One Persons Story: Concealed Carry

If you live in the US, was there an event in your life that made you decide to get a concealed carry license? If so, what was it?

Lives in City of Montgomery, Alabama Government (1979–present) 

Year….1975. Some Things Never Change….

Says Stephen, two months before my 21st b'day, my wife and I were at a drive-in theater. Linda was sitting next to me, on my right, and I had my arm around her waist. (Maybe a little higher, we were still newlyweds, after all). It was the middle of summer, and the windows were down to catch the evening breeze. A young (19–20) B/M approached me, saying he was checking tickets. This was common, since they had a lot of people slip in the exit road.

I pulled my ticket out of my shirt pocket to show him, and next thing, I was seeing stars. He'd sucker-punched me in the left temple. Somehow, I'd gotten my left arm up with my forearm across his throat. He was inside the window, pressing me down. He reached up and clawed Linda across her eyes.

I started pushing him with my forearm, and he shifted and bit a chunk out of my forearm. I yelled for Linda to run, and she took off for the concession stand, while the perp snatched my watch. He took off, and I staggered to the concession stand, still dizzy, and bleeding like a stuck hog. When I walked in, it was a madhouse. There were about 30 people inside, half yelling at the manager. He was standing with a .38 Chief's Special in his hand. I asked where Linda was and was told another lady had taken her into the restroom to wash her eyes. Another fellow was yelling that the suspect had punched him outside his car and a third was complaining that the suspect had asked for a beer, and when he refused, the suspect had grabbed an empty can and hit him in the head with it.

Suddenly, the ladies room door opened and out walked the perp, followed by a couple of girls screaming that he had attacked a woman in there. I was yelling at the manager to do something or give me the gun. Linda and another lady came out, and the lady said he'd tried to grab Linda. They ran into and locked the stall door, and he walked out. When he heard them yelling, he turned and broke through the door.

Cops arrived and took a report, and drove off in the opposite direction from where he'd been seen running. Detectives later told us that the project kids were getting initiated into gangs, and the more outrageous their actions, the higher ranked they were.

The next week, my Dad went with me to a local gun store, and I used him as a straw-buyer to purchase a Dan Wesson .357 6 inch blue steel revolver. Two months later, on my birthday, I was at the Sheriff's office applying for a carry permit. As I've mentioned, my Mom joined the PD when I was 9. I grew up around cops and my parents had been very active in the Sheriff's campaign. Permits usually took about 5 days to process, but about the time I was turning to leave, and walked Sheriff Butler. He greeted me by name and asked what I was doing there. When I told him, he told the clerk to go ahead and issue me the permit on his authorization. He'd known me many years, (he was in his fourth term, I think) and knew my record was clean.

I've been carrying and had a healthy sense of paranoia since. In dark areas, anytime I'm approached, my hand is moving for my pistol.