Question regarding owning/brandishing your guns : V-Twin Forum: Harley Davidson Forums

Alex93Sportster · 10-23-2008, 11:02 AM

I read through the "pistol packin" thread, and completely understand and agree with the 2nd amendment right to carry a weapon. I grew up in Boston, but guns were never a part of my childhood, and except for a few paintball games and a few bb gun/rifles, I've never actually fired a bullet. I'm curious how many of you that DO carry, have ever had to either brandish the gun in a bad situation, or ever had to actually use it, and what legal ramifications may have come from it.

Alex93Sportster · 10-23-2008, 01:03 PM

16 people have viewed this thread, but not one has chimed in. Everyone is more than willing to show pics of their pieces, and are obviously proud of them, yet no one has been willing (yet) to discuss ever needing to use them. Have I breeched some sort of faux pas (first and last time I EVER hope to use that phrase) by asking this question?

trooper113 · 10-23-2008, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alex93Sportster

16 people have viewed this thread, but not one has chimed in. Everyone is more than willing to show pics of their pieces, and are obviously proud of them, yet no one has been willing (yet) to discuss ever needing to use them. Have I breeched some sort of faux pas (first and last time I EVER hope to use that phrase) by asking this question?

Many people choose not to answer this particular question. When I was working, I "brandished" a firearm a number of times. Since retirement, I've had my CC gun out once and I believe the bad guy viewing my handgun stopped a mugging....the probable victim being my wife.

rewind · 10-23-2008, 02:33 PM

I'm not a LEO but have carried for many years and fortunately have not had to pull it. I do live in a fairly small town with relatively low crime.....but if I need it, I have no problem using it.

Alex93Sportster · 10-23-2008, 03:38 PM

I understand people being a little gun-shy (ok terrible pun) about answering this question. I guess the reason I don't think I could ever own a gun, is my fear of having to use it. I've been in plenty of fist fights, even had a kid when I was younger swing a skateboard at my head. Luckily I have never been on the receiving end of a knife or gun. I like the idea and thought of having the gun there in the event that I needed it, but if I ever did pull it out, and it didn't have the desired effect of "ending" the altercation, I don't know if I could actually go through with using it. I also think there is such a grey area legally when it comes to using a gun/self defense, that I would fear I would be punished for having used it, even in the correct manner. My 2cents.

arealinvestor · 10-23-2008, 04:03 PM

Its a tall responsibility carrying a gun.Depending on which state you live in laws vary greatly.Me being a NJ resident CCW permits are not permitted.NJ is not a right to carry state.IMHOP it should be,but thats another story.I do legally own a handgun & I'm currently waiting on a new permit to purchase a new Springfield.I am licensed to carry in other states by way of reciprical privlidges.I hope that I would never be put in that kind of position to use deadly force.

wichitagreg · 10-23-2008, 04:25 PM

Never had to show it, nor would I. If it's coming out, it's too late for anything else.

Milehog · 10-23-2008, 05:16 PM

If you pull it assume the situation has just been escalated. That said, many, maybe even most times a law abiding citizen pulls their handgun the situation is defused and the perp remembers a previous engagement.

Bluzmn59 · 10-23-2008, 05:45 PM

I have never had to pull it and I hope I never do. If I do pull it, it is will be with the intention of using it. As said above, it is a serious responsibility to carry a weapon and should not be taken lightly.

hdwoman48 · 10-23-2008, 06:48 PM

I've never pulled mine. I always have believed that if you do pull it, the next step is shooting the person and I've never gotten to the point where that seemed necessary. That said, I started carrying because I was being stalked and had been attacked by an ex-boyfriend who made my life hell for over a year. I would have had no problem putting a bullet in between his eyes if he'd been foolish enough to confront me.

mungo · 10-23-2008, 08:22 PM

I've always carried, even before CCW licenses. I've never drawn it, never had a need. It's a last resort only.

JBolt · 10-23-2008, 09:47 PM

I have carried for most of my adult life, and have never had to use my weapon. One of the things I tell people about carrying a firearm is that as I raised my children in the DFW mertroplex there was more than one occasion when one of my children recognized that we were in some area of town that didn't appear to be safe, and they would get up next to me and whisper, Dad you do have your gun right? It gave them a sense of security.

Fred1369 · 10-23-2008, 10:47 PM

Brandishing is a no-no. Unavoidable self defense only.

Gerg · 10-23-2008, 10:58 PM

Brandish

1 : to shake or wave (as a weapon) menacingly
2 : to exhibit in an ostentatious or aggressive manner

This is why you didn't get a lot of answers. Bransishing is to imply improper use. CCW folks don't do that. As most have said, you pull your weapon to use it, not to wave in menacingly or exibit in an ostentatious or aggressive manner.

And I've had my CCW for about 10 years now. Never had to expose my weapon.

GJarrett · 10-24-2008, 08:42 AM

Yep. I've never brandished, but have been saved twice without having to use it. For over five years I was a night auditor at hotels. The exact same scenario happened to me twice; once in Waco TX and another time in Dallas.

In the middle of the night when there was no one in the lobby, a very suspicious looking guy walks in, meanders around the lobby checking it out, and then starts to approach me at the front desk. I cannot exactly describe why I knew, but years of work in that job and dealing with late-night weirdoes gives one an instinct. My hair went up on the back of my neck and I knew this guy was about to rob me.

Sure enough as he approached the front desk, his elbow bends and he starts to pull something out of his coat pocket (he's wearing a coat and it's summertime in Texas). At that exact instant, my hand (hidden behind the front desk) was down beside me holding an old-model Ruger single action .44 Blackhawk. All I did was slowly cock it, but in the empty lobby at the dead of night the sound of the hammer coming back and the clicks of engaging the cylinder and cocking the gun were loud and unmistakable. The guy stopped in his tracks, lowered his hand back down deep in his pocket, backed away and left. I have no doubt that I saved myself in that instant without firing a shot.

The exact same scenario played out years later at another hotel in Dallas TX. That time I had my Colt Commander .45 and when I cocked it behind the counter, the guy got real nervous and finally stuttered out asking directions to Denton (a town north of Dallas). As the hotel was on I-35, the highway to Denton, I simply pointed out the parking lot to the interstate and said "keep going north". He left. The next morning I heard on the news that some other clerk working a hotel on I-35 north of me was shot during a robbery that night. Hmmm.