Today...Guns Flashed in Convenience Store Parking Lot....What Would Other Freepers Have Done?

self | 11-08-02 | wardaddy

[wardaddy]

Passing back in front of that plane of an open window with a loaded Mac in the lap simply did not appeal to me.....call me dumb if you like.

Even if I had been carrying....what would I have done? Challenged the guys to a firefight?

I simply wanted some distance and cover and not to alarm them...and call the LEOs....not a common move for me by a long shot.

[yarddog]

Glad I didn't say I was an expert on the MAC-10. After reading your post I realized mine was a MAC-11, it was a 9mm, one of the ones made in Georgia.

It was accurate and totally reliable but really bulky and clumsy for what amounts to a pistol. I don't know if they are all that way but mine gave my trigger finger a sharp rap each time it was fired. I think that is the reason it had a rubber cover over the trigger.

It probably would have made a decent sub-machine gun and did look wicked but was not a good pistol at all.

[Riley]

Slap your hip pocket, utter something, as a previous poster mentioned like "Oh s**t- no wallet", get back in the Bradley, pivot steer in the parking spot, advance, grind the crack-pants bangers into the mashed steel of the Yukon, and tell the RO "Must've been spontaneous acceleration. I'm considering suing FMC."

Just kidding, of course. Good job. :-D

[wardaddy]

Thanks...fear and instinct.....and gratitude to G-d later.

[tall_tex]

...I have to disagree...

He would have been walking into the dirty dead going on inside the store with the other two scumbags set in the get away car ready to roll.

He could be dead.

I will not put my head into a Lion's mouth.

I was trained better than that.

Those that have encouraged him to keep walking into that store without knowing what is going on inside are encouraging people to put themselves into a place where they think somthing might be going on but do not have a clue much less an answer about what to do if somthing is going down.

Had there been a third perp in the store, we might all be joking about awarding him the "Darwin Award"

Thankfuly we are not. Without luck, we have nothing. I think that lady luck smiled on him.

You only get that lucky a few times in your life, sometimes, you have to make your own luck.

[SSN558]

Scary. The over paid Sacto sherriffs were on strike one weekend. I was returning from a friends house and had a neighbor sitting next to me in the pickup. All of a sudden bang, bang,....looking back it was a Monte Carlo full of gang bangers shooting up another gang on a street corner. Then they started driving my way and pulled up along side at the stop sign. Neighbor was frantic saying get the f... out of here. I told him hell no, if I burn rubber they will think I did it. I chambered a round in the glock and looked straight ahead. The light turned green and they never saw our faces.

Back home I called 911. It was the usual, "sir we are really busy right now, can you call back tommorow." I said, "never mind" and hung up. We went to the store and bought some beer to steady our hands.

[wardaddy]

Church Street near Baptist Hospital.....a discount tobacco/beer/pop joint.....not a very bad hood actually as you know.

Another reason I was careless in parking next to them.

[fnord]

All in all very good job. Even if you were carrying, this was the best course of action.

Any word on the perps ... er, suspects?

Your awareness was impressive, considering your state of mind. Congrats, on everything :-)

[LBGA]

We expected ostentatious. They took the most beautiful lot in town and bull-dozed it. We thought we were selling to someone with class. I guess ostentatious boosts the neighboring property values, though. ;-)

[wardaddy]

I was already out of the car....right in the guy's lap who had the Mac. I'm talking 3 geet max. I did not want to arouse their suspicions. I got their tag number...gave to the LEOs dispatcher.

It all happened fast....I just know I had no desire to be in front of that window again....

[tall_tex]

Yes, I have been there, they have thier HQ here in Austin, they do a lot of good work, glad I could help. Tom

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

BANG! The clerk just shot you! He thought YOU were going to rob him.

I'll take the chance, but you wait for the cops.

[Congressman Billybob]

One more comment. I drive long distance about once every three weeks. Mostly on the Interstate, but into some dicey cities like Washington, D.C. I live on Pepsis, crackers and candy bars on those trips.

For rest areas on the Interstate and 7-11's and such, I "case the joint" on the way in. If I don't like the looks of anyone or anything, I don't pull in, don't stop or park, and don't get out of my car. If I see anything actually going down I will get away, and call 911.

For 40 of my 59 years I was not that way. I went wherever I wanted to, and thought nothing of it. But in the last two decades, especially from living ten years in Washington and learning to recognize types of weapons by their sound in the distance (11th Street, N.E., in D.C.) I have forced myself to be more cautious.

You did exactly right when confronted with that particular circumstance. I have driven through the parking lot and kept going from gas stations and convenience stores when I saw vehicles and occupants like you described.

I've read crime statistics. I've been a crime statistic, more than once. But I've never seen a weapon during a crime. I don't intend to see one if I can prevent that by being cautious.

Congressman Billybob

[A Navy Vet]

"So a guy was carrying a gun? So what? That's part of life. People don't get to not carry guns just because you don't like the looks of them."

You have GOT to be kidding. Did you read the same article I did? I suppose you wouldn't have bothered the gangster Clanton's either for carrying guns and plotting to kill the Earp brothers. If looks like a Crypt, dresses like a Crypt, is armed like a Crypt...

Wardaddy...well done, well handled...you got big ones.

[usconservative]

From what you described, you kept your cool, notified the authorities and did the right thing.

Good job. I'm not so sure I'd have remained as calm.

Now move to a lower crime area.

[TigersEye]

Even if I had been carrying....what would I have done? Challenged the guys to a firefight?

Yeah, yeah, that's the ticket. "Hey boy, you gonna use that smokewagon or sit there lookin' stupid?"

No really, wardaddy, this is why I carry a chunk of C-4 in one pocket and a coil of det cord in the other at all times. As you come 'round the back of the Yukon you pretend to drop and tie your shoelace, tuck and roll under the back end, slap the plastique on the gas tank, insert primacord, flic bic and run like hell. Works every time.

Quit the second guessing. You did what you could, you did what you should've. It would've been a little less nerve wracking if there were an English first requirement for establishments that cater to the public. Nothing like trying to invent on the spot sign language for "the sh!t's about to hit the fan!".

[Don Carlos]

You did good! I think if it had been me, I would have peed down both pant legs, got back in my car hoping no one had noticed, and driven off. ;o)

[Robert357]

You did well, to pull a firearm on those folks would have set the stage for a leathal confrontation that was probably not worth it as from your description no one wss in leathal danger at the moment.

You were wise to let the police handle it. If I were there, I would not have "boxed myself into a corner, i.e. the store with the locked door." The best self-defense advice is to alway move away from danger and call the police. The only reason not to would be if your or another persons life were in immediate danger. Again, you did well, but next time get out of there quickly and call immediately once you are out of immediate danger.