What would you do?


I'm overly aware most of the time and I preach it like I want to keep it from going out of style. Well, I am actually. I friggin Love Samurai's quote and could picture me saying the EXCACT same thing.

I grinned and said, "They would not have pistol whipped me..."

Hahaha, classic man.
 

Situational Awareness must always be in the front of your mind. That said, I agree I would not have been pistol whipped either.
 
When I'm not working, and carrying a gun, I will do everything short of fellatio to avoid an armed encounter.

IN SHORT I LEAVE THE EGO AT HOME!
You want my parking spot? No problem. I will smile and gladly give it to you to keep from having to shoot you. Remember this, you can never call a bullet back and your local prosecuter determines what the law is. What is "justified" in one area may not be in another.

Armed Robbery on the other hand is a different story. The badguy has means, motive and opportunity to cause your death. I would respond appropriately.

Some of you may see this as being "weak". I see it as being smart. When you draw your gun or shoot someone the consequenses are sometimes horrible. You just have to determine if being dead is more horrible? To me it is.

Biker
 
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Good point Biker. I'm quick to find the exit whenever possible. Unless I'm backed into a corner, I find that the simple solution would be to find another parking spot.


gf
 
Exiting the vehicle for any reason is a bad idea. Blow the horn, ram the other car(s), fire through the windshield - whatever you need to do to get away. Don't stop running until you're sure of safety. These people were probably following this guy at least from the time he exited the mall, and possibly long before that. Unless you're not paying attention to anything, there's ample time to realize that you've seen the same car circle three times, and they seem to be interested in you.

Good point Biker. I'm quick to find the exit whenever possible.
Ditto that. I go in the opposite direction from trouble, as quietly as possible. Some people call this "running away" - I prefer to think of it as "extraction".

The closest I've ever gotten to being robbed is at a gas station a few years ago in the middle of the night. There were some bums hanging out under the front of the store. One of them came up to the car pretty aggressively and asked for money...I said, "Sure" and flung a pre-loaded handful of change at him while I jumped in the car. Then the other one came running next to the car asking if I wanted to buy some Valium. I left in a big noisy hurry and ran a red light on the way out.
 
Most of these answers are based on knowing the outcome of this particular incident.

If the badguys were smart, they'd never let you know that they intended to pistol-whip you until you were out of your car asking politely what the problem was.

THEN they pounce !

It's too easy to say after the fact, that "I'd run the SOB over!" when at the time, you'd have no clue about their true intent.

This makes another example of why a handgun on you beats the shotgun in the trunk.

Once out of your car and once they show their weapon(s) it becomes an entirely different matter. At THAT point, I'd draw my gun and take command of the situation.

If, on the other hand, they showed their weapons while I was still in the car, I'd use it to batter my way out.
.
 
Most of these answers are based on knowing the outcome of this particular incident.

If the badguys were smart, they'd never let you know that they intended to pistol-whip you until you were out of your car asking politely what the problem was.
The general rule of simply not getting out of the car to begin with isn't dependent on hindsight; it can be universally applied to many situations. By not getting out of the car, you have preserved a wider set of options - you can still get out at any time, or you can use the horn, use the car as a battering ram, etc. You can also still ask them what they want by rolling the window down and yelling, or using a PA system if you have one. Getting out of the car is an incredibly naive thing to do, and instantly decreases your available options.

When I stop at a gas station, I make a complete circle around the pumps to get an idea of where everyone is, then select a pump and park there. I usually wait a minute before getting out, to watch people moving around in the area. If there's bums around or someone who looks like they might cause trouble, I never even get out of the car - I find another gas station.

The same goes for watching what's going on when you leave any building, whether it's the mall, your house, or your workplace. Be as careful as you need to be - don't just go charging out to your car with tunnel vision. Watch for people and cars that don't belong or are behaving in a suspicious way.

It's a shame this isn't taught in schools or something. One would almost conclude they're training children to become victims. :huh:
 
A few years ago (prior to carrying) I had a road rage incident where a guy didn't like my speed through a CostCo parking lot with traffic, speed bumps and pedestrian traffic. The guy followed me through the parking lots to a Wal-Mart (while my wife dialed 9-1-1 on the cell). I could see him in the rear-view mirror raving and having a tantrum in his car - screaming, pounding on the inside roof, beating the dashboard and yanking on his wheel. As I pulled into Wal-Mart's parking section he jumped his car past me and cut over to the right pinning me against traffic behind and blocking forward movement (wall on the right). My wife had 9-1-1 on the phone but I got out and addressed the guy with an, "is there a problem?"

The guy was screaming what an SOB, California candy-___ (had CA plates on the car) driver I was and then threatened to kill me (several times) if I didn't get my ___ back to CA. I had reached for the cell which my wife handed me and the dispatcher heard the guy screaming insults and the threats. I asked the dispatcher what she wanted me to do then read her the plate and car description like the guy wasn't there. She told me that police were rolling and I should get back inside the car (wife had told her I was out). I told the guy sit tight, police will be here to talk to you in a minute. He screamed back that the police wouldn't be there in time to save my punk ____ (I thought that was funny so I told him he was "crazy as a bed bug"), then he got back in his car and took off. A sergeant later told me that they had 6 other reports in the last couple of weeks on this same guy going nuts while driving and suspected he was doing meth based on the police record of the owner of the car.

When they caught him 3 days or so later, they asked if I wished to prosecute since they had the 9-1-1 tape and a couple of other witnesses names. I asked whether they needed me to but the prosecutor said they had him on felony drug possession plus probation violations so they didn't really need the misdemeanor charge. His advice also included that the guy might have friends and would also eventually get out. You never know.

Later that week I applied for my permit. Should I have gotten out of the car? In hindsight, probably not. I was unarmed and the guy was younger and hopped up on something so it was a poor tactical decision. Also, I stayed behind my car door which was bad positioning since he could have jumped forward and pinned me in the door. On the other hand, my judgment, based on looking at the guy was that I could talk through the situation and we were in a public parking lot with at least 25-30 people within 30 yards. A bit naive but it came out alright.
 
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Uncertain of what I would do exactly but I think I'd stay put in the car, windows up, doors locked, and Glock out to the ready and see how things unfold from there.
 
When I'm not working, and carrying a gun, I will do everything short of fellatio to avoid an armed encounter.

IN SHORT I LEAVE THE EGO AT HOME!
You want my parking spot? No problem. I will smile and gladly give it to you to keep from having to shoot you. Remember this, you can never call a bullet back and your local prosecuter determines what the law is. What is "justified" in one area may not be in another.

Armed Robbery on the other hand is a different story. The badguy has means, motive and opportunity to cause your death. I would respond appropriately.

Some of you may see this as being "weak". I see it as being smart. When you draw your gun or shoot someone the consequenses are sometimes horrible. You just have to determine if being dead is more horrible? To me it is.

Biker


+1000! Everybody's all about drawing down. WTF? Avoid, Seperate, De-escalate. Anyone ever heard that? I would get in the car, lock the doors, 911, and start honking. You should have several other options rather thatn "Pulling out my 1911 and firing until slidelock" How about pepperspray? any one carry that? anyone trained to use, or have, an ASP? When all you have is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail. Think about all of your tactical options, and producing a firearm is the last, last, last resort.
 
My strategy is to constantly keep at least one path of rapid escape available, and stay IN THE CAR until I know it's safe to come out. This doesn't matter if I'm at a gas station or a police parade. Avoid trouble spots (bars, convenience stores at night, drunks, party houses, etc) to begin with, and if trouble comes your way, scoot out to a defensible position and hope it doesn't spot you. If it does, try and talk it down.

+1000! Everybody's all about drawing down. WTF? Avoid, Seperate, De-escalate. Anyone ever heard that? I would get in the car, lock the doors, 911, and start honking. You should have several other options rather thatn "Pulling out my 1911 and firing until slidelock" How about pepperspray? any one carry that? anyone trained to use, or have, an ASP? When all you have is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail. Think about all of your tactical options, and producing a firearm is the last, last, last resort.
Unless you're well-trained in nonlethal force, have no other option, or are VERY sure that the attacker is incapable of quickly turning the tables on you, don't do it. If your pepper spray or ASP fails to stop them, you may have already blown your chance at a decent lethal shot. Now you're faced with a very split-second decision of either hand-to-hand combat, or trying to pull your gun while on the ground or in another less-than-ideal situation.

It's better to shoot someone who's 4 feet away and wielding a knife, than have your baton snatched away, and then try to draw on someone who's slashing at you with that knife. Remember, your priority is yourself - not the safety of the attacker. Save yourself!
 

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