Would You Tell Someone If You Noticed Them Printing.

[Smoke]

I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate that my point in starting this thread isn't to say what (except for approaching my wife) you should or shouldn't do or which course of action is the best.

I started this discussion in response to all the people who say that nobody notices when they print.

I don't know if you could call it frequently but I have noticed several people printing. And unless I was at work and they were in a place where they weren't allowed to have a concealed handgun I didn't say a word.

Never assume that just because nobody said anything that nobody notices you printing.

 

[Tim Stapp]

I've read the entire thread with amusement. Amusement because I recall a younger man parking next to me in the parking lot of a local gun store during the pandemic. We live in an open carry state. We chuckled that just a couple years prior walking into any store carrying a gun and wearing a mask would get us arrested!

More to the point: at a family wedding I sat next to my wife's cousin that was carrying. He didn't print but sitting next to him I could hear the leather creak. Being raise around horses and holsters, I immediately recognized the sound. I leaned over and whispered "what you carrying?" He looked at me quizical and motioned me outside.

How did you know? I told him that I heard the leather squeak. His response was: "I guess that I need to go home and oil the leather!"

Had he not been family, I'd not have said a word.

 

[SGT ROCK 11B]

I walked over, apologized for the interruption, and mentioned the problem, asking him to shift his position…. to which he responded brusquely “None of your f-in’ business!” He remained bent-over leaning on his friend’s table.

What I did next might have gotten me in trouble… but his response so pizzed me off that I grabbed his right elbow/arm pushing it fwd (preventing his using it) and pulled his pistol from the holster, dropped the mag onto the floor, and cleared the slide. By now he’s pulled away from me and started yelling, but I pushed the slide-release and slid it off the frame and handed the slide to him.

I dropped the frame into the mail-box outside on the sidewalk and walked to my truck a block away (my wife was right behind me acting confused and angry at me. I hate it when women distractingly yell at their men when in dangerous situations.) The guy and his buddy were right behind me yelling and I told them to call the sherriff. My heart didn’t stop racing for hours.

That’s the only time I’ve ever acted so reckless. Ordinarily I mind my own business.

That is way out there. But lessons for everyone here. From a cop's perspective.

Why disarm a citizen who is legally open carrying? One thing is @decuerno I bet knew he could take him. It would be different if the citizen had a build like a professional football player or was a member of Motorcycle Gang.

Second, we size up people every day. I see people who Open Carry in ID and AZ and its oblivious gun ownership does not make everyone a gunfighter. As a cop at one of the Street Survival Seminars it was mentioned why criminals comply to some officers and not others. One was your presence, and the other thing was how you wearing your handgun. Pachmyr or Hogue rubber grips means that officer actually shoots a lot. The officer has a Distinguished Master Qualification medal he knows how to shoot. In public criminals look for the easiest victim and that is likely being the "grey man". So, in public or even at your front door the criminal may have sized you up at a distance and decided to make the approach.

Interesting how this all played out. It could have gone very bad in many different ways for everyone involved. Good lesson for all and thank you @decuerno for sharing.

 

[John in Yuma]

I've passed by this topic for days thinking, "Who gives a hoot  how people write?"

 

[steelslaver]

I am sure some people do notice me printing. But, I bet the vast majority of them are similar to me. I will also bet a bunch of people who think they don't print do. None of that alters my belief that vast majority of the population is unaware for whatever reason and that of those few that do notice the majority are not any kind of problem. If 5% notice and 5% of those are potentially problematic, I am still way way safer than a guy with no gun or someone who's carry piece is difficult to deploy.

And ya my views on guns, carry etc are skewed by where I live. THAT'S part of WHY I LIVE HERE

 

[Smoke]

I've passed by this topic for days thinking, "Who gives a hoot  how people write?"

Well, if you noticed somebody writing would you say anything?

 

[Smoke]

If 5% notice and 5% of those are potentially problematic, I am still way way safer than a guy with no gun or someone who's carry piece is difficult to deploy.

IDK if, statistically, the overwhelming majority of us will never have to draw our gun in self-defense throughout our entire lifetime.

Are you really that much safer than someone with no gun?

It's kind of like walking around Arizona wearing a life jacket

 

[rockquarry]

I've passed by this topic for days thinking, "Who gives a hoot  how people write?"

IDK if, statistically, the overwhelming majority of us will never have to draw our gun in self-defense throughout our entire lifetime.

Are you really that much safer than someone with no gun?

It's kind of like walking around Arizona wearing a life jacket

Realistic perspective.

 

[Dave Baird]

I told a woman that when I was younger, but it didn't go well.

 

[Taj]

I’m new to these forums…and don’t wish to give the wrong impression…. reluctant to tell on myself…but here goes:

I would think it much easier and safer to simply have the wife move out of line with the muzzle, rather than attack a person who wasn't doing anything illegal. I get the concern, but you yourself stated you couldn't tell if the safety was engaged. Not to mention the fact that you had no idea whether his companion was armed. In a lot of places in Montana, once you physically attacked the guy if either of them had killed or injured you they probably wouldn't have even spend the night in jail. In fact in small town Montana, that fat disheveled guy may well have been the sheriff, a county commissioner or a multimillionaire rancher. YOU HAD ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA, YOU STARTED IT, YOU PHYSICALLY ATTACKED THE MAN, HE WAS ON HIS HOME TURF AND YOUR A STRANGER. Not very bright.

IMHO you made a bad situation way worse. You stated you left and went down the road to get lunch. Doing that as your first move instead of your last would have been a lot smarter.

Roger that, or just get up and find another place to eat. Solutions are often simpler that some folks are willing to make them.

 

[Eddie Southgate]

I make it a point to mind my own business so the answer is no.

 

[STORM2]

In Texas we don’t care.

 

[rockquarry]

In Texas we don’t care.

The way it should be, but there are lots of concealed carry hobbyists who think differently.

 

[oberon]

No.

 

[Oldmanjoseph]

I frequently read posts in which people say nobody notices them printing. I really wonder does nobody notice or is nobody saying anything?

So here's the situation, you're walking through Walmart. You notice somebody Who You Don't Know printing or the butt of their gun is visible in their pocket.

Would you mention it or mind your own business.

I would feel more comfortable knowing that i am safer with more people carrying.

 

[VincentW]

I frequently read posts in which people say nobody notices them printing. I really wonder does nobody notice or is nobody saying anything?

So here's the situation, you're walking through Walmart. You notice somebody Who You Don't Know printing or the butt of their gun is visible in their pocket.

Would you mention it or mind your own business.

Personally, living in Texas, I’d mind my own business. It doesn’t bother me—open carry, concealed, or carrying in a bag, it’s all the same to me. My personal preference is a CCL and a small S&W 380 Bodyguard. I carry it pretty much 24/7. Licensed and legal is the way to go.

 

[65-2x2]

I made the mistake of telling a young man his firearm was showing at our local gun free mall a few years ago. He got irate and said it was supposed to be showing. I learned my lesson and told myself "Never again!"

I had a very similar experince. Learned my lesson, so I do not.

 

[65-2x2]

Arizona is an open carry State. I see carry handguns very often when I go out in public like Home Depot, Supermarket, the range, and a restaurant.

I would not say anything to anyone about their firearm…. Way too many crazy people today.

Usually I try to be as “gray man” as I can be. I don’t wear my NRA hat, Sig Sauer or GOA t-shirts. Once in a while I will wear my T-Rex Arms hat when I go to the range. My range bags are DeWalt Tools and Craftsman Tools. There are no stickers on my vehicles that would indicate my belief or support about anything.

I spot guys all the time that are carrying and if its not open, I can often see that the bulge being “printed” on their hip is not a cell phone or a knife.

I’m not paranoid… I just don’t need to be noticed.

I am wondering if we may be kin?

 

[MoGunGuy]

This is the 2020s, I mind my own business and let other people worry about their own problems.

 

[Bill_in_VA]

The way it should be, but there are lots of concealed carry hobbyists who think differently.

“Hobbyists.” Yep, a perfect word for them.