I was a victim of an armed robbery

Really glad you are ok!

What type of business was this? I assume you weren't eating at a desk or some type of counter that you could have used for cover.

You did very well.

A piece to the head is where the proof meets the pudding- and you escaped with all of your wits and valuables about you.

Good show.

I'm not sure how any of us would have handled it any differently, other than perhaps the notes you yourself made- having the pistol in your lap.

At 12 feet you have a chance. At one foot you have almost none.

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Nope, no chance, it's 4 yards, easy shot. We like to think we can dodge bullets, but it doesn't happen.

By not defending yourself you gave complete and inexorable control to the criminals

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Having a gun does not guarentee you win, just means you get to play. Sometimes you have to decide you're beat and live to play another day. Yes it sucks, but with the set up that OP was in he really had no other choice. Any other choice would have resulted in bad news.

Yes, more training is important, but more important right now is setting up prevention in the store so that someone can't get that close again.

I'm glad you are ok. Don't be shy about finding someone to talk to; it was no doubt a very upsetting experience. Since I wasn't there, I certainly would not second-guess your actions/reactions. You probably responded to many subtle cues and circumstances that defy easy armchair analysis. It sounds like you kept your cool in a very stressful situation. Congratulations on a good outcome.

Derry

Congrats on staying alive.

Congrats on staying alive. Dont beat yourself up over it. It's purely psychological. You were cought by suprise, and didnt have a fesible method of deploying your weapon, so you conceded, and played the passive role, which more likely then not will keep you safe regardless. Criminals dont like to add murder charges if they can avoid it. Thats why he didnt just walk in and shoot you from the beginning. This post though is certainly a lesson in preparedness. We all think we'll be able to draw and fire quite confidently and quickly. Fact is, if youve only got three seconds to make a decision, most poeple dont, they stay in shock. Training is really important. I know this was said before , but you were sitting and eating, were you eating at something that could have provided cover? Desk? something? You could have gotten behind it quickly if you hit the ground... Theres not enough time to react as a gunman to hit someone going down to the ground... It would take less then a second to hit the ground...If you dont believe that... try the test where Someone hold a dollar bill inbetween your fingers they drop it, and you have to snatch it in your fingers... nearly impossible... never mind doing it with the accuracy needed to hit a man with a bullet. None the less, you're alive. Good work sir.

Situational awareness is your most valuable tool. Glad you are ok.

I'm glad you're here to tell it. A few weeks ago I was sitting at the counter (equipment rental operation) surfing the net when this scraggly looking dude walks in the door, and while still walking he asked for a job. I said we were not hiring. He kept coming. I reached under the counter for my gun, he saw that action, spun around and left post haste. Scared the C**p out of me.

Sounds like the only thing you could have don't differently, is remember to lock the door, and i doubt you'll forget that in the future. Glad you are okay.

Trying to wipe your hands wasn't necessary. It is one of those everyday habits that can screw you up in this type of situation. When you are so used to doing something like that it becomes automatic, even when it doesn't make sense, like in this situation. You probably should have just gone straight for your pistol as soon as you felt something was wrong, greasy fingers be damned.

Hello, I'm new here and this is my first post on this forum. Disclaimer: I have no desire to upset anyone with my post but I'm no newby to pistol fighting and, have had too many in military and LEO settings to not try to pass some ,hopefully good, advice. So here goes. First,Yo Mamas' advice is right on the money. There is no faster draw than having your gun in your hand when you need it. Trying to draw on a man that has the "drop" on you is suicide. Second, the very best weapon in the human arsenal is that gray matter between your ears. As TAKtical said," situational awareness" is your most valuable tool. The OP took himself out of the fight[or more importantly, the prevention] by failing to lock the door,sitting behind a desk where he was virtually trapped,and loosing his situational awareness to a "greasy gyro". After putting himself that far behind the power curve,he did all he could to preserve his life and that deserves praise for good judgement. Now, I have fire proof undies but I hope I won't have to use them with this:But, some of the advice given by some of the posters here reveals a great lack of good judgement and gross inexperience in actual gun fights. I'm sure the comments were well meant, but attending good shooting schools is to be applauded[learning the craft and tactics] it is NO SUBSTITUTE for the ultimate serious social intercourse. No offense intended but,at nearly 70 years old,and still alive,my observations are that web surfers, mall ninjas, wannabes[why?], and great pretenders have little GOOD advice to offer survivors of an armed encounter. JM not so HO based on nearly 50 years of experience. Nick

RuAk said:

I was also thinking that but he had already drawn a weapon when i was in my chair tucked in. There was a gun pointed at me from 12 feet away so if i reached then he still had a better chance at getting me before i got him. I think he would of got the first shot. It was too risky. Who knows, maybe i could of pulled it out and got shot and survived and killed the attacker. Like everyone of you is saying thanks to GOD i am alive.

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Most of the time these scared punks see a gun they run without firing a shot 99% of the time.

Sent from my mind using ninja telepathy.

I'm sure the comments were well meant, but attending good shooting schools is to be applauded[learning the craft and tactics] it is NO SUBSTITUTE for the ultimate serious social intercourse.

So, where do I hire someone to engage with me in a live fire gunfight so I can better prepare for getting in a gunfight?

I can survive, say, Louis Awerbuck's instruction with no greater loss than a little self esteem and bruised ego. Getting shot or maybe killed seems like a pretty high price just to prepare for the possibility (and still a fairly remote possibility at that) of getting confronted by an assailant who has a firearm, and perhaps getting shot or killed by said assailant...

The biggest problem with gunfights as I see it is that it's possible to do everything pretty much right, and still get killed. Murphy is always hanging around. Everyone who lives long enough to get in their second gunfight obviously survived their first one. But does surviving one gunfight make you immune to getting killed in your second one, if there is a second one? I don't think it does.

There were reasons the Air Force didn't declare a fighter pilot an ace after one victory - or two, or three, or even four...

Good professional training (including force on force) is the closest any of us can reasonably come to preparing ourselves for a deadly force encounter, as far as I am concerned. I know of people who, with an absolute bare minimum of training, killed an assailant with the first live round they ever fired out of a firearm.

Does that mitigate against better training, more training, professional training? I don't think it does, yet some people - indeed, a majority of shooters including most of the members here at THR who read ST&T regularly, seem to me all too often to have a "we don' need no steenkin' trainin'" attitude. Maybe it isn't as bad as that, but there always seems to be an excuse for a lot of folks when it comes to taking part in good professional training - costs too much, have to travel too far, don't have the time to take off from work, or something.

And if we can't get most shooters to participate in the levels of professional training currently available - which means more top tier professional trainers available in more venues than ever before in history - how will we be able to convince them that a training live fire gunfight is a good idea (this last obviously said tongue in cheek - obviously, I hope anyway).

RU AK - " ... The owner lets me carry CCW as we work in a rough area."

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Glad you were not killed or badly injured.

What State??

L.W.

Okay, you've learned something and you've survived something bad. Now, make new plans to counter any new attempts to rob your place and to keep some scumbags from shoving a gun in your face. Have you thought about developing an in-house security plan of some kind? One which might involve several of you being armed and spaced out around the business so that you have zones that don't allow bad guys the luxury of easily grouping you together? Thought about shooting angles yet? What's going to be past your potential targets if you do have to shoot? Any alarm systems in place? Any in-house video tape system in place? Any outside video tape system that covers possible approaches and potential vehicle uses by bad guys? These are some minor things to consider if you want to stay ahead of the bad guys...

Glad you are OK and sorry about your mom. Unless you are going to spend full time behind a Kevlar hardened wall with a sallyport built into it, a lone business operator is always going to be vulverable in a business that is open to the public. This is why cameras inside and outside, electronically controlled entry, "airlock type" mantrap entry zones, etc. are seen in businesses w/ higher levels of security (e.g. drug warehouse, gun store, jewelry store, etc.) for most businesses this is impractical and would not give a customer friendly appearance for the 99.9% of customers who are good folks. Also when you are grieving it is hard to keep your head in the game 100%. You did well.

You made the right choice. If someone gets the drop on you with a firearm, you are SOL on drawing your weapon.

Thankfully, you made it through the ordeal with minimal injuries, so you will now have the opportunity to learn from your mistakes.

My uncle, who is a jeweler, and also avid gun owner, had a very similar incident happen to him. He was focused on a job, and lost his SA for a moment when the perp got the draw on him.

He has now installed a buzzer and engages in a little politically incorrect stereotyping in allowing customers to come in his store. I certainly can't blame him for it either.

Thank the Lord your ok. Learn foRm this.

1. Keep on Codition Yellow per Ccoper.
2. Keep the Door Locked
3. Trust your gut and act accordingly.

If I had a gut feeling that they were going to kill me (I.e. no ski masks, shots fired, etc.) I would have probably tried moving left or right while attempting a draw. I probably would have shouted as well, likely from raw fear but this adds confusion for the other guy. It's part of that whole "get off of the X" strategy. Move, move, move. It's harder to hit what isn't standing still.

Having been in a similar situation before, I think you did the right thing, based on the fact that you got out alive, and there weren't any innocent by standers injured either. But who knows how it may have turned out if you had been in a position to have drawn your pistol? I have replayed an event like this over and over in my mind, and it always ends ups with me thinking, well, I'm alive. And I think that's the bottom line here in your situation, is you must have done something right, or you wouldn't be sharing your story with us.

GS

Torian said:

You made the right choice. If someone gets the drop on you with a firearm, you are SOL on drawing your weapon.

Thankfully, you made it through the ordeal with minimal injuries, so you will now have the opportunity to learn from your mistakes.

My uncle, who is a jeweler, and also avid gun owner, had a very similar incident happen to him. He was focused on a job, and lost his SA for a moment when the perp got the draw on him.

He has now installed a buzzer and engages in a little politically incorrect stereotyping in allowing customers to come in his store. I certainly can't blame him for it either.

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Lance Thomas would probably disagree.

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=pkWgp2abM2w&desktop_uri=/watch?v=pkWgp2abM2w

Sent from my mind using ninja telepathy.

My wife was robbed at gunpoint. She was working swing shift at the front desk of a local hotel in Silicon Valley. Bad guy came in, asked for change and while she was preoccupied he drew a Glock, made her empty the cash drawer, and then made her lie on the floor before he fled.

A few years later, at a different hotel in the Seattle area, my wife worked the front desk during Thanksgiving (swing shift). As "robbery season" is from Thanksgiving thru New Years, I hung out in the (closed) hotel bar (with a view of the front desk), armed with a shotgun and pistol, while she worked. Her shift was uneventful but two hours after her shift her relief was robbed at gunpoint. The bad guys entered and jumped over the front desk before her relief knew what was happening, holding a gun to his head while they raked the cash drawer.

I think you did everything perfectly except for being in condition white while eating. Whether someone wants to admit it or not, the vast majority of us spend most of our ttime in white. A gun is just a tool in our arsenal to protect ourselves, it is sometimes prudent to leave it in the holster. You did good fleeing the scene when the opportunity presented itself and drawing your weapon but not turning around to use it. The things in the store can be replaced. Really glad you are OK.