Google’s Social Chief Would Like To Tell You About His Gun

The man behind Google+ really likes his handguns.

Vic Gundotra took to Google+, the social network he’s credited with masterminding, to share a personal story:

Whew. What a scary night. I fell asleep early only to have my wife wake me up frantically. “Someone is outside our house - they are sneaking around the backyard!”

Vic’s Google+ activity is comprised mostly of funny links and announcements about Google+, so this stood out immediately:

Quickly waking up, I asked her - “what is going on?”. She said “Someone rung the door bell a few minutes ago. I thought it was a prank. So I went to the den window and looked outside… and then noticed a man in a jeans and a hood walking around to the back of the house. When the motion detection activated lights kicked on, I saw him. He is outside now!”

Thankfully, things turn out to be fine: Vic confronts the apparent loiterer, who then flees. But the post goes on, reading like something out of the Guns & Ammo letters page:

I loaded the cartridge on my Springfield XD ACP 45 which was stored in the safe.

How very specific!

Fortunately one of our good friends is a member of the SWAT team and currently a police detective. He has helped train my wife and I on the use of the gun, including encouraging us to add a SureFire X300 weapon light.

This film stars real, active duty Vic Gundotras.

I gently pulled the handle (not the trigger) to engage the SureFire X300 light towards the front door.

And you pumped a few rounds through the screen door, just to be safe? Maybe tossed a flashbang into the driveway?

I yelled “You have the wrong house”. He repeatedly asked me for my address, and I repeated the same “You have the wrong house”.

Close enough. Vic stays frosty:

It’s funny how calm you can be with a Springfield XD in your hand.

[I] noticed the strange man walking slowly down my driveway. As I fired the light on him, he started running down the driveway and into the darkness.

He ends with a warning to other would-be yard-loiterers: “[M]y Springfield XD stays by the bedside tonight,” then links to the product page for his Springfield pistol. (For what it’s worth, Google has been criticized for banning gun-related content on its advertising platform.)

So Vic’s a gun guy and Zuck hunts Bison. Dick Costolo, whaddya got?