TLDR: During a road rage incident the other party flashed a firearm and in the heat of the moment I decided to follow them. Nothing happens.Hey guys. This is a tough one for me to post because I screwed up and I'm lucky things didnt get out of hand. I wanted to post my story so others could provide feedback and perhaps learn for my situation.Today I was driving home after a nice dinner with my inlaws. I was driving down familiar roads about 10 minutes away from home. My wife was riding passenger and my 3 year old son was in the backseat. We were rocking out to Green Day on the radio and were generally having a good time and all in a good mood.I was driving down a 3 lane road and my left turn was coming up. A new far left lane opens up and is a turn only lane. I drive this road several times a day and know exactly where I need to be and when. As the lane opened, i immediately signal and move over. The guy in front of me either didnt look or didnt check his blind spot and starts to merge over into me (with no signal). I slam on the brakes and allow him to go ahead. He flicked me off, but I ignored it and just kept going and made my left turn.We are now on a 2 lane road and im in the right lane and he is in front of me. I wasnt really paying attention to him at this point and was driving home as usual. I know that the lane that we are in ends and the speed limit jumps from 45mph to 55mph. I usually stay in the right lane and as everybody moves over early, increase my speed and get ahead of the pack. The guy in front of me seemed to be doing this as well so I just followed behind him.After we cleared the traffic in the left lane, he moved over but did not increase his speed. I decided to pass him. As I got closer he suddenly moves inbetween both lanes, blocking me from passing. I was traveling faster then him so I was suddenly right up on his bumper, but he increased his speed to stay ahead of me. He prevented me from passing him and I was forced to move over behind him. He suddenly brakes and decreases his speed back down to 45mph.At this point I think that he is clearly screwing with me.... or maybe hes a seriously bad driver. He flicked me off a second time and my wife returned the bird. He then holds up a handgun and waves it around. I laughed out loud. Was this guy serious? A moment ago I thought he was just a bad driver, but now there is a firearm involved. Did I do something that bad? Did this guy really think he was going to intimidate me with a firearm? I started honking at him. My wife called 911.He suddenly moves into the left lane to make a turn. We are about 2 minutes away from my house at this point, which was just ahead on the right, but I knew that this guy was turning onto a road that only went into a single housing development. I got behind him and followed him onto the next road.I don't know why I decided to follow him, and in hindsight it was a huge error. I wanted to show him that I wasnt intimated by his firearm. I watch self-defense videos every day. I watch tons of road-rage videos. I didnt think this guy was going to backup his threat. My wife and I were both carrying. I felt like this was a situation I had been preparing for. I guess I didnt think much more ahead of that at the time. I didnt really intend to confront him, but just wanted to intimated him a little bit. I knew there was a road that would take me right back to the main road outside of my house a few streets up. I'd follow him to that point, then turn.The guy suddenly takes a sharp right into a grocery store parking lot, squealing his tires, and I followed him. He turns right into the parking lot and pulls into a spot. At this point, I come to my senses and realize following this dude was extremely stupid. My wife and kid were in the car. My wife was on the phone with 911. I did not need to confront this idiot. It wasnt worth dying over. I drove straight through the parking lot. I saw him turn around a leave the other way as I drove away. I got back on the road, and went home.It wasnt until after I got home and thought about it that I realized how badly this could have gone. I've always thought I would deescalate these situations, but when I was suddenly in one, I was the one that escalated. I feel that I need to understand why I did that to avoid doing it again. I would have never forgiven myself if my wife or my child were hurt or killed due to my ego. Im such an idiot. via /r/CCW http://bit.ly/2VylJ2J
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