semperfi71
US Veteran
I am not attempting to resurrect a closed thread.
The incident in Florida is horrible. It personally has troubled me as a long time ago I was involved in a situation whereby I was prepared to use deadly force and was justified. And then the situation rapidly evolved into a scenario of which I had never thought of.
I would like to share it with those who come here for “concealed carry” purposes. I think a lot of our LEOs here will agree with me in my final analysis.
In 1977 I was 24 years old, married with two young kids and living in a four-plex with a lease agreement. We had peeping tom who would not go away. Instead he got worse and was coming around more often and even had our telephone disconnected. I had the police involved but they could not catch him. I decided I had to defend my family alone. I had the semi-official approval of a police captain. I had the law, of the times, firmly on my side. I was going to be armed and if need be prepared to shoot. I did not want to do this but I felt I had no choice. My family was in danger and we were tied to the apartment via a lease.
So I set a trap by waiting outside the apartment after dark, armed and ready, to confront the “Peeper”.
The whole plan went awry from the get go. Nothing happened as I thought it would. I was not able to be “stationed” where I had planned to be to ambush the “Peeper”. I got rained on as I waited in the next door apartment complex to ambush the “Peeper”. I ended up having an irate, drunk with a half empty beer bottle verbally coming after me with his wife (ex) and young son in tow from the same next door apartment complex. And I was armed. My wife almost shot the couple’s son as he left them to peek into our bedroom window as his father was arguing with me. She was armed. The manager of the next door apartment complex got involved, and thankfully he defused a bad situation.
I was, at that time raised in "Old South Texas", which means a man forks his own broncs and doesn’t ask for help if he doesn’t need it. Additionally I had lived several years in the "Out West" where a person handled his problems alone. I was now a “country-boy” living in a big city and unaware of how different things were. It was not my ego that placed me in this situation. It was my lack of experience, my genuine fear for my family, and my resolve to handle my own affairs as a responsible “man” should.
Nothing went as planned and everything went wrong. And, if I had shot a peeping tom I would have been shooting someone who really, probably only needed a serious whipping. And I almost had to shoot a drunken fool in self-defense. And my wife could have shot a young kid whose parents were inattentive fools and of whom my wife should not have been “staged” by me in the bedroom watching out the window waiting for the “Peeper”. We were all a bunch of fools.
Later we moved anyhow and I reflected on the incident and still do. I probably could have talked to the landlord and been moved out of the lease due to the dangers. If not I should have moved anyhow. At the least I should have moved my family out a.s.a.p. I had other options and did not consider them because I was not prepared or “trained” to consider them.
The reason for this long-winded discourse is please be careful. The incident in Florida is horrible. It will probably happen again.
Our society has gotten too ramped up over "crime", "concealed carry", and "self-defense". I think that sometimes the fears are outweighing the actual risks. However at other times we see or hear of some horrible incidents that shake our souls. Those of us who have ownership of, and carry firearms must be very diligent. It can be too easy to go for a gun.
Please be careful of your mindset. Don't go somewhere if you think you have to go armed. Go elsewhere or come back later when it is safer. Even if you are armed let the law handle it, even if they show up late. If someone is stealing your car stereo, let 'em. You can buy another, but you may not be able to buy out of the trouble and mental anguish you will suffer from a shooting, even a legal one. Especially in today’s society.
I have firearms. I sometimes legally carry them.
But I never, ever want to shoot someone.
You will not and do not know how it will ultimately come down.
The incident in Florida is horrible. It personally has troubled me as a long time ago I was involved in a situation whereby I was prepared to use deadly force and was justified. And then the situation rapidly evolved into a scenario of which I had never thought of.
I would like to share it with those who come here for “concealed carry” purposes. I think a lot of our LEOs here will agree with me in my final analysis.
In 1977 I was 24 years old, married with two young kids and living in a four-plex with a lease agreement. We had peeping tom who would not go away. Instead he got worse and was coming around more often and even had our telephone disconnected. I had the police involved but they could not catch him. I decided I had to defend my family alone. I had the semi-official approval of a police captain. I had the law, of the times, firmly on my side. I was going to be armed and if need be prepared to shoot. I did not want to do this but I felt I had no choice. My family was in danger and we were tied to the apartment via a lease.
So I set a trap by waiting outside the apartment after dark, armed and ready, to confront the “Peeper”.
The whole plan went awry from the get go. Nothing happened as I thought it would. I was not able to be “stationed” where I had planned to be to ambush the “Peeper”. I got rained on as I waited in the next door apartment complex to ambush the “Peeper”. I ended up having an irate, drunk with a half empty beer bottle verbally coming after me with his wife (ex) and young son in tow from the same next door apartment complex. And I was armed. My wife almost shot the couple’s son as he left them to peek into our bedroom window as his father was arguing with me. She was armed. The manager of the next door apartment complex got involved, and thankfully he defused a bad situation.
I was, at that time raised in "Old South Texas", which means a man forks his own broncs and doesn’t ask for help if he doesn’t need it. Additionally I had lived several years in the "Out West" where a person handled his problems alone. I was now a “country-boy” living in a big city and unaware of how different things were. It was not my ego that placed me in this situation. It was my lack of experience, my genuine fear for my family, and my resolve to handle my own affairs as a responsible “man” should.
Nothing went as planned and everything went wrong. And, if I had shot a peeping tom I would have been shooting someone who really, probably only needed a serious whipping. And I almost had to shoot a drunken fool in self-defense. And my wife could have shot a young kid whose parents were inattentive fools and of whom my wife should not have been “staged” by me in the bedroom watching out the window waiting for the “Peeper”. We were all a bunch of fools.
Later we moved anyhow and I reflected on the incident and still do. I probably could have talked to the landlord and been moved out of the lease due to the dangers. If not I should have moved anyhow. At the least I should have moved my family out a.s.a.p. I had other options and did not consider them because I was not prepared or “trained” to consider them.
The reason for this long-winded discourse is please be careful. The incident in Florida is horrible. It will probably happen again.
Our society has gotten too ramped up over "crime", "concealed carry", and "self-defense". I think that sometimes the fears are outweighing the actual risks. However at other times we see or hear of some horrible incidents that shake our souls. Those of us who have ownership of, and carry firearms must be very diligent. It can be too easy to go for a gun.
Please be careful of your mindset. Don't go somewhere if you think you have to go armed. Go elsewhere or come back later when it is safer. Even if you are armed let the law handle it, even if they show up late. If someone is stealing your car stereo, let 'em. You can buy another, but you may not be able to buy out of the trouble and mental anguish you will suffer from a shooting, even a legal one. Especially in today’s society.
I have firearms. I sometimes legally carry them.
But I never, ever want to shoot someone.
You will not and do not know how it will ultimately come down.
Last edited:
You were, in a way, conducting surveillance. Everybody who ever watched The Rockford Files thinks surveillance is always easy, and exciting. Uh, no, it rarely is easy, is usually boring, and things often "go awry". I speak from experience, as I have conducted thousands of hours of surveillance as a Private Investigator. Some idiot will always get in your line of sight, and you always have to have a good story (lie) ready to tell somebody about what you're doing.
Plus the weather rarely cooperates. I've done it in temperatures ranging from -11 degrees to 100 degrees. 
