Opinions/comments on parking lot guy approching me?

[TEXASGIANT]

Look at this another way. Depending on what the person said, you could have been charged with a lot more then intentionally failing to conceal as I read in the thread. Imagine if this guy or a witness called 911. He would say he was walking in the parking lot and you assaulted him and threatened him with a gun. By your own words he didn't say anything or make any threatening movements. By exposing your gun and putting your hand on it you displayed the weapon. If it was believed that you displayed it during an assault, you could have been in some hot water. Assault can simply be threatening somebody with bodily harm. If it was done by displaying a gun, you are now up to aggravated assault. Did you have justification to do what you did? That could be questionable and fortunately he never called the police so you didn't have to find out. If leo's came, you would have probably been taken down as a MWAG. They would take statements, look at video (if there was any) and then determine if they had PC (probable cause) for the arrest. While a jury may or may not clear you, that would be an expensive adventure. Glad it worked out.

§ 22.02. AGGRAVATED ASSAULT. (a) A person commits an
offense if the person commits assault as defined in § 22.01 and
the person:
(1) causes serious bodily injury to another, including
the person's spouse; or
(2) uses or exhibits a deadly weapon during the
commission of the assault.

Sec. 22.01. ASSAULT. (a) A person commits an offense if the person:
(1) intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causes bodily injury to another, including the person's spouse;
(2) intentionally or knowingly threatens another with imminent bodily injury, including the person's spouse; or

http://law.onecle.com/texas/penal/22.02.00.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

TJ,

He said he didn't show his gun at all, possibly his holster, if that. Like we said earlier, he could have had his hand on his phone.

I went by his statement. He said he raised his shirt and placed his hand on the gun. That is not a cell phone and the guy probably saw it based on his change . I'm sure his statement would also say it was a gun had he called 911. He may have called and we don't know due to the poster leaving.

((he ended up behind my car when I turned in front of the car going towards the door he started walking towards me. I raised my shirt and placed my hand on my gun and told him not to come near me, he froze in his tracks))

You don't have to go waving a gun around to get parts of your anatomy in a ringer. Just being a gun type with the requisite NRA, AR bolt face, SECEDE and MOLON LABE stickers in the back window of your truck could be enough to take you down.
Lets say that you finally see an opening to get in front of that mutt in the left lane that has been jamming up traffic for miles. He feels like you cut him off and gets along side of you and gestures are exchanged. You laugh at him, roast your tires and leave his PRIUS in a cloud of Detroits finest smoke. He becomes offended.
He figures he'll get the last laugh on this Bubba. He assumes, based on your self advertizing, that it is a safe bet "this ol boy's packin", so he jots down your plate and calls in that you pointed a gun at him.
The rest as they say is history. Do you have your [Pre-paid legal service] card handy?

[jmra]

Once in the car my wife who had her gun in hand said he was approaching people in the parking lot for about 20 minutes she said most people went the other way when he did

This is where I'm really confused. Do you both have cell phones? If your wife felt it necessary to have her gun in her hand why didn't she call you or the police? Seems to me if this had been ongoing for 20 minutes a call to you by your wife would have not only alerted you to the situation but also would have given you an opportunity to alert store staff that there was an issue on their property they needed to address.
IMHO, better communication between you and your wife (both during and prior to this situation) would have prevented your encounter altogether. In this particular situation my wife would have simply picked me up at the front door as I exited the building. My wife and I routinely discuss how each of us will/should respond to different situations should they occur. There is no doubt in my mind, because of those conversations, that my wife would have been proactive in this same situation. I couldn't begin to count the number of times my wife and I have been in different parts of a store and one of us called the other about someone acting oddly so that we both could be on alert and either steer clear or inform store staff.
Simply put, the gun is just one of the many tools you should have at your disposal to ensure your security and the security of your family. It should be the tool of last resort. I do realize that hind sight is 20/20 but, IMHO, many of tools at your (or I should say your wife's) disposal which could have been used prior to the gun were completely ignored.
Just one more thing I curious about, if parking lots are "not what they used to be" why would you leave your wife in the car for such an extended period of time? I assume that if she observed the man for 20 minutes, your store visit was considerably longer than that.
I hope my statements don't seem harsh. That is not my intent. I assume by posting your experience you are asking for others input which I have provided.
Thank you for posting as your experience gives my wife and I (and others) another scenario to discuss and prepare for.

[Gunner4640]

Holy crap I did not asked to be chastised in the post. My last post of this type>>>> Lesson learned.

[jmra]

Holy crap I did not asked to be chastised in the post. My last post of this type>>>> Lesson learned.

Sorry you took it that way. I believe my questions and statements were legitimate and pertinent to the conversation. Hopefully others will learn from your experience.