First Carry

[OnceFired]

Ok, I have officially redeemed myself from the chickening out. :)

As of Oct27 I carried concealed for the first time. My wife and I were shopping for a used car - a Jeep Grand Cherokee.

We went to the bank, to withdraw the cash to make sure we had it on hand. My wife knew full well I had my pistol, and the purpose behind it. I was not going to carry that much cash without my pistol. I had been prior to getting my permit, and it made me nervous big time to do so. Thankfully I don't have to cash checks from my client & carry it from one bank to the next any longer.

But, I digress. We went to the bank, and of course there's a huge line. There's never a line at this branch, and this time wham! So I was in there at least 20 minutes longer than I expected. But, no one picked up on anything, and my wife was there for that. Definitely useful. lol

Went to the first dealer to check out his Jeep, with sidearm. The salesman didn't even come outside on that one - just gave us the key to go check it out. It was a beater, so we moved on to a private party one next. I didn't count the CC there because no one was near us, although we had the cash.

But the private party one was about 6 miles outside of town, in a pretty remote area. We didn't have cash with us, so I wasn't concerned because of that. I was paying more attention to the fact that the CraigsList contact for the Jeep was being a little squirrelly. Nothing major - and not enough to prevent us going to check out the car, but enough that my radar was up to the point that I avoided bringing the cash. So I decided to bring the Beretta, since I needed to get used to it anyway.

Luckily that day was cold. Actually, the whole weekend was. I had a t-shirt and sweatshirt on, and it was still too cold without a jacket. So I had the benefit of 3 layers going on. But of course I had to drive the Jeep without printing or showing accidentally. Constant paranoia on my part there. The seller turned out to be a nice guy, probably a bit nervous himself about showing his Jeep to a stranger. But who knows, he could have been carrying, too. Neither of us detected anything about the other as far as I could tell.

Anyway, my wife and I both test-drove the Jeep. It was a good car - but alas the owner wouldn't budge on the price, and he was significantly over market rate. Ah well. That JGC would have complimented the household nicely. I count the CC trip as worth the whole effort.

Anyway, fast forward two days - to Monday Oct 29. We now have changed our minds about buying a Jeep, despite absolutely wanting one. Too much $ but not enough Jeep was the issue. So, needing a vehicle immediately so my wife could stop taking me to work every day - we zeroed in on two Toyota Sienna's. One sold before we got there, to someone who had to run around town to collect enough cash. We almost got it out from under them, because they were taking a long time to get the money. The came back when we drove the quick drive home to get our cash. Ah well, lesson learned, have the cash on hand when you're serious. So, we went home got the cash,and moved on to the last appointment of the day.

Nice lady & her 16year old son showed us their minivan. Because I know how nervous people can be, I wanted to make sure I put her at ease with meeting in a public place, having my wife there, letting the seller choose where we drove, etc. I went out of my way to make her comfortable because I would want the same courtesy for my wife in the same situation. Anyway, we of course were not jumped for our cash by anyone. :)

And we bought the minivan the next day. The only reason we didn't do the transaction right then was because she didn't have the title (smart girl not bringing it with her.) She had a huge purse too - she could have been packing as well! I learned she is an attorney - and should be well versed in the relevant laws. :)

Anyway - I am getting more comfortable with the whole thing. I brought my pistol in the car to the local tax office so we could transfer the title in person with the seller since that's when the cash was going to trade hands. I didn't see a 30.06 sign, but I figured it's a govt building, so I better not CC there just to be safe. Anyone care to illuminate me on this point? We capped the day off by offering to stay with the seller until her ride arrived since by that point she was the one with a bunch of cash, alone and in a totally unfamiliar part of town. She got lost getting there, in fact.

So, I guess my point is that I am getting used to it. I just picked up a Bianchi OWB leather holster too. Time to break it in, and to keep being a good neighbor.

ZA

[TexasCajun]

Great job! It gets easier the more you carry. Almost too easy. I still go through a checklist before I leave the house to make sure that everything is where it should be. As the others on here have already said, carrying is becoming second nature.

With regard to the government office question. If the office is not in a building that is being used by a court, you are ok to carry. Unfortunately, most county offices are now in buildings that do double duty. So you've got a better chance than average of encountering such a situation where you go to the left to pay whatever fees & get whatever paperwork and you go to the right to go see judge so-and-so about something.