rainbowbob
Member
A few nights ago, one of my brothers and I were downtown walking to his car after a concert we had attended with another brother. We were stopped at a light when we noticed three rough looking characters huddling on the far corner where we would have to pass on our way to the parking lot.
Ironically, we had just been engaged in a heated (but friendly) post-concert discussion on the subject of gun rights and the need for personal self-defense. They are both good liberals who have swallowed the kool-aid and believe less guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens somehow = less criminal violence. :banghead:
I was immediately concerned – but not alarmed – at the prospect of passing in such close proximity to these characters (the guys on the street - not my brothers
).
I put my hand unobtrusively in my pocket (where I keep a j-frame in a holster) and we proceeded to cross the street and pass by the three men who were talking animatedly amongst themselves – as were we.
No sooner had we passed them, when they fell in directly behind us. I turned and looked at them and one of them called to a fourth man up ahead of us and across the street. That man crossed directly to our side, but seemed to hesitate coming further toward us.
We quickly got in the car and closed the doors. Suddenly the guy who had shouted to the fourth guy appeared, slobbering and yelling something unintelligible, inches from the driver’s window! We both shouted at him to get lost, my brother put the car in gear, and we drove away.
--------------------
In retrospect, I realized we should have been more heads up while entering the car. There is a real possibility they were sizing us up for a car-jacking or a mugging. The gobblin’s purpose at the window could have been to distract us as we got in the car, while a confederate or two came up on the passenger side with a weapon. A length of pipe would have been all they needed to smash the windows and/or us.
We were most vulnerable as we unlocked the car and got in. My first impulse was to react to the guy at the window. :banghead:
It should have been to turn and look to the other side and behind us, while my brother dealt with the guy at his window.
I think we may have erred if we assumed this was merely the annoying behavior of generally harmless street people. It may have been - or it may have been a loosely organized cohort of dangerous thugs and road agents capable of sudden violence.
If it was the latter, situational awareness is the first line of defense, and driving away is by far the best tactic and the optimal outcome. But a surprise attack from one side while distracted on the other as you enter your car is a well-known assault strategy. Fast, violent, and unexpected.
Such an event might require the use of an effective means to lawfully defend oneself as a last resort. I would assert it is our responsibility to ourselves and our loved ones to preserve our lives – even at the terrible cost of the lives of those who would harm us.
In that instance, a firearm in hand may be the only way to foil such a crime. Typically, no shots are fired in the overwhelming majority of lawful defensive gun uses (estimated by multiple reliable sources to number between one and two million a year in the U.S.). Criminals don’t want to get shot, and often will abandon their attack when presented with armed resistance. If not, however, the armed victim must be prepared and willing to fire his weapon at his attackers, in most cases at extremely close range, until the assault ceases.
Of course, the above extrapolation of the actual incident is hypothetical. However, I suggest it is not an unlikely scenario, and similar incidents happen every day.
Those guys struck me as very hinky from the moment we saw them. My “spidey sense” was tingling…and that face in the window confirmed it.
Who knows what they were really up to?
I want to believe in the inherent goodness of mankind and the operability of the social contract. I also believe we should recognize that evil – whatever the cause – exists and is afoot in our communities.
I believe attempting to solve the social conditions that contribute to the spread of such evil is an important task. I also believe that the complete eradication of evil is a utopian fantasy. Until that “fantasy” becomes a reality…public safety should be the first priority of government. Personal safety should be the priority and the responsibility of each individual.
This did provide an interesting "real-life" scenario with which to continue the discussion with my brothers.
Note: Please don't bother to post comments disparaging my brothers and insisting I should cut off any further contact with them. These are good, intelligent, loving kin (however misguided).
I will continue to learn...and hopefully so will they.
Let’s be safe out there.
Ironically, we had just been engaged in a heated (but friendly) post-concert discussion on the subject of gun rights and the need for personal self-defense. They are both good liberals who have swallowed the kool-aid and believe less guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens somehow = less criminal violence. :banghead:
I was immediately concerned – but not alarmed – at the prospect of passing in such close proximity to these characters (the guys on the street - not my brothers
). I put my hand unobtrusively in my pocket (where I keep a j-frame in a holster) and we proceeded to cross the street and pass by the three men who were talking animatedly amongst themselves – as were we.
No sooner had we passed them, when they fell in directly behind us. I turned and looked at them and one of them called to a fourth man up ahead of us and across the street. That man crossed directly to our side, but seemed to hesitate coming further toward us.
We quickly got in the car and closed the doors. Suddenly the guy who had shouted to the fourth guy appeared, slobbering and yelling something unintelligible, inches from the driver’s window! We both shouted at him to get lost, my brother put the car in gear, and we drove away.
--------------------
In retrospect, I realized we should have been more heads up while entering the car. There is a real possibility they were sizing us up for a car-jacking or a mugging. The gobblin’s purpose at the window could have been to distract us as we got in the car, while a confederate or two came up on the passenger side with a weapon. A length of pipe would have been all they needed to smash the windows and/or us.
We were most vulnerable as we unlocked the car and got in. My first impulse was to react to the guy at the window. :banghead:
It should have been to turn and look to the other side and behind us, while my brother dealt with the guy at his window.
I think we may have erred if we assumed this was merely the annoying behavior of generally harmless street people. It may have been - or it may have been a loosely organized cohort of dangerous thugs and road agents capable of sudden violence.
If it was the latter, situational awareness is the first line of defense, and driving away is by far the best tactic and the optimal outcome. But a surprise attack from one side while distracted on the other as you enter your car is a well-known assault strategy. Fast, violent, and unexpected.
Such an event might require the use of an effective means to lawfully defend oneself as a last resort. I would assert it is our responsibility to ourselves and our loved ones to preserve our lives – even at the terrible cost of the lives of those who would harm us.
In that instance, a firearm in hand may be the only way to foil such a crime. Typically, no shots are fired in the overwhelming majority of lawful defensive gun uses (estimated by multiple reliable sources to number between one and two million a year in the U.S.). Criminals don’t want to get shot, and often will abandon their attack when presented with armed resistance. If not, however, the armed victim must be prepared and willing to fire his weapon at his attackers, in most cases at extremely close range, until the assault ceases.
Of course, the above extrapolation of the actual incident is hypothetical. However, I suggest it is not an unlikely scenario, and similar incidents happen every day.
Those guys struck me as very hinky from the moment we saw them. My “spidey sense” was tingling…and that face in the window confirmed it.
Who knows what they were really up to?
I want to believe in the inherent goodness of mankind and the operability of the social contract. I also believe we should recognize that evil – whatever the cause – exists and is afoot in our communities.
I believe attempting to solve the social conditions that contribute to the spread of such evil is an important task. I also believe that the complete eradication of evil is a utopian fantasy. Until that “fantasy” becomes a reality…public safety should be the first priority of government. Personal safety should be the priority and the responsibility of each individual.
This did provide an interesting "real-life" scenario with which to continue the discussion with my brothers.
Note: Please don't bother to post comments disparaging my brothers and insisting I should cut off any further contact with them. These are good, intelligent, loving kin (however misguided).
I will continue to learn...and hopefully so will they.
Let’s be safe out there.
