Getting bothered by salesmen knocking on your door is never pleasant. Still, that doesn’t mean it’s acceptable to threaten them with violence. While most people would simply ignore the salesman or politely tell them they aren’t interested, one older man in Texas decided that pulling out a gun was a perfectly reasonable response. During the incident, the salesman noticed that the man appeared agitated and began recording for his safety. In the video, the Texas man can be seen holding a gun while walking toward him. The man orders the salesman to leave and demands to see his ID. When the salesman refuses, the older man becomes even more aggressive, cursing and insisting that the salesman was trespassing on private property.
At one point, the man asks where the salesman’s car is, apparently wanting to take a photo of the license plate to identify him. Unfortunately for him, there was no car nearby. When the salesman points out that this still isn’t a good reason to brandish a gun, the man insists that he’s within his rights because he can open carry. When the salesman calmly responds that what the man is doing is illegal, the older man denies it and threatens to call the police.
Eventually, the police do arrive, but things don’t go the way the Texas man expected. Instead of the salesman getting in trouble, it was the homeowner who ended up in handcuffs. He has since been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
After the video was posted online, internet users were far from impressed by the man’s behavior. Many described him as easily agitated and lacking patience, saying that while door-to-door salesmen can be annoying, that hardly justifies threatening them with a firearm.
“Just to retain defense for this charge will cost him 10K. Anyone can prove me wrong on that, but you can’t say it’s gonna be cheap. Guy will be lucky not to do jail time and deplete his 401K in the process. As a gun owner and advocate, it’s incredibly important we are emotionally mature and utilize reason over our stupid passions,” one user wrote.
Others mocked the man’s mixed signals during the confrontation, pointing out how he first told the salesman to leave and then immediately told him to stay put. “He says, ‘You better get out of here right now!’ immediately followed by ‘Stay right there.’ Dementia Dude,” another commenter joked.
Some users argued that someone that old shouldn’t even be allowed to carry a firearm in the first place. “How does he know this isn’t someone’s in-law? Just accosting someone’s kid for taking a walk? Seriously, for this level of response in Texas of all places, whatever context we don’t have has to be awful for pops there,” another user wrote.