This is a true story that happened to me in January, 2009. It's very scary, but why?

About a month ago I was driving home one night with Teri when a car way behind me started flashing his lights. He was really far behind me but it's a straight road so I could see how quickly he was approaching me. I thought he might be having some kind of emergency - or perhaps he was just a jerk - so as he neared me, I pulled a little to the right to let him pass. But he slowed down and pulled to the right, behind me, still flashing his lights. Now I wondered if there was something wrong with my car and he was trying to tell me, so I pulled over; he pulled over too. It was about 10:00p - the road was wet and there were a couple other cars on the road, but it was an open stretch of road with no blind corners or obstructions or ice or unsafe areas, and visibility was fine - it wasn't raining or snowing.

Keeping an eye on him in my rear-view mirror as he got out of his car, I rolled down my window a couple inches so we could talk when he got to my window. When he was just outside my door, the first thing he said was "Roll down your window."

That was odd. He didn't even say hi or what was wrong with my car. I said, "It is down." I noticed he was open-carrying a gun, but that's no big deal to me. I open-carry sometimes, and I have many friends who open- and conceal-carry.

He said, "Roll it down all the way."

I was beginning to think it was a mistake to pull over for this guy. I said, "Why? We can hear each other fine. Why do you want my window down all the way?"

At this point, I was thinking this was getting to be a really weird situation. But then the guy said "get out of the car" and he opened my door! I instantly starting getting scared. What were his intentions? Since he already had my door opened, and since he was bigger than me, and since he was carrying a gun and I wasn't, and - more importantly than all of that - since he was making demands in an intimidating way, I did get out of the car. He told Teri to stay in the car; she said and did nothing, just waited in the car.

He and I walked to the rear of my car where his headlights illuminated us better, and he asked me why I was giving him attitude. I said, "I'm not giving you attitude. I'm being very calm and asking you questions. You're the one who has been rude from the beginning. Why do you want me to roll my window down all the way?"

We went back and forth about who did or didn't have an attitude, and he still hadn't told me why he flashed his lights or what he wanted when he changed the subject by saying he was going to search me. This seemed very odd: who was this guy that was demanding to search me? Why was he searching me? What authority did he have over me (other than the threat of hurting me if I didn't let him)? But, again, he was getting more and more terse and demanding, and he did have the only gun. He was even using body language in an intimidating "I'm in control, don't mess with me" way: he was standing with his legs apart, with his hand resting on his gun, and pointing at me a lot. He asked, "Do you have a weapon on you?" At least now I knew what he was looking for, although he had no business knowing whether I had a gun on me. If he intended to rob me or harm me, he would of course want to know - otherwise I couldn't think of a reason it's any of his business.

I was pretty much out of control of the situation by now (hell, I should have had my car door locked from the beginning!), so I acquiesced when he weakly patted me down. He touched my jacket near the pockets and that was it; I don't know what he was looking for (unless he didn't believe me when I told him I didn't have a gun on me), but I almost certainly could have continued hiding it after his pat-down.

Then he asked me to lift my jacket up so he could see my waistline. Was he looking for something specific? Was he expecting something I didn't have? Was this a weird joke? So I lifted my jacket and the guys asks me "What is that?" He pointed to my conceal-carry gun holster, which was in the back of my pants, empty.

I told him it was my holster. He asked, "Do you have a gun?" I told him I did. He asked, "Where is it?" I told him it was in my car. He asked, "Why didn't you tell me you had a gun when I asked you if you had a weapon?"

I said, "You didn't ask me if I had a weapon. You asked me if I had a weapon on me. I don't have a weapon on me. It's in my car." And it was. My gun was unloaded and in the back seat of my car.

At that point the guy must have become scared, or perhaps angry. It's tough to say since I don't have any context of where he was coming from or what he wanted. He still hadn't told me what his intentions were. But he called a friend who must have been nearby and his friend drove up a few minutes later and pulled over on the side of the road with us. This story has been weird up to this point, but now it gets much scarier. His friend was also open-carrying a gun.

One of the two guys - I have forgotten which one - bound my hands behind my back! He was kind of polite about it, telling me he was going to do it before he did it - but a polite thief or murderer is still a thief or murderer! Here I was in the position where I could either comply or refuse or try to flee, and in any case I was stuck merely hoping they weren't going to hurt me! I shouldn't have pulled over; I shouldn't have left my door unlocked; I shouldn't have left my gun in the car. Once my hands were bound, the other guy went back to my car and started asking questions of Teri: who she was, where we were heading and coming from, if either of us were drunk, etc.

Eventually these 2 guys called yet another friend (also open-carrying), and the 3 of them unbound my hands and told Teri and I that we were not allowed to carry bottles in my car, told me that they thought I was driving too fast, and told me that I needed their permission to be on their road. Their permission? Their road? It was a public road! Finally I realized what they were up to: they were trying to rob us via threats! They didn't want to actually rob us, so they tried to threaten us so that we would voluntary give them money.

Just before they let us go, they wrote some notes down on paper and handed them to us - they were basically reminders of their threats. They gave me 3 notes (one reminding me they thought I was driving too fast, one reminding me they didn't allow me to carry bottles in my car, and one reminding me they needed to get paid to give me permission to drive on their road) and gave Teri one note (reminding her they didn't allow her to carry bottles in my car). These notes said we had to go to their "clubhouse" (kind of like a Rotary or Masonic lodge or something - a place where these thugs and their friends gather) and pay them money for our "transgressions" or we would be in worse trouble. Their exact threats were not spelled out, but these guys were brutish so it was fairly obvious what they'd do if we didn't go to their clubhouse and pay them their "protection money." This was almost exactly like a mafia guy in the movies going into a store and trashing the place and then telling the store owner that he better pay the mafia guy money to protect the store owner from thugs trashing his store, otherwise his store might get trashed.

Teri and I got in my car - and locked the doors - and drove home, unmolested the rest of the way home. It was quite a relief to get away from those thugs! It was a violent and scary scene.

I want you to consider these questions before you continue reading. There is no need to write anything down or respond to me; just think about your responses and what they mean to you, before you continue reading my true story.

Should I have pulled over on the side of the road for a stranger flashing his lights at me?

Should I have gotten out of my car when he opened my door and demanded it?

Does this seem like a scary scenario to you?

Did this guy have any right to demand that I get out of my car? Did he have any right to bind my hands? Why did he have that right (or why did he not have that right)?

Should any one person decide how other people drive on public roads? If so, who should that person be? Why?

Who defines what is "too fast" or "unsafe" driving? Does that definition apply to all people, to all cars, at all times? What standards are used to determine how fast is "too fast?"

If there is a definition of "too fast," what should happen if someone drives faster? Should their circumstances be taken into account (for example, what if they have taken driving safety courses, or are a professional race car driver, or had brand new brakes and engine and safety equipment, or are rushing to a hospital)?

If there is a definition of "too fast," should there also be one for "too slow?" Should there be one for "too close to the right side of the lane?" What about for "not driving fuel-efficient enough?" Where should the definitions of how other people act when they're not hurting anyone, end?

If exceptions to these definitions are allowed, such as "if you're rushing to the hospital, it's OK to drive faster," then who decides what the exceptions are? What standards are used to determine how much faster than "too fast" is "much too fast?" Do these exceptions apply to all people at all times?

Now I'm going to tell the exact same story, with just a few words changed. The changed words are in red.

About a month ago I was driving home one night with Teri when a cop car way behind me started flashing his lights. He was really far behind me but it's a straight road so I could see how quickly he was approaching me. I thought he might be having some kind of emergency - or perhaps he was just a jerk - so as he neared me, I pulled a little to the right to let him pass. But he slowed down and pulled to the right, behind me, still flashing his lights. Now I wondered if there was something wrong with my car and he was trying to tell me, so I pulled over; he pulled over too. It was about 10:00p - the road was wet and there were a couple other cars on the road, but it was an open stretch of road with no blind corners or obstructions or ice or unsafe areas, and visibility was fine - it wasn't raining or snowing.

Keeping an eye on him in my rear-view mirror as he got out of his car, I rolled down my window a couple inches so we could talk when he got to my window. When he was just outside my door, the first thing he said was "Roll down your window."

That was odd. He didn't even say hi or what was wrong with my car. I said, "It is down." I noticed he was open-carrying a gun, but that's no big deal to me. I open-carry sometimes, and I have many friends who open- and conceal-carry.

He said, "Roll it down all the way."

I was beginning to think it was a mistake to pull over for this guy. I said, "Why? We can hear each other fine. Why do you want my window down all the way?"

At this point, I was thinking this was getting to be a really weird situation. But then the guy said "get out of the car" and he opened my door! I instantly starting getting scared. What were his intentions? Since he already had my door opened, and since he was bigger than me, and since he was carrying a gun and I wasn't, and - more importantly than all of that - since he was making demands in an intimidating way, I did get out of the car. And more importantly than even all of that, he was a cop, and if you ignore what a cops says, you get hurt or jailed. He told Teri to stay in the car; she said and did nothing, just waited in the car.

He and I walked to the rear of my car where his headlights illuminated us better, and he asked me why I was giving him attitude. I said, "I'm not giving you attitude. I'm being very calm and asking you questions. You're the one who has been rude from the beginning. Why do you want me to roll my window down all the way?"

We went back and forth about who did or didn't have an attitude, and he still hadn't told me why he flashed his lights or what he wanted when he changed the subject by saying he was going to search me. This seemed very odd: who was this guy that was demanding to search me? Why was he searching me? What authority did he have over me (other than the threat of hurting me if I didn't let him)? But, again, he was getting more and more terse and demanding, and he did have the only gun. And he was a cop. He was even using body language in an intimidating "I'm in control, don't mess with me" way: he was standing with his legs apart, with his hand resting on his gun, and pointing at me a lot. He asked, "Do you have a weapon on you?" At least now I knew what he was looking for, although he had no business knowing whether I had a gun on me. If he intended to rob me or harm me, he would of course want to know - otherwise I couldn't think of a reason it's any of his business.

I was pretty much out of control of the situation by now (hell, I should have had my car door locked from the beginning!), so I acquiesced when he weakly patted me down. He touched my jacket near the pockets and that was it; I don't know what he was looking for (unless he didn't believe me when I told him I didn't have a gun on me), but I almost certainly could have continued hiding it after his pat-down.

Then he asked me to lift my jacket up so he could see my waistline. Was he looking for something specific? Was he expecting something I didn't have? Was this a weird joke? So I lifted my jacket and the guys asks me "What is that?" He pointed to my conceal-carry gun holster, which was in the back of my pants, empty.

I told him it was my holster. He asked, "Do you have a gun?" I told him I did. He asked, "Where is it?" I told him it was in my car. He asked, "Why didn't you tell me you had a gun when I asked you if you had a weapon?"

I said, "You didn't ask me if I had a weapon. You asked me if I had a weapon on me. I don't have a weapon on me. It's in my car." And it was. My gun was unloaded and in the back seat of my car.

At that point the guy must have become scared, or perhaps angry. It's tough to say since I don't have any context of where he was coming from or what he wanted. He still hadn't told me what his intentions were. But he called another cop who must have been nearby and this cop drove up a few minutes later and pulled over on the side of the road with us. This story has been weird up to this point, but now it gets much scarier. This other cop was also open-carrying a gun.

One of the two cops - I have forgotten which one - handcuffed my hands behind my back! He was kind of polite about it, telling me he was going to do it before he did it - but a polite thief or murderer is still a thief or murderer! Here I was in the position where I could either comply or refuse or try to flee, and in any case I was stuck merely hoping they weren't going to hurt me! I shouldn't have pulled over; I shouldn't have left my door unlocked; I shouldn't have left my gun in the car. Once my hands were bound, the other cop went back to my car and started asking questions of Teri: who she was, where we were heading and coming from, if either of us were drunk, etc.

Eventually these 2 cops called yet another cop (also open-carrying), and the 3 of them unbound my hands and told Teri and I that we were not allowed to carry bottles in my car, told me that they thought I was driving too fast, and told me that I needed their permission to be on their road. Their permission? Their road? It was a public road! Finally I realized what they were up to: they were trying to rob us via threats! They didn't want to actually rob us, so they tried to threaten us so that we would voluntary give them money.

Just before they let us go, they wrote up some citations and handed them to us - they were basically reminders of their threats. They gave me 2 citations and a summons (one reminding me they thought I was driving too fast, one reminding me they didn't allow me to carry bottles in my car, and one reminding me they needed to get paid to give me permission to drive on their road) and gave Teri one summons (reminding her they didn't allow her to carry bottles in my car). These notes said we had to go to their court (kind of like a Rotary or Masonic lodge or something - a place where these thugs and their friends gather) and pay them money for our "transgressions" or we would be in worse trouble. Their exact threats were not spelled out, but these guys were brutish so it was fairly obvious what they'd do if we didn't go to their clubhouse and pay them their "protection money." This was almost exactly like a mafia guy in the movies going into a store and trashing the place and then telling the store owner that he better pay the mafia guy money to protect the store owner from thugs trashing his store, otherwise his store might get trashed.

Teri and I got in my car - and locked the doors - and drove home, unmolested the rest of the way home. It was quite a relief to get away from those thugs! It was a violent and scary scene.

I'd like you to consider your responses to a few more questions.

Should I have pulled over on the side of the road for a cop flashing his lights at me? If yes, why? If I have not harmed or killed anyone else, or damaged or stolen any one else's property, why does a cop have a right to detain me, handcuff me, demand answers to irrelevant questions?

Should I have gotten out of my car when he opened my door and demanded it? If yes, why does a cop have more authority than any other stranger? Are cops people, too? Do cops make mistakes? Do they have biases? Are some bad people who like to do bad things, or to control other people?

Did this cop have any right to demand that I get out of my car? Did he have any right to bind my hands? Why did he have that right (or why did he not have that right)? If yes, why doesn't any person have the same right? If driving "too fast" is dangerous, why shouldn't I be able to pull someone over, handcuff them, demand answers to my questions, and demand money for disobeying my definition of "too fast?" Why do we have to wait for cops to make us safe?

Should cops not enforce laws that have nothing to do with victimless crime? Should laws regarding victimless crimes (and there are hundreds of thousands of them) not exist?