As reported, a Kingsport, TN concealed carry permit holder was driving home when a car in front of him started weaving back and forth, blocking the road. The driver of that car then stopped his car in the middle of the road, exited his vehicle, and began yelling at the concealed carry permit holder. The angry man tried to enter the concealed carry permit holder’s car, at which point he drew his gun in self defense. Seeing the gun was enough to cause the road rage driver to run back to his car and drive off. No shots were fired, and police arrested the road rage driver at his home later that day.
A recurring argument against gun ownership and concealed carry centers on the unfounded notion that gun owners will open fire over parking spots and road rage incidents. This is simply not the case, as the millions of law abiding concealed carry permit holder prove every day. Remember, concealed carry permit holders have been statistically shown to be more law abiding than even the police. Instead, concealed carry allows citizens to defend themselves against violent attack, as happened here.
This story reminds me of one that was reported on my local news a couple of weeks back involving road rage. Here's most of the text of the story on the station's website:
"Police are investigating a case of road rage. They're searching for a driver who pointed a pistol at a woman in busy lunchtime traffic Monday on Dawson Road.
Barbara Babcock did not run away when the driver pointed a Glock semi-automatic toward her, she chased his car at speeds close to 70 miles per hour down Dawson Road until she got his tag number and a good look at him.
Babcock says she saw the Red Pontiac Grand Prix weaving in and out of traffic, nearly hitting a car next to her truck. When the driver pulled alongside her, she says the driver cursed her and then pointed a pistol at her.
"If we don't report these kinds of things, who is going to stop them. I mean, that's my biggest thing. We are out here trying to work, make a living, and you got guys running up and down the street swinging guns", Babcock said.
Babcock gave Police the tag number of the car, and described the driver as a black man in his 20's, clean cut with short hair."
So far nothing's come of this and I've doubted this woman's story from the start. I'll continue to doubt it until they catch the guy who allegedly pointed a gun at her.
I also wondered why she wasn't charged with reckless driving on a busy city street in the middle of the day. It sounds to me like she's got a bit of road rage. And her description of guys "running up and down the street swinging guns" is so off I could hurl. Hers is the first report of this kind that I've heard of in the almost 15 years I've lived here–a small city in southwest GA.
Better yet, a day or two after this incident hit the news someone else reported having a gun pointed at them for no apparent reason. I didn't buy this story either.
No new "maniac pointed a gun at me" stories have been reported since then.