Leanwolf said:
Also, in most cases, an attack will be uncompromisingly vicious. The bad guy's object is to overwhelm you immediately. Most people who CCW are not capable of being viciously assaulted, badly injured, and then finally, being able to drag out a pistol and retaliate.
I can't stress enough how true this is. This isn't some drunken fight over a girl that starts with yelling insults, then pushing, then finally a punch. What happens in reality happens so fast you could easily be knocked unconscious before you realize you were being attacked.
I'm new to THR so I'm not comfortable opening up TOO much right now, but I'm the victim of gang violence. I was 18, first semester of college in a big city (Cleveland.. the attack happened in East Cleveland. at night. by myself.), and being from a rural town, I was very naive. LONG STORY short, I was ambushed from behind right on the sidewalk by 3 young men.
The attack happened without warning or conversation. Usually there's a "Hey, do you have any change?" or "Do you have any gas money? My car ran out of gas." Not this time. My first sign I was being followed was the scuffling of feet about 3 feet behind me (too late). As I turned my head it was IMMEDIATELY met with a sucker punch to the right eye. My right eye went blurry and it was the first time in my life I had been punched that hard. Depth perception was gone. Then all 3 started attacking, and within 5 seconds I had already been punched in the head who knows how many times. I ended up with my first concussion.
I already had a mental plan in place because of a
strong gut feeling that something very bad was about to happen. I told myself, "If I get jumped, I will run to the middle of the street and yell for help and try to get a ride in a car." Because of that mental preparation, I executed my plan and I believe that plan saved me from going to the ground (which would have resulted in my death). I managed to stay on my feet the whole time, but they still circled me in the middle of traffic at a red light and continue bashing my head in.
It's a miracle I got away, as "retreating" was my only choice, but it turns out the direction I was running was only
deeper into the ghetto and not the right way!
Asked God with all seriousness, "God, is this how I am going to die?"
Tried a bunch of cars at the red light. I pounded on driver's side windows yelling at the top of my lungs for help. This lady SCREAMED and waved her hands (maybe thought I was trying to carjack her? Yeah right. She was a coward.) and then ran the red light to not help me. I tried a semi, but the light turned green. Tried who knows how many cars. Still getting punched and surrounded.
Ended up praying and getting saved by this car that appeared out of nowhere. I entered and the guy had a Jamaiican accent and was smoking a joint "Come in mahn, I'll help you." "Oh thank God, I was getting attacked!" I said. He turned on the dome light and pulled down the mirror and said "Ya mahn, it looks like they jacked you pretty bad." My left eye was the only eye that was working, but that was the first time I saw how bloody my face was. He said he was from St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. He drove me deeper in the ghetto into a residential area, and I started fearing I got in the wrong car and he was gonna kill me. "Where are you taking me?" I asked. "To a safe place, mahn." Holy **** safe place my ***! He opened up his center console and started fumbling around, I was thinking "GUN! If he pulls out a gun, my plan is to open the door and roll out into the street." He was getting a new CD out for some raggae or jazz music. :laugh: I asked him to take me to the hospital ER instead, and he drove past the hospital. I kept going ***? He was taking me to another better hospital a half mile away. I just said "Forget the hospital, my dorm is that way." And he dropped me off. Gave me his card, and I went home. The next mistake I made that night? After calling the police, I just went to bed. Took some ibuprofen and went to bed. Later learned that if you sleep on a concussion you can go into a coma and die.
Learned a lot of lessons that night.
I swear this story is 100% true, and that's only the short version.
Point is, a true violent attack will happen so fast it'll leave your head spinning (or in a concussion, like me). I may be young and have lived less life than a lot of y'all, but I'd say most people have never been viciously attacked, so I wanted to share that life experience with you guys.
I'm a brand new CCW and am barely 25 years old, but damn if I'll never be a victim again. I see nothing wrong with drawing in the OP's situation. That guy was up to no good. A reasonable person would feel fear, and I feel that brandishing is justified.
