So I had a gun pulled on me last night...

[razorburn]

a bb gun . I was studying late, and decided to head to the rec room to get some snacks. This was about 12:30 AM, I went to the elevator, and a nerdy looking guy and girl followed me in. I asked what floor they needed, they said the 3rd. Then the geeky guy says thanks, and how's it going. We BS for a little while, then I see him pull something out of pants and point a "gun" at the nerdy girl and start shouting. It was some plastic/chrome copy of a Beretta 92, and I was amused that I recognized it instantly as a fake gun. There wasn't an orange tip or anything like that. But the gun just looked plastic, all the parts looked molded on and non functional. It was way too lightweight from the way he hefted it, the girl was giggling, and the guy was a real bad actor. I laughed and said anybody could tell that gun was fake. It looks like plastic. He grinned and said too bad, it would've been funny to scare someone, and the left. Little did he know I was a ccw, and had this been elsewhere and further away or been better actors, playing games like that he might've been shot by a real gun!

 

[Devonai]

You had a chance to educate someone and possibly save his life and you let it go.

 

[razorburn]

It's college, there's a lot of immature pranks in the ivory walls. Besides, he was getting off and we only talked as they left, he was walking out the elevator as he said that last part about being funny. The doors were closing, I still had my own things to do, and I wasn't going about to stop the elevator just so I can follow and run after them to give them a lecture.

 

[migoi]

Quite the dilemma

On the one hand: One should never interfere with the operation of Darwin's Law. At some point this nimrod will remove himself from the gene pool and the world's average IQ will rise.

On the other hand: You did miss a prime opportunity to practice your disarming techniques at full force. Any damage to the nimrod could be countered with "Officer, I was so scared he was going to shoot that girl. I was just trying to save her life."

migoi

 

[Hoppy590]

i gotta admit if i knew it was a fake gun i would have him slamed up against the wall. just to teach him a lesson. nothings a better lesson then pain. and embaressment

 

[psyopspec]

I laughed and said anybody could tell that gun was fake.

When it's dark out and that thing is in his hand, moving, at a distance, that recognition level will decrease quite a bit.

 

[brerrabbit]

So I assume you are in college, good. Hanging out at the dorm, good. Now to make the rest of the story good. Is it legal for you to carry on campus in your state or on this particular campus? If not, Way not good.

 

[Devonai]

On the one hand: One should never interfere with the operation of Darwin's Law. At some point this nimrod will remove himself from the gene pool and the world's average IQ will rise.

Or he could be a dumb college freshman who will go on to cure cancer. Pass up an opportunity for a good life lesson and we'll never know.

I did stupid stuff similar to that, and while getting killed wasn't likely, a good butt-kicking would have done me some good. As it was I was fortunate to get my act together by junior year and become a responsible gun owner a little more than a year later.

 

[Atticus]

Hmmm... sounds like a Crocodile Dundee moment. You call that a gun...?

 

[razorburn]

No, I wasn't carrying. I don't carry at school. I believe it may be legal to carry on a public university in WA, but it's against school policy, and I don't want to risk expulsion. That's why I said if this had happened elsewhere, off campus, and further away or in the dark he might've gotten shot. I might've been carrying then. So I should've handed out a good ass-kicking? He was a little guy, probably half my size and out of shape. But I'm not inclined towards violence when I knew nobody was actually in immediate danger, beating him down didn't even cross my mind.

 

[carpediem]

I hope that guy wisens up and stops goofing off. Folks are so antsy about school shootings these days he's likely to either (a) get shot, or (b) get in trouble even though it's fake. All it takes is one other person w/ his apparent lack of judgment to cause major problems.

 

[iiibdsiil]

Sounds like you took the High Road by not beating him to a pulp, and it shows your character, that you didn't even think about it.

But, you gotta admit, it woulda been fun! Was the girl any cute? You gotta think about these kinds of things

 

[Geronimo45]

Should've jerked his hand upwards and the fake gun into his forehead - then you can say: "Now you've got the proper sight picture."

 

[SILENTSOUL308]

wow, that guy is lucky you were in the elevator and not me.....I've taken a life with my duty weapon, and I can tell ya I wouldn't hesitate to do it again....in a split second! (given the right situation of course)

 

[Otherguy Overby]

Many years ago someone pulled a Daisy lever BB gun on me at about 20 feet. I covered up my eyes, charged him and took the gun away. I grew up with those guns and immediately recognized it. I went a little berzerk then, beat him pretty badly and then broke his gun up by breaking the windows in his car. Hopefully, he learned something.

I learned something anyway, and probably won't do anything like that again. And no, I won't shoot someone over a BB gun or other recognizable toy.

SILENTSOUL308:
wow, that guy is lucky you were in the elevator and not me.....I've taken a life with my duty weapon, and I can tell ya I wouldn't hesitate to do it again....in a split second! (given the right situation of course)

I sure hope you aren't talking about shooting a kid with an obvious toy gun. What you wrote and what you meant may differ somewhat.

 

[stlgunfan]

If someone did that to me one of us are going to go BANG! BB gun whatever pointed something that looks like a gun at me, and Im gonna drop you, or at least do the best I can.

Also the BB gun think. Most state laws for lethal force say serious bodily injury. There have been a few cases I recall someones been killed by a bb gun, plus taking your eyes out would be serious bodily injury.

 

[Fn-P9]

On the one hand: One should never interfere with the operation of Darwin's Law. At some point this nimrod will remove himself from the gene pool and the world's average IQ will rise.

helarious

From the armchair only, I would have "displayed not threatingly" and Informed him of his poor decision. But I might have also let it go. The above quote says it all. hahaha

 

[strambo]

Heres' the problem with "scaring" or "flinching" someone. The idea is to make it seem real for an instant to the mark so they have a funny, scared, panic response. The danger of course, is if you acheieve this goal with a trained individual, they have replaced the startle response in their subconscious with a more effective one. The better the prankster is at being "real" the more likely they are to get injured. Bad juju all around. I hate people who "flinch" or try to "scare" others. They continue to breathe only based on either the incompetence of their marks or the rapid assessment of the trained.

I'd like to think I could have a) recognized the fake and b) executed a controlled disarm (like I would on a training partner-no injury) and gave him a good talking to about deadly force and what I could have done. If I didn't recognize the fake, the disarm would be for real and things (anatomical "things") would get broken. Won't share an elevator with a gunman even if I'm not the immediate target.

So far the few times I've been "flinched" I have in the first instant Id'ed a target to strike, started motion and in the next instant (maybe concurrently, it happens so fast) recognized the person and stopped.

 

[EddieCoyle]

Keep your eye on the local paper. You may need to appear as a witness when someone with a CCW and poorer eyesight than you takes this guy out.

Your testimony could keep someone out of jail.

 

[Justin]

So I had a gun pulled on me last night...

No you didn't.