ALWAYS Carry!! Even at Home.
Today proved a point I’ve been trying to make to people for years now; ALWAYS carry!
What It Means
It sounds simple right? Always carry. That means all the time right? Well yeah it does, but people (including myself sometimes) seem to love making exceptions to the rule. I commonly hear quips like, “I carry when I go out at night,” or “I carry when I go out to bad neighborhoods,” or “When I get home my gun goes in the safe.” See how easy that was? All you have to do is make a little exception here, and a little exception there, and pretty soon you’ll catch yourself not carrying when something happens. So carry, and do it ALL THE TIME.
What Happened
My beautiful wife (henceforth known as Hotshot) and I are renters. We’ve recently found ourselves in the midst of a few rather minor plumbing issues that we wish to have fixed before they are no longer minor. So the landlord sent over his ‘handyman’ to take care of our plumbing issues.
First impressions are a BIG deal. In Gavin de Becker’s book The Gift of Fear, de Becker lays out his theory that intuition is everything. We know when something is off, we often just choose to ignore our ‘gut feeling.’ Today was one of those days. When the plumber called for directions, and I was overhearing the phone call, I immediately thought ‘if this guy can’t get directions right in the first THREE tries, I’m not sure I want him working in my house.’ Upon arrival my wife answered the door and he just started walking in. No greeting or verification of identity seemed necessary for this guy. After practically barging in he promptly went to check out the wrong sink. Fast forward past the part where he asked to borrow a rag and flashlight and our not-so-handy-man was on his way to the door. When asked what he did he said he “tightened some stuff”, and didn’t want to deal with the frozen pipe that he said was causing one of our problems. This guy couldn’t get out fast enough for me.
In our after action report (yeah, we’re that nerdy) Hotshot and I discussed some things we did wrong, and some things we did right. The first thing she pointed out was letting him get past her without so much as a ‘hello.’ By doing this she pointed out that she not only put herself at risk, but also me. Don’t forget that folks, it’s not just you depending on you making the right decisions for personal safety, you’re family needs you too. And that’s why you must ALWAYS be prepared. This isn’t being paranoid. This guy seriously put off some crazy signals and exhibited some very off behavior. Don’t take these signs lightly.
One question I asked my wife was, were you carrying? She was, but not in a way that allowed for rapid access to her firearm should this guy have been an attacker and not a handyman. Her method of carry was perfect for concealment, but fell short on speed, and ease of deployment. Several lessons then came to be drawn from this one question and its answer. First, have a gun and be able to get it out, FAST. Bad guys don’t care if you forgot, and they don’t wait for you to get the personal protection tools you will need to save the lives of you and your family. Second, trust your gut. You know when you feel something isn’t right, so act on it from the start. Don’t do what we did and sit back and let things happen then kick yourself later. For this turn we ended up disappointed in a lack of work on a plumbing job. It could have easily been something much worse. Third, learn from your mistakes, and the mistakes of others. This story is free to you. You didn’t have to let anyone into your home, or go see a loved one in the hospital. Read the stories of others and ask yourself what you would do, and what they could have done differently to avoid their situations. War-game your personal life. Look around and ask ‘what if’ all the time.
In Col Jeff Cooper’s book Principles of Personal Defense, the Colonial tells us to have a plan. Think through your day to day life and have a plan for as many situations as you can think of. Don’t think of it as paranoid, think if it as a game. It’s like chess only more interesting and with real meaning. And lastly, ALWAYS carry. It’s not just a matter of preparation, but a matter of mindset. Get your brain in the game, and your head out of the sand. Be proactive in your own safety and security, as it’s your responsibility alone.
Today proved a point I’ve been trying to make to people for years now; ALWAYS carry!
What It Means
It sounds simple right? Always carry. That means all the time right? Well yeah it does, but people (including myself sometimes) seem to love making exceptions to the rule. I commonly hear quips like, “I carry when I go out at night,” or “I carry when I go out to bad neighborhoods,” or “When I get home my gun goes in the safe.” See how easy that was? All you have to do is make a little exception here, and a little exception there, and pretty soon you’ll catch yourself not carrying when something happens. So carry, and do it ALL THE TIME.
What Happened
My beautiful wife (henceforth known as Hotshot) and I are renters. We’ve recently found ourselves in the midst of a few rather minor plumbing issues that we wish to have fixed before they are no longer minor. So the landlord sent over his ‘handyman’ to take care of our plumbing issues.
First impressions are a BIG deal. In Gavin de Becker’s book The Gift of Fear, de Becker lays out his theory that intuition is everything. We know when something is off, we often just choose to ignore our ‘gut feeling.’ Today was one of those days. When the plumber called for directions, and I was overhearing the phone call, I immediately thought ‘if this guy can’t get directions right in the first THREE tries, I’m not sure I want him working in my house.’ Upon arrival my wife answered the door and he just started walking in. No greeting or verification of identity seemed necessary for this guy. After practically barging in he promptly went to check out the wrong sink. Fast forward past the part where he asked to borrow a rag and flashlight and our not-so-handy-man was on his way to the door. When asked what he did he said he “tightened some stuff”, and didn’t want to deal with the frozen pipe that he said was causing one of our problems. This guy couldn’t get out fast enough for me.
In our after action report (yeah, we’re that nerdy) Hotshot and I discussed some things we did wrong, and some things we did right. The first thing she pointed out was letting him get past her without so much as a ‘hello.’ By doing this she pointed out that she not only put herself at risk, but also me. Don’t forget that folks, it’s not just you depending on you making the right decisions for personal safety, you’re family needs you too. And that’s why you must ALWAYS be prepared. This isn’t being paranoid. This guy seriously put off some crazy signals and exhibited some very off behavior. Don’t take these signs lightly.
One question I asked my wife was, were you carrying? She was, but not in a way that allowed for rapid access to her firearm should this guy have been an attacker and not a handyman. Her method of carry was perfect for concealment, but fell short on speed, and ease of deployment. Several lessons then came to be drawn from this one question and its answer. First, have a gun and be able to get it out, FAST. Bad guys don’t care if you forgot, and they don’t wait for you to get the personal protection tools you will need to save the lives of you and your family. Second, trust your gut. You know when you feel something isn’t right, so act on it from the start. Don’t do what we did and sit back and let things happen then kick yourself later. For this turn we ended up disappointed in a lack of work on a plumbing job. It could have easily been something much worse. Third, learn from your mistakes, and the mistakes of others. This story is free to you. You didn’t have to let anyone into your home, or go see a loved one in the hospital. Read the stories of others and ask yourself what you would do, and what they could have done differently to avoid their situations. War-game your personal life. Look around and ask ‘what if’ all the time.In Col Jeff Cooper’s book Principles of Personal Defense, the Colonial tells us to have a plan. Think through your day to day life and have a plan for as many situations as you can think of. Don’t think of it as paranoid, think if it as a game. It’s like chess only more interesting and with real meaning. And lastly, ALWAYS carry. It’s not just a matter of preparation, but a matter of mindset. Get your brain in the game, and your head out of the sand. Be proactive in your own safety and security, as it’s your responsibility alone.
Also, I might add: practice, practice, practice. Know whether you have the speed, time, and opportunity to draw if the situation arises or whether you need to resort to your knife. You'll have one of those on you too, won't you??
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