Faulkner
Member
If you have not followed this series of threads, you can find the background here:
http://smith-wessonforum.com/lounge/301278-concealed-carry-mexican-restaurant-finale.html
Pursuant to the CCW class, the county sheriff had asked Mr. & Mrs. "Brady" to call his office and schedule a meeting at their convenience so he could have a follow up discussion with them. They did have the meeting and although the sheriff asked me if I would like to go, I had to decline due to a schedule conflict. I was disappointed because I would have liked to personally follow through with this little project that the sheriff had taken on.
During our weekly command staff meeting the sheriff filled us in on the conversation with the Brady's. He said they were very complimentary of the sheriff's staff throughout this entire episode. Though they indicated they were frustrated in the beginning, they said at all times the deputies conducted themselves professionally and appropriately, which was not their experience with law enforcement 'back east'. The sheriff said he asked them a series of questions about the cultural differences they had experienced thus far between their home and the Arkansas Ozarks. They said they had both grown up in homes that were very liberal politically and socially, gone to a Ivy League school which was also liberal, and they'd pretty much thought most Americans were liberal too. They said that when the HR manager of the oil & gas company they work for talked to them about relocating to Arkansas, he advised them it would be culturally different and they needed to be prepared. They said they got on the internet and did some studying up on the area and it seemed like a beautiful place to go.
What they were not prepared for, they said, was cultural change. They said they'd heard of the Bible Belt but didn't believe it actually existed. A place where most people go to church, and say "yes sir" and "no ma'am, and the community actually has monthly Tea Party meetings. But what shocked them most was all these guns! They had never seen anyone outside of a law enforcement officer with a gun and now they were in a place where it seemed everybody had one! It was absolutely frightening to them.
But, they said the concealed carry class changed everything. They referred to comments I made while teaching the class where I told them I had learned to handle firearms at a very young age. I'd shared with them how my grandpa took me rabbit hunting with him when I was but 4 years old, and had taken my first buck with a rifle by age 6. I taught my two sons how to handle firearms at a young age too, and when my oldest graduated high school I bought him a Ruger .22 Single Six as a graduation present. When he graduated college, I bought him a .40 semi-auto. I had also shared how my wife has a concealed carry permit, and although she seldom carries a firearm on her person, there is always one in the car and she is proficient with handguns. All of that was totally alien to the Brady's who had grown up fearing firearms because only cops and bad people had them back home. They told the sheriff that the single most intriguing comment I made in the class was that seeing a shotgun leaned up in a corner by the back door of my father's house was no more intimidating to me or my children than had it been an umbrella. We all knew that unless there was a need to use it, leave it alone, it's not going to do anything by itself.
They told the sheriff that it surprised even them that they enjoyed the concealed carry class. Actually handling and shooting the firearms at the range was not as scary as they anticipated. They were quick to tell him they were not converts to this whole "gun culture thing", but they had a much better understanding of why when they originally called the police about their concerns about people carrying guns in public, the officers just didn't seem to be overly concerned.
The sheriff asked them if they felt more or less safe knowing that a lot of law abiding citizens were carrying concealed handguns in public. They said they had discussed that very question and they agreed they actually felt somewhat safer here because it's part of the culture. They said back home they would feel very uncomfortable if any of the family members had guns because no one knows how to handle them, it's just not their thing.
A few days after his meeting with the Brady's, the sheriff tracked me down and showed me a thank you card they sent to him. In a had written sentiment at the bottom of the card Mrs. Brady wrote, "Thank you for the professional concern and courtesy you and your staff have shown to a couple of east coast liberals. You have been so kind to help assimilate us into your community. We can only hope if the roles were reversed someone would have been as open to welcome strangers in our midst."
http://smith-wessonforum.com/lounge/301278-concealed-carry-mexican-restaurant-finale.html
Pursuant to the CCW class, the county sheriff had asked Mr. & Mrs. "Brady" to call his office and schedule a meeting at their convenience so he could have a follow up discussion with them. They did have the meeting and although the sheriff asked me if I would like to go, I had to decline due to a schedule conflict. I was disappointed because I would have liked to personally follow through with this little project that the sheriff had taken on.
During our weekly command staff meeting the sheriff filled us in on the conversation with the Brady's. He said they were very complimentary of the sheriff's staff throughout this entire episode. Though they indicated they were frustrated in the beginning, they said at all times the deputies conducted themselves professionally and appropriately, which was not their experience with law enforcement 'back east'. The sheriff said he asked them a series of questions about the cultural differences they had experienced thus far between their home and the Arkansas Ozarks. They said they had both grown up in homes that were very liberal politically and socially, gone to a Ivy League school which was also liberal, and they'd pretty much thought most Americans were liberal too. They said that when the HR manager of the oil & gas company they work for talked to them about relocating to Arkansas, he advised them it would be culturally different and they needed to be prepared. They said they got on the internet and did some studying up on the area and it seemed like a beautiful place to go.
What they were not prepared for, they said, was cultural change. They said they'd heard of the Bible Belt but didn't believe it actually existed. A place where most people go to church, and say "yes sir" and "no ma'am, and the community actually has monthly Tea Party meetings. But what shocked them most was all these guns! They had never seen anyone outside of a law enforcement officer with a gun and now they were in a place where it seemed everybody had one! It was absolutely frightening to them.
But, they said the concealed carry class changed everything. They referred to comments I made while teaching the class where I told them I had learned to handle firearms at a very young age. I'd shared with them how my grandpa took me rabbit hunting with him when I was but 4 years old, and had taken my first buck with a rifle by age 6. I taught my two sons how to handle firearms at a young age too, and when my oldest graduated high school I bought him a Ruger .22 Single Six as a graduation present. When he graduated college, I bought him a .40 semi-auto. I had also shared how my wife has a concealed carry permit, and although she seldom carries a firearm on her person, there is always one in the car and she is proficient with handguns. All of that was totally alien to the Brady's who had grown up fearing firearms because only cops and bad people had them back home. They told the sheriff that the single most intriguing comment I made in the class was that seeing a shotgun leaned up in a corner by the back door of my father's house was no more intimidating to me or my children than had it been an umbrella. We all knew that unless there was a need to use it, leave it alone, it's not going to do anything by itself.
They told the sheriff that it surprised even them that they enjoyed the concealed carry class. Actually handling and shooting the firearms at the range was not as scary as they anticipated. They were quick to tell him they were not converts to this whole "gun culture thing", but they had a much better understanding of why when they originally called the police about their concerns about people carrying guns in public, the officers just didn't seem to be overly concerned.
The sheriff asked them if they felt more or less safe knowing that a lot of law abiding citizens were carrying concealed handguns in public. They said they had discussed that very question and they agreed they actually felt somewhat safer here because it's part of the culture. They said back home they would feel very uncomfortable if any of the family members had guns because no one knows how to handle them, it's just not their thing.
A few days after his meeting with the Brady's, the sheriff tracked me down and showed me a thank you card they sent to him. In a had written sentiment at the bottom of the card Mrs. Brady wrote, "Thank you for the professional concern and courtesy you and your staff have shown to a couple of east coast liberals. You have been so kind to help assimilate us into your community. We can only hope if the roles were reversed someone would have been as open to welcome strangers in our midst."
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