[Amy Blackthorn]

[Kuntryboy816]

October 19th

Spent the morning wrenching on the Jeep. My pop came over to lend a hand as well as kill some time while mom was at work. It's very difficult to be laying on your back under a vehicle with a sidearm holstered on your hip. I make it a habit to have it sitting on my seat for easy access and it's still visible and not hidden. Getting to it from under the Jeep does take a few seconds. My Jeep sits pretty high so I keep an eye out for anyone approaching and if I don't know who it is I'm out from under the Jeep before they are close enough to do anything malicious. Just ask Al the Jehovah's witness if he ever stops by your house what it's like to walk up on me unannounced.

Around 13:00 I got cleaned up and presentable b/c my pop wanted to run to K. Scott jewelry before mom got off work. Before we got out though, mom called so we picked her up first. Stopped by Autozone to get some more gear and then to K. Scott's. Pop was looking to replace his lost wedding band and mom needed some repair work done along with a few other items to do. When we walked in, Ken greeted us but there was another couple there looking at engagement rings. We browsed around and pop narrowed it down to 3 choices. All good but Ken was still dealing with the other couple. So we hung out chatting with the other 2 ladies there, they offered us beverages, mom got her rings cleaned and I got my wife's and my rings cleaned. After about 2 hours from the time we got there we were up to bat. They decided on which ring pop wanted, trading in a ring my mom never wore and also having a stone changed out in one of her other rings. Total of almost 3 hours at the store with other customers coming and going all while I was OC and not one issue. We've done business with Ken for the past 10+ years and I do 99% of my jewelry purchasing with him. I really didn't foresee any issues carrying even though it is a jewelry shop. Ken and I even spent a good 15-20 minutes talking about carrying and firearms before we left. He even offered to sell me one of his Ruger wheel guns in .38 as a possible carry piece for my wife.... and at the same price he bought it for a few years back, no less!

Shameless plug here but if you are in the market for jewelry, check out K. Scott Jewelers on Rt. 40 right next to Buffalo Wild Wings. Ken is a great guy who stands behind his product and treats his customers right.

[Kuntryboy816]

October 20th

After church, we met my parents and my brother and his family at Ramsey's Farm. We got there around 15:00 and stayed til closing @ 17:30. The only thing we did not get to do was the big corn maze. The kids had fun running through the smaller mazes and the pumpkin patch. I was drafted as the work horse to pull the wagon full of pumpkins up and down the hill. We went on the hayride and got some really good pictures. All the while I was OC and no one cared. After that we went back to my place and cooked out then sat around the firepit and relaxed. Great way to close out a weekend!

[Kuntryboy816]

[Kuntryboy816]

Been pretty busy since last week but had 2 encounters I wanted to share....

October 25th

I took a half day off of work to help set up for my cousins wedding on Saturday. I stopped by the house, changed clothes and grabbed my gear and headed over to my brother's house since we were carpooling down. We got down to the place and parked over in the field. It's a private residence owned by a guy in my cousin's church. Very nice, old and large house built by his family in the late 1700's and passed down through the generations.

My cousin greeted us at the driveway. After a min or two, he said to me, "Uhhm, I'm not sure if they'll be comfortable with you carrying here or not." I looked him dead in the eye, somewhat taken aback, and said, "Seriously?! I can't believe you of all people would actually consider asking me to disarm!" I then asked him (somewhat jokingly) if he was turning into a liberal anti. Then I asked if he was carrying (he and my brother both have CCDWs). I was more shocked when he said NO! He didn't even have it secured in his car... he left it at home in the safe. I said, "Why not? I'm not comfortable with you being disarmed." I then gave him my thoughts for a few minutes about his responsibility for his safety and that of his bride to be and also that I would rather have a fellow brother in arms instead of one more person to protect if the SHTF. He tried dropping the "it's not my house" and "there's people here that don't know you that well" excuses but I turned right around and told him that those are exactly the best reasons for me to carry and why he shoud be as well. I could see it hit home with him and also my opinion carries some weight with them all since I'm the oldest out of my brothers and cousins. He just gave me a "Weeeell, okaaaaay..." response but I wanted to drive my point home on how serious I was. I told him, "Look, you tell me right now what you want me to do. I understand that this is a big day for you and your fiance' but I really don't give a crap about how my carrying makes anyone else feel. Our family and friends are here. I don't know all of your friends that well but does that mean I should forego my personal safety to make them feel better about themselves? I've been armed around them before and they never seemed to care so nut up and make a decision. Just be aware that your decision may have consequences. As far as I'm concerned I'm here to help and that entails me being armed. If at some point I'm asked to disarm or leave then so be it." He agreed and apologized and we let the matter drop.

I walked over to help set up the big party tent and another mutual friend, Ryan, greeted me. I introduced myself to those I didn't know greeted the others I had only met once or twice. As I was talking to Ryan, he asked if my cousin had said anything about me carrying. I told him he had and that we had discussed it. Ryan said that he had called my cousin prior to coming over and left his at home as well b/c of their conversation. So I re-iterated what I told my cousin all over again to Ryan. Ryan was kicking himself for not carrying... and rightfully so.

As we were decorating the tent, I was holding a ladder for one of the girls while handing up decorations to her. After being in such close proximity for about half an hour, we switched places and I went up the ladder to reach a spot she couldn't. I dropped the mag, unchambered the round and put them in my pocket. With me standing above their heads, I didn't want to take the chance of some freak accident happening. Even then she didn't notice I was carrying until I stepped up onto the first rung of the ladder. She just said, "Hey you're carrying a gun." No alarm or panic was in her voice and the others that were around kind of chuckled a bit. One other girl even said, "He's been standing next to you this long and you din't see it once?" As we continued to decorate we discussed why I carry and reasons why all people should take their safety a bit more seriously. Her BF/Fiance' came in to help and she introduced us. I chided him a bit and asked him why he's never taken this "fine female of his" out shooting. He didn't really have a good excuse and I told him it was ok if she out-shot him b/c my wife regularly did the same to me. Hopefully they'll take me up on my offer to go to the shooting range sometime.

We finished the setting up then went through rehearsal. Afterwards we had dinner in the house and I was introduced to the owner. He took us on the grand tour and I gotta say I was more than a little jealous of his accomodations. Later they handed out the bridal party gifts and we hung out for a little while longer. Then we, the groom and groomsmen, headed to my parents house for the bachelor "party." It was more of a Cumbaya sit around the campfire and talk about life ordeal... pretty relaxed and subdued. Around midnight we all started to depart and my uncle (groom's dad) decided it was Q/A time.... again. That'll be my next entry....

[TexasJay]

Sounds like a good day. The only suggestion I'd make is not to handle your firearm around other people. Is there a chance getting up on a ladder and some freak accident happening? Sure. But I think there's much less of a chance than perhaps a ND from needlessly handling a weapon. Unless its coming out of the holster to aerate a bad guy intent on hurting you or yours, its best to leave it alone. Just my .02¢

[Boots]

Sounds like a good day. The only suggestion I'd make is not to handle your firearm around other people. Is there a chance getting up on a ladder and some freak accident happening? Sure. But I think there's much less of a chance than perhaps a ND from needlessly handling a weapon. Unless its coming out of the holster to aerate a bad guy intent on hurting you or yours, its best to leave it alone. Just my .02¢

Agreed. But, I'm sure your opinion is worth much more than two-hundreths of a cent.

Removing the gun from the holster like that is much more dangerous than just leaving it in the holster.

That's my 2¢.

[TexasJay]

Ha thanks Boots.

[Kuntryboy816]

Thanks y'all... Good points for sure. I did go to the other side of the tent (~30' away) before I unloaded but that's still doesn't negate the possibility of an accidental discharge or clear the others from being in the field of fire.

[Kuntryboy816]

I know that I kinda left off the 2nd part of my log/encounter from my cousin's wedding 2 weekends ago. I could probably type out a page about it but I realize that not everyone enjoys reading my novels. Suffice it to say that, at one point during the rehearsal dinner, my uncle (groom's father) looked over at me and asked, "Are you going to cover that <sidearm> up?" Figuring maybe he just thought I hadn't noticed it uncovered or that I had a CCDW like his son and my brother, I responded, "If I did I would be breaking the law." As I thought, he said that he thought that all of us had CCDWs. I told him if he was willing to fund mine I would be more than happy to get one but that I would only use it if I thought it was for my benefit. He kinda chuckled and went on about his evening.

Later that night at my parents house, he confronted me about my comment. We spent the better part of 2 hours discussing carrying, law, points of view and such. He is/was of the mind that the 2A is a right but that carrying should be concealed by everyone other than LEO/military b/c people who are anti or don't like firearms would be nervous and uncomfortable. He is retired USAF and has his views and opinions (some strongly). Overall we had a great talk and I educated him on the reasons why I carry and my belief that everyone should take their safety a lot more seriously. No shouting match or hurt feelings when we left, just a better appreciation and understanding for each other even if we don't agree on everything related to firearms.