Got followed threateningly around town on Friday; glad I had it with me. Even happier I didn't end up using it.

I was driving home on Friday from a church meeting. I needed to merge into the left lane in preparation to make a left turn, so I put on my signal and waited. A silver Pontiac was driving aggressively in the left lane and kept trying to block me from merging any time I began to get over. When another driver moved and a large spot opened up, I merged smoothly into that spot. The driver of the Pontiac began following me around town. I did not cut him off, break any traffic laws or do anything to harm/upset the driver. I decided not to drive home, because I didn't want him knowing where I lived, so I drove down a few side streets in different directions to make sure he wasn't following me just by coincidence. He kept following me, keeping his bumper so close to mine that they almost touched and honking at different times. When I stopped at a red light, he honked frantically and started getting out of the car, flailing his arms violently and screaming, "Hey Motherf****r! I got kids in the car!" as if I had been trying to harm him. When he opened his car door, I double-checked that my weapon was ready to go to work if I needed to draw. However, the light turned green and I drove away, so he got back down into his car and sped after me.I got on the phone with 911 as he followed me downtown, leading him toward the police station, and tried to stay calm. The dispatcher said she would have an officer waiting by the police station to help me out. Finally, coming up to a red light, he sped up next to me so that our cars would be stopped right next to each other. I didn't want him seeing my face, trying to get into my car, or anything like that, so I dove left into the left turn lane and sped up a side street quickly enough that he couldn't make the turn and was forced to continue straight, and I lost him. I drove around a bit before going home to make sure he wasn't nearby following me again, and told the dispatcher it was over.I'm really glad it didn't escalate any further. But I have to wonder what would have happened if he had acted more quickly, or if the stoplight hadn't turned green in time for me to get away, etc. Hopefully nothing. I don't know what his intentions were or what he was so angry about. All I know is that the guy was acting crazy and violent like he really wanted to harm me. I just wanted to go home. It was crazy to feel that adrenaline dump accompanied by that feeling of "This is real, this guy wants to hurt me; I need to think seriously about my next few moves." It was really strange, too, because I had gotten up that morning and thought "Do I really need to carry today? I get sick of that weight on my hip and I live in a really safe area where nothing ever happens." I'm glad I did it anyway. Even though I didn't end up needing to draw, I'm glad I had it with me in case I had ended up needing to. via /r/CCW http://ift.tt/2DnPTO8