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Had to Pull My Gun Today!

Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2016 8:19 pm
by Archery1
As it says, though I would have hoped to never say my gun left my holster, but it did today. My wife and I were walking a new to us neighborhood this afternoon when we came in front of a house I have heard large dogs before. By the size of the bark, I always knew they were large dogs. The home is well fenced in wrought iron and gated, and frankly, so many folks walk daily with kids and dogs in front of this place, I had never even thought of their dogs. They never even run the yard. Matter fact, never seen them before, just heard them in the house.

Well, we topped the bridge in road and got just about the drive and there they were in the ditch. Two Pit bulls. They immediately saw us and came charging. I pulled out my carry 9mm and drawn, ready for them to jump us. They circled us, snapping and barking and had us pinned in the middle of the road. At this point my mind was working through this situation. I could easily have justified killing them, as they were not letting up and not letting us move. I could also hold off on killing them. My wife was hysterical, and after 10 minutes of this, a car came along and I was able to signal them to pull up to us. We got in the back seat, and they took us to our property.

Now, that ain't the end of this story by no means. We are way out in the county, so I know I could have dialed 911 and gotten a constable, but frankly I didn't have that kind of time management in this situation. From past animal experiences, though nothing ever this bad, the police refer you to animal control, and that's just a dadgum dogcatcher.

But, all in all, what I am more astonished about in this situation is how I was able to have enough restraint to not plug both these Pit bulls. Yes, it was very dangerous and just a wrong move from someone getting mauled on, but I guess the time to pull the trigger is a little more self determined than I had anticipated if I ever was to pull my gun on something.

Thanks for listening, mad as heck right now, and just need to vent on someone till some homeowner's can be brought to task. It's still not a safe situation for the everyone in this neighborhood.

Re: Had to Pull My Gun Today!

Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2016 8:24 pm
by warnmar10
You demonstrated uncommon discipline and restraint.

Re: Had to Pull My Gun Today!

Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2016 8:53 pm
by nightmare69
Glad y'all made it out ok. I would not be held hostage by two animals. I would have given them lead poisoning when they charged me.

Re: Had to Pull My Gun Today!

Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2016 9:16 pm
by Archery1
nightmare69 wrote:Glad y'all made it out ok. I would not be held hostage by two animals. I would have given them lead poisoning when they charged me.
This is the interesting part about my decision. Maybe not as smart, but I played the very edge of the threat. Had I been in the woods, the incident would have ended very fast. Standing on a cement street surrounded by houses, and somehow, my first instinct was metered by all this. This isn't all over for sure, but dealing with my gun going off isn't in the equation this time. I do now know that having the gun when out and about is all the diference for anything like this happening.

Re: Had to Pull My Gun Today!

Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2016 9:31 pm
by carlson1
You did a fantastic job, but I would have never took that for 2 minutes much less 10. My :tiphat: is off to you and your control. I do not know of anything you could have done any different to make this a better ending.

Re: Had to Pull My Gun Today!

Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2016 11:06 pm
by rotor
You are very brave to have handled it like you did. I don't care what anyone says about "friendly" pit bulls, they were bred to fight and kill. I would have shot them if the owner didn't come out right away to retrieve them. My neighbor was badly mauled by a pit during her daily walk.

Re: Had to Pull My Gun Today!

Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2016 12:09 am
by sammeow
Well, glad y'all are safe.
I hope you did call and report the incident. Otherwise the dogs might next come across someone a lot smaller than you.
And the ending may not be so happy.

Re: Had to Pull My Gun Today!

Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2016 5:30 am
by JerryK
The only thing I see missing from your report is the fact you did not call the Sheriff. Any time you pull your gun you call the Sheriff for any reason!!!

I am sure if you went walking next week and got mauled and then found out this occurred to someone else last month you would be livid. This type of behavior cannot be tolerated by dogs. They may not have belonged to the fenced yard. Without a report ...

Re: Had to Pull My Gun Today!

Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2016 8:21 am
by RoyGBiv
Please call the Sheriff. The life you save may not be your own.

Re: Had to Pull My Gun Today!

Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2016 8:46 am
by Archery1
RoyGBiv wrote:Please call the Sheriff. The life you save may not be your own.
Yes, Sheriff report filed. That constituted documenting the nature of the dogs and loose animal condition - past tense. Now working through HOA this morning. It's a subdivision way out in the county (no city authority), large acreage properties, and everyone knows everyone it seems in this neighborhood. Although there has been no incident to date, so far, I'm being advised that I should have shot the dogs, HOA included who have seen the dogs out before. In hindsight, maybe taking care of the dogs' disposition then and there was the better solution. We have confirmed ownership and action will be taken, which again, is going to amount to letter, documentation, and notice. But as from me or others now, that was the notice. Next time is going to be way different.

Re: Had to Pull My Gun Today!

Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2016 9:11 am
by striker55
Happened to me also about 3 weeks ago, came out of my house and new neighbors 2 houses down have 3 pitbulls and when they saw me they immediately charged at me. Normally their dogs are behind a fence in their backyard, evidently they escaped the backyard. I put my bicycle in between me and the dogs, my back to the garage. I drew my weapon and yelled at them to go home, after a stare down they went home. Another neighbor came home in her car and they charged at her, she stayed in her car. I backed into the garage and called 911. When the deputy arrived he parked in front of my house, while I was telling him about the dogs they saw him and came running, he motioned me to go inside. The lead dog ran at the deputy and he pulled his baton, there was a face-off and the dog finally retreated when the deputy shined his flashlight in it's face. I told the deputy which house owned the dogs and he pulled his squad car in front of the owners house, their was a car in the driveway so someone was home, after turning on his siren for a few blasts the owner came out. She put the dogs in and animal control showed up. I believe she gave the owner a ticket. The deputy said I had a right to shoot the dog on my property but he didn't want to discharge his weapon because it was better not to kill the dog, a lot of paperwork if he did. At least now it's on record, but my wife can't garden in the front unless I'm there to watch her back and I told her I would be checking the mail myself.

Re: Had to Pull My Gun Today!

Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2016 9:16 am
by KLB
Dogs definitely can present a scary situation. Sometime in the mid-80s, before I owned a handgun, my wife and I had a problem, and we live well inside the City of San Antonio. It was around Christmas, and our neighbors' adult children were visiting. The adult children brought their two dogs and put them in the backyard. Then the neighbors and their kids left the house.

The dogs got loose and acted extremely aggressively--creeping closer crouched down low, deep throaty growls, ears back, and fangs bared. They clearly meant business. My wife was scared to leave the garbage at the curb, so we went out together. She had the garbage, and I had a 2 X 4, which was all I could find. I was angry and tried to knock the dogs into Kingdom Come, but they were smart enough to stay just outside the arc of my swing.

We got the garbage to the curb, and my wife dragged me back inside. I still remember the episode as the worst I've ever had with dogs.

Re: Had to Pull My Gun Today!

Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2016 9:24 am
by bblhd672
I was out walking in rural Louisiana a couple of years ago and was surrounded by group of dogs lead by a pit bull. The other dogs circled me while the pit bull kept trying to get behind me biting at my calves. Fortunately a man saw what was happening, came running with a shovel and scattered the dogs. Other than having a heart rate greater than I anticipated from my walk, the pit bull just grazed one calf with his teeth.
When interviewed by sheriff's deputy that night the pit bull owner denied that the dog ever displayed any aggressive behavior and I must have provoked him (by walking down the road I guess).

I never walked by that place again and when I did walk in the area I always had a walking stick and bear spray.

Re: Had to Pull My Gun Today!

Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2016 8:25 pm
by schufflerbot
Epidemic!!

My German Shepherd and I were just treated to the same aggression by a loose pitbull in our neighborhood on one of our morning walks last week.

I had my wife's S&W Airweight 38spl with me, rather than my G19 and I was trying to diffuse rather than fire. I got the dog to calm down, got MY dog to calm down and just when we started to walk away he followed again. Luckily for the pitbull, a guy near me must have heard me yelling at the dog and brought his baton out to hold the dog off while we walked away.

I called PCT4 and had them send animal control immediately.

Re: Had to Pull My Gun Today!

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2016 8:55 am
by Acronym Esq
I too have experienced the objective and subjective fear of imminent serious bodily harm or death as three dogs charged me from the darkness. I mentally prepared to have my left arm bitten and pondered the wisdom of bringing a pocket knife to a dog fight. As the lead pit changed his gait from charge to lunge, I yelled as loud as I could "No!" The three dogs and I then enjoyed 15 incredibly slow seconds of silence, stillness, and contemplation. They then appointed me leader of the pack and joined me for the next three blocks of walking off sweet adrenaline.

What I find interesting is that every one of these dog stories was a justifiable shoot, but even the trigger happy police (or so the media tells me) showed creativity, bravery, force, and restraint. Perhaps if the only tool I have is a hammer, then I haven't completely inventoried everything. 2x4? Bike? Flashlight? Friend? Loud voice? Carrying a gun doesn't mean that every problem is solved with it.

Great discussion.

Acronym 10/18/2016 9:52 AM