imported post
Fairfax Home Depot - Off Pickett: Random Encounter
I was looking for shelves around the storage section and leaning to get a better view of the stuff at the end of the aisle down which I was looking. Behind me I heard someone say "You got a license for that?" in a jovial tone. I turned around and saw a Home Depot employee approaching with a smile on his face. I smiled back and said, "No sir." When his face changed to a look of puzzlement I continued, "The wonderful state of Virginia requires no license for any of it's law abiding citizens of appropriate age to carry a firearm openly on their person."
Emp: "You can just walk around like that?"
Fox: "Yes sir."
I should pick up a voice recorder for situations like this, as TEX1N has started doing, so I can remember what all was said. He was incredulous at first and seconds into the conversation another individual in the bright orange aprons walked by and said to the other employee in a very nonchalant manner "It's legal to carry one in Virginia." and then to me, all while walking "Just ignore him..." and then just before disappearing down another aisle he quipped, "...or use it on him!"
Emp: "Can I see it?"
I shifted to the left to let him see the holster while maintaining my distance.
Emp: "So you can just go anywhere with that?"
Fox: "Anywhere that isn't a federally operated building. Can't go into post offices or court houses."
Emp: "And you don't need a gun permit?"
Around this time another employee walked by and joined the conversation, saying, "He'd only need a permit if he had it covered." I nodded and the first employee looked even more amazed. I was rather impressed by the overall general knowledge of the Home Depot staff. This employee listened for a bit before wandering off to perform his duties.
Emp: "I thought you were an undercover cop."
Fox: "Well if I were undercover I'd be carrying concealed."
Emp: "Er, yeah, not undercover. Uh, I meant....ah...."
Fox: "An off-duty officer?"
Emp: "Yeah, that's it. Off-duty. Because they have a license that makes it so they're allowed to carry."
Fox: "Well I'm sure a lot of them do carry, but they don't need a license to carry one. I don't think any such license even exists. I think a lot of people just assume people they see open carrying are off-duty police officers and go about their business. Whatever helps them go about their lives."
Emp: "I've been here twelve years and I've never seen anyone do that before."
Fox: "Yeah. It's a shame more people don't exercise this right."
Emp: "Oh no! I don't think everyone should do that! I don't think they should be anywhere but special places, like shooting ranges."
Turns out the employee was rather anti-gun. A nice guy all in all, and I remained professional throughout the conversation and stated that while I understood and respected his opinion, I simply didn't agree with it. The conversation was very cordial, and we discussed a number of things, including the safety of Fairfax, the recent loss at the Fairfax City Police department, safety on college campuses, and Virginia Tech. After I asked him to put himself in the shoes of the students who were trapped in a room with a gunman blocking the door he professed he saw some logic there, but deemed the overall consequences of everyday carry to outweigh the benefit of stopping a psychotic killer...just not as eloquently as I have stated it here. He said he wasn't at all worried about my carrying because I seemed like a very respectable person. I wasn't there to change his mind and he seemed pretty adamant in his belief, so I kindly asked him where the shelves were, shook his hand, stated that it had been a nice conversation and we went back to our lives.
The whole conversation might have lasted 5 minutes.
I love educating the public.
I'm gonna go install those shelves now...
