Posted on 08/21/2005 6:02:36 AM PDT by CholeraJoe
"Never, ever leave home without it." No, not your American Express card, your sidearm.
This morning, I woke up about 4:15 and was hungry, so I decided to drive to the local 24-hour beanery. The only other customers were a table of 10, intoxicated 20-somethings making alot of noise.
There were 7 muscular young men and three loud-mouthed young women. After listening to their raucous laughter for 10 minutes, I politely asked the waitress to ask them to hold down the noise. All I wanted to do was eat my breakfast in relative peace.
Her request for quiet lasted about 45 seconds, then the noise and laughter resumed. At that point, I decided to do something.
Bear in mind that I am not an imposing figure. I'm 5'9", mid 50's, and slim. I walked over to the table, and walked completely around it twice. I said, "I'd like y'all to hold down the noise for a while, please." One of the young men started to give me trash-talk but within seconds was elbowed by the guy next to him, who whispered something in his ear. Then everyone at the table said, "Yes, sir, or OK."
What made the difference? Open carry. I was wearing a 9mm semi-auto on my right hip. I never touched it and I made no threats, but it was nevertheless visible.
I've had a CCW since I was 19. My state allows open carry, with a few exceptions like churches and government buildings. I can't begin to tell you how many times open carry has prevented trouble.
RKBA is based on the idea that an armed society is a free society and capable of controlling the government.
Individual self defense is secondary and incidental to that from what I've read in the Federalist and Anti-Federalist papers.
Ditto.... Sorry, but Ditto.
In that situation, you pay your bill and leave.
complete farking idiocy.
Thanks. All men were not created equal, until Samuel Colt came along.
/JMNSHO
That's the story I've heard from more than one packer. It makes sense. CJ sounds like a rambo wannabe who was lucky the noisy (but thus far 100% legal) crowd didn't have someone equipped to call his bluff.
The fact you circled the table twice definitely makes it sound like you were the aggressor. If you have the right to threaten people for being obnoxious most of us won't make it out of puberty.
Who decides when you're being too loud in public? Who gets to judge when using the cell phone is impolite? Anyone with a gun? What you did was wrong.
You enforced the negative image of guns and made it tougher for those of us who want to carry them peacefully.
Here in CT you can count on it. Having a CCW does not make you a superman, in fact, you need to act the complete opposite.
Sounds to me like he was looking for trouble...but, of course, I wasn't there.
I say again, bad manners does not equal "trouble". I'm 48 but remember well many a late night or early morning where a group of us 20-somethings ended up at diner or truckstop (we were military on TDY) winding down a little alchohol and high spirits over coffee and breakfast. Often in some little town in Montana or Wyoming. I suppose we were just as obnoxious to some. I'd go back in a heartbeat!
Colt may equalize things, but I still prefer the "Chicago Typewriter."
hey , this could be a good thread , Cranky Wanker meets Boozey Revelers at Greasy Spoon , overlapping short stories in the wee hours ,... maybe its good NYC doesn't have,er,y'know,... we coulda got popped years ago , we were more twitchy though
Would you have done the same thing if you weren't armed?
So are you making the argument that based on time and location it is ok to act like an asshat in a business establishment annoying other customers. After all it was a breakfast joint not a bar.
What gives you the right to eat in quiet at 4:15 a.m. at someone elses place of business? They were the only other patrons at the diner until you arrived, and there is nothing in your vanity post to indicate that they were threatening the waitress, the chef, or anyone else. I would have told you to "stuff it" and "if you think a bit of noise at 4:15 a.m. is worth unholstering your sidearm, then go ahead and make my day." What an a-hole.
Not until there is a serious threat to life or limb. They could have read you the riot act and had you pulled, YOU would be the one facing decades of dungeon if not worse.
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