Let me start by saying that I don't often get the chance to carry because I work in a chemical plant. I was glad I was carrying this day though….
The other day while leaving the bank (daylight, business hours), I noticed a black SUV pull up behind my vehicle and block me in. The vehicle just sat there for a minute before pulling up next to me. My strong arm instantly went to my weapon which was located on my right hip. I did not draw my weapon, I just put my hand on it to prepare. There were two large gentlemen in the SUV. The passenger rolled down his window as he pulled up next to me and asked me if I spoke Italian. The only foreign language I speak a little of it Spanish…and I do mean very little. I thought maybe they needed directions or something and I was going to try to help them out. Well it turns out he was trying to sell me some leather jackets for a "bargain." What a load of crap! People who drive around trying to sell stuff like that are usually selling junk! The passenger, still inside his vehicle, handed me his business card and I quickly looked at it and said no thanks. He then started to get out of his vehicle, but I was able to tell him I was not interested and I started to drive away. I wasn't sure if he selling stolen jackets or if he was breaking any laws, but I called the police and gave them a vehicle description and license plate info anyways. There was no confrontation, but it had robbery or car jacking written all over it. What would have happened if I had let him get out of his vehicle or if I had gotten out of mine? We'll never know.
Let's suppose they would not have pulled up next to me and continued block me in and got out of their car to come to me. In your opinion, would one be justified for using the "threat" of force, verbal or actual display of a handgun? Two large men, me by myself and they have blocked my vehicle in. They had not made any actual threats, but we see this situation day in and day out on the news…not always a happy ending.
I guess the lessons to be learned from this are : be aware of your surroundings and if you do get in a situation, look for a way out. Being that this occurred at a bank, my senses and awareness were already heightened. This could have occurred anywhere though.
Let's talk about this.
Oh yeah, here's a news story from an incident that occurred the next day just a couple miles away.
http://www.hcnonline.com/articles/2010/ ... bery24.txt" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;