Pocket carry lesson...
Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 1:42 pm
I recently attended a community event held in a smaller Dallas suburb which shall go nameless to protect the guilty. Although I was not carrying since I had just come from work (another issue), there were no reasons why carrying in this public park and in this particular situation would have been prohibited. There were approximately 1,000 people in attendance at this event with probably as many or more kids than adults. My extended family alone included probably 25 folks bunched together. Since the event involved live performances on a stage, people were pretty much jammed together with lawn chairs, blankets, etc. Kids were milling around the audience area and running back and forth to the playground, etc. The scene is set....
After the last performance, my family were gathered around talking when one of my cousins pulled me off to the side and said that she had found something on the ground but wasn't sure if it was real. I looked down at her hands and she was holding cupped in them a small semi-automatic pistol that looked very real to me. I asked her quietly if she wanted me to take it, and she did. As soon as I took it, I realized that it wasn't some kid's toy. Instead of trying to unload it there among everyone, I made sure that it wasn't cocked and put it in my front pocket. I asked her where she found it, and she pointed to an area just behind the spot where one of my other relatives had been sitting in his folding lawn chair before he refolded and moved it in preparation for leaving.
At that point, I knew to whom the gun belonged and quietly pulled him aside and asked him if he was missing anything. He quickly answered that he wasn't but then checked for his wallet. It wasn't until he checked his other back pocket that his face turned white and he started looking all around. I told him that I had it and that we'd work out making the switch later.
I asked him what kind of holster he was using just to make sure that I never considered buying one like it, and he said that he simply had it in the back pocket of his jeans. No pocket holster, no nothing, just slipped into his jeans pocket. He said that he'd gotten into that habit and had never had a problem before....
He doesn't read this forum, so dog piling, no matter how well deserved, will do no good. In his defense, he's a very decent man, has not otherwise exhibited irresponsible behavior in the past, and had consistently demonstrated safe gun handling procedures before this. We had a chat.....
I thought maybe another lesson on the dangers of complacency might be worth a quick read.
After the last performance, my family were gathered around talking when one of my cousins pulled me off to the side and said that she had found something on the ground but wasn't sure if it was real. I looked down at her hands and she was holding cupped in them a small semi-automatic pistol that looked very real to me. I asked her quietly if she wanted me to take it, and she did. As soon as I took it, I realized that it wasn't some kid's toy. Instead of trying to unload it there among everyone, I made sure that it wasn't cocked and put it in my front pocket. I asked her where she found it, and she pointed to an area just behind the spot where one of my other relatives had been sitting in his folding lawn chair before he refolded and moved it in preparation for leaving.
At that point, I knew to whom the gun belonged and quietly pulled him aside and asked him if he was missing anything. He quickly answered that he wasn't but then checked for his wallet. It wasn't until he checked his other back pocket that his face turned white and he started looking all around. I told him that I had it and that we'd work out making the switch later.
I asked him what kind of holster he was using just to make sure that I never considered buying one like it, and he said that he simply had it in the back pocket of his jeans. No pocket holster, no nothing, just slipped into his jeans pocket. He said that he'd gotten into that habit and had never had a problem before....
He doesn't read this forum, so dog piling, no matter how well deserved, will do no good. In his defense, he's a very decent man, has not otherwise exhibited irresponsible behavior in the past, and had consistently demonstrated safe gun handling procedures before this. We had a chat.....
I thought maybe another lesson on the dangers of complacency might be worth a quick read.
