Posted: 4/26/2026 1:24:23 PM EDT
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A few days ago I was staring down the barrel of a gun with my wife and my dogs only a couple of feet away . What was only a few minutes of time had me thinking about a million different thoughts. One of those thoughts that sounded the loudest in my brain was that we need to go. We were walking our dogs on our favorite trail that we've been walking for at least 13 years. Never had an issue before, certainly never had anything make me the angriest I've ever been. We were enjoying watching the piebald deer that are showing up right now. Then this guy shows up at the end of the trail. My spider sense went off but I chose to ignore it. I knew something was off with the guy. When he got within about 5 to 10 feet of us he lifted his jacket to reveal his gun on his hip while warning us that there better not be any trouble. He was meaning my dogs and his. Well, it didn't get to that point, he sent my anger through the roof. There was no reason to flash his gun, there wasn't even a lick of trouble coming from my dogs. The only bad energy was this guy. I have to explain something, I have become very tuned in on trails to the energy coming from other dogs. I have large dogs that don't get riled up unless the other dogs start something. It's like my dogs don't have anything to prove. Well, when his flashed his gun my reaction was to give this dumbass a piece of my mind. The guy didn't like that I called him some choice words so he pulled his gun with his finger on the trigger and was waiving it back and forth at me, my wife, and my dogs. I then tried to reel him in and get him to focus on me by continuing my barrage of insults. I was pissed more than ever and at 64 that's saying something. All while he was pointing his gun at me I was thinking if I should pull my own. But then the thought of having to shoot the dumbass made think of the many scenarios that would take place. The overriding thought was that I could end up the one in trouble. That thought was the sticking point and the final decision of why we have to move. I don't trust this state in how the prosecution could have gone down. Even though there were no others around I didn't want to take a chance. I even have self-defense insurance, still wasn't wanting to spend the next several years tied to this. We've been planning our move for a while but have been waiting on interest rates to fall, screw that now. My wife has asked me what I could have done to get my pistol out while being covered and I told her that that had crossed my mind. I had thought that I could warn "a lady" coming up the trail from behind the guy to call 911 for me. If that distraction would have worked though I was going to have to shoot him if it worked. Then the same thoughts of years of a court case made me pause. Luckily, for my family we walked away. He did continue pointing his gun at us until we were at least 100 yards away. We called the police but they were unable to locate him by the time they arrived. During the whole thing I was on adrenaline, but later that evening I had a response I've had once before, my body starting shaking uncontrollably. The only other time that's happened was when a small plane crashed in front of my truck in Key West. I rushed to the plane and found body parts and no one alive. I was fine with that but later it hit me like this did. I love this state. It's one of the most beautiful places in this country. Unfortunately, the people who run this state scare the shit out of me. That's no way to live. I need to be around more like-minded folks that see self-defense as it is and wouldn't go fishing as a way to take guns away. I also have to rethink my own carry strategy. For so long I've carried with the thought I'd have time to pull my weapon. There was a time I didn't even carry with a round in the chamber because my carry position was pointing at my junk. I fixed that by changing guns to a SA/DA. Having a round in the chamber with a long trigger pull gives me enough peace of mind. I'd love to hear criticism of what I should have done differently so I can store it in the back of my mind. Thanks for listening. This may have been cathartic enough for me to move on, hopefully. Again, thanks. |
| I would've called po-po & given a description. Since our government loves to go after guns, give them an actually legit target like that asshat. There's no excuse for him piping up for no reason. He's a crime waiting to happen, & really shouldn't be able to have a gun, IMO. Don't wait for someone like that to wind up in the news for needlessly killing or injuring someone. |
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I'm sorry you had to experience this! You probably did the correct thing by not escalating the situation. If you need a Realtor, I'd love the opportunity to help you and your wife. I have helped several ARFCOM members. I never planned to move out of WA, but we are also considering other options. |
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Dang! Well that’s not good. It sounds like that guy could do some harm. Yes, the legal environment here would likely be perilous if you were forced to defend yourself. Best wishes, and let us know about where you land. |
“War is a racket….”
Smedley D. Butler, Maj.-Gen., USMC
Smedley D. Butler, Maj.-Gen., USMC
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Originally Posted By mordecai: We left last year. Cold turkey. Don't miss it a little. This time of year is the hardest. Turkey season. Lingcod season. The big salmon days coming up. Amazing camping in the northeast and central parts of the state. Fishing on all the lakes and rivers heating up. And we're getting an early taste of summer in phoenix already this year. I'll be up in a couple weeks. Every place has something to offer, but you'll never convince me WA isn't a special place once you get away from the pugetopolis bubble. |
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Originally Posted By MrZeat: This time of year is the hardest. Turkey season. Lingcod season. The big salmon days coming up. Amazing camping in the northeast and central parts of the state. Fishing on all the lakes and rivers heating up. And we're getting an early taste of summer in phoenix already this year. I'll be up in a couple weeks. Every place has something to offer, but you'll never convince me WA isn't a special place once you get away from the pugetopolis bubble. Originally Posted By MrZeat: Originally Posted By mordecai: We left last year. Cold turkey. Don't miss it a little. This time of year is the hardest. Turkey season. Lingcod season. The big salmon days coming up. Amazing camping in the northeast and central parts of the state. Fishing on all the lakes and rivers heating up. And we're getting an early taste of summer in phoenix already this year. I'll be up in a couple weeks. Every place has something to offer, but you'll never convince me WA isn't a special place once you get away from the pugetopolis bubble. There is a spot I've been hunting the past few years between Kittitas and Wenatchee where you get up real high and can look into the Cascades down on where Snoqualmie is. In fact you can see down into a good chunk of the eastern edge of Snoqualmie all the way up towards the summit. Several times I've been up there and the weather where I'm standing is cold, clear and perfect. Then you look to the west past Snoqualmie and you can see where the "big grey" starts on the west side of the Cascades, and it looks like a literal wall of darkness. It's a very visual indicator of why a lot of people in the Puget Sound are miserable as fuck, and why they are mentally the way that they are. |
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State has problems no doubt. But I read that once you saw him posture and show he was carrying a pistol, you started commenting. That is called escalation and in this state or any other you are potentially gonna run into trouble. In that situation, get your wife and dogs safely away without escalating and call it a combat victory. If you decide to drop a dime on the over enthusiastic idiot…your choice. Wherever you go, there you are. |
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Sorry you went through that op, that sounds like a bad situation. We moved out of Thurston County 7 years ago now, and I'm pretty sure we're moving back. We just love living on the coast, so we're going to deal with what we have to deal with to live where we want to live. Our old house just came up for sale that my grandfather built, so we're going to try and buy our old home back. We haven't been happy since we moved here, I love to fish on the ocean and the bay, and my jet boat hasn't moved in 7 years. I wish you the best, if you decide on Idaho it's a beautiful place to live, and much cheaper once you buy a home, but just know that there are bugs that will eat you alive all summer, and you'll worry about fires all summer too, it's a trade off for sure, but if you like the mountains, and I thought I did, you'll love it, especially if you're a hunter. I could get my dear an elk on my farm every season. |
"Beware of old men. They may have killed braver men than you." TontoGoldstein
"America is at that awkward stage; it's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards."
"America is at that awkward stage; it's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards."
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Originally Posted By zukguy: Sorry you went through that op, that sounds like a bad situation. We moved out of Thurston County 7 years ago now, and I'm pretty sure we're moving back. We just love living on the coast, so we're going to deal with what we have to deal with to live where we want to live. Our old house just came up for sale that my grandfather built, so we're going to try and buy our old home back. We haven't been happy since we moved here, I love to fish on the ocean and the bay, and my jet boat hasn't moved in 7 years. I wish you the best, if you decide on Idaho it's a beautiful place to live, and much cheaper once you buy a home, but just know that there are bugs that will eat you alive all summer, and you'll worry about fires all summer too, it's a trade off for sure, but if you like the mountains, and I thought I did, you'll love it, especially if you're a hunter. I could get my dear an elk on my farm every season. The ocean seems to be a strong draw for many people. I can't believe how many people I've met who say they "need to live near the ocean" Personally I hate the ocean and the sound and would rather take a mountain lake or stream any day of the week. |
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Originally Posted By mancat: The ocean seems to be a strong draw for many people. I can't believe how many people I've met who say they "need to live near the ocean" Personally I hate the ocean and the sound and would rather take a mountain lake or stream any day of the week. It’s ingrained to people to live near water. I could do being near a lake instead of the coast. |
Esstac’s Retarded Social Media Influencer
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You’ll live longer if you don’t insult crazy assholes who are pointing a gun at you…true anywhere you go. Control your temper instead of escalating things. Of course I likely would have shot anyone doing such a thing, but would not have gotten to that stage to begin with hopefully… Somewhere I bet the asshole is probably posting about some guy who had his attack dogs running loose on a trail, who tried to kick his ass, and was only stopped by him brandishing his gun….. |
a loaded gun won’t set you free, so you say…
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Originally Posted By sefus: Few more years for me then I’m back to Montana. Love my town and my house here on the east side but can’t abide this shit any longer. While I don't blame anyone for being beyond fed up with what's happening in WA, between recent developments at the federal level WRT the 2A & the upcoming initiative to repeal the "millionaires" (stepping stone) tax, there's some reasons to have hope for the future. |
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Originally Posted By Master_Blaster: While I don't blame anyone for being beyond fed up with what's happening in WA, between recent developments at the federal level WRT the 2A & the upcoming initiative to repeal the "millionaires" (stepping stone) tax, there's some reasons to have hope for the future. I agree this has gotten to a breaking point for some, If you run to another state all you are doing is biding time until it gets to you. every conservative vote is needed to take back control, in battle you don't run backwards you move forward and take the fight on. don't give up control to the enemy, This state is too good to just give in to the dems. we need to fight back and we need every available voter to do that. I won't let them chase me from my homeland. |
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I agree, at almost 70 and with a elderly mother to care for I am stuck, and I don't see me moving in the future. I moved home from Oklahoma to care for Mom and Dad, Dad is gone and I don't see a way to leave in the short term, so I will stay and fight for the state I was born in. |
It's ARFCOM. No matter what - somebody will bitch.
Joined:
Feb 2008
Posts:
1336
EE: 100% (76)
WA, USA
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I certainly hate the political shift over the last few decades. I LOVE the Pacific Northwest outside of the I-5 corridor and adjacent Cites. Being able to travel an hour or two depending on my direction and have my choice of mountains, highland desert, lakes, forests, or the ocean has always appealed to me. I think the PNW is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. Politics is the reason I've been planning on shifting over to Northern Idaho for about 4 years now. My work and travel schedule hasn't helped, but hoping to be there by 2028. |
10OCT16 - GM Curtis Worth Hulit (USN) 4th Bat. Seabees - WWII - 30JAN09 - R.I.P. Grandpa
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Originally Posted By Cops66: When are the Dems gonna fricken wake up and get tired of paying more taxes, more taxes, more taxes? They had a chance to change this around yesterday during the primary, but as you can see nothing has changed, just same old bullshit. They are convinced that the reason they have to pay more taxes is because the rich aren't paying their "fair share" |
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Originally Posted By MountedMedic: You probably did the correct thing by not escalating the situation. Originally Posted By MountedMedic: You probably did the correct thing by not escalating the situation. Originally Posted By im_monster_man: Well, when his flashed his gun my reaction was to give this dumbass a piece of my mind... I then tried to reel him in and get him to focus on me by continuing my barrage of insults. Well, except for that. Super surprising your "barrage of insults" didn't work to deescalate the situation. |