21 June 99
This just in from a friend in the Philippines:
“I had just come in from a late-night date with some old friends and almost got into a mistaken identity encounter. One of our group brought a bodyguard, but failed to tell any of the rest of us. When we left the restaurant, a man tailed us about eight yards back, and, while I paid no serious mind to him at first, I figured he was really bent on following us when we took some abnormal turns, and he still stayed with us.
I then noticed a conspicuous bulge on his waist. There were a fair number of bystanders, and I was with two women who didn’t tap into what was going on. The only thing I could do was to place myself between the ladies and this stranger.
As we reached the elevator to the basement, I placed myself behind the two women and turned to confront the man. As he closed the distance between us, I placed my hand on my gun, when my friend suddenly says to the man, “Is the driver downstairs?” The mysterious man answers, “Yes, sir”
I exchanged smiles with this person whom I now knew to be a bodyguard and quickly reconcealed my pistol. The butterflies were working overtime in my guts. My hands were heavy and clammy. In words that are never easy to say, I was scared!
But, my training enabled me to focus on the threat and form a plan of action.”
Lessons:
>Those of us who carry guns around have to communicate clearly with each other. In a group, it important for everyone who is carrying a gun to know who else is carrying a gun. When guns clear leather, it’s too late to wonder who is “one of us.”
>People who carry guns must be both well trained and courageous. A lack of either commodity will render the gun carrier either impotent, unsafe, or both.
/John
