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December 21st, 2007 Dear Friend, Merry Christmas! It's not here quite yet, but this is the last newsletter until then, so again- Merry Christmas! One of my favorite parts of this time of year is family. We have some pretty big get-togethers, and they are always a blast! I've got a great newsletter for you this week, and I'm kicking it off with a cool video. It does involve guns, as you'll see, but it's background music is one of the songs done by the Tans-Siberian Orchestra. They've really made some GREAT Christmas music, and the song in this video is one of my favorites! You'll Shoot Your Eye Out! USCCA Video of the Week
"Weird After Midnight Store Experience" Cody Alderson I pulled into a 24 hour supermarket at about 1:00 AM. I stopped there on my way home from working late to pick up a few items. There were only a few cars in the lot which, by the places they were parked, seemed to be mostly cars of the employees of the store. I went inside and got my few items and headed for the cashier. He said to me that he didn't know what was causing all of the weirdos to come out tonight. After I figured out that he wasn't talking about me I mentioned that maybe it was a full moon or something. He informed me that he was talking about a guy up by the front door. Now this place is as big as a Wal-Mart so I looked where he was pointing. I saw this guy white male, about 5' 8", 165-175 pounds driving one of those motorized carts for the handicapped toward us. He had a baby about a year or so old in the basket of the cart. The guy obviously wasn't handicapped physically. He was rambling something as he drove that cart toward me and the cashier so him being mentally handicapped is a different story. He pulled that cart up to me and the cashier, stopped it, jumped up, and picked up the baby girl out of the basket. He stood her up on the area where the groceries go after the cashier scans them and said, "What do you think of her?" I said, "She is beautiful," while scanning this guy thoroughly like that laser scanner scanned the UPC codes on my groceries. This guy was hyper. He was really fidgety. He was talking very animated giving me the impression of someone under the influence of something. He said to the little girl, "Show the man and the officer," then he paused, rubbed his chin, looked at me out of the corner of his eye, and said, "Because of your gun." He continued by saying something about the baby and a pair of glasses. The little girl didn't have them on so he started looking around for a pair of glasses that supposedly dropped. Anyway, my shirt had inched up in the back to reveal the lower part of my holster which is why he mentioned the gun. I was under no obligation to confirm or deny his impressions of what I did for a living. I just watched him as he rambled for a few more seconds. It was windy, but not too cold out. Still, it's winter in Pennsylvania and this guy had on a sleeveless tee shirt. Maybe it was to show off all the tattoos. He was painted up real good. Yeah I know it's not cool to pass judgment because of a tattoo or twenty, but it was the whole package this guy was presenting to me. He put the little girl back in the basket and motored off driving the handicapped cart. I told the cashier that I agree with him that the tattooed fellow is nuts, and I asked him if he knew why he was in here with a baby. The cashier told me that he was with another man and woman that were also of questionable mental fitness. Nothing came of that weird little incident, and at the time I really didn't think that anything bad was going to happen. However, I was watching the man. I was aware of where the little girl was, where the man was, where the cashier was, and what was going on around me without letting the odd fellow distract me. I could feel him sizing me up even though I knew he had no intent of doing anything really bad right there. I felt this guy had experience doing this sort of thing outside of this little odd show that he was putting on. I got the feeling that if I had been somewhere by myself, if he didn't have the little girl, and if he would have been in need of some money that his process of "sizing" me up would have escalated a bit more. He assumed that I was a cop so that even gave me a little more information to work with in my own personal work of sizing him up. The users and freaks that I have had to work with out in the public have all been a little better at sizing folks up than the general population. The simple facts are that the element that we are armed to protect ourselves from are many times more adept at sizing up than we are. They get to have more experience with it because of the nature of what they are involved with. We may train daily to be able to react to a bad situation that may or may not develop in our lifetimes. They get real-world experience because they are living that sort of life where it is a daily mechanism of survival for them to be able to do successful threat assessment. I do my best to avoid people like that, and that puts me at a disadvantage when I encounter one on occasion. Being a law-abiding citizen that likes to be part of an integrated peaceful society puts me at a disadvantage with that sort of element. I don't want to know them, hang around with them, or even be anywhere close to them. Each day I'm mostly around folks that mean me no harm. I'm usually around folks that would fall over and die if violence touched them. That puts me at a disadvantage. Maybe you know what I'm trying to say, and maybe you don't. I suppose to sum it up would be to say that I think that the mental case that I encountered in the store was better able to assess that I was more of a threat to him if he escalated than what I assessed him to be toward me. So maybe our diligence at practicing awareness saves us sometimes because we appear to the criminal element to be a greater threat than what they want to deal with even if we are in error and misread the intent of some of them. For more information about the author, Cody Alderson, click this link to go to his website: www.aldersonarts.com
Goody Guns USCCA Gear Review Guys, for this week's Christmas special, I'm reviewing something that is probably one of the best ideas for a product I've ever seen. They are called "Goody Guns".
My only regret about this review is that I didn't see them a few weeks ago, so that we could have had them in time for the Holidays!
I don't know about you guys, but I've got to order some of these. Their site says that they are Hand Made by a Korean War Veteran, and they are available in Semi-Auto or Revolver shapes for all of you wheel-gun lovers out there! I REALLY wish I was reviewing the taste of some of these things!
What a GREAT idea, and a great cause! If you want more information on Goody Guns, go to their website at www.goodyguns.com or CLICK HERE.. I wish all the luck in the world to the JPFO - the 'Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership'. They've done some excellent work fighting for the rights that we believe in. I hope you guys had a Happy Hanukkah!
This is the part every week where I ask you to send this newsletter to any friends or family members who might enjoy reading what I have to say!! It's easy to do- Just click on the big envelope!! Forum Highlights Every Deluxe Member has complete access to the USCCA forum, which is constantly being accessed by members sharing information, knowledge, insight, and fun. With well over thirty-thousand posts and growing by the hour, this is one heck of a valuable resource! Having problem with CCW I have a problem I don't know if anyone can help with. I wear bluejeans 6 out of 7 days for work. Basically because of the type of work I do. I have trouble concealing in them. I carry a KelTec P3AT in the front pocket. I have tried many different holsters but they all seem to allow the gun to print. Due to recent surgury I can't carry IWB due to scarring and OWB puts the gun into view, which causes a work issue. I have even purchased jeans a size too large trying to hide the printing without positive results. I am an older (55+) man with the typical middle aged tire around the gut (which has decreased a bit in size due to diet). Any suggestions? Considering Para Ordinance Companion Does anyone out there have one? What are your opinions on it? I have run across one for $500, and I'm just wondering if it is worth it... Thanks! http://www.para-usa.com/new/product_pistol.php?id=15 Info on Ammo? Does anyone know if the Wolf 9mm available from 'Cheaper than Dirt' has any problems?? It says "Berdan" primers and I always thought that was a military primer, frowned upon in rifles... Quote of the Week Sometimes a good quote will inspire or motivate you. Sometimes, they'll just put a smile on your face! Here is the quote for this week...
Closing Thoughts Well folks, that's all for the last newsletter before Christmas, and the second to last newsletter of 2007! I want to wish you all a warm, happy, and safe holiday weekend, and a very Merry Christmas after that! Until then, ---- Tim Schmidt Founder - U.S. Concealed Carry http://www.usconcealedcarry.com |
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