Drawing from a booth?

S&WM&P40

New member
So I was out to eat last week at my girls favorite restaurant ( Friendly's). We get seated and as anyone knows who has eaten at a Friendly's most of them have booth style seating. I was thinking how would one draw his firearm and bring it into use in such a small space? Now this topic is more so asking how someone who carry's a full size firearm would do this as I think you would have more then enough room with a compact. But it also gets me thinking about another concern and that is your family. If your seated in the front of the restaurant you will be unable to get up from the booth and engage the threat/threats Your only choice should you choose to act would be to draw and engage seated from the booth. That brings into play your family as they will be in the line of fire should the threat/threats return fire at you. Should you act and risk getting your family killed?
 
Don't know about friendlys but I do go to fridays, Applebees ETC. I always ask for a table or high top with the sole intention of avoiding the booth. I have never had a problem with being accomadated with my request. A side bonus of this is I normally have the same servers and we get familiar with each other, resulting in better service for me and better tips for them!:biggrin:
 
So I was out to eat last week at my girls favorite restaurant ( Friendly's). We get seated and as anyone knows who has eaten at a Friendly's most of them have booth style seating. I was thinking how would one draw his firearm and bring it into use in such a small space? Now this topic is more so asking how someone who carry's a full size firearm would do this as I think you would have more then enough room with a compact. But it also gets me thinking about another concern and that is your family. If your seated in the front of the restaurant you will be unable to get up from the booth and engage the treat/treat's. Your only choice should you choose to act would be to draw and engage seated from the booth. That brings into play your family as they will be in the line of fire should the treat return fire at you. Should you act and risk getting your family killed?

Only if your family is at risk of being killed, your not there to enforce the law.
 
Don't know about friendlys but I do go to fridays, Applebees ETC. I always ask for a table or high top with the sole intention of avoiding the booth. I have never had a problem with being accomadated with my request. A side bonus of this is I normally have the same servers and we get familiar with each other, resulting in better service for me and better tips for them!:biggrin:

I would love to get a table but they have none there. Plus booths are a lot easier to trap the kids so they cant get up and ran around. Small kids love to take off and run around the place learned that the hard way :biggrin:
 
I sit at the open end of the booth. Not too difficult to get out and move from there.

Yes you are right the open end is not hard to get up and move from. But again the post stated you had been seated at the front by the door. Some times that's all they have on the packed nights. Getting up from the booth in front of the treats would get you shot and or attacked. But if you happened to be in the back you could do that with no problem.
 
Only if your family is at risk of being killed, your not there to enforce the law.

That's what I think as well. Just because I happen to be carrying does not make me a cop and my first responsibility is to my family and to keep them and my self save. If I could get them out safe and on the way had to engage a treat so be it. But I'm not going to go back and try and shoot it out with him that's not my job and I stand a greater risk of being shot by a trigger happy cop.That's not to say I would not step in and try and help people as I would. I just would not go searching for the treat trying to play the hero.
 
I'm one of those blessed individuals that can step out of his back door and take a few steps to his own private firing range. My property allows me to have a section for a 50 yard pistol / rifle range, and an area cut out for a 300 yard rifle range. I have dirt mound / berm back stops, but also have a very thick wooded area behind the backstop to prevent flyers. The nearest house behind my range is about 3 to 4 miles, so I don't worry about stray rounds. I just added a skeet thrower that is operated by a foot switch and a timer, so you don't need a partner to shoot skeet. I'm working on a moving target system, as my wife is getting tired or running and holding the target. :sarcastic: Problem is, she shoots back. :biggrin: Mrs. Headbanger is a scary woman with a handgun, and I don't want to be on the receiving end of her Glocks, or Revolvers. This was one of the reasons my wife and I bought this house and property in the sticks where we live. I can set up my range the way I want to train.

One of the things I do is practice my draw and fire from seated positions foward, to the left and right. one handed, two handed, etc. I even drive my truck around back and practice my "Anti- Car Jacker Drills" from both sides. If your local range will allow it, take a chair into the lane and practice sitting with the target to your left and your right, and draw and fire. If they won't allow you to do that, then you can always "dry fire" practice in your home. Every little bit helps.
 
I'm one of those blessed individuals that can step out of his back door and take a few steps to his own private firing range. My property allows me to have a section for a 50 yard pistol / rifle range, and an area cut out for a 300 yard rifle range. I have dirt mound / berm back stops, but also have a very thick wooded area behind the backstop to prevent flyers. The nearest house behind my range is about 3 to 4 miles, so I don't worry about stray rounds. I just added a skeet thrower that is operated by a foot switch and a timer, so you don't need a partner to shoot skeet. I'm working on a moving target system, as my wife is getting tired or running and holding the target. :sarcastic: Problem is, she shoots back. :biggrin: Mrs. Headbanger is a scary woman with a handgun, and I don't want to be on the receiving end of her Glocks, or Revolvers. This was one of the reasons my wife and I bought this house and property in the sticks where we live. I can set up my range the way I want to train.

One of the things I do is practice my draw and fire from seated positions foward, to the left and right. one handed, two handed, etc. I even drive my truck around back and practice my "Anti- Car Jacker Drills" from both sides. If your local range will allow it, take a chair into the lane and practice sitting with the target to your left and your right, and draw and fire. If they won't allow you to do that, then you can always "dry fire" practice in your home. Every little bit helps.

Does your insurance company cover self inflected bullet holes :sarcastic: lol j/k. Yeah the problem is I live in a area with little to no ranges and in a small city so I cant just step out and shoot. looking at joining a range the only one around that's not over a hour drive that has a indoor range. We shall see what comes of it.
 
This may sound funny to most people but I always try to sit near the restrooms. This way I can herd my family into the restroom and have 1 door to defend against with my family behind me making the 911 call. As the restroom will most likely be away from the register where a robbery would take place.
 
First thing I've taught my family to do is get down low. Drawing from various positions is part of carrying a concealed firearm. Invest in a blue gun that corresponds to your CC firearm. Use the blue gun to bractice drawing from various positions and figure out what works best. I OC whenever possible, and carry multiple firearms, so drawing from the seated position doesn't pose too big of a problem.

I like "MADnMO's" suggestion of sitting near the restrooms. Sounds like a good suggestion, that I'll seriously look into.



gf
 
I too prefer to sit on the outside of the booth. I like a view of the entrance so that I can see what is going on. I also prefer to sit with my weapon to the inside of the booth so that I can draw it discretely, keep it concealed and have it in-hand for immediate action should retreat not be an option.
 
I too prefer to sit on the outside of the booth. I like a view of the entrance so that I can see what is going on. I also prefer to sit with my weapon to the inside of the booth so that I can draw it discretely, keep it concealed and have it in-hand for immediate action should retreat not be an option.

My wiphe keeps telling me I'm paraoid or watch too much tv, cuz I do the same watch the door thang. There's times when my shoulder holster is super for that in hand ready scenario. I like to cross my arms and let them lay on that big ol' phat belly, and hand near the grip under my jacket..
 
No combat specialist here but have been two interesting situations way before a CCP or guns in my life. Just threw that is because I have an idea of how I would react though in reality every situation would be different and how you acted before is no guarantee.
I just think that being in a booth with your family you should not draw at all. For those who say the family is in immediate danger my question is how do you know that before you set yourself and your family to be gunned down.
How do you know? Maybe one is that a gun is pointed at your table. If you know it is aimed directly at you then the BG must be awfully close. I think in that scenarion it's more about protecting your family ad not yourself. I think it would be a good time to close the gap with your body between the BG and family. Maybe you caould do this as you try to draw your weapon but I would be concentrating on the BG and HIS gun. At this point I would hope some other guys in the place seeing the BG occupied might rush him also. Hoping that they have not succumbed to the "feminization" that seems to have gotten to a large portion of American males. ( nothing to do with sexuality whatsoever!) My apologies to the ladies because I know there are many out there that would be right with me going after the guy.
All this time hopefully your family knows how to get down and stay down.
Second scenario part a. He is already shooting but some distance away. Get your family out of there first! If you can't, get them down and then YOU leave the booth and the family get somewhere you can draw the weapon away from your loved ones.
Not sure about second scenario b. Let's just say he, the BG has a weapon drawn. Don't laugh ...I might do any of these things. Plead not to kill me, "I'm too young to die!" not. Get up and faint a heart attack, start crying rolling on the floor scared out of my wits..... the whole time trying to draw my weapon so the BG really doesn't know what I am doing. It's all about surprise. Hopefully the BG will be and not me.
None of these are great or foolproof ideas and given the situations you will most likely get shot. The good thing is that somewhere like 60 or 65% of shooting victims don't die.
In reality I would hold off drawing my weapon at all unless it was pointed at my family, then whatever works and who really knows. I think some plan is better then none.
If I thought that the guy with the gun would not see me and I knew there were no innocents between me and the BG and none behind him then I would probably draw and hopefully have some cover at all.
Now thinking about being in a booth it seems that a crossdraw or shoulder holster would be the way to go in that scenario. What do you think?
Great site here and always interesting.
Just want you to know that I am totally aware that I do not know how I would really react in such a situation for sure. Though I do have some idea. I'd just rather eat my Jim Dandy
 
...It's all about surprise...
Is exactly why you don't
...In reality I would hold off drawing my weapon at all unless it was pointed at my family...
Obviously every scenario is different, but if the BG's weapon is pointed at you or your family, it's pretty much too late to think about drawing. As pointed out earlier, the cashbox is the likely object of focus for the BG, so the time to draw (and get your family under the table or some other form of cover, and distance yourself from them if possible) is while his attention is focused there. You may never decide to shoot after that, supposing he takes the cash and leaves. But if he turns his attention to you after the cashbox, you now have your weapon as ready as possible.

Incidentally, at the restaurant where my wife works, the crappers are located behind the register. So, sitting near them isn't an option there. Good idea otherwise.
 
utimmer43 you are right. All scenarios are different. I should have been more clear about the gun being pointed at the family. I didn't write it but in my mind drawing it would have only been an option if there was considerable (subjective) distance from BG to family and it was pointed in the general direction. If he was real close that would have been the scenario of rushing him and not trying to get to the weapon. (not enough time)
It is interesting how we both see a different scenario. You very rationally pointed out that he would probably be interested in the cash box, in which case there is a good chance there would be no reason to draw. In my minds eye I see more of an unpredictable nut coming into a somewhat busy establishedment and that he would probably be more bent on irrational behavior of wreaking pain and harm.
So there you have it. Many scenarios to play out with no one action being the guaranteed correct one. The only right move is the one that worked with no or minimal injuries. As in a fight..which technique is the best one? The one that worked!
Never realized Friendly's was so dangerous. Think I'll stay home and make my own ice cream. Flavors?:pleasantry:
BTW U43>>> Great Jefferson quote you have chosen. I just wonder if it's too late!
 
Call me an old fuddy duddy but i always try and set with my back to a wall and to face the front of the restaurant and my carry on the inside of the booth . and i also like the rest room deal will try and employ it from now on .
 
Hey TnRebel. Don't know why but ever since I was a kid I always sit with my back to the wall. Maybe just to see what was going on or because it's in my genes. Probably both.
Always intersting advice here. Some really great, wise advice like what I will call the restroom rule!
+1 ga9MM
 

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