Apparently I’m big and scary.

I think I experienced one of the reasons so many people today want to try to get rid of private gun ownership (and simultaneously one of the reasons that concealed carry should never be abridged).

Theresa and I went out tonight to have dinner with a couple friends whose brother/in-law had come to town, that should obviously not be that special of an event. We went through the down town area of a small community near us and found that there were no parking spots in sight. I went just outside of the main strip and found some open parking. As to not force Theresa to have to cross multiple streets, I made a u-turn (its legal here, I promise!) to park on the other side. I put on my turn signal, lined up the parking spot, put the truck in reverse… and things went horribly wrong somehow.

A small car pulled up to just a few feet off my bike rack. I’m not sure how much more clear reverse lights and a turn signal get, but the guy pulled right up as if expecting me to just get out of his way (which I would have gladly done). He sat there for a couple seconds as another car pulled up behind him. He honked his horn, I honked mine. The car behind him began to back up… the car behind me did nothing… I let my breaks go for a couple inches to indicate the direction I intended to move and the guy still just sat there. Not knowing if he was simply missing the point, I parked the truck got out and point at the spot I intended to park in. The guy didn’t move so I ask him to lower his window and asked him to back up, curiously he said no. As I walked back to get into my car, he revved his engine and inched forward as if to hit my car… Mind you, this was a little 4 door nothing from the late ’90s. I turned around and told the guy he’d have as much luck moving my truck as he would just getting me to go away.

[Before going on, I should interject, that while my voice was raised to overcome the noise outside and his windows that were down at first, I was consciously doing nothing threatening. Other than gesturing for where I wanted to go and motioning for him to move back, my hands were down and I never came closer than 3-4 feet of this guys car.]

At this point, the guy looks me dead in the eye and asks, “Do you know about the North Carolina stand-your-ground law?” Wuuuuut? I’m sure this older gentleman was quite disappointed that his tacit (albeit obvious) threat didn’t scare me much. As a NC CWP (concealed weapons permit) holder I am quite familiar with the CC laws and stand-your-ground… Stand-your-ground is not a tool to win a pissing contest in the middle of a public street, ass hole. Anyway, I told him that even saying that, by North Carolina law, constituted a threat against my person and if he felt threatened he should call the police (he had reached for his phone at this point and was pretending to look at it).

Not wanting to inflame the situation (which in retrospect, was clear I had already done), I left it at that and got back in my truck. In a vein hope that the man would see reason, I put my truck in reverse for a moment to see if he would back up. I’m not sure why, but I was astonished that the man still flatly refused to be a decent human being. I could see in the side-view that a good line of cars had built up so I pulled forward a bit then reversed to the other side of the road to let the traffic pass (this scared Theresa a bit I think). It happens that where we were going to eat was right across the street from the police station and the shift was in the process of changing so police were driving by quite regularly. I flagged down an officer and informed him of the situation. Since I only had a description of the man and his car, nothing will come of it, but at least I said my peace.

Thinking back on things, nothing would have ever become of this had I just let the guy be an ass and moved on. Fair point. Believe it or not, the idea never occurred to me, but I will take the blame for creating the situation. There are, however, a few questions that bother me.

First, what in the world would cause this guy to intentionally pull up on me when I’m signalling a parallel park and then refuse to allow me to park? Seriously, the guy offered absolutely nothing. He didn’t call me names, he didn’t say my car was too big, he didn’t say he was in a hurry, he didn’t even say he was prejudice against parallel parking. Hell, even the man’s wife was begging for him to get out of the way. I just can not understand it. Is he that sour? Did he want a confrontation (he at least wanted me to think he had a gun)?

Second, if he was carrying a gun and felt the situation had the potential to require its use… why would he announce to me that he had a gun? Its kind of a funny thing really. On average, most people would probably expect to be the only person with a CWP and/or gun in a particular situation since the permit and carry rate is pretty low. He just happened to be wrong (I actually wasn’t carrying — more on that later). How stupid of a gun toting hick do you have to be to think that from a sitting position in a car you can out draw someone standing outside your car… especially after making the presumed assailant aware of your weapon?

Last, what does this mean to me? I know there are dumb gun owners out there. I’ve discussed on this blog before the idea that simply possessing a gun might make someone feel empowered, and I think this man might be one of those. I have no doubt that he feels justified in his threat… but that is what actually bothers me. The right to carry a gun and the idea of ‘stand-your-ground’ are most emphatically NOT tools to get your way. Hell, they’re not even tools when you’re simply frightened… if you feel a gun might be necessary, you’d better be damn sure your life is in danger, otherwise you are the one making a situation bad. So what does it mean to me? Its a sad realization that I just met the reason that people don’t want private guns. If any idiot can get a carry permit then try to use the threat of a gun to solve a traffic dispute… we “gots” problems. Its also the sad realization that even one of the more affluent areas around me isn’t immune to (potentially extreme) violence. Sure in Durham the threat is obvious.. but around here I apparently have to worry about frightened old men who probably pea their pants when a tall, broad-shouldered young man confronts them on their (potentially senile) behavior. I typically only carry when I feel I’m putting myself in situations that could become dangerous… after this, I’m actually more likely to carry from now on. The next idiot might not be so senile.