(short article) Robbery at an Armslist Transaction

Lucky to be alive if you ask me.

Whenever I do an Armslist deal I always make sure both me and my buddy are armed...Its sad that this is what we have to deal with now

I've heard this suggested for Craig'slist but if I was doing an armslist deal, well in Colorado I wouldn't have a choice it would have to be in a gun store with a BGC but otherwise I'd say meet me in the Police Station parking lot

I always drive alone with a well armed buddy a couple cars away.

A man here in Indiana (Indianapolis, to be precise) was killed making a Craigslist deal for an iPad.

Can't be too careful.

A guy here was maimed being dragged by a car after the scumbag used her baby to lure him to her car over rap concert tickets.

I always have someone else with me and we're both armed. I'm glad I'm not planning to sell anything else in the near future because it can be a rather risky endeavor.

What's surprising isn't that it happened, but that it doesn't happen more (perhaps it's an underreported phenomenon; alternately, perhaps there's more decency and honest transactions out there than one might think).

But bottom line: meeting strangers for an exchange of cash and firearms seems a heightened and unnecessary risk, though I can't deny given the nice items I see posted for sale sometimes I really want to go ahead and do it...

Pretty brazen (and foolish). If you're buying a firearm from someone, it's a pretty safe bet that they have others. But then, every now and then, some retard tries to rob a gun store during business hours.

That actually happened several years ago at one of the stores I frequent. Couple gang bangers tried the gun (or finger, lighter, whatever) in the pocket trick just a few minutes before closing, apparently figuring the employee at the register was the only one on the premises. According to my friend who was an employee at the time, they ended up with 5 muzzles pointed at them, and not from inside pockets. Four employees and one regular customer, who had been out of sight until they heard the doors. Needless to say, they left empty handed. IIRC, they were arrested locally within an hour as well.

Meet in a public area and I'm always armed anyway. Never had a problem. Still a risk but if you don't want risk don't step out of the house.

The article didn't specify the time of day. Was Gander Mountain open and was it daytime or night? Very poor reporting...

This just shows how anything can happen to anyone. When meeting up with strangers for the purpose of transacting a purchase or sale of a firearm, people need to understand that they are taking a risk. I myself have done it several times without a second thought, but I always prepare for the worse, as best I can. I would not meet with 2 people ever. If they showed up like that I would drive away and call or email the guy later.
There are only a limited amount of things one can do, like meet in a gun store or other such place, but sometimes we are all in a hurry and do stupid things. Try to get as much information about the person before hand as you can, and call them on their number as well as email them on their account, it's far from foolproof, but at least you have a reference point. You can also do a backwards trace of the phone # online to see who it belongs to, as well as their email and associated facebook and social media accounts.
I don't think that bringing people along is that big a deterrent, most robbers would be happy with more targets to rob.
Otherwise keep it public gun show, gun store, range, etc.

I think some of us are blowing the Armslist/Craigslist crimes out of proportion.

Yes, incidents like these DO happen occasionally. However, in all of my horse-trading (over 40 Armslist-based deals) I've only ever turned down a sale once because the guy was just a little weird. He never tried anything, but he was just a little off (this was at the height of the panic-buying...its amazing what some people will pay for a stripped AR lower ).

Granted, I live in WA where crime is relatively low in my area. Still, the greater Puget Sound area has more than a couple sketchy folks. I think its also important to realize that buying is probably safer than selling. Think about it, is someone who is selling a nice S&W 629 or Ruger Blackhawk going to go postal on you? Probably not. Still, some deals can be sketchy (I don't know WHAT it is with the folks that buy/sell SKSs in my area, but they are a weird bunch.) and you have to know what to look for in a listing. "Red flags" can include poor descriptions, no photos, and of course their location (do you REALLY want to meet in the most poorly-lit area of town to buy 3 mags for your Lorcin .25?).

It is always important when agreeing to meet someone that it is in a public area, the more people around the better. When I first started work in a Pawn shop the owner told me that he wanted as many "People Hanging Out" as possible. A potential robber would reconsider when he was outnumbered 4-5 to 1. I have met many over the years not only to deal with buying or selling firearms but even dealing with R/C models. One time my wife was with me, she motioned for me to come to her. She whispered to me, "He has a gun in the door pocket of his truck", I just raised my shirt to put her at ease. Biggest thing about any situation is use common sense and when it don't feel right get out.

Not just meeting in a public area, but a public area that is not accessible to vehicular traffic. It's less likely he'll try a hold up at the fountain in the middle of the mall or something, when he'll have to high tail it out of there on foot for a few hundred yards while waving a piece around. But even in a police station parking lot, he can get the heck out of Dodge fast enough to escape interception, and at that point you're relying on cameras and sketch artists.

The only, and I mean only Craigslist transaction I did was the shadiest experience of my life, and it was for a dang 30$ graphing calculator . Guy was about five minutes late, but pulls up alongside the curb I'm sitting on, sticks the cash down out of the window of his lifted truck, and practically floored it over my foot once we made the exchange . At least this was on a University campus, but I've heard stories of folks meeting weirdo places like highway on-ramps to do Craigslist exchanges --no thank you.

TCB

As a former resident of AL I can say this level of reporting is on par for al.com, what with sketchy details and all.

I've done quite a few Armslist and Craigslist transactions, buying and selling. Even sold a car on Craigslist. For firearms, meet at a sporting goods store during daylight, or at the police station in the parking lot. I know quite a few LEO's from the job I had, so I would usually be chatting with one if I was at the station.

Never had a problem.

As for Armslist being different than other FTF gun deals: Do thugs pick it only because it seems simpler and they don't know about local transactions via gun websites?

My first SKS was purhased via THR "WTS", and done behind a McDonald's at 1030. The next two were sales via another website.

Never go to one of these face-to-face transactions by yourself. Never go unarmed. If more than one guy shows up, order one of them to leave. If the extra body refuses to cooperate then immediately break-off the, 'meet 'n greet'. Personally, I like to meet, 'new people' at one of my gun clubs, usually on a Saturday morning, and always when there are plenty of other well-armed people around.

In many states a face-to-face, 'meet 'n greet' like this is impossible to conduct. You've got to work with an FFL. (Which is the best reason I know for using a service like Gunbroker.com.)

gym said:

I would not meet with 2 people ever. If they showed up like that I would drive away and call or email the guy later.

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Wow, I don't know how many times I've hopped in the car with a buddy when he was going to buy/sell a private sale or vise versa.

I don't sweat it, most encounters have been with fellow gun enthusiasts that were very friendly. Sometimes they've had a friend/wife/kids with them too.

I've been selling online since the late 90's and almost always have people come right to my house to pick stuff up. Never had a bad transaction. Had a guy from MGO over last week to buy a Pelican case. And had two guys over last night to buy a rifle. Met them in a Facebook gun group. We hung out in the garage talking cars and guns for a while. Bad things do happen and being armed and ready is a good thing, but the chances are strongly in your favor that the other guy has good intentions. No need to hightail it out of there because your buyer brought a buddy.

That is sad to hear as I visit that Gander frequently as well. I have done a few Armslist transactions in the same area and have had good luck with them. If I get a bad vibe from the conversations I kill the deal immediately.