Went to the grocery store around 1:30 this morning and turned into my neighborhood. As soon as I turned the corner, I noticed a red Ford Ranger which turned on its lights as soon as I turned the corner*this immediatly grabbed my attention*. He began to pull out and stopped in the middle of the road and motioned be by with his hand. He was about 30 ft in front of my turn off and I began to approach suspiciously at idle speed. As I approached the rear of the truck the driver swerved to block my way and two latino's exited the truck. As soon as he turned in front of my truck I grabbed my Beretta M9 which has Lasergrips and was loaded with BH 124grn +P Gold Dots. As I drew my weapon, I removed the safety and cocked the hammer. The driver was holding a Hi Point 9mm or .380 a little above waiste level, but was not direcly pointed at me. He jumped out of the truck

and apporached my vehicle, and when he was about 3 feet away I hit him in the face with the laser.
All the while, the passenger was trying viciously to enter the passenger door of my truck, until he saw my weapon. The expression on the drivers face was priceless. It was like someone sucked the life out of him, his eyes were HUGE. Luckily, I got the drop on him or otherwise they would have certainly taken my truck, groceries and gun....It seems like we locked eyes for hours, but in reality it didnt last longer than 30 seconds or so. As soon as I drew down and hit him with the laser, he stopped approaching my truck and I didn't hear the door handle jiggling and pounding on the door. They both ran back into thier truck and took off so fast they lost control and went into a driveway and tore up a yard. As they started to move, I put my truck in reverse and hit the gas and turned around and drove to the nearest gas station to call 5-0. This happend literally 500 feet from my home in a upper class part of town, not known for violent crime. The subjects were

arrested, both had warrants and records for violent crimes and were affiliated with a gang called MS13, which the passenger had tatooed on his brow. Never heard of this gang, but the cop said they are pretty bad hombres. Im not a tough guy, and I am certainly more of a lover than a fighter. I hate fights and violent confrontations and avoid them at all costs, so this was really scary. I wasn't scared at the time, though*im not trying to sound tough, as I am most certainly not* I didn't have time to be scared/think. I reacted by sheer reflex which I gained through practice/training. Thankfully, I was paying attention and knew to be suspicious. Situational awareness saved me more than my weapon. Had I not been paying attention, they could have gotten the drop on me and possibly taken my life. Afterwards, my hands were shaking and I felt queasy....It was extremely scary to have a violent individual crash into your life and threaten you with a handgun. Where I live, its a minimum mandatory 5 year sentence if you use a gun to commit a felony. The cop said these guys are going to the clink for a long, long, long time. I shudder to think what would have happend had I not been paying attention. I also shudder to think what would

have happend if I hadn't decided to bring my Beretta. The "what if's" and andrenalin are keeping me up. I think a less experienced gun owner may have fired thier weapon, which I elected not to do.
Had he moved the gun towards me, I would have been forced to defend my self. As soon as he saw my gun/laser the hostility ceased and firing wasn't justified, thankfully. This was a scary/horrible situation that would have been a million times worse had I shot the man. I am confident I would have certainly been within the confines of the law, but better judgement prevailed and I am home,with my GF and these guys are in the clink with thiers. I just thought I would share this with everyone, mostly because I needed to get it off my chest and to share my experience. The most important lesson I learned was to always be vigilant and pay attention to my surroundings. You may not need a gun if your situational awareness is keen enough, but keep one just incase you go to HyVee for a few bottles of Coke, gummi lifesavers and a Maxim magazine and some essay's try

to hot your Jeep with the threat of deadly force. Sorry for the long post, but I thought some of you may be interested to hear my story. I am so glad I was prepared and this incident didn't take anyones lives and I am safe at home, albeit shaken up....like I said, Im not a "tough guy" or hard and im not afriad to admit it. Im just a regular guy who could have been a victim of violent crime and was spared thanks to my Beretta. I am also thankful that I was the victim as opposed to my gf or someone else who lacked the means to defend themselves.

glad you are safe, god speed my friend

You made the right move. Makes me rethink on getting a laser for my carry gun.

http://www.policemag.com/t_cipick.cfm?rank=90876

MS13 (Mara Salvatrucha 13) is one of the most dangerous gangs in the country. Most of them are illegals from El Salvador and Mexico. Google them and see how many news stories come up about their crimes.

Not to freak you out, but I would be on high alert for the next couple of months. You've just busted dangerous gang members, and "One of the defining factors of MS-13 is their absolute intolerance for anyone who informs the police of their activities."

I would definately be more cautious now that you know gangs are in your neighborhood and you've been in contact with them. Just common sense when dealing with that kind of vile.

Good going.  I wonder what all the ubertactical "lasers are toys, I'm too trained to need them" commandos are gonna say.  I've always felt the chances that you'll need to use your firearm in your car to fight off a car jacking or road rage nut is far greater than needing to use it to repel a zombie invasion at Walmart like some people like to prepare for.  In your car, you don't always have the luxury of using your sights.  I don't care what anybody says, the sight of a laser may not scare everyone off but it will never hurt in trying to intimidate an attacker.  It may have just saved you thousands in legal fees and revenge attacks by MS-13 here.

My experience is the same as yours, when it happens, you're not scared, everything feels like it is in slow motion yet it happens so quickly, your mind feels sharp as a tack.  It's not till afterwards that it sinks in.

Glad things turned out well for you.

glad to hear everything turned out ok for you

MS13 has already hit nebraska?  dang, they are spreading FAST

they are a very violent, pretty organized, mostly latino gang that i believe origionated out of the west coast in LA and spread accross the country

some of thier notorious crimes include home invasions, drugs, murder --the intimidation kind where they hack the body
basically organized crime nation wide (it seems) that has no repect for anyone

check em out on yahoo/google--they are always in the news

good luck, stay safe

I probably would of shot 'em,  but carry a cell phone too, no need to drive to somewhere to call the 5-0, what if you were hurt or truck damaged and couldn't drive to a phone?

Good job.  Glad you were armed and able to get the drop on them scumbags.  Got me thinking about laser grips for my Sig 226 and 220 now.  Like having the Bloods, Crips, and the Folks street gangs wasn't bad enough.  Now we have to contend with "illegal" street gangs.  Even more reason for tougher border controls and immigration laws.  

Hooray!!  Way to stay with the living!!!!

Glad to hear that you stayed safe through all of that.  If anything, your post motivates me even more to arm my entire family and get them tactical/shooting lessons.  A quick search shows that there are 1800 known gang members in my county.  Ugh...

There’s an article in the latest Swat Mag on MS-13.

I'm glad to hear that you're safe.

It seems MS13 has been stirring up alot of trouble lately in Omaha. Glad you came out of it okay.

Quoted: I grabbed my Beretta M9 which has Lasergrips and was loaded with BH 124grn +P Gold Dots. As I drew my weapon, I removed the safety and cocked the hammer. .

Huh?

Quoted: As I drew my weapon, I removed the safety and cocked the hammer.

Hmmm

Quoted: Quoted: I grabbed my Beretta M9 which has Lasergrips and was loaded with BH 124grn +P Gold Dots. As I drew my weapon, I removed the safety and cocked the hammer. . Huh?

+1 but glad it turned out ok

I'm glad to hear the good guys prevailed this time!!!!!!!!

Sorry you had to go through it. Man, I've got to get better armed.  Right now I just have a detective special in my car.  I gotta get my beretta in there.

Sure sounds like an interesting story....

To the original poster, did this happen to you or was this story cut and pasted from something else?
The paragraph breaks look that way.

Quoted: Went to the grocery store around 1:30 this morning and turned into my neighborhood. As soon as I turned the corner, I noticed a red Ford Ranger which turned on its lights as soon as I turned the corner*this immediatly grabbed my attention*. He began to pull out and stopped in the middle of the road and motioned be by with his hand. He was about 30 ft in front of my turn off and I began to approach suspiciously at idle speed. As I approached the rear of the truck the driver swerved to block my way and two latino's exited the truck. As soon as he turned in front of my truck I grabbed my Beretta M9 which has Lasergrips and was loaded with BH 124grn +P Gold Dots. As I drew my weapon, I removed the safety and cocked the hammer. The driver was holding a Hi Point 9mm or .380 a little above waiste level, but was not direcly pointed at me. He jumped out of the truck and apporached my vehicle, and when he was about 3 feet away I hit him in the face with the laser. All the while, the passenger was trying viciously to enter the passenger door of my truck, until he saw my weapon. The expression on the drivers face was priceless. It was like someone sucked the life out of him, his eyes were HUGE. Luckily, I got the drop on him or otherwise they would have certainly taken my truck, groceries and gun....It seems like we locked eyes for hours, but in reality it didnt last longer than 30 seconds or so. As soon as I drew down and hit him with the laser, he stopped approaching my truck and I didn't hear the door handle jiggling and pounding on the door. They both ran back into thier truck and took off so fast they lost control and went into a driveway and tore up a yard. As they started to move, I put my truck in reverse and hit the gas and turned around and drove to the nearest gas station to call 5-0. This happend literally 500 feet from my home in a upper class part of town, not known for violent crime. The subjects were arrested, both had warrants and records for violent crimes and were affiliated with a gang called MS13, which the passenger had tatooed on his brow. Never heard of this gang, but the cop said they are pretty bad hombres. Im not a tough guy, and I am certainly more of a lover than a fighter. I hate fights and violent confrontations and avoid them at all costs, so this was really scary. I wasn't scared at the time, though*im not trying to sound tough, as I am most certainly not* I didn't have time to be scared/think. I reacted by sheer reflex which I gained through practice/training. Thankfully, I was paying attention and knew to be suspicious. Situational awareness saved me more than my weapon. Had I not been paying attention, they could have gotten the drop on me and possibly taken my life. Afterwards, my hands were shaking and I felt queasy....It was extremely scary to have a violent individual crash into your life and threaten you with a handgun. Where I live, its a minimum mandatory 5 year sentence if you use a gun to commit a felony. The cop said these guys are going to the clink for a long, long, long time. I shudder to think what would have happend had I not been paying attention. I also shudder to think what would have happend if I hadn't decided to bring my Beretta. The "what if's" and andrenalin are keeping me up. I think a less experienced gun owner may have fired thier weapon, which I elected not to do. Had he moved the gun towards me, I would have been forced to defend my self. As soon as he saw my gun/laser the hostility ceased and firing wasn't justified, thankfully. This was a scary/horrible situation that would have been a million times worse had I shot the man. I am confident I would have certainly been within the confines of the law, but better judgement prevailed and I am home,with my GF and these guys are in the clink with thiers. I just thought I would share this with everyone, mostly because I needed to get it off my chest and to share my experience. The most important lesson I learned was to always be vigilant and pay attention to my surroundings. You may not need a gun if your situational awareness is keen enough, but keep one just incase you go to HyVee for a few bottles of Coke, gummi lifesavers and a Maxim magazine and some essay's try to hot your Jeep with the threat of deadly force. Sorry for the long post, but I thought some of you may be interested to hear my story. I am so glad I was prepared and this incident didn't take anyones lives and I am safe at home, albeit shaken up....like I said, Im not a "tough guy" or hard and im not afriad to admit it. Im just a regular guy who could have been a victim of violent crime and was spared thanks to my Beretta. I am also thankful that I was the victim as opposed to my gf or someone else who lacked the means to defend themselves.

spacing looks funny

Glad you are safe.  I am a Former Nebraskan- 6 years removed.  I don,t  think Nebraska has a concealed carry law yet, at least they didn't at the time I lived there.  If I remember right, you could legally have a gun in your vehicle.  Just wondering if the cops had any comments on your weapon.

Good work. It's good you weren't forced to shoot them and get on MS13's bad side.

This story doesn't make sense to me. It's hard to tell who's doing what, when and where. Seems like the somebody is trying to get in the passenger door while someone else is approaching the car and you chose to point in at the guy approaching instead of the one at the passenger door?

In any event, big mistake letting them approach. If you're focused on the guy at the passenger door the guy at the driver side could have easily shot you.

I dunno, if somebody stops my car and shows a gun I think I'd run them over. I'm not going to wait for them to come chat with me.

Quoted: Glad you are safe.  I am a Former Nebraskan- 6 years removed.  I don,t  think Nebraska has a concealed carry law yet, at least they didn't at the time I lived there.  If I remember right, you could legally have a gun in your vehicle.  Just wondering if the cops had any comments on your weapon.

Nebraska has open carry.

was very clear to me.

Well done.

Glad you are safe.  Please excercise caution in the future, as you will probably have to testify.

Good luck

TXL

Quoted: Quoted: I grabbed my Beretta M9 which has Lasergrips and was loaded with BH 124grn +P Gold Dots. As I drew my weapon, I removed the safety and cocked the hammer. . Huh?

He picked up his beretta.  the M-9 model or the 92fs.  Loaded with black hills 124 grain +p gold dot hollow points.  While picking up the firearm, he removed the safety, and cocked the weapon to make it ready.

TXL

My first reaction (I think.... of course, I wasn't there!) when they pulled out to block me, would have been to slam my car/truck into reverse and get out of there. But like I said, I wasn't there. Hope all goes well with the court stuff (hopefully no aftermath).

How did you know the guy at the door didn't have a gun?

FYI, paragraphs generally don't break in the middle of a sentence , but hey, it's your story. Tell it any way you want!

Quoted: Went to the grocery store around 1:30 this morning and turned into my neighborhood. As soon as I turned the corner, I noticed a red Ford Ranger which turned on its lights as soon as I turned the corner*this immediatly grabbed my attention*. He began to pull out and stopped in the middle of the road and motioned be by with his hand. He was about 30 ft in front of my turn off and I began to approach suspiciously at idle speed. As I approached the rear of the truck the driver swerved to block my way and two latino's exited the truck. As soon as he turned in front of my truck I grabbed my Beretta M9 which has Lasergrips and was loaded with BH 124grn +P Gold Dots. As I drew my weapon, I removed the safety and cocked the hammer. The driver was holding a Hi Point 9mm or .380 a little above waiste level, but was not direcly pointed at me. He jumped out of the truck and apporached my vehicle, and when he was about 3 feet away I hit him in the face with the laser. All the while, the passenger was trying viciously to enter the passenger door of my truck, until he saw my weapon. The expression on the drivers face was priceless. It was like someone sucked the life out of him, his eyes were HUGE. Luckily, I got the drop on him or otherwise they would have certainly taken my truck, groceries and gun....It seems like we locked eyes for hours, but in reality it didnt last longer than 30 seconds or so. As soon as I drew down and hit him with the laser, he stopped approaching my truck and I didn't hear the door handle jiggling and pounding on the door. They both ran back into thier truck and took off so fast they lost control and went into a driveway and tore up a yard. As they started to move, I put my truck in reverse and hit the gas and turned around and drove to the nearest gas station to call 5-0. This happend literally 500 feet from my home in a upper class part of town, not known for violent crime. The subjects were arrested, both had warrants and records for violent crimes and were affiliated with a gang called MS13, which the passenger had tatooed on his brow. Never heard of this gang, but the cop said they are pretty bad hombres. Im not a tough guy, and I am certainly more of a lover than a fighter. I hate fights and violent confrontations and avoid them at all costs, so this was really scary. I wasn't scared at the time, though*im not trying to sound tough, as I am most certainly not* I didn't have time to be scared/think. I reacted by sheer reflex which I gained through practice/training. Thankfully, I was paying attention and knew to be suspicious. Situational awareness saved me more than my weapon. Had I not been paying attention, they could have gotten the drop on me and possibly taken my life. Afterwards, my hands were shaking and I felt queasy....It was extremely scary to have a violent individual crash into your life and threaten you with a handgun. Where I live, its a minimum mandatory 5 year sentence if you use a gun to commit a felony. The cop said these guys are going to the clink for a long, long, long time. I shudder to think what would have happend had I not been paying attention. I also shudder to think what would have happend if I hadn't decided to bring my Beretta. The "what if's" and andrenalin are keeping me up. I think a less experienced gun owner may have fired thier weapon, which I elected not to do. Had he moved the gun towards me, I would have been forced to defend my self. As soon as he saw my gun/laser the hostility ceased and firing wasn't justified, thankfully. This was a scary/horrible situation that would have been a million times worse had I shot the man. I am confident I would have certainly been within the confines of the law, but better judgement prevailed and I am home,with my GF and these guys are in the clink with thiers. I just thought I would share this with everyone, mostly because I needed to get it off my chest and to share my experience. The most important lesson I learned was to always be vigilant and pay attention to my surroundings. You may not need a gun if your situational awareness is keen enough, but keep one just incase you go to HyVee for a few bottles of Coke, gummi lifesavers and a Maxim magazine and some essay's try to hot your Jeep with the threat of deadly force. Sorry for the long post, but I thought some of you may be interested to hear my story. I am so glad I was prepared and this incident didn't take anyones lives and I am safe at home, albeit shaken up....like I said, Im not a "tough guy" or hard and im not afriad to admit it. Im just a regular guy who could have been a victim of violent crime and was spared thanks to my Beretta. I am also thankful that I was the victim as opposed to my gf or someone else who lacked the means to defend themselves.

If this happened 500 feet from your home, why did you drive to the nearest gas station to call police?

Seydou

Probably didnt give them a chance to find out where he lives.

where in Nebraska?

Glad you are safe.

Quoted: ... I wonder what all the ubertactical "lasers are toys, I'm too trained to need them" commandos are gonna say...

My first thought, exactly.

Quoted: Quoted: I grabbed my Beretta M9 which has Lasergrips and was loaded with BH 124grn +P Gold Dots. As I drew my weapon, I removed the safety and cocked the hammer. . Huh?

If I still carried a DA/SA auto (I don't) and had the time to before a confrontation (you usually wouldn't), I would do just that... I am much more accurate/faster without the DA/SA transition after the first shot (one reason I no longer carry a DA/SA auto ).  YMMV, of course.

shoulda popped em'  Glad to hear you're ok though.

glad you came out of it OK! This exact reason is why i always liked the idea of laser sights - not for aiming but for threat deterence.

Good job - i think you handled yourself very well, none of us were there so we cant really critique.

Good job and stay safe

I had both of my cellphones with my at the time, and it happend way to fast for me to just flee.
By the time we came to a stop, the driver was on the ground with the gun in hand, fleeing may have started a gun fight. I didn't mean to sound like a "hard ass", but as soon as my hand grabbed the gun, the safety was removed and the hammer pulled back. I can't explain it, its just what I did.
I hate the double action trigger pull on my gun and when I practice, I am always manually cocking the hammer....not to mention all the time I spent pracitcing learning how to cock it with one hand like Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon. I can't explain it, its just what I did....The reason I drove to the nearest gas station is because I was scared to let them see where I lived and I thought if they

tried to follow me and further the confrontation that it would occur in a well lit, video survailed and witness infested gas station, rather than in my dark and deserted parking lot. They could have easily seen where I lived had I drove straight home. This happend in West Omaha I dont want to tell everyone where I live, so I will just say west of 120th St, not past 180th and in between Dodge and Maple. Its not like this happend in North Omaha, where it might be expected. It happend in a quiet, upper middle class/white neighborhood, supposidly isolated from violence.
The only time I had ever seen MS 13 was on the guy who tried to get in my passenger window, he had it tattoed on his eye brows, certainly a defining feature. I had since been reading up on this

gang, and I am very terrified. The police officer from the gang unit expressed multiple times how lucky I am due to the violence of the gang and the violent records of the offender. He too warned me to be on the alert for suspect vehicles and to report them appropriatly. I don't have night sights on my Beretta, so the laser was a huge help in this. Due to the layout of my vehicle, I had my seat belt on and was leaning slightly forward and right of the A pillar I would not have been able to get good sight alignment and extension. The laser helped properly line up my weapon with homeboys face, which I may not have been able to do otherwise, at least not well. A Hi Point sans laser is extremely intimidating, let alone a M9 with a laser, so theres something to the "intimidation argument". I do consider myself extremely luck, no doubt about it. It could have

easily degenerated into a gun battle, or worse. Luck favors the prepared. I had my gun, and I was in "alert mode" when I turned the corner and saw them bein suspcious....this is probably what saved my life, situational awareness. I feel like I did the best I could, granted your legal responsibility is to flee but when your truck is blocked and you are threatend with a gun your options for flight are limited. I feel my actions were consistant with my training/experience and the law, and im not sure what I would have done differently. Oh, sorry about the wierd margins. I get into a typin' frenzy and go back and double space arbitrarily as to not hurt anyones eyes with a lump of small text. Today was the first day since I bought my laser grips my girlfriend hasn't given me grief about spending 300.00 on a red light. Pretty sure that 300.00 red light had a little

something to do with her ability to give me future rations of shit. Thank you all for the kind words. I am holding up okay, but I am still a little frazzled. I laid low today just kind of absorbing and processing things. I didn't used to pack my gun everytime I left the house, especially on little ten minute errands in my neighborhood. I debated whether or not I should take it last night, thank god I did. Learn from my story, every time you are debating wheter or not to take your gun, do it. Had I not had mine, I would have been at the mercy of "narco-terrorists", not a good place to be. And pay attention to your surroundings, had I just flipped a bitch the second I turned the corner and felt suspicious, this would have been avoided, and possibly thrust upon a defenseless person.
Thanks again for your kind words.

Glad you are alright.  Hope all this turns out well, unless they case the place where it happened or have a way to track license plate numbers or something I doubt you will see much of them again, but if you do have a problem, move here.....good fishing, crappy weather just like the midwest, and you can carry concealed.  

Glad you are OK, Ryno.  

Rick

What a creative piece of fiction. Can you please remember that visual detail and fine motorskills drop by 1/2 when you go into a REAL situation like the one you fantisize about?

Quoted: I probably would of shot 'em,  but carry a cell phone too, no need to drive to somewhere to call the 5-0, what if you were hurt or truck damaged and couldn't drive to a phone?

+1, I'd have shot, too.  I'd have preferred to use a light instead of a laser,personally.  Heck, blind them with the light, then run them down with the car.  Technically, if you're in a car and someone on foot points a gun at you, you're supposed to put your head down and go ramming speed.  The attackers here were brandishing a weapon  and I think it's safe to say they did constitute a real threat to your life.  No pistol round has "stopping power" even close to that of a car at speed.  MS-13 in Nebraska ?  Holy crap We sure as hell need to do something different in this country if we're having a problem with criminal organizations made up of illegal immigrants.  Paging 22Bad

Quoted: The driver was holding a Hi Point 9mm or .380 a little above waiste level, but was not direcly pointed at me. He jumped out of the truck and apporached my vehicle, and when he was about 3 feet away I hit him in the face with the laser.

And you DIDN'T immediately fire your weapon? Nor did he fire at you?

I'm sorry that just sounds fishy.

I don't know if I'd react the same, trying to scare the guy with my laser, but if two guys attempt to run me off the road to attempt a car-jacking @ 1:30am and the driver gets out and has a gun pulled I don't think I'd be aiming my laser in his face, I think I'd be pulling the trigger.

watched a docum. on ms13 on cable and it was pretty crazy, then the article in s.w.a.t.



glad you made it out ok.

Welcome to the club and congrats. Priceless indeed: my motherfucker said "OH SHIT" when he looked into the barrel of my .45 just before he pissed his pants and ran off. Unfortunately, bullets were exchanged.

Glad to read you are ok. Sounds like you made the rights moves.

Quoted: Good going.  I wonder what all the ubertactical "lasers are toys, I'm too trained to need them" commandos are gonna say.  I've always felt the chances that you'll need to use your firearm in your car to fight off a car jacking or road rage nut is far greater than needing to use it to repel a zombie invasion at Walmart like some people like to prepare for.  In your car, you don't always have the luxury of using your sights.  I don't care what anybody says, the sight of a laser may not scare everyone off but it will never hurt in trying to intimidate an attacker.  It may have just saved you thousands in legal fees and revenge attacks by MS-13 here. My experience is the same as yours, when it happens, you're not scared, everything feels like it is in slow motion yet it happens so quickly, your mind feels sharp as a tack.  It's not till afterwards that it sinks in. Glad things turned out well for you.

Um lasers when used properly are great tools, but like lights they need to be used properly.

Ever taken a vehical tactics class? Me neither(till later this year anyway), but I have gotten a good intro to it from Bulletcatchr and the comment of not being able to use sights is off. In all the drills we ran I always had time and ability to use my sights. After reading the initial post the only question I actually have is why not throw it in reverse and get out of there that way. If he had time to pull the gun he had time to throw it in reverse. The gun is the last option and there was an "out" besides pulling the gun.

Either way he did good, he lived through it and he didn't have to shoot anyone and anytime you don't have to shoot some fuckstick in this type of situation and yer walking away from it alive is a good thing. So Ryno_the_wyno good job, and good tho know yer safe and those assbags are behind bars.

Quoted: This story doesn't make sense to me. It's hard to tell who's doing what, when and where. Seems like the somebody is trying to get in the passenger door while someone else is approaching the car and you chose to point in at the guy approaching instead of the one at the passenger door? A person banging on the passenger door with no weapon is not as much of a threat as the one walking tward you with the gun. IMO he consentrated on the right person as the guy with the gun is the bigger threat. In any event, big mistake letting them approach. If you're focused on the guy at the passenger door the guy at the driver side could have easily shot you. I dunno, if somebody stops my car and shows a gun I think I'd run them over. I'm not going to wait for them to come chat with me.

we need a 'Penthouse Letters' forum

You should have pulled the trigger.

Glad to hear everything turned out Ok for you Ryno.

In before the BS flag goes up

The passenger clearly didn't have anything in his hands as I saw him running around the front of my truck. I was more worried about the guy with the gun. Everyone can say, I would have shot him.
Well, good for you....he didn't actually get to point the gun at me. I "lit him up" before he could get it above waiste level....granted, I may have been within the confines of the law, but it sure felt like a "grey" area to me. If he had moved the gun at all, I would have to have pulled the trigger. Shooting someone is a bad deal, justifed or otherwise. Grand jury, endightments possible jury trial. you will get off, probably, if you are justified....but why do through all the heartache if you don't

have to. I didn't have to pull the trigger to defend myself, thank god. If this is BS, then you should tell the officer from the gang unit who called me at 1:45 to tell me both of the suspects where heard making threats against me. You should also tell that to the police officers he said would be keeping an eye on me. I guess if this is just a "fantasy" then these guys don't have to waste thier time. I wish this was a "story" and nothing more, then I wouldn't be so freaked out. I can't really comment on motor skills reducing by 1/2 in a scary situation....it sure is possible, thats what they stress "muscle memory". I didn't really do anything that complex, so I doubt I wouldn't have noticed a reduction in motor skills....it happend so fast, I barely had time to think. Its funny how people who have never had this type of thing happen know more about what to do in my situation than I do....I was there. It happend the other night. I did my best and things worked out okay, for

now. I just hope nothing comes of the threats....I am so glad I didn't have to pull the trigger. My life would be turned upside down....even in the most justifiable shooting, doesn't guarantee you would be charged with a crime by an overly agressive DA. There just aren't any guarantees, not to mention wrongful death suits. Shooting someone could literally ruin your life for years...
Thanks again for the kind words.

Just for clairification, I didn't shine my laser to intentionally intimidate the guy with the gun.
I hit the laser so I could accurately target his melon from my awkward shooting position. The truck was too close to mow 'em down and neither were in the path of my vehicle. Certainly driving towards them would have escalted the situation and caused the driver to fire his weapon, possibly killing me. As soon as I had him in my sights, the hostile intent ceased....my intent was to aim my weapon, the intimidation factor was a serendipitous discovery.