If you were able to guess from the title, then you're some kind of wizard. Otherwise, here's the story.

Once in a while I pull some late Sunday nights working. An hour ago (2:30ish, in the A.M.), I stopped my car in it's usual parking spot, which is on the street curb, on the edge of one of Minneapolis' parks. I sat, letting the car idle, and collected what I needed from the console, slowly, because I liked what's on the radio. The last step in this exit process is always the same. I remove my gun from beneath my thigh to put in the holster on my belly for the walk home. Here comes the fun part.

Tonight, with a real shiny S & W revolver in my left hand, I feel something approaching on the passenger side. It's this tranny hooker dude or thing, whatever, that kind of wanders around here of late. Startled, I turn to look HeSheIt in the eye, and HeSheIt sees the gun, and runs faster than I would have believed a man could move in heels and, I see in my mirror, has the cell phone out-of-purse and pressed-to-ear.

I put the pieces together right away. I passed HeSheIt maybe a hundred yards earlier and pulled a U-turn to park where I like. HeSheIt took the wrong hint, and was reaching for the door handle of what HeSheIt thought was a fare, and instead found to be what HeSheIt now thinks is some kind of gay, maybe serial, killer of tranny hooker types.

I'm thinking Fuck. Ohfuckohfuck. FUCK., as I'm sure HeSheIt is calling the police. This is a tricky situation.
If, say, some late night bicyclist had noticed my handling a firearm as he passed, and called to report it (this has happened), any permit holder's next step obvious: walk away calmly. If at some point you later notice a LOT of police activity in the area, maybe a friendly call to metro dispatch is in order, to let them know you suspect a misunderstanding may have occurred and you'd like to help clear up the matter. Clear cut and simple to anyone who reads this forum. Right?

WRONG. No fucking way. Not in this case. I did some quick Jake-Thinking and moved my car three blocks away and then high-tailed it to my home. And, yep, not too long after that the cars started creeping around the park real slowly, with the lights flashing up top, and the searchlights a'searching. Think I'm going to make that friendly call? Fuck no.

Come on. There's just no way I'd come out of this looking innocent. That's just one tranny hooker that'll have to be scared, thinking HeSheIt brushed with death. Honestly, I can live with that.

Anyway, that's how my morning started. I dare any instructor to try to prep your students for this kind of scenario in a permit class.

I don't want to sound too smug, but I've always covered the accidental-sighting-of-your-carry-by-a-tranny-hooker-in-the-middle-of-the-night scenario. It's an important part of any carry permit class. Who was your instructor?

Andrew...you owe me a new keyboard.

It's always dissapointing when your first date goes bad!!

Well, since I was going to do the regular tweaking of the TCCarrypresentation anyway . . .

Hmm... but I think Coconut Charlie might beat me to it.

I would like to point out that TS/TG people are fully human and are properly referred to by a pronoun that reflects the gender they have chosen.

Yup, and fair enough. If somebody picks one of two pronouns and lets me know, I'll use it. (I won't use "ze", as I really, really hate it.)

That said, there are things about fully human sexuality that amuse me, and if those things, or different things, amuse other folks, that's fine with me. Which is just as well, because if it wasn't, that'd kind of have to be my problem.

And me a new laptop!

Joel isn't the only one who gets to write fiction here...I can hear the prosecutor now:

"Your honor, based on the subject using hateful slurs referring to the victim's gender in his statement, clearly the intent here was to terrorize the victim by displaying his handgun..."

It doesn't matter who it is, if someone sees your gun accidentally, you need to have a plan for such a contingency.

My personal plan:

If the witness appears nervous, smile and say, "It's okay, I have a permit for that." Casually break contact with them and go about your business.

If that does not defuse the situation: Leave the area immediately!

Some instructors advocate calling the police to explain your side of the story. I respectfully disagree - let the police come to you.

Remember, if your gun was simply exposed while you were lawfully carrying it, you did not do anything illegal. However, if the person who saw your gun claims to have felt threatened by you during the encounter, a (trumped up) assault case could be made.

Don't admit to anything, don't volunteer information, and be prepared to request a lawyer if necessary.

Proper, discreet gun handling is worth the time and trouble.

Joel. And no, this was not covered in class. I checked, and couldn't find it in the book, either. Maybe it's time for a new edition? Perhaps a new book entirely, Everything You Want To Know About Tranny Hookers In Minnesota






...by Bob Fletcher

My question is blunt.

Why are you handling the gun at all??

While Sietch can answer for himself, it is certainly common enough for people who cannot or do not wish to carry at one or another destination away from home (work, post office, etc) to leave their weapon secured in the car. When doing so, discretion is often better served by holstering up at home rather than in the parking lot at work.

I prefer to holster or unholster in private. But I have unholstered in the middle of a crowded parking lot, and had nobody seem to notice.

Could have been me, I don't cover such foolish scenarios. The closes I come to covering this is situation avoidance, avoiding such locations to avoid getting into a situation like this.

Please note the wink, everyone. It was a joke!