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 was wearing a 9mm semi-auto on my right hip. I never touched it and I made no threats, but it was nevertheless visible.
And BTW, Joe, I used to work the graveyard shift at a diner during my yut, and it was the large groups of loud obnoxious drunk people in the wee hours of the morning who not only entertained us, but ordered more food than most people could eat and left big tips for poor starving college kids like me. The people we despised the most were single, sexually frustrated, grumpy men who bitched about everything and anything and then left a $.25 tip on a $7.00 check.
I wouldn't have handled this the way Joe did, but I admire his speaking out. We have the society we have today because we tolerate this kind of behavior. I've seen similar behavior in movie theaters. I don't tolerate it and neither does Joe.
Prior Planning Prevents Pi_ _ Poor Performance.
You're lucky they were probably just good kids having some fun.
Had they been young tough gang members they would have beaten you down and taken your gun away or maybe they would have just shot you and then taken your gun. Don't let a holstrered gun give you a false sense of security, short skinny old bald guys are no match for a real group of young predators gun or no gun.
BTW most places that serve food after four A.M. make their money from the young drunk after the bar closes crowd, not from crazy old insomniacs.
I'm a gun owner and lifelong NRA member and what you did was stupid and wrong. You implied a threat and created a situation where you and/or those kids could have lost their life.
You should be ashamed of yourself. You acted like a bully just because you had a gun.
No, he just praised his gun for doing it for him.
Good for you, Joe! Blackbird.
You think intimidating a bunch of kid's whose only crime was laughing too loud in a public restaurant was a good thing?
What other "Cholera Joe" only laws would you like to enforce?
I've carried both professionally and privately for over 30 years and never had to overtly "show' my weapon to intimidate.
This sounds like a true "Walter Mitty" moment....
NeverGore
Maybe he can go to the library and ask them to look it up. And if they can't find it fast enough, he can circle the circulation desk twice.
Hear, Hear. With automatic weapons.
What if it was a Mom with 3 noisy 5 year olds?
Would Joe be justified in demanding their silence?
I still would have shoved that gun down your throat.
[snip}
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 think that points out the whole Freudian undercurrent.
How in heaven's name would you know this? Big assumption..... Not everyone carrying is an idiot and untrained in the proper use of firearms in self defense.
I follow you so far but I thought the BOR was to protect citizens from the government, not each other.
I think it's very debatable whether a threat of any kind was made. I don't think the presence of a pistol implies a threat. Were the situation to be escalated by the loud youths then there is a clear disparity of force and the use of a sidearm is clearly permissible
If it does then what recourse does an armed individual have in dealing with confrontation less that life threatening?
Does being armed mean that one is legally required to endure impoliteness? A guy can't get a Grand Slam plate at Denny's if he's prepared to defend innocent life?
I choose to be much more deferential to rude people when I am armed because I don't relish an escalation of force over simple impoliteness. I drive a lot more politely when armed. I think most armed citizens are the same way.
Given the circumstances that have been described I don't think he did anything wrong.
Well said...
I would have asked the manager to call the police. I'm not a vigilante, even though the vigilantes originated right here in Montana.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.