Knoxville Walmart tonight

[Guest airborne1525]

Airborne, you did exactly as you should. The "gut" is one of the smartest parts of

the body.

You assessed the threat, reacted as needed for the situation. Turned out well. About

as good as it gets.

BTW, thanks for your service to your country from an ole Army Grunt.

And thank you as well.

[RichardS]

Thanks for the post, got me thinking... I might have drawn in that situation and honestly that may have been the wrong thing to do. I think you did well to let the dude know you were armed without actually drawing and potentially escalating the situation.

[hkgonra]

We will never know for sure but is exposing your gun in public ever a good idea?

Not to mention the fact that he was simply going for his keys and it just so happened to expose his gun. He was in no way trying to threaten anyone.

How you articulate your actions later can be as/more important than your actions.

[Guest airborne1525]

Agreed

[QuietDan]

So tonight I stopped at the Walmart in the west town area an had an alarming encounter.

Let me back up a bit. My day started at 2am driving my wife to Atlanta to get on a plane to go to Belize for a mission trip. Returned home, slept a bit and then needed to run my mother-in-law to Knoxville for some errands. Somewhere in my wife's packing and cleaning, she moved my IWB holster and I couldn't find it this afternoon. So, not being a fan of open carry, I decided to leave my sidekick in the safe ( that "I won't need it" mind frame had kicked in.) half way down the drive the truth of you never know when you will need it kicked in so I turned around and grabbed my strapped my serpa holster on and put the springfield in place.

I needed to cash a check so I decided to swing by Walmart since the bank will be closed on Monday. Made the stupid mistake of running into Walmart with my check visible in my hand. Soon as I approached the door, saw a guy standing outside that set my radar off. Went to customer service, cashed check and saw him standing back toward a sign watching. As I left I continued to watch him fall in behind me. So as I was walking out, I made a quick stop at the bathroom to see what he would do. He didn't come in. I made a quick adjustment on my clothing, tucked side of shirt in and left my coat unzipped. Went to the parking lot, as I was heading toward my car with my children and mother-in-law waiting in it, the man appeared past my car coming toward me quickly. I took my keys out (purposely moving my coat out of the way to draw if needed,) he looked down, saw my holstered weapon, turned white as a ghost and did a 180 and walked very briskly away. Now I know there is a very remote chance that this could all be a combination of coincidence and lack of sleep, but I have learned to always trust my gut. I called the store and spoke to lost prevention and notified them (which I was somewhat surprised they took fairly serious.)

Point of sharing this rambling lack of sleep group of thoughts with everyone....had I not decided to go back and get my weapon, who knows what would have happened. Lessons learned today about not letting my guard down and being more discrete about handling checks and money.

Okay, let the digs fly, I can take my licks!

Yep. Substitute Walmart for gas-pumps and we're singing each other's song.

[Guest airborne1525]

Seems like we both have a hedge of protection from the man who is really in charge! Blessings my friend

[dickenscpa]

Just another thought , Could this scenerio be another argument for open carry? If he had been concealed he may have had to take this to the next level to end it?? Once he made the decision to draw..it would have been nano-seconds before the decision to fire....

I know, I know..there are always hypotheticals..always "what if's"...to argue either case..

But in this case I think it may have been a good thing his wife hid the concealed holster...??

Very thought that entered my mind. Some Divine Intervention perhaps?

You didn't draw, brandish or do anything remotely not in line with the law and you and family came home safe. Win! I'm on the fence when it comes to OC vs CC. In some places I feel OC is necessary. At times I feel the need to CC. Great thing is I have the option. LOL!

Brad

[QuietDan]

Sometimes the difference between CC and OC is the flick of a shirt-tail.

And sometimes that flick just happens, and sometimes it's on purpose.

[RobertNashville]

It seems to me that many of the arguments about OC and CC often seem to degrade into one is "better" than the other and I simply don't see why it should be that way.

I am sure there are times when some potential BG may see someone openly carrying and decide to look for an easier target so he goes another way and you many not even notice that this decision by the BG was going on.

I'm equally sure that there are times when a BG is absolutely going to go ahead with his plans and will purposely take out anyone he sees as a threat, i.e. somone openly carrying.

But it doesn't end there...a person may look like a threat because of his age/size, or because he is openly carrying or because he has a fighting knife discretely (he thinks) clipped inside his pants pocket and I would also include those who carry "concealed" but might as well have a neon sign on their head calling attention to the fact that they are carrying - that "concealment vest" that you need for IDPA is probably a very bad idea on the street...BGs may not be the most intelligent among us but if you can look at someone and be pretty sure they are carrying then so can the BDs.

The real problem with OC vs CC as I see it is knowing ahead of time which is going to be best for all the situations you'll face on any give day!

[CQB Elite]

More than CC vs OC, this discussion should be about situational awareness. The OP was doing what he should have been doing- paying attention to those around him.

[RobertNashville]

More than CC vs OC, this discussion should be about situational awareness. The OP was doing what he should have been doing- paying attention to those around him.

AMEN.

The best confrontations are they one's you can avoid by being aware of what 's going on around you and I'd say that the OP did exactly what he needed to do...we should all hope we can do as well.

[Jonnin]

Hmm that is an interesting thought... I would have had to draw, since mine is too small to see, there is no "see the holstered weapon & leave" option. +1 for having a big gun, I guess --- once you draw, there will be police and bystanders and aggravations, more likely than not.

praise, +1 for being aware of him long before he could make a move.

slap, -1 for not alerting walmart security while you got your check cashed. Probably should have told the cashier right away.

[Guest jkintn]

What does the law specifically state in regards to drawing/brandishing? I realize it can result in aggravated assault, right? If carrying concealed, is it legal to unzip your coat or casually lift your shirt tail and tuck behind to make weapon visible as someone is approaching? I'm pretty sure the instructor at my HCP course, stated you could even rest your hand on the grip provided you didn't actually draw the weapon.

[Oh Shoot]

What does the law specifically state in regards to drawing/brandishing? I realize it can result in aggravated assault, right? If carrying concealed, is it legal to unzip your coat or casually lift your shirt tail and tuck behind to make weapon visible as someone is approaching? I'm pretty sure the instructor at my HCP course, stated you could even rest your hand on the grip provided you didn't actually draw the weapon.

Gray area.

Assault can be "Intentionally or knowingly causes another to reasonably fear imminent bodily injury"

Aggravated assault is doing same but "Uses or displays a deadly weapon" in doing so.

Nobody gets charged with aggravated assault simply by open carrying. But then again, moving a garment to expose gun can be seen as an overt act meant to display intent.

Like I said, gray.

- OS

[Fallguy]

OS beat me to it, but he sums it up fairly well.

There is no mention of "brandishing" in TN law.

So then it's whether your actions caused the other person to reasonably fear injury or death and that is fairly subjective. Also if you would be justified or not.

[Guest Lowbuster]

I think you handled the situation great. As I read these it helps me to be more aware of my surroundings. This site is a good learning tool to utilize. I hope if I'm ever in a situation as this, I will handle it as well as you did.

[98SS1LWEE]

Well, I have but one thing to say on this...>Love the outcome,everyone goes home...Breathing