You know what they are even though no one ever talks about them. Those little social laws that we have had drilled into our heads since we were very small. Some of them are not so small, but there are a lot of them. Such stuff as:
- Stay in the line to get to the front
- Wait your turn
- Speak only when spoken to
- Keep your distance from others
- Keep your feet off the table
- Keep your hands to yourself
- Eat all your peas
- And many more.......
Some of the bigger ones are things like:
- Assist an old person to keep them from falling
- Stay still and quiet in church
- Keep your promises
- And even more.......
These “rules of our lives“ are ones that we obey just by normal reaction. They are so embedded that we do them from muscle memory. When you start to carry a concealed pistol you will need to consider breaking some of these social laws if a situation warrants that you do so. Consider the following situation.
Mr. Bailey just had his 90th birthday. He is pretty good health for his age. His wife Norma, 5 years younger, is very spry herself. Mr. Bailey goes to the corner market in town every Friday to get the weekly groceries. He always takes his little pull cart, so that he can easily pull the groceries home without a struggle. His arrival time at the store is usually about 3PM and today is no different. Walking up to the front of the store he notices a black car parked right near the front door in the handicap spot. It has no sticker for such and he thinks that it is strange. Opening the door he steps inside and right into a robbery.
There are two men with masks right next to the door. Both are holding pistols on a clerk that is scrambling to get the cash out of the register. Another man, standing behind the clerk, is Rob Smith. Mr Bailey recognizes him as the manager of the store. Rob is very nervous and has his hands partly raised. Two customers, a woman with a cross body purse and a young man in jeans and tee shirt, have baskets of groceries and are in line to check out their purchases.
“Keep stuffin' the bag!” says the second robber to the clerk.
“We need to get a move on” says the first robber. He shuffles toward the door. “I'm sure they hit a silent alarm and the cops will be here in a few”. As the robber turns his arm hits a display stand near the door. He looses his balance and goes down on his hands and knees on the floor, pistol sticking out toward the customers.
“Damn” he says, rising to one knee as he points the gun directly at Mr Bailey. The young man in jeans, seeing what is about to happen pushes Mr Bailey backward. He hits the floor with a thump. The robber's pistol goes off with a bang. His shot hits the wall about 4 feet off the floor right behind where Mr Bailey had been standing.
The second robber grabs the bag of money held by the clerk and runs to the door with the first robber right behind him.
This is a scenario that could play out in any small corner store in any town in America at any time. Let's pretend that you are the woman with the cross body purse. You have a pistol in the concealed carry compartment of the purse. You have practiced with your weapon and become very proficient with it. What would you do in this situation?
You should consider this situation if you are carrying a concealed pistol. Would you try to confront the robbers with your pistol? Would you keep quiet and comply with all the robbers' demands? What about the action of the young man in jeans, should he have pushed Mr Bailey to the floor? You should consider such actions when you start to carry a concealed pistol before such a situation becomes a reality.
Know what your reaction will be in any situation that you will encounter. You may not know in advance the specifics of any circumstance, but you should decide in advance how to use common sense. This situation does not need uncontrolled reactions. If you were the woman in this story you would probably be better off not revealing that you have a pistol. If you draw your gun you may get more than one person injured. Using common sense you should be evaluating this situation as it happens. The young man acted with common sense in pushing Mr Bailey to the floor and out of the range of the pistol shot. He broke a social law in doing so, but it was necessary to save Mr Bailey's life.
What would you have done? Would you have done what the young man did to Mr. Bailey? These are the types of questions you need to ponder, then answer before the situation becomes a reality.
