Regular Daddy
Inactive
(please excuse the pretentious title, I've been writing all day)
Hi all, I'm a long-time TFL lurker (3+ years), but something has dragged me out of the woodwork today, and I need some advice.
First, let me describe myself a little. Like most of you, I tend to keep to myself. I do not impose myself on other people; I let them live their lives while I live mine. Simple as that.
However, though I do not start trouble, I am terribly intolerant of people trampling over my personal space and showing a complete lack of respect for myself and others. This includes making an ungodly amount of noise after 3am, throwing beer bottles, driving over my damn lawn (though to be fair, this only happened once), and other things. For the curious, yes, I do live in a town full of college students. Violent crime here is virtually nonexistant, while petty crime is rampant and the police seem to care very little about it. I don't pick fights with people who do things like this, but I do not hesitate to confront them, and if they choose to get physical, then I deal with it and the situation usually resolves itself for the better. At least, that's how I used to do things.
But now I find myself getting closer and closer to carrying a concealed weapon, probably a pocket pistol. I know from my experience here, and the collective experience of TFL members, that when you are carrying a firearm, you give up your ability to react to petty insults. But where do you draw the line? Even now, when I am not carrying, I give people some leeway when it comes to purely verbal abuse. If you want to yell something at me from across the street, hey, go for it sparky, and have a good time.
I understand that a minor confrontation can escalate into a fight, and a fight can escalate into a life-threatening situation, and that if I am carrying a firearm, I may very well need to use it. That is certainly not a situation I want to get myself into, because in the end, it would pretty much look like I picked a fight with a guy and then shot him. I don't expect the law to focus on the fact that the other guy escalated the situation before I did.
So do you become a doormat just beacuse you carry? Do you let people harass you and intrude into your personal boundaries because you might end up in a fight with them? If that's the way things work, I don't think I want to carry until I'm living amongst responsible adults (ironically, I am living with "adults").
I want to hear lots of opinions and advice and anecdotes. TFL, don't disappoint me.
edit: Oh, and for reference, the event today that made me ask this question is I was almost run over while walking through a crosswalk by someone who either legitimately didn't see me, or didn't care and assumed I'd get out of his way.
edit2: And a clarification. I'm not talking about brandishing a weapon in response to this sort of thing, I'm talking about verbal confrontations with people when you're carrying, ones which you have no intention of escalating.
-- Chris
Hi all, I'm a long-time TFL lurker (3+ years), but something has dragged me out of the woodwork today, and I need some advice.
First, let me describe myself a little. Like most of you, I tend to keep to myself. I do not impose myself on other people; I let them live their lives while I live mine. Simple as that.
However, though I do not start trouble, I am terribly intolerant of people trampling over my personal space and showing a complete lack of respect for myself and others. This includes making an ungodly amount of noise after 3am, throwing beer bottles, driving over my damn lawn (though to be fair, this only happened once), and other things. For the curious, yes, I do live in a town full of college students. Violent crime here is virtually nonexistant, while petty crime is rampant and the police seem to care very little about it. I don't pick fights with people who do things like this, but I do not hesitate to confront them, and if they choose to get physical, then I deal with it and the situation usually resolves itself for the better. At least, that's how I used to do things.
But now I find myself getting closer and closer to carrying a concealed weapon, probably a pocket pistol. I know from my experience here, and the collective experience of TFL members, that when you are carrying a firearm, you give up your ability to react to petty insults. But where do you draw the line? Even now, when I am not carrying, I give people some leeway when it comes to purely verbal abuse. If you want to yell something at me from across the street, hey, go for it sparky, and have a good time.
I understand that a minor confrontation can escalate into a fight, and a fight can escalate into a life-threatening situation, and that if I am carrying a firearm, I may very well need to use it. That is certainly not a situation I want to get myself into, because in the end, it would pretty much look like I picked a fight with a guy and then shot him. I don't expect the law to focus on the fact that the other guy escalated the situation before I did.
So do you become a doormat just beacuse you carry? Do you let people harass you and intrude into your personal boundaries because you might end up in a fight with them? If that's the way things work, I don't think I want to carry until I'm living amongst responsible adults (ironically, I am living with "adults").
I want to hear lots of opinions and advice and anecdotes. TFL, don't disappoint me.
edit: Oh, and for reference, the event today that made me ask this question is I was almost run over while walking through a crosswalk by someone who either legitimately didn't see me, or didn't care and assumed I'd get out of his way.
edit2: And a clarification. I'm not talking about brandishing a weapon in response to this sort of thing, I'm talking about verbal confrontations with people when you're carrying, ones which you have no intention of escalating.
-- Chris