A handgun saved my life in Watts, California . . .
At the time of these two incidents I was a resident of California; currently I live in Texas. In the early 1980s I was on vacation and decided to drive to Los Angeles via Interstate 5, cross to Malibu Beach for a visit, then travel back up the Coast Highway (101).
While in Los Angeles I got lost and ended up in the Watts area of Los Angeles. This is a problem as I am white. I had to stop for a traffic light. It was a 6-lane divided street and I was in the left lane with no other vehicles (witnesses) around. A right turn was out of the question as I knew the street that I was on would take me towards Malibu. While stopped I observed 6-8 black males to the left and the same to the right getting up and walking in my direction. Their eyes were focused on me. I was a runt in size compared to these 'gentlemen.' I was driving a '77 Toyota Land Cruiser. None of these individuals were carrying window-cleaning equipment so I did not believe that they were coming over to wash my windows for a 'small donation.'
To put it bluntly, yes, I feared for my life as there were no cops anywhere and I was the only white person. It would have been dangerous for me to attempt a right turn onto a busy street and I still would have the problem of returning to the original street to continue my trip.
I grabbed my holstered handgun (6-shot .22 magnum) and placed it in plain view on the dash of my vehicle. All dozen or so 'gentlemen' saw the handgun and decided to return to where they were sitting.
Did the mere showing (threat if you prefer) save my life that day? There is no doubt in my mind that it did. Could I have tried driving away? Possibly. Would I have shot to kill if needed? Yes but only as a last resort. I don't believe in warning shots.
The moral of this story is to use a GPS to avoid places like Watts. Carry a gun only if you are prepared to use it and take the legal consequences, especially in California where the dozen or so black gentlemen would have more rights than a single white man.
And, for the record, I would not turn myself in like Bernard Goetz did in New York for shooting the 5 black gentlemen (1984). He did the correct thing in shooting them as I believe that he would have been robbed or worse; this was self-defense, not vigilante justice. Had the blacks not been threatening then he would never have shot them.
Why am I writing this? I am looking to move from Texas and considered California where I am from. I left in 1992. I likely will end up in Idaho where I can defend myself and be armed sufficiently to do so.
At the time of these two incidents I was a resident of California; currently I live in Texas. In the early 1980s I was on vacation and decided to drive to Los Angeles via Interstate 5, cross to Malibu Beach for a visit, then travel back up the Coast Highway (101).
While in Los Angeles I got lost and ended up in the Watts area of Los Angeles. This is a problem as I am white. I had to stop for a traffic light. It was a 6-lane divided street and I was in the left lane with no other vehicles (witnesses) around. A right turn was out of the question as I knew the street that I was on would take me towards Malibu. While stopped I observed 6-8 black males to the left and the same to the right getting up and walking in my direction. Their eyes were focused on me. I was a runt in size compared to these 'gentlemen.' I was driving a '77 Toyota Land Cruiser. None of these individuals were carrying window-cleaning equipment so I did not believe that they were coming over to wash my windows for a 'small donation.'
To put it bluntly, yes, I feared for my life as there were no cops anywhere and I was the only white person. It would have been dangerous for me to attempt a right turn onto a busy street and I still would have the problem of returning to the original street to continue my trip.
I grabbed my holstered handgun (6-shot .22 magnum) and placed it in plain view on the dash of my vehicle. All dozen or so 'gentlemen' saw the handgun and decided to return to where they were sitting.
Did the mere showing (threat if you prefer) save my life that day? There is no doubt in my mind that it did. Could I have tried driving away? Possibly. Would I have shot to kill if needed? Yes but only as a last resort. I don't believe in warning shots.
The moral of this story is to use a GPS to avoid places like Watts. Carry a gun only if you are prepared to use it and take the legal consequences, especially in California where the dozen or so black gentlemen would have more rights than a single white man.
And, for the record, I would not turn myself in like Bernard Goetz did in New York for shooting the 5 black gentlemen (1984). He did the correct thing in shooting them as I believe that he would have been robbed or worse; this was self-defense, not vigilante justice. Had the blacks not been threatening then he would never have shot them.
Why am I writing this? I am looking to move from Texas and considered California where I am from. I left in 1992. I likely will end up in Idaho where I can defend myself and be armed sufficiently to do so.
posted by Bacardi | 1:09 PM
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