Las Vegas Concealed Carry Owner Prevents Kidnapping

It started with a loud noise.

Justin Pearson was in his home in Las Vegas on October 5, 2017, when noises on his street drew him outside.

“I opened up the door,” Pearson recalls, “and this big BMW goes flying by — 60 mph in a 25 mph zone. I dialed 911 immediately.”

The next thing Pearson did, though, was pure instinct and habit. Before leaving the house to investigate and keep police apprised of the situation, Pearson put his Heckler & Kock VP9 pistol on.

“I carry a concealed firearm everywhere I go,” Pearson said.

Moving down the street to get a license plate number for the 911 operator, he saw the car nearly lose control. Then the driver turned the vehicle around and stopped in front of a house where a 6-year old boy was playing in the front yard. As Pearson continued to move closer to the situation, the driver got out of the car.

He described the driver as a “solid” 6’ 4”, 250-pound man. Although of a similar height, Pearson’s body type is wirier.

“He was a very big dude, and I’m not a menacing person by any means,” Pearson said. “I don’t think I could have physically stopped the guy. It would have been super ugly if it was just me versus him.”

What happened next is what made Pearson begin to add up what an altercation would look like in his head. The driver, now out of the car, grabbed the 6-year old and began shoving him into the BMW. Luckily, his firearm evened the playing field.

Pearson yelled “Hey, stop!” at the driver, and at the same time lifted his shirt and placed his hand on his weapon, without drawing. That was enough. The sight of the gun made the would-be kidnapper pause just long enough for the young boy to jump from the car and run.

With the boy no longer in his control and facing an armed citizen ready to draw, the driver left the scene. The police would not arrive for 17-minutes.

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police confirmed that the driver was the boy’s biological father who had neither permission to take the child or parental rights. Without Pearson’s quick actions, the boy would have become another of the thousands of people each year who are abducted by someone they know.

In the end, Pearson credits his firearm for being able to intervene. “If I didn’t have a firearm, I don’t think there’s much I could have done.”

The article Las Vegas Concealed Carry Owner Prevents Kidnapping originally appeared on Clipdraw

Oregon Vet, Concealed Carry Owner Stops Knife Attack

On September 28^th an Oregon veteran and concealed carry permit holder, Mica Smith, stopped an assailant who had pulled a knife on another man.

As Mica Smith sat having dinner with his wife and some friends on the patio of Conversion Brewery in Lebanon, Oregon, he witnessed an argument between two men in the parking lot. One man, Elizah Bullock, was in his car. Smith’s full attention was drawn to the altercation when the other man, Michael Ryan VanGelder yelled “What did you (expletive) say to me?” at Bullock. Then VanGelder pulled a knife.

Smith reacted to VanGelder’s threatening posture by leaping from the patio to the parking lot and pulling his concealed Glock 42 .380 and instructed VanGelder to drop the knife.

When VanGelder ran, Smith and Bullock gave chase. They caught VanGelder, and although Bullock was injured in the pursuit they were able to hold VanGelder until police arrived. VenGelder was arrested for unlawful use of a weapon, menacing, second-degree disorderly conduct, and fourth-degree assault.

Linn County Sheriff Bruce Riley praised Smith and how it was clear that his previous weapons and concealed carry training turned a potentially dangerous situation into a positive outcome. “That’s a good example of what concealed carry permits are intended to do,” said Riley.

Riley emphasized that the concealed carry training gave Smith awareness and discipline that an untrained citizen might not have.

Smith concurred. When asked about the details of the incident, Smith said “I did not put my finger on the trigger. I do not put my finger on the trigger unless I’m going to fire.” Smith added as he discussed his responsibility in the situation, “I knew that somebody’s life was in danger and that others could be threatened too.”

For other concealed carry permit carriers, Smith recommends having a high familiarity with your weapon is important before carrying it out in public. He says he doesn’t carry a weapon that he hasn’t put 50 to 100 rounds through at the range. This allows him familiarity with the weapon and how best to fire it.

Smith hopes never to fire his weapon outside of the range, but says “It’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it”. But he also feels that concealed carry is better than open carry beyond the training requirements. “I think with open carry, you could end up with someone picking a fight just to see if you’re a badass,” he said.

The article Oregon Vet, Concealed Carry Owner Stops Knife Attack originally appeared on Clipdraw