1st post and car stolen at gun point

[ctrs]

Whether he was armed, or unarmed would not have changed the scenario for the better either. He was not hurt, he only had his car stolen. If he was armed, it would have only made the situation worse, and potentially deadly.

Deadly to the criminal, hopefully.

Seriously, though, I agree that being armed in this case probably wouldn't have helped. If someone already has the drop on you, all they have to do is pull the trigger. You, on the other hand, would have to pull your gun, drop the safety and take aim before you can fire. Action beats reaction (unless you happen to have superhuman reflexes).

And if a BG sees you pulling your piece, they would be much more likely to shoot - after all, they have to defend themselves as well.

 

[Boothdt]

"I had no weapons on me except a 2" pocket knife."

I'm not saying that this would've been an appropriate situation to employ deadly force, but my motto is "IF (lol) I put pants on in the morning, a gun goes on them."

 

[ChCx2744]

You live in Colorodo, therefore your CC laws are not strict. I suggest you save up a bit, buy a nice CC pistol, get some basic training by a qualified and certified instructor, get a carry permit and carry. I'm glad you are okay, your life is always more important than your car, insurance can replace a car, but not your life.

That being said, two things *could* have prevented this outcome:

1) Never leave your car while it's running, even for a moment. If you have to take care of business or an issue that requires you to exit your car, turn it off. Start up ignition does use a little bit of gas, but we're talking a few pennies on the dollar.

2) Train regularly in many self defense tactics and situational awareness strategies. These can be anything, including but not limited to, CQB hand combat, pistol training, reading body mannerisms and verbal judo.

Chalk it up to poor faith, but as a former LEO, I've lost a LOT of trust in my fellow man. No, it's not parnoia, I just don't trust people I don't know anymore. Someone once said, "Be polite to everyone you meet, but have a plan to kill everyone in the room."

 

[Stevie-Ray]

You did absolutely nothing wrong by leaving your car running while checking the mail.

Had he been in my state, the law says he did. Punishable by fine. I mean after all, this way when the creep is caught, his lawyer can squeal "entrapment" and the vehicle owner was "just looking for it."

 

[Mayvik]

Glad to hear all you lost was your vehicle.

A note to people who were commenting on the "nice" thief...I would say "smart", not necessarily nice. Also probably not the first car that has been appropriated by this person.

Take a car with a kid in it, and enjoy the benefits of Amber Alert. Amber Alerts get big police response and get posted on highway electronic billboards. It's not so convenient if you're hauling your freshly stolen car to the next state over so it can get stripped and shipped. Regular stolen cars do not get the same sort of attention, unless you're unlucky and get pulled over at a speed trap, etc..your chances of getting caught are significantly lower.

 

[josiewales]

That is you should be carrying a firearm at all times. Hope you get the car back.

 

[FIVETWOSEVEN]

FWIW my dad who often parks at remote trailheads to go jogging usually leaves the doors unlocked and windows down so a thief dosen't have to break a window just to discover that there is nothing to steal.

That unfortunatly won't stop stupid kids looking to destroy for no reason. I saw the aftermath of something like this. All windows were broken and a log was through the rear window into the front window.

 

[NMGonzo]

I'd let them take my tahoe in an instant. It's got Onstar and I have the number saved into my phone. I make a phone call the instant they drive away, and it won't get too much further.

Buy from the general

My POS has a manual gearbox.

Is theftproof already.

They can take the pos.

 

[nazshooter]

That unfortunatly won't stop stupid kids looking to destroy for no reason.

True enough, my dad had a couple of 5 quart bottles of used motor oil stolen out of the bed of his pickup once.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

 

[mizzlep]

I've never understood why anyone leaves a car running, it's just pointless.
I think it's along the same lines as not wearing a seatbelt. You're too macho or cool to do so.

Just plain makes no sense to me.

 

[JohnKSa]

One of my general principles of self-defense and for avoiding being a victim is to not fall into the trap of expecting that nothing bad can happen to me.

In other words, I don't go around expecting something bad to happen to me but I do remain open to the idea that even in a good area, even when I'm where I feel safe, something bad could happen. That's because bad things can happen anywhere.

The general attitude that something bad CAN happen regardless of where you are prevents a person from making certain decisions and taking certain actions. A couple of relevant examples of things a person with that mindset will not do are: leaving a car open and running by the side of the road with keys in it after dark and approaching approaching a masked criminal who might be armed after dark.

 

[mizzlep]

One of my general principles of self-defense and for avoiding being a victim is to not fall into the trap of expecting that nothing bad can happen to me.

+1. You have to always be on your guard, especially at night. The world is a very dangerous place.