Founding Member Stories

[CalCCW03]

Submitted by "A Founding Member"

I had to go to western union to pick up some $ that my cousin owed me and sent me a while back. I totally did not remember how much. I went to ralphs, but their WU machine was broke
so they directed me to a check cashing place (don't like those places). Anyways, I went there and had to park in an alley and then go back up front. I'm the only one in but it looks like a vault.
I fill out the paper, she's asking me how much am I going to receive, I said I have no clue: she looks at me funny. What didn't help was that I was wearing my military jacket (the paint stained one)
anyways as she's figuring things out, people start coming in... we're talking not to savory characters... wanna be gangbangers (at the very least)
then she comes back and with a weird looked very loudly says that I'm getting $1400. At that point something in my mind clicked and I remembered that he owed me for the shipping of a quad. Ok.... no big deal, till I realized that everyone now is LOOOKING at me!

So I get the cash, and as I'm walking out 2 characters step out of the middle line and also come out.

As they came out, I half turned to look up the street, (I saw them coming out of line in the reflection of the door as I opened it walking out of there) and I readjusted my jacket (kind of like they do in the westerns by swinging the jacket back to have access to the hip). Btw gun was invisible under the polo shirt.

They stopped talking, looked at me up and down , and turned and went in the opposite direction. I was so obvious (purposefuly) with my jacket readjustment it was not even funny. Boy was I happy to carry, cause the backstreet alley thing where I had to park was not too confidence inspiring. How should I put it best? it was private.

[CalCCW03]

Let me set the scene

I am in East LA looking at sites, I stop at a gas station and as I am driving off the lot someone reverses their car into me hitting the back of my car.

I am driving a new 500SL Mercedes I have no recollection of the type of car that hit me, lets just say it was days away from a scrap yard.

We both park our cars and out we get ( I am with my partner Joe) as soon as I see the passengers get out of their car I know this is going to be interesting. Two African American Males and two Females, the driver is pregnant the other female is the mother and her two sons.

I am wearing a suit and tie with my HK Compact 45 ACP neatly tucked in my Galco leather holster on my right hip. I have one mag in the gun which is locked and cocked and no spares.

As they approached my car I pointed out a minor scratch running about two feet along the back of my car, immediately the began saying this was my fault and they were not responsible, I asked for there license, registration and issuance they refused got back into their car and started to drive off. I then approached their car to write down the license number as they were about to flee.

They stopped the car got out and all hell brought loose

The mother was in my face calling me a (Racial Slur) hater telling me I was making it all up that I was a liar, I could see she was trying to get a rise out of me, her name calling continued about my parents my white skin, my car, eventually she turned her attention to insulting my shoes and my clothes. I am not going to describe how she was dressed but you can imagine. All this happened at about two feet with her two sons and daughter behind her.

I was very calm , I new I was in the right to ask for insurance documents and I should my ground. As she did not get a rise out of me she backed off and her son approached. I could see this was about get confrontational. He came right up to be and continued with the racial angle to get a rise out of me, I was again a (Racial Slur) hater and I had it in for him. He was small let say 150lbs, I was 265lbs at the time and had at least 10 inches on him, so I began to wonder where he was getting all his guts from I was convinced he must have a knife. I was thankful that he was not with any more of his friends.

I was calm and under control, my partner had sulked back behind the car door after wards he commented that he could not believe how calm I was ( he knew I was armed)

Suddenly the mood of the son changed he started to get angry. I had already decided that I was not going to let him get in my face as his mother had. He started to tell me that he loved being a (Racial Slur) that he was proud to be a (Racial Slur) that he was not moving and that he was going to stand his ground. I had no idea why this started to escalate but I inside my head I was going from yellow light to red light.

We were only 10 feet apart, he was waving with his hands in what must have been gang gestures and basically trying to make me to escalate this into a fight.

I looked around and there was a black truck driver stopped about 30 feet away just watching I recall thinking that this was going to escalate.

In my training I have attacked a man using a knife from 20 feet away, I was able to stab him before he drew his gun. I decided to make some room between the two of us. So I slowly walked backwards all the while getting ready for what I was thinking was going to be a rush from this guy. He was continuing with his racial slurs and I was approaching my car, I could back up no further, so this is where I was to stand my own ground.

I was amazed how relaxed I felt and yet I was sharp, I was on red light, I was waiting for him to move an inch towards me and out would come my 45. My hand was already on the inside fold of my jacket near my belt , I knew I could draw and fire before he reached me. My mind was going back and forwards between draw and hold and draw and fire. All my training to date had been draw, off with the safety and fire, it was a fluid movement well practiced and I began to wonder if I did not want to fire if I could draw on him and warn him, would I being able to stop my training from blowing him away. I felt committed to shooting this guy I was ready to do so.

So we had a stand off, he has no idea I was ready to draw, he continues to stand his ground when sense prevails the pregnant woman comes along, she gives me her information and the situation calms down.

About 30 mins afterwards I got the shakes and then I headed off to CCW1 office to talk it through.

I learned that I did not have enough ammo with me if this has escalated I would have been in trouble

[CalCCW03]

I am in Lake Ellsinore with a client , who is looking to buy a 90 acre parcel of land that over looks the lake. The site has never been developed and is covered with grass and trees in a hilly terrain.

We have been walking on the site for about half an hour, there is drizzle in the air , I have my 5.11 jacket on with my HK Compact under my left arm in a Galco Miami Rig, two spare mags under my right arm.

Suddenly we hear screams in the trees ahead of us, picture we are in the middle of the site, we might as well have been in the jungle, thick foliage, difficult terrain, no clear path way. We were a long way from help and very much alone.

The screams turn into insults, it sounds like there is a riot going on in the bushes ahead of us music is playing dogs barking, I am guessing at least 20 people were hiding ahead of us.

In that instant I realize we had stumbled on a meth lab, no one had ever developed this land it had remained unused while other areas of Lake Ellsinore grew. I could see what looked like trailers between the trees and I knew there was potentially a problem as the local meth gang would not want to be discovered by us.

My client is now peeing in his pants he is so scared, bare in mind he is an old man of short stature and slight frame, he was no match for some wild meth head.

My dilemma was do I tell him I am armed, it is not something I like to tell anyone. I decided to stay calm, pop the holster open on both the gun and the mag, make sure the gun was loose in the rig and keep my hand under my coat.

I told my client not worry that I would look after him and we started to make our way out of the woods commando like. I was on red alert, I expected a BG to behind every tree and every bush as we made our way out. My hearing became conected to my gun hand, if I heared a twig snap I was going to draw.

The obscenities were getting worse and I was finding it hard to stay calm myself. If you know where the BG is it makes it much easier than expecting to see one at every turn.

I wanted to badly to draw my weapon and have it at the low ready, in hind site I should have done, I risked my own life because I did not want my client to see me with a gun and I knew if drew I would have to report it to the Sheriff which might have been the end of my CCW.

We eventually made it out of the woods, as soon as we hit a path my client ran to the car, I eventually followed, I was not in any rush to get to the car as I expected trouble there.

Over all no one was hurt but I always wonder in I handled myself correctly. Should I have drawn my weapon, should I have told my client, I thought about some warning shots but that would have got me in even more trouble. Hard to make the right move when you on your own with no back up ( My cell phone had no reception)

Once again the shakes came about 30 mins later and I felt like being sick back at my clients office.