This happened a few weeks ago but I forgot to share!
So a few weeks ago, on a Sunday if I remember correctly, I was headed to look at places to move to from San Clemente. Having lived there for 5+ years I became very relaxed in the area. I was leaving home headed N on El Camino Real; it was a busy Sunday with the locals enjoying the sleepy beach town (if you’re familiar with the area, you know what I’m talking about). I was soaking up my day off with my windows down, my music on, and had my radar detector up
(I know I'm gonna hear about having one but I've had it for years; safety warnings, construction, emergency veh.) As I was going past a little outlet I drove right past a motorcycle Deputy who gave me the evil eye (I assume, he had his shield down
) As soon as I drove past I saw him pull out with lights on, no siren. I knew I wasn't speeding, my music wasn't loud, and I was driving like any other responsible professional CCW holder does, so I thought I might've changed lanes without using the signal or something along those lines. As had my windows down, a full-size Kimber 1911 IWB at 3 and spare mags at 9, I thought best not to try to get my wallet out of my pocket since I traveled all of 20 yrds to pull over and he could see clearly in the vehicle. I put my sunglasses on my head, turned the truck off, turned on the lights (daytime!
), and put my hands back on the wheel.
As he approached he asked for my license and registration. I responded by saying I had a CCW permit and my firearm IWB at 3:00. He asked me where my permit was and I told him in my right rear pocket. I could tell he was hesitant about letting me reach back there because from his view he could see from around my chest up. He told me to go ahead and hop out of the truck. I opened my door and hopped out with my back to him. By that time the sleepy town had something to look at! I pulled my shirt up enough so he could reach into my pocket for my wallet and once he got it I just leaned on my door. After retrieving the wallet from my pocket, he gently lifted the side of my shirt to see the firearm. As I was trying to pinpoint which compartment the permit was in, he sifted through other ID and CCW permits and started asking me about those. He told me to hop back in, so I did and closed the door. After finding my permit he said, "Hey [Blackhorse1], what's the one thing you're supposed to do when you leave your house?" I ruffled through my mind.... I have my permits, my gun, ammo, money, phone, ect., ect., ect....
and then it donned on me! My seatbelt!! I responded with the right answer. He handed me my wallet and left by saying, "[Blackhorse 1], put your seatbelt on."
Of course I had my Kimber and everything else, but a saying in my industry is "you have to be able to protect yourself before you can protect a client!"
Now I make a conscientious effort to click it to avoid the ticket!
