OC in the Lehigh Valley

[PennsyPlinker]

Greetings all

As the weather warms, I have had more and more opportunity to go walking about my business with a gun strapped on my side in full view. Today was one of the nicest days we have had so far, and so off I went into the big bad city of Allentown to do some business, sans my outer garmet.

First order of business was stopping at Staples in Tilghman Square to get some of PA Patriot's pamphlets printed up. The store was not all that busy, although the counter where I was was swarming with people, and it was about as culturally diverse as it can get. I mention the diversity for this reason. I look like the stereotypical redneck. Pickup truck with a tool box (and a rebel flag!), boots, jeans, camouflage hat, grizzled beard, etc. Physically I am fairly imposing. At least, that is what people tell me. All this is to say, I stick out in a crowd gun or no gun. In front of me and behind the counter was a young black gentleman, to my left was a very well dressed Oriental woman, and to the right was an Hispanic family with a little girl. The father was wearing a jacket and cap with the name of a local service center on it. The black man was helping the Oriental woman, and another lady was going back and forth with my pamphlets and answering questions for the Hispanic man at the same time. I was at the counter getting everything taken care of for a good 10 minutes or more, and did not even get a raised eyebrow.

Off to the bank, Lafayette Ambassador on Tilghman St. This was new for me, going into the bank. But they all know me in there, and I have my accounts there, so I was pretty sure that since I was not waving the gun around and shouting for someone to give me all the money, I was safe. One of the newer tellers took care of me at her desk, and spent a little time grumbling about taxes. Being a small business owner, I was able to feel her pain and then some. But no one noticed, or if they did, no one commented.

Then it was time for me to hit my main event, Redneck Central, otherwise known as Tractor Supply, over on Hamilton Ave. I needed some repair parts for one of my trailers. Once again, a very diverse lot was present in the store. In fact, I was the only redneck looking person there! I spent some time talking with the lady behind the counter, who had to look up a load rating for me to make sure I was getting the right parts, and then stood in line in front of a lady and a small girl of eastern European descent, judging from the lady's accent. No one screamed, called the cops, or anything.

On the way home, I had to pass by one of my favorite haunts, Eagle Arms in Breinigsville. Recalling that I needed some 158 gr SWC .357 mag rounds, I pulled in, jumped out of my truck, opened the door to the store, and came face to face with a dreaded member of the Pennsylvania State Police! I looked him right in the eye, pointed to my sidearm, and sang the following while dancing around in a circle waggling my fingers in my ears:

"Can't touch me you PSP,
cause open carry is legal and free!"

Well, not really.

I don't think he paid me a bit of attention at all. There were several people in the shop, and he was carrying a sheaf of papers, flipping through them as he walked out the door. No situational awareness at all. In a gun shop! With guns in it!

All in all, it was a very uneventful trip. Mrs. Plinker called me on the way home to ask me if I would go to the drug store, but I was already too close to the house, so she did the deed. There were no opportunities to call attention to myself, assert my manhood, impress people, or whatever. Just plain old regular day to day boring stuff. With a gun in full view. This is at the other end of the spectrum from what Michele had to go through the other night. There will be events that are more dramatic, I am sure. But the more we get out there and show people that wearing a gun is for normal people too, the more we will normalize the sight. Of course, it will help if and when they actually notice it there on my hip.

[lildobe]

Good show! Keep up the good work, and lets hope for more of these uneventful days!

[headcase]

Ain't nutin' to it but to do it. Glad your day was so uneventful

[Pa. Patriot]

Great report, Pennsy.

And to think you were "not too sure" about this OC thing back around... December-ish? lol

I gotta ask, were you OC'in the Desert Eagle?

[PennsyPlinker]

Thanks for the replies guys! (and the other stuff)

Originally Posted by Pa. Patriot

Great report, Pennsy.

And to think you were "not too sure" about this OC thing back around... December-ish? lol

I gotta ask, were you OC'in the Desert Eagle?

Not yet. But it was for that gun that I stopped to buy the ammo. I have a gun belt on order, and once it gets here I am going to talk to the guy about making a holster for the DE. He has a mold gun for it. We talked about it some, and I have to do some figuring on how to arrange it. I'm a big guy, but the draw is so long that a high tight holster will require assistance from someone else to clear it!

But in this case I was carrying my S&W M&P 9c. It is nice and light, and rides up real tight against my starboard love handle.

[spabula]

I have never seen anyone OCing anywhere in these parts. So congrats. Although, I wouldn't call that part of Tilghman street the "big bad city of Allentown" lol, just busting your stones. Actually I think it's South Whitehall.

[4XLT]

ya know the more i read the stories of the OC'ers the more i think that people on a whole are the most un-observing things in the world, true some that see will get freaked out some will be inquisitive and allot will just look and go about doing their thing, but i really believe that most people are wearing blinders and that is why the criminals have it so good anymore...

i rarely see anyone OC around my area when i do i look them over and move along, if its in a line or something i will strike up a conversation, and ask what he carries and what kind of holster.

[bradjc72]

Great job, I am glad to see that there are more and more people out here in the Valley, that are stepping up to the plate and OC'ing here. I have done it a couple of times here in the Valley, and I gotta say that it is fairly uneventful.

And this is the place where supposidly you will get arrested, and people fainting at the sight of a gun.

Good job!

[PennsyPlinker]

I've got some more OC to report, although it is fairly uneventful. Yesterday I was at the Starlite Diner in Fogelsville for lunch. Or is that Trexlertown? It's on Rt 100 south of I 78 at the Trexlertown/Fogelsville exit. Today, I spent some time with my local mechanic in Breinigsville having some wiring done, and then the Wawa on 100 south in Trexlertown. Or is that Fogelsville? It's there somewhere. The Wawa was stuffed with people getting their coffee and other morning stuff.

But the biggest event was stopping at the local cop shop. I did not, of course, carry into the police officer station, although I wore my empty holster. I was there to get fingerprinted for my FL CC permit. When it was time to let me into the secured area for the fingerprinting, the police officer attending to me asked me "if I had any knives or other weapons that I could use to hurt him". I told him I only had my pocket knife (which he made me "secure" in my truck) and my hands and arms. He laughed a little nervously at that. See, I'm sort of built like PA Patriot's former avatar, just not as hairy. I also remarked that it would be kind of stupid on my part to attack an officer after giving them my driver's license. But apparently there are still plenty of stupid people in the world. He also wanded me all over with a hand held metal detector, so I am pretty sure he saw the holster. I did not bother to call it to his attention.

On the way back to the fingerprint machine, he asked me if I was moving to FL, and that was why I was getting the FL CC license. I was able to tell him about my desire to carry in OH, reciprocity, the lack of it with PA, etc. It was all new to him and he seemed to be interested. Overall he was a very pleasant fellow and the visit went well.

As a side note, I probably should have opted for the UT license, but since I already took a FL approved class, I decided to go with that. Besides, I get to have a permit signed by Charles Bronson! When the time comes to renew, I will go with UT.

[PennsyPlinker]

Originally Posted by spabula

I have never seen anyone OCing anywhere in these parts. So congrats. Although, I wouldn't call that part of Tilghman street the "big bad city of Allentown" lol, just busting your stones. Actually I think it's South Whitehall.

Sorry for taking so long to get back to this thread. Yeah, I know I wasn't deepinaharta. I get downtown from time to time, but there is less and less reason to go there all the time. I have a twice monthly breakfast meeting with a small group of men at the Hamilton Family restaurant, and I am building them up in preparation of OCing there eventually. What will make that REAL interesting is that one of the men who occasionally attends is the personal assistant to the mayor of Allentown.