imported post
On your incident, I would say that was not brandishing, since a bat hitting your window could easily have injured you, and lead to far worse. IMO, clear self defense, but the authorities might or might not agree. Whether to call the cops would depend on what you would expect their reaction to be, though in general, that "first call wins" thing is true.
Will add a couple of stories of my own, just for fun.
attempted assault/car theft/murder....who knows?
Sometime in '99-2000, while I was pregnant with our third, I went to Wally World for some shopping. This was in Tampa. Well, on the way in to the store, I noticed a couple of young teen girls (12-14 range tops) at the payphones, looking a little distressed. I went on in and did my shopping, and when I came out, noticed they were both still there, and this was a good hour+ later. One of them seemed to be trying to get my attention, so I asked if everything was alright. They said that they had been separated from their ride, and the ride was now gone, and they could not reach anyone to get them home. Yeah, yeah, I know; in hindsight, I should have gotten hold of a cop or something, but these two were not a threat. not themselves anyway, though whether or not they were involved in later events I don't know. Well, what I ended up doing was giving them a lift. They gave directions that ended up being WAY out E Hildebrand, a long drive from where we were in the Northdale area. Well, finally got to the place, a small trailer park, and they told me where their place was. This trailer park was older, with a U-shaped road, two entrances, and a few dead ends along the U; not a big place at all. On the way in, we passed a couple of elderly black men, holding bagged drinks, that seemed less than happy to see my car there. The place they got out was along the second leg of the U, and I headed back up the slope to the second gate. Well, as I approached it, this fellow came out and closed the gate. Since it was about 10pm on the dot, I didn't think a lot of it; figured it was a security feature or something, closing one gate at night. Turned the car around (nice big Caddy Brougham), and that's when things got, well, interesting. Several guys approached the car, including a white guy who got in front of it, several others (including those two old men), and a hispanic fellow that came to the window, asking me to open it so "we could talk". Well, no gun at the time (no budget for it), so not a good place to be. Needless to say, I was not stupid enough to open the window, and told him I could hear him fine. He kept asking, and I was at this stage very annoyed. Told him I was not opening the door or window, and yelled at the dude on the front of the car to get the **** off. He didn't want to move, and this was looking bad, so I used the weapon at hand, that lovely BIG steel car. Put it in reverse, jerked it back enough to dump the idiot off the hood, and then deliberately went forward, till I could not even see him. He scrambled up faster than you can imagine, and refused to block the car again, at which stage I drove past fast, quickly making my way back to the other entrance, and leaving. As I was pulling out, this crazy-looking woman was tearing out of the trailer closest to the gate, screaming at me, as though furious that I was not allowing myself to be their victim. I guess the neighborhood that robs together stays together? Moral of this is, your car is a weapon; use it if needed!
road rage thwarted
This was many years earlier, in San Antonio. I was headed down Prue Rd., before it was extended past Babcock, but after the police substation was build at the other end. Before the cops were there, people would speed on that stretch of road a LOT, but the SAPD was serious about stopping that, so sensible people stopped speeding. Well, I was doing a hair over the limit, and this woman in a Suburban gets behind me, determined to make me drive faster. being the stubborn person that I am, and not wanting a ticket, I slowed down. Safest thing to do anyway. She, of course, didn't like that, but instead of passing, got even closer. So, I slowed more, yet every time, she got closer and closer, till she was so close, I could not even see her headlights in my rearview. At that point, I was barely moving, so I simply stopped, thinking she HAS to go around at some stage. Well, she did, tearing around my car, and speeding off like a madwoman....for about three car lengths. As soon as I started to roll again, she slammed on her brakes, and actually got out of her car. Well, I had no gun (same budget issues), but I did have the lock end of my two-piece crook hook (the type that went from wheel to gas peddle), by the seat, hanging on the adjustment handle. So, I figure, she starts something, I will finish it. She saw me reaching, and I have to assume she thought it was for a gun, a d the took off like that proverbial bat, speeding off at about 60mph or more. That one was really funny.
my mom's tale
Not exactly a "no shots fired" story, but a good one for why you should have a safe way to carry. We were in Tennessee, and she had gone one night to pick my dad up at the bar where he liked to have a few drinks with coworkers after a long day. They only had one car (as most people then did), and this way he wasn't driving drunk. She was waiting in the car at about the designated time, when a couple of young punks started to approach the car. At that point, crime was not uncommon in the area, and she had a gun for that very reason, carried in her purse. She was quite willing to shoot if needed, but simply wanted the gun out as a deterrent at that stage. Well, it got caught on something in her purse, and a moment later, the purse and the car door were more ventilated than they had been, and the two punks were fleeing on winged feet. In that case, the shot was enough to send them running.
