gunfight.
“It’s time for gun owners to grow a pair of gonads and quit being intimidated by the politically correct pussies.”
Amen, brother.
I’m disappointed by some of my gun-owning brethren.
You’re too selfish to put an NRA sticker on your car because you want to be “low profile”?
Sprout a pair, stand up for what’s right, and don’t let the fascist liberals intimidate you.
As a couple have noted here: A whole lot of people much braver than some of you risked much to give us what we have today.
STAND UP AND BE PROUD TO SAY YOU’RE A GUN OWNER.
Hmmm. The gas station scenario. Where have I seen that before? 🙂 I almost remember a classroom discussion – Keep your support gear like your phone or flashlight on your support side and keep your gun side clear…
I’ll wear firearms and freedom related clothing anywhere and do so all the time. But I tend to keep my vehicles in stealth mode as much as possible. Not because I worry about this sort of situation. I try to stay prepared for that. But because I don’t care to advertise what might be inside if I need to leave it in an iffy area.