Must Remain Concealed

As regular readers know, I've been a gun guy for a good chunk of my life.  Learned to shoot around age five, began shooting competitively at twenty five, achieved high master in one discipline few years later.  Continued to compete in another shooting sport for more than a decade beyond that, started competing again off and on a few years ago.  I've taught gun safety and competitive shooting classes and held a concealed carry license almost continuously for close to three decades.  This will become relevant in a moment, I promise.  

If you recall, Kansas made me take a safety class before they would issue me a concealed carry license.  As one might imagine, it was mind numbing.  I thought North Carolina would dispense with such silliness, but I thought wrong.  I reached out to the local sheriff's department to see if the class was still required for someone who already possessed a valid license from another state.  Negative.  So, guess who will be spending all day, next Saturday, in a concealed carry class?

As I understand it, this one is structured differently from the Kansas classes, which had the practical at the end, preceded by building skills such as "this is the trigger".  This class will begin with the practical and unlike the KS test, which which required you to hit a target roughly the size of Cleveland this one has a much smaller scoring area.  

The rest of the course is apparently about applicable laws.  This will be painful, just like Kansas.  I've always taken an interest in the concealed carry laws of my state.  And after carrying in three different states, over thirty years,  I've learned these laws are generally pretty universal, with a few variables that may or may not matter.  NC only has one that I may need to consider, which is called "duty to notify".  This requires you advise the cop that just pulled you over that you're carrying.  Kansas didn't, so when I got nailed for speeding, I didn't bother informing the officer of my compact 9mm in the center console.  Beyond that, I don't care about the laws.  That may sound cavalier or reckless, or make me seem like more of an asshat than usual, so let me explain by covering some of the other variables.

First is whether you can carry in bars.  I don't go to bars when I'm not traveling, so let's move on.

Next concerns whether you're committing a crime by entering an establishment with a gun when a no gun sign is present.  KS was a no, NC is a yes, but I don't care.  The first word in concealed carry is, say it with me, concealed.  If someone spots my gun, I've failed at that crucial part of the process.  And I never carry in a way that makes the gun stand out or print.  Am I an asshole for disrespecting a business's wishes?  Probably, but I don't care and I'll likely only do it once per business, because I'll go elsewhere next time.

There are a few intricacies of castle doctrine (meaning the rules change when you're in your own home or hotel) that influence how much freedom you have.  Toasting a home invader is always legal, and fun, but what about a pushy Girl Scout who walks in your front door selling cookies?  Again, don't care, because I'm not using a gun unless I absolutely have no other option.  Besides, putting holes in little Susy prevents me from cookie acquisition and I want my fucking Thin Mints!

Finally, you've got whether stand your ground applies or if you have a duty to retreat, before using deadly force.  Both KS and NC are the former, but I don't care, because I'm always going to try to deescalate (I can totally do that!) or exit, using a trigger pull as an absolute last resort.  This isn't solely because of my regard for life; it's fucking expensive if you shoot someone.  Even if you're in the right, you'll spend $100k for an attorney to ensure some overachieving gun grabber DA doesn't bushwhack you.  

Don't wave your pistol around or brandish it, don't escalate a situation to make it a lethal force scenario, disparity of force means if half a dozen ninjas approach saying they plan to kill me, I'm legally justified in shooting the cagey little fuckers.  

I'll be a good boy for the class, just like I did for the one I had to sit through in Kansas and chuckle at being the only student who already has a valid concealed carry license.  Because NC and KS recognize each others' licenses, I've been carrying here in NC since arriving.  Probably a bit much if I carried a gun into the class, huh?

Minority Report

 At some point, I'll finish my entry about my moving horror, but I decided to write a quick one about my subdivision.  

For those paying attention, I recently moved to Raleigh.  However, my house isn't in Raleigh proper, but smack dab in the middle of Research Triangle, which is the largest tech center in the US.  Everyone in the tech and medical field has massive facilities here.  For example, my subdivision is right next to the largest Cisco campus outside Silicon Valley; 15 damned buildings!  The neighborhood is typical of current construction in Raleigh, in that houses are ass on top of one another.  It's laid out in multiple price levels, but the only differences are whether it's a larger or smaller house ass on top of the next.  Land has become quite pricey here, because of how many people want to move here.  

Research Triangle definitely has a unique set of demographics in that caucasians are very much in the minority here.  I estimate that at least 85% of my closest neighbors are Indian.  Another 7% is Asian, and the remainder is either white or black.  It's the weirdest damned thing; when I drive through the neighborhood or am out walking the dog, seeing a white person is a noteworthy event.  There are a ton of families, as one might expect, and many Indian households consist of extended families, meaning at least one grandparent lives in the same house with their children and grandchildren.  The two houses to the left of me and the first on the right fit this profile.

Because of the unusual (for the US) demographics, this neighborhood has a different feel to it.  In some ways, I find it charming, such as how the elder members gather at the common area pavilion, most every night, to socialize.  The women sit at one table and the men at the other, as tradition dictates.  The vast majority of the more mature women, and many younger ones, wear traditional sarees.  Many are quite beautiful, with the kaleidoscope of bright colors.  It feels very tight knit, as a community, although I'm really not a part of it.  

As for interacting with my neighbors, people are people.  It was a bit daunting at first, because particularly the elder Indian folks have a natural resting grumpy face.  But every one I've engaged with a "good morning" or "hello" has smiled and returned my salutation.  However, those from teenage to about 60, can be a bit standoffish, particularly the men.  Many will walk past and not even acknowledge a simple hello.  Douchebag from my previous entry fell into this demographic.  Arrogant cocksucker.  Anyway, no idea what's up their asses and I'm not sure I care.

What I do care about is the scent of curry that frequently wafts out of my neighbors' homes as I walk past with my dog.  It's a wonderful aroma and never fails to make me salivate.  One of the more important items on my to do list is make friends with a family so they'll invite me to dinner.

I may be a minority here, but it's home and I'm thrilled to be here.

No Wonder Your Dog Hates You

 Some people shouldn't have dogs, some are dickheads, and some fall into the overlap of the Venn Diagram of the two.

The subdivision I live in is pretty massive, so it would follow there are a ton of families that own dogs.  So, at any one time during the day, you'll see a few others walking theirs.  An unwritten code exists on how to respond if you're walking your dog and you encounter someone else with a dog.  One of you will cross the street to avoid face to face canine encounters.  Not all dogs like other dogs; mine is one of those.  Typically, it's the party with the more agile dog (i.e. not a tiny dog).  The hot spot for dog walking is a common "park" area, where everyone will take a lap.  If you see a dog coming the opposite way, you follow their same path (clockwise or anticlockwise as the case may be).  This unwritten rule also applies if you're about to cross paths with a bunch of small children or parents with a baby stroller.  For the most part, everything works fine, with peace and tranquility being maintained.  

There are exceptions, however, and I encountered one today.  A guy in his late forties was walking his yellow lab-like dog.  Actually, to say he was walking it is being generous.  In reality, he was on his hands free, mostly dragging the dog along, and ignoring the dog, except to admonish it for stopping to sniff something.  You know, dog stuff.  Because of this, he shall be further known as Douchebag.  We were traveling in the same direction around the common area, with plenty of separation to prevent contact.  That is until his dog decided to lay down and wait for my dog.  Douchebag wouldn't move the dog and stood there continuing to talk on his phone, both staring me down and pretending to be aloof at the same time, defiantly playing alpha games.  Because Douchebag clearly had no intention of moving, I had to alter course around he and his dog.  We wound up so that both dogs were out of leash range of the other, which is good, because neither wanted to be friends with the other.  Needless to say, I wasn't pleased.  Also, this isn't the first time Douchebag has pulled that on me; I'd been able to avoid close contact, before.  

Because I'm all about making friends, as I was wrangling my dog, I informed the pot bellied piece of shit he was "a fucking dickhead".  This was followed by a few other choice words as I walked away.  The words had to be delivered to the side of his head, because he wouldn't look me in the eye.  

Honestly, I'm not even certain he understood what I said, because like most of my neighbors, he was Indian and was speaking Hindi on his phone.  But I'm sure he received the general message, solely from my tone.

Fucking douchebag...