Stupidity can get a person in trouble ...

[KnotRight]

The old saying is that a cop is a few minutes away but my gun is a second away is what I go by when and if I am in that situation. Meaning if I feel there is not immediate danger let the cops do their jobs but if I or my family or property feel threaten and do not have the few minutes, I will call Mr Smith & Wesson or Mr Ruger or Mr Colt or Mr. Glock and if needed maybe Mr CMMG to do their jobs. But the cops will be called first.

 

[cmort666]

Fourteen thousand years ago, imbeciles wandered away from the camp fire as children and got eaten by something before they were able to pass their defective genes along.

These days that job seems to have passed to other morons, law abiding citizens and the police.

 

[cmort666]

The old saying is that a cop is a few minutes away but my gun is a second away is what I go by when and if I am in that situation. Meaning if I feel there is not immediate danger let the cops do their jobs but if I or my family or property feel threaten and do not have the few minutes, I will call Mr Smith & Wesson or Mr Ruger or Mr Colt or Mr. Glock and if needed maybe Mr CMMG to do their jobs. But the cops will be called first.

It's the job of the police to enforce the law, NOT to protect individuals.

It's MY job to PROTECT myself and anyone else to whom I feel a duty of care, NOT to enforce the law.

Confusing the two can and does get people killed, either because they believe the fairy story that the police will "protect" them as individuals, or because they try to do what the police are supposed to do.

 

[Trooperdan]

The right to carry a weapon is the right to self defense, not to impose your will on others. When you carry, you give up the right to start arguments, settle insults or hurl them. .

Simply outstanding summation!

 

[mc5aw]

If we have gotten to the point where a person cannot make a simple request of another person to act civilly, then all is lost.

And while I agree (in hindsight) that contacting LE before making an effort to quell the situation would have been prudent, I am at a loss by anyone's opinion that I was in fact an aggressor in the situation, and that carrying my CCW was looking for trouble. I carry my revolver with me wherever I go, end of story ... to the market, hiking, into the restroom at WMart. How many Forum members would have left their firearms behind in a similar situation? To me that would have been foolish. Carrying a sidearm is not synonymous with looking for trouble ... that's the mantra of the anti-gun establishment, and anyone who insinuates that here is being rather hypocritical.

As to the Castle Doctrine, I am well versed in its parameters. Should the two individuals have followed me back across the street and attacked, or attempted a home invasion, my SD actions would be far less limited than in a more restrictive non-CD state.

As always, opinions pro and con are always welcome to initiate discussion.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

If a Geocache is a problem near your property, tell the next Cacher you see out there about it.
Cachers usually don't know the cache owner, but a Cacher can email the cache owner same as here.
Most cache owners most of the time will disable and relocate the cache.
Opinions vary on cache locations, just like everything else. I have seen caches hidden in front yards. The cache owner asks you to ring the doorbell and say hello.
Yes, this is in a small town. Yes, there still small towns in America.

 

[Ilike9mm]

A new homeowner in Oakland CA., trying to improve the neighborhood, had purchased a fixer-upper.

There were some street types breaking bottles (glass) on the sidewalk outside the home. He goes out to give them a piece of his mind.

He's dead, they stabbed him. Just sayin.

 

[old bear]

a bunch of clueless fools on someone else's turf could have met a tragic end based on their conduct, attitude, and actions,

Having a problem with ego, attitude, and a big mouth is a sure way to get into big problems very quickly. "I will tolerate rude behavior in a man" Capt. Woodrow Call (sp). From Lonesome Dove.

 

[Rattler67]

I've been geocaching for more than a decade and am truly ashamed at the behavior of some of the newbies to the hobby. My rule is to always be cordial, considerate, and compliant to the people in the areas where I am enjoying geocaching. The ability of cell phones to be used in g/c has been responsible for a lot of this. Before them you had to make a pretty substantial investment in the hardware to participate. Unfortunately, any idiot with a cell phone can search today. This is not meant to denigrate legitimate Groundspeak members, however. Just the ones like the OP mentioned.

Also, when I go geocaching, I'm always armed too. Not in restricted areas though.

Glad it turned out that no one was hurt which could easily have happened.

 

[cmort666]

If we have gotten to the point where a person cannot make a simple request of another person to act civilly, then all is lost.

I certainly won't be the one to tell you that all is NOT lost.

This once again comes back to how children are raised... or not raised.

When you tell kids that they're "special", not because of what they do but because of who they are, and never tell them "no", you create a LOT of malignantly narcissistic bullies who expect YOU to dote over them like mommy.

Some of them are just arrogant and selfish. Some are verbally aggressive. Some physically so.

The latter sometimes write BADLY overdrawn checks which their behinds can't cash. To be fair however, they DO give us a lot of anecdotal information on the relative stopping power of various cartridges and loading variations thereof...

 

[Doug M.]

I have a loud clear voice and a vocabulary that would make R. Lee Ermey turn pale. Certain things really anger me. I have a preference for vigorously informing people of the unsatisfactory nature of their actions. Bad mix.

I do not gain any benefit by interacting with people I dislike or whose conduct annoys me. I put a lot of effort into not doing so unless it is too hard to avoid (immediate safety problem etc). If it is a problem, I prefer to call LE and let them deal with it. They are neutral, I'm the complainant, and I make a record of being a reasonable person by doing so. If someone tries to do something to me as a result of my calling the police, the record favors me, and they potentially have a massive legal problem in the nature of witness tampering.

 

[cmort666]

I have a loud clear voice and a vocabulary that would make R. Lee Ermey turn pale. Certain things really anger me. I have a preference for vigorously informing people of the unsatisfactory nature of their actions. Bad mix.

I do not gain any benefit by interacting with people I dislike or whose conduct annoys me. I put a lot of effort into not doing so unless it is too hard to avoid (immediate safety problem etc). If it is a problem, I prefer to call LE and let them deal with it. They are neutral, I'm the complainant, and I make a record of being a reasonable person by doing so. If someone tries to do something to me as a result of my calling the police, the record favors me, and they potentially have a massive legal problem in the nature of witness tampering.

I don't like most people in general. It's not that I hate them, just that they have no qualities which would make me want to interact with them in any way. Good books make much better companions.

When it comes to STUPID, MALICIOUS people, I have a real distaste. I avoid them at all cost. The cops get paid to deal with them, and they're the ones to whom I delegate that responsibility.

 

[pharmer]

What were you going to do if the beating was still in progress when you entered?

Thankfully, I didn't need to play it out. Joe

 

[Rastoff]

Not all geo-cachers are quiet and polite. I am convinced many of them cannot read. Many a herd have been confused by this sign.

They needed to go to the state park one mile up the road, I guess the word "Falls" confused them.

A mile up the road? Geo-caching is done with a GPS. The worst GPS in the world wouldn't lead them to that sign. Those must be the stupidest geo cachers in the world.

I am at a loss by anyone's opinion that I was in fact an aggressor in the situation, and that carrying my CCW was looking for trouble. I carry my revolver with me wherever I go, end of story ... to the market, hiking, into the restroom at WMart.

I certainly wouldn't put you as the aggressor, but some would. I think you were prudent to take your gun with you just in case things go badly. However, it's a lose-lose situation. If you don't take your gun, you could be overwhelmed by the people you're confronting. If you do take your gun, and have to use it, people will say that you went with intent to do harm. It sucks, but that's the world we live in.

 

[ColbyBruce]

"A mile up the road? Geo-caching is done with a GPS. The worst GPS in the world wouldn't lead them to that sign. Those must be the stupidest geo cachers in the world."

My wife has a Tom-Tom (?) GPS and it is not correct there, so perhaps the couple leading the expedition had the same device? Tom-Tom shows old logging roads as major streets.

Everyone else was just following the leader. They were an odd assortment of folks to be sure.

 

[BE Mike]

I think you did the right thing. I generally will try to reason with someone in a similar situation. If the problem continues, then I will up the ante by calling the police. You did your best to reason with the people and didn't use foul language or raise your voice, even after being verbally abused. Ya done ok in my book. BTW, I always go about legally armed.

 

[John R]

While I applaud your restraint when asking them to quiet down I agree w/others who said that a call to the police should have been your first step. During my 30 yrs. on the street I saw more than one of these confrontations go terribly wrong.

If you'd have been pushed into using your gun everything you own might have gone into defending yourself in a prosecution that likely would have followed. In a word it's just not worth it.

I totally agree, let the Po Po do the dirty work.
Saves a lot of problems for you.

 

[Protected One]

I certainly wouldn't put you as the aggressor, but some would. I think you were prudent to take your gun with you just in case things go badly. However, it's a lose-lose situation. If you don't take your gun, you could be overwhelmed by the people you're confronting. If you do take your gun, and have to use it, people will say that you went with intent to do harm. It sucks, but that's the world we live in.

More likely, you would be portrayed as the "initiator" of the conflict, and questioned as to why you chose to confront those people (especially ARMED)...rather than letting the police deal with them.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

Confronting a couple guys, that you assume are intoxicated, in order to reason with them... what could go wrong?

While I applaud your cool head during the encounter, I don't think it was the best idea to put yourself in such a position to begin with.

 

[BE Mike]

More likely, you would be portrayed as the "initiator" of the conflict, and questioned as to why you chose to confront those people (especially ARMED)...rather than letting the police deal with them.

How can someone be considered doing wrong by attempting to talk to someone and asking them to modify their behavior? This attitude is what has caused people to sit in their homes and not interact with their neighbors, but call the police when there is a problem. I can't envision a jury coming to the conclusion that discussing a minor problem with someone before calling the police, would be considered wrong on any level. Now if the person attempting to discuss the problem was displaying inappropriate behavior, then that might change things. Now, if the people displaying the bad behavior includes felonious acts, then by all means the police should be called first.