Thats a horrifying pic.........

Do combat zones count? If so, more times than I can count...

Stateside... never.

Holy shit.
Glad all of y'all survived.

I haven't, but I've been with my dad twice when he did.

1. Sitting in the car with windows down at a gas station while my mom is inside.  Bum comes up and asks for change.  Dad says he doesn't have any.  Bum leans his torso over into the car.  Dad puts the muzzle of a 629 on his nose.  Bum decides to un-ass the area immediately.
2. Guy cuts us off in a parking lot, turns around screaming at us like a lunatic, then starts to get out of the car.  Dad draws his gun.  Guy jumps back in his minivan, throws it in gear, and floors it into traffic to GTFO.

You obviously missed the part where the guy returned to start beating on the OP's fiance? Thats what happens when you dont read until the end.

May I asked what model/make 1911 you have? I carry a Valor. Read your story years ago. Been thinking of pinning my safety because of your story.

The one that I used in the gunfight was a DW CBOB.

The other is the one that some very generous people on Arfcom bought for me, is a DW Valor, either 2010 or 2011 model.  I'd have to look it up, but it was the last year DW used Cerakote on them.

I have a Dan Wesson Valor in the Duty Black coat, I love it. I have a Custom HBE by Eric Larson that is tuckable with matching tuckable dual mag holsters. I've been thinking about a Guardian, CBOB, or ECO for carry.

Sorry to say, this sounds like poor advice. Situational Awareness dictates otherwise. In the Army, you are taught that before you EVER treat a casualty, you are a rifleman first, regardless of whether you're a combat medic. Once you come up to provide aid, you ALWAYS ensure the threat is no longer there. The same plays out when you draw down on someone. Stay aware, that might not be the only threat in the area. Hell, he could be a distraction for the guy coming from behind, the sides, etc.

Do not exclude all else. Situational awareness means understanding your surroundings. If you cannot be aware of what is going on around you while pointing a gun at someone, you have an issue.

Yeah, this is the first time in my life have ever heard any advice like this. There is no professional training anywhere that will tell you to abandon your SA. ...oh, and deer don't shoot back.

Drew on a guy this afternoon. I was leaving work mid day to go take my dogs out, like I do every day. I walk to work, so I always leave out the back door, since it's closer to my house. Noticed a car parked in the back alley, not really in a parking spot, but more off to the side than just driving through.

I stayed close to the building, until I was at a point I could see around the building to check for cars coming, so I could cross to the other side of the alley. Cars drive through there with no regard, and I didn't want to get run over crossing. As I'm looking back, I see the guy getting out of the car. He left the door open, and car running. Hollers out, "Hey man, come here." I stopped and asked if I could help him. He is about 20 feet away at this point, and moving towards me. I notice his hand is in his waistband. He says, "Give me $20." I tell him I don't have any money on me, and start walking backwards.

Then he raises his voice, and in a more aggressive tone, demands money. The street robberies and you thread has taught me, if you see a situation turning bad, get control. I drew my Glock 23 and had it in a low ready stance. At no point did I ever point the gun at him. He stopped dead in his tracks, and I flat out said, "Fuck off. Don't do anything stupid, and don't come any closer to me." He was about 10 feet from me at that point. He ran back to his car and left.

I didn't catch the plate numbers, but called the cops, and asked if they could have the officer meet me at my house to take my statement. I can literally see my house from the backdoor of the store, and the dispatcher had the officer meet me. I don't know if it's because I mentioned I drew a gun, or an officer was in the area, but I was still out back with my dogs when he showed up, so less than 10 minute response time.

He took my statement, they had no other calls about a guy getting a gun pulled on them, so just like last time I drew, sounds like I was in the clear. He did advise me that Iowa does not have Castle Law, I told him I was aware, but the guys actions and posturing left me feeling like I couldn't have left the scene unless I did it on my terms. He agreed, and also advised not to draw unless I was ready to shoot. I told him I was ready to shoot if he didn't heed my warning to stay the fuck away.

This time drawing was way scarier, because I walk that route multiple times a day. Unlike when I worked at the gas station, where I pretty much saw it going to that force level when they entered the store from opposite sides, this one really came out of nowhere. Situational awareness saved my ass today. Reinforces why I don't bum cigarettes to strangers, won't let a stranger use my lighter, and never give beggars spare change. I don't want to get that close to a stranger, when I don't know their intention.


For the TL;DR crowd. Almost got mugged right outside the backdoor of my store. Situational awareness is your friend. Now go read the whole post.

OST

Could "give me $20" from a complete stranger in an alleyway be considered attempted robbery?
Thats a demand and not the same as saying "hey man you got $20 I can have?" That's a question

Everything about his demeanor had me thinking he was fronting that he had  weapon, and it was a demand to give him something, not a request.

Exactly how I read the situation.
When you called 911 did you tell dispatch "some guy just tried to rob me?" Or did you present it as something possibly less threatening? Maybe something that could be construed as more like aggressive panhandling?

I think there could be a big difference in how the initial call on something like this is presented to 911.
Could what you initially say to dispatch make a difference in court if things had escalated and lead to a shooting?

I think you handled it really well. Someone with less situational awareness would have gotten robbed IMO.
I can picture a lot of people looking up over their cellphone at the guy when he first hollared out at them. He's going to know right then that he found his victim.

I told them a guy tried to rob me, I pulled my gun and he fled. Unfortunately I didn't get his license plate number, but gave them a description of the car.

I didn't want to possibly escalate the situation by chasing after to catch the plate number. Him fleeing was good enough for me at the moment.

Yes, twice.

Jefferson, north of Market, in St. Louis. Urban youth and his two buddies tried to pull open the passenger door at a light. The guy with his hand on the door handle levitated backwards about 15 feet when I reached into my bag on the passenger seat, grabbed my pistol and pointed at him. It was like he and his buddies just vanished after that. I love that the doors lock automatically at 15 mph in the Jeep. 2009

The other time was in the parking garage at Pike Market in Seattle. Another member of the same demographic pulled a knife on the wife and I. He about shit himself when we both produced guns. He also put on an amazing display of speed unassing the area. 2005

Good wording on the phone call.
Agreed chasing after him would have been a bad idea. The threat was fleeing and if you had pursued and then an altercation took place that could look bad.
Sounds like it went as well as something like that could have.

This is a nice feature as I had it on a 2008 Silverado.
The only thing wrong with it is it doesn't lock soon enough.
Have you ever noticed in a parking lot how long it takes for a lot of people once they get in their car to back out of their parking spot?
I've watched lots of women get in the car, situate their purse, get the cell phone working, make sure the kids are gtg if they have any, make sure the radio and ac are set .......all the time the doors are unlocked.
I've read several instances where criminals have walked up and opened the passenger door during this time.
We are all guilty to some degree of being distracted when we first get in our vehicle.
Make it a habit to lock all the doors asap when you close them. You are very vulnerable sitting in your car strapped and boxed in.

The wife and I had some long discussions about this. She was very bad about just walking up to the vehicle and getting in. Didn't check anything.

After the deal in the garage at Pike Market she really got with the program. I saw the guy, when we first stepped out of the elevator, peeking out from behind a concrete pillar. Said to her, this guy is up to no good. She said who? Which was when the guy decided to step out and come our way. I stepped forward and put my wife on my left side. Mr. Knife stopped momentarily but I guess he decided he could take us (I'm totally grey headed and probably looked like a easy mark to him). He produced the knife about 20 feet away from us. I had moved us both partially behind a vehicle with the wife completely behind it and me about half way. I had my hand on my pistol ready to draw when he produced it. I drew and aimed center mass immediately. My wife was a bit slower but also produced her weapon and aimed at him. He just turned and ran for the main entrance. Whole thing was maybe 10, 15 seconds. I just remember it being very, very quick and then done.

The ride home was interesting and for about three weeks she gave me a running commentary about everything around us when we were out and about. Her situational awareness is a thousand times better now. All the discussions we'd had prior suddenly clicked with her after this. Still can't turn off a light if her life depended on it, but you have to give on some things.

That's an awesome story to share.
Actually brings a tear to my eye thinking about the bonding experience of a husband and wife both getting to draw down together with a happy ending. Half ass joking about that but dang what a great learning experience for her. Too bad many other peoples learning experiences involve being a victim and it doesn't end as well as yours.

thankfully my car has some options in that department, locks as soon as its put into drive and doesn't unlock until I open my door.  Some cars auto unlock when you put gear into 'park', that's no bueno

We have a duty to retreat in Iowa (stand your ground is just waiting on the senate and the Governor), so we can't just blast the fucktards that need blasting.

That's what kills me about these stories. They actually thought that it was okay to pull open someone else's car door. When I was growing up, I was taught to respect other people's property. It really makes a case against the "urban culture" that they are raised in.

Yep, that's why it's very important we don't let up on hammering them about passing HF517. In my case, I knew I felt like running might have turned out poorly if he did indeed have a weapon.

Better to be judged than 12 than carried by 6 at the end of the day. I've MMQB'ed what I did a lot, and don't think I would have done anything differently.

Most if not all duty to retreat statutes only require you to retreat if you can do so safely. Turning your back on a weapon wouldn't really qualify.

I have two situations where I have come close to firing a weapon. Both times was working as armed security. The first was while working for a local dog
track and providing perimeter security during a night deposit. The guards of which I was one ring all access points around the bank standing in concealed
Positions unless someone attempts to access the property.When some approaches guard challenges them and tells them to not come any closer. This
morning a car kept coming with my Mosberg shotgun pointed in their direction. I kept yelling to stop they kept advancing at a slow crawl, my boss the head
of security came beside me and instructed me on his count to fire (on 3 count) luckily the car stopped advancing and reversed and drove away. I was never so relieved not to have discharge a weapon. Why someone would do something so stupid? Your guess is as good as mine.
  The second time I was working as an armed courier for Loomis Armored Services. and after about working eleven hours an old man comes up behind
while I stowing a large pickup into the back of the armored truck, I spun around drawing my S&W 38 and leveling at him. I fortunately didn't discharge my
weapon, but gave the man al loud instruction how it may not be healthy to approach an armed person so closely in the future. This situation was my fault
for not maintaining situational awareness. As everyone has mentioned how thankful most didn't use deadly force.

This reminds me of a similar situation that happened to me in a local parking lot.

I pulled in to the parking lot off of the main road with my wife and two kids in the car. Now, admittedly, this parking lot is damn retarded. As you come in, it has a three way stop with people come in from the road on one side with no stop, the a stop sign coming from a best buy on the left, Costco to the front, and Costco gas station to the right.

So this dipshit nearly runs the stop sign and T-bones me, he would have hit my 2 month old square in the door, my wife freaked out and threw her hands up and said something to the effect of "this jackass isn't stopping," so I slammed on the brakes and so did he. I threw my hand at him as if to say "pay attention, dumbass" and he gives me and my wife the bird. At this point I wanted to just get parked and get going. So I see this guy go straight in my rear view mirror instead of turning out into the road. I thought I might see him again, so I told my wife I was going to get a cart. He goes around my row of parking and slams his f150 into park (I can hear shit crunching in his tranny) and gets out and starts walking aggressively towards me. Now this dude was big, but he was clearly overweight and outta shape, but he was still well over six foot and well over 240. I am not a big guy. I am 5'7 and 155.

He has a family in his truck (I saw a wife and at least one kid) and he gets out and starts yelling at me asking me "Do you have a fucken' problem buddy?" and I said "yeah, you nearly hit my wife and daughters because you don't know how to pay attention while you fucking drive." so he goes on to step closer to me and tell me "I am not one of you passive aggressive pacific northwest..." I cut him off there and yelled "I am from motherfucking TEXAS MOTHERFUCKER, now shut the fuck up," so he comes back with "oh that explains it, only steers and queers come from Texas." I move to get my cart and he said something else, and tried to cut me off from the cart return, so I started to move my sweater and told him as calmly as I could "walk the fuck away, now" and something in his eyes told me that he knew exactly what I was doing. So he goes back to his car yelling all sorts of obscenities at me and tears out of the parking lot.

My wife and I couldn't figure out for the life of us why some middle aged, blue collar, otherwise red-blooded looking American, would want to start a fight in a parking lot because HE almost hit US. I called my brother right after and AAR'd the situation and he gave me some good advice, having been in a similar situation. I am a slow to anger kind of person, but once I am angry I tend to get carried away, and I was very much on the verge of getting carried away.

Parking Lot Guy, if you are a member of this board, and judging by your clothes and truck stickers I would not be surprised, please, don't get yourself killed. You are only one of two people I have ever almost drawn on.

The only person I have ever drawn on was a guy selling me "perfume" at a truck stop. He corned me in between my car door and my truck, and another guy was walking around to my then-GF, now wife. I pulled my Glock and told them "Get out of my face." After that we loaded up and went to the next gas station.

Sorry, but no. That's how you end up getting killed by his buddy.

Tunnel vision is a natural response, and I've been guilty of it in some situations, but through training, I am pretty good at forcing myself out of it and assessing the total area for primary threat and additional threats.

You had....



Jehovah's witnesses.

I reached for mine the other day, but did not un-holster. Road rage guy stopped in the middle of traffic and looked like he was reaching to open his door. He changed his mind, flipped me off and drove away.

Your wife is great!  I'm glad she is on board and has SA now.  And you did great with your own SA, warning her and then keeping yourself between her and the mugger in the garage.  

I enjoyed your story.

Almost nightly at work and once off-duty to stop a pretty bad domestic violence assault with a super drunk and non-compliant suspect.

Been in more gunfights than John Wayne overseas.

Never drawn/presented a firearm outside of a work setting.

There was a big GD thread about this . I used to work in the hood .

Last night. Sachse TX

I'm driving through a neighborhood I'm unfamiliar with, moving slower than the Dodge Ram Diesel behind me would seem to prefer. I braked the car to turn down a road out of his way, and he followed. I pull off to the side, and he just roars around me blowing black smoke everywhere. I honked, and I guess that set him off. He followed me into the parking lot of a gas station and pulled alongside. My two kids are in the car, mind you. He started shouting some unintelligible hillbilly bullshit, but I couldn't hear him over the exhaust of his own truck. I left my window up, didn't make eye contact, but unbuckled seatbelt to give better access to my openly carried USP .45. He didn't seem to like that I was ignoring him, so he got out of the car and started shouting something about Krav Maga. At this point I dialed 911 and left the phone on speaker. Window went down and I told him that I was not looking for trouble, and reminded him that he had followed me and my family into a parking lot and was now threatening me. I told him that the police were on speakerphone and that I was going to kill him if he came any closer. He left in a hurry.

Officers were given a description of the car/plate but I'm unsure of the outcome.

Shame, he had a combat veteran sticker on his windshield. I would expect better from a soldier. Sounds like this one never should have left the middle east.

Mr. Ponytail Dodge Ram guy in Sachse TX, you don't know how close you were to dying that night.

The man who killed Deputy Kyle Dinkheller with an M1 Carbine was a Vietnam vet. Unfortunately, veteran status doesn't exclude you from being a shitbird if you were one from the get-go. it's gotten to the point that unless I know you personally, and you are a good friend, veteran status changes nothing.

I agree. i work in a prison and it seems like everyone is a veteran in there

About 20 years ago I had just moved into a new apartment. I was in my bathroom when I heard someone open my front door. There were two ways out of my bathroom - either through the door to the hallway, or through my closet to my bedroom. My guns were in that closet.



I came out of my bedroom after stopping for my .45 in the closet. There were two people standing in my doorway. As I learned - person one was a female who had just vacated the apartment (but still had time left on her lease). Person two was her male friend. Person one was stunned but amiable about the situation. It turns out the apartment had thrown away a bunch of her stuff thinking she had moved and wasn't coming back. Person two got an attitude. I reminded him that it was my apartment, I had a legit lease, was inside the unit, and was holding a .45. The much wiser woman told him to zip it.


The apartment complex changed the locks THAT NIGHT when I called the emergency number and said, "I almost shot the people that didn't return the key to the apartment and just walked in the door." I think the dude was there in about 5 minutes. The apartment made a lot of mistakes in the deal, and it is good for them that nobody got hurt.


-shooter

That recorded statement of intent could be problematic, but is very understandable.


Sound asleep in my apartment woken by noises in the living room, I rounded the corner and found a guy giving my foolishly expensive stereo gear the once over.

I realized he was maintenance about the same time he realized there was a .45 pointed at his head by angry, naked white guy.  They always called ahead after that.

@whiskerz

Do you happen to still have access to this thread? I would enjoy reading about your experiences in the hopes that it could help me better understand what to look for. 

Thanks in advance

If nothing else find the street robberies and you thread in General discussion. My experiences in the hood were interesting. I have had 2 guys fake pulling a gun and pull out a finger acting like it was a gun. Both telegraphed the actions bad enough that they looked back up at a pistol. Nobody in the hood calls the police and neither did I .

Dupe.

Up until 2001, I lived on the South side of Chicago, so carrying a gun was never a legal option, But, I've always carried a knife since I was a teenager. Back around 1975, I bought some couches and stuff from a big furniture store way out South, and my buddy had a trailer hitch on his car, so we got a little U-Haul to bring it all home on. So on our way back, (now here's where you S.Side Chicago guys will pick up on this), just as we're going  up the East side of the 294 Tollway overpass, on 159th St., in Markham,  a gust of wind blows a cardboard box with one of the little couches in it right off the trailer and down on the side of the road. My buddy pulls over at the top of the  overpass, and I jump out and start running down the road, but about half way there, I see two local shitheads pull over and get out of their Sanford and Son looking pickup truck, and start to pick up my stuff to load it in their truck. I get down there and yell.......Hey MFs, that's my shit, hands off ! They look at me and say, Uh Uh, this shit be ours, and we takin' it. So, I pull out my very fine Gerber Sportsman 2, a single blade lock back, (these were the days before thumb studs and assisted opening type blades, but I practiced a lot and was able to flick that baby open in a heartbeat) flick it  open and say............back off, or one of us is going to get hurt really bad ! Well one guy whispers something to the other, and they turn around and get back in their truck and drive away, with of course, a few insults and fingers waving my way. My bud shows up right then with no idea of what just happened, so we  load up the box and get the hell out of there.  You know, I've replayed that few minutes in my head a hundred times since then, (Christ....that's over 40 years ago !!!), but, during those very few minutes, I did have a plan ! Down across one guys face, and back up in the other ones stomach and maybe his neck. Lucky the whole thing never escalated any farther than......no where........ I might be 6 feet under and those two shitheads would be sitting on my couch right now drinkin' a 40 and watching the Cubs Game !!! And, my youngest son still has, and sometimes carries that knife.

This goes back a long way.In the 1970"s there were some racial tensions in a moderate sized town near where I lived at the time.During that time my now ex wife wanted to go to the big city for our anniversary celebration.

Well  we went out to eat at a fancy place and as we were sitting waiting for the light to change a black "gentleman" approached the car saying he needed a ride.I told him through the partially lowered window I could not do that.He then placed his hands on the partially lowered window and said "MF I said I need a ride". I explained to him as I placed the 1911 Colt Commander in proximity to his face he needed nothing from me!!!!He said " that's right I don't need a damn thing ".He started backing slowly away from the car.The Ex was more upset I was packing and she was unaware of that fact than what had almost transpired.

In an earlier post I posted about an incident that involved myself and my girlfriend.  This incident occurred approximately 3 years prior to that incident.
This occurred when I was in my early 20's and just started to carry a firearm.  I was working at a local bar downtown as the doorman, bartender, bar back and janitor.  There was a guy robbing the locals and local college students at knife point.  The night in question I was working the door and a couple of police officers that I knew were telling me about the guy and his description and to be careful when I was leaving at night.
That night as I was leaving work I was walking down the alley to the parking lot and I heard someone kick a bottle which caused me to turn around. The source of he noise was the guy that the police officers had told me about.  I saw the guy, and while reaching for my gun I was telling him to get away from me and to get his hand out of his pocket.  As I was stepping back he was stepping towards me with his hand in his pocket.  When I finally was able to draw my gun he immediately stopped and started to struggle to get his hand out of his pocket.  Once seeing the gun he took off running one way and I took off running the other way.  I got to my car and took off.  About three blocks away from were I was parked was one of the officers that had told me about the guy.  I stopped and told him what happened and which direction he was going.  After hearing what I told him he took off in the direction I told him the guy was heading, and the next night he came in and told me that they got the guy.  It was a good thing too as I guess the guy was getting more aggressive and had actually cut someone the night that I ran into him.
I look back on that now and as scary as it was I can only image what would of happened if I had not had a gun.  I have had a few more instances that I have had to draw a firearm but these were in a LEO capacity.  I try to avoid any circumstance that puts me in that position.