Was threatened last night...what would you do?

[jfrey]

how do you talk your way out of a mugging? i've totally never heard of that.

Unless the person that is mugging you is legitimately crazy, it's all cost vs gain. You have to convince them that it will cost them more than they stand to gain. My personal experience with this was like so:

One night a few years back when I was living in Roxbury I was approached by two guys from behind. One of them said something along the lines of having a knife etc. So I turned around to face them and smiled and said something like "And I thought I wouldn't have any fun tonight." and started walking towards them. They started to back away and I said something like "Well don't leave now. This was your idea, and I'm bored." I wouldn't say they ran away. But they were out of there pretty quick.

I'm not a big guy. Both of them were bigger than me. But it's all about attitude. You have to exude violence. That's easier for men than women, but most women I see do the entire opposite. They walk around looking like victims. You may not be able to stop it if it happens, but you can definitely push the odds of it happening in the first place by not acting like a perfect target.

EDIT: In retrospect, disregard everything I just said. The part that I left out is that I boxed for years, I did Jiu Jitsu, I had training for knives and fire-arms, etc. I don't want to hear from anybody that they tried something like that and gotten beaten half to death or something.

[Jwar]

I don't think there would have been a way to diffuse this lady. I can see that I shouldn't have engaged her and just ignored her, but she kept inching her car towards me and I had my kids in there. I just didn't want any harm to come to them. The whole thing has me very upset and I'm still not sure what to do. There obviously isn't anything I can do about what happened now, but I don't want to feel unsafe in the city I live in. Especially since I live in a city that has a really low crime rate. The whole thing was bullshit and I wish I could have not gone through it. My daughter had nightmares about my wife being shot. Sucks.

[kbit]

Especially since I live in a city that has a really low crime rate.

It does sound like you're a bit shaken by this incident, especially with your daughter's dream, but the feeling will pass and this statement right here kind of says it all. An out of the ordinary, isolated incident.

[eatyourguitar]

Didn't really talk my way out of the mugging. Just rallied the herd i was with and starred them down like your not getting this rolex without a fight. They all looked at each other and sat back down where they were. 3 on 3 plus we were watching waiting and starring.

[TroySanders]

isk that post just looks like some big dark grey block

[snipelfritz]

When I am in a state that allows me to I carry because of shit like this. I don't want to kill anyone but if my family or my life is threatened I will. Just be careful with great power comes great responsibility.

I feel like we're missing the point. If there were no conceal/carry, this woman wouldn't have had a gun, nothing to threaten you with, and nothing for you to need to get a gun to defend yourself from. If you had a gun, there's still a chance someone would get hurt far beyond reasonable circumstances. However, This finds it necessary to take a dangerous firearm to an event where things are being blown up with plenty of families and law enforcement officials around. Why? There is no legitimate reason why anyone should feel the need to do this.

Violence only begets violence

A the difference between a citizen and a criminal isn't that one owns guns to do bad things and one owns them for defense. It's that one has used the gun for bad things.

[jfrey]

If there were no conceal/carry, this woman wouldn't have had a gun, nothing to threaten you with, and nothing for you to need to get a gun to defend yourself from.

That's if everyone obeys the rules. This woman may, but that doesn't mean everyone will. And the people that don't are the ones you have to worry about.

[Big Mon]

Dude,I feel for you. And I fucking hate people like that. I don't really know what to say as far as sound advice. But goddamn,I hate people...

[Noise...]

If there were no conceal/carry, this woman wouldn't have had a gun

While I wish this were the case, it generally isn't. The type of person that will tell you they've got a gun, threaten you, or even display a gun to intimidate you generally isn't the type of person that gives a shit about legally carrying a gun. They're the type that looks at it as their undeniable right, and that they'll do it no matter what the law says.

Even if there wasn't a conceal/carry law it wouldn't stop the assholes who do this kind of thing from continuing to do it. If they don't have respect for human life they sure as hell won't have respect for the law.

[Astricii]

I imagine you pulling a gun and possibly getting arrested or worse shot by a cop would have given your daughter worse nightmares.

I just find the whole situation funny. My friend's sister is from a very "white" town in the mountains of colorado. she's scared to death to come down here in the NICE part of denver because she's afraid she'll be mugged. We conversely are scared to death of going to her middle of nowhere town where a mountain lion of black bear will make a snack out of you.

At least I know how to deal with people. you get mugged they just want your cash. let em take the wallet. card will be deactivated by the time they try and use it anyway.

If someone is irrational enough to threaten you with gun violence at a family oriented function over a traffic dispute.
What makes you think brandishing a gun is going to make them any more rational?

Ask yourself what you would have done if you did have a gun? Pull it on her without any proof she actually had one?

What if she decided to say fuck it can go for her gun? what kind of trauma would that have given your family if you decided to shoot her?

What if you pulled the trigger and there wasn't actually a gun in the trunk, even if there was you'd still be on trial for murder or assault with a deadly weapon. Even if you're acquitted the court of public opinion is going to nail you for the rest of your life as someone who either A) is an NRA hero (killing someone is never hero behavior) or B) that wacko who freaked out and killed an innocent (though willfully ignorant and irritating) person because she got uppity at a public fireworks display.

Having a gun would have just made the situation that much worse. it's not like you just get to be Clint Eastwood pull the gun out, bad guy shits the bed and runs off or you get to put 9 rounds in her and go hit up DQ for some blizzards on the way home.

think about the other lasting consequences before you make a real decision about carrying a gun with you everywhere you go.


I will say, thinking like this is the exact reason I never head out into rural Colorado, shit driving through Texas to play SXSW freaked me out and scarred me more than any gang violence I've ever seen (which hasn't been a lot)
Plainview TX just felt like a bunch of "patriots" waiting for someone to infringe on their liberties so they could "defend" themselves.

Final thoughts. I don't think gun control will cure our problems here. guns are viewed and held in too high a regard in this country there's this general perception that it really can just solve your problems with no lasting consequences. I think Europe has a better handle on it because they got front row seats for millions of people murdering each other with weapons in WWI and WWII. A lot more families watch guns and bombs destroy their home towns. cities and sites that had been around for 800-900 years get destroyed. We got to play Calvary at the end and help out. only the soldiers had to actually see what the violence actually looked like. Americans have always been safely tucked away from the real harm and I think we have a romanticized vision of how war works. The same kind of thinking that leads people to say we should just nuke the Middle east into a plate of glass.

I've typed way to effing much on this subject. let's go play music

[proroby]

That's a real shitty situation man and I'm sorry that happened. I think it best to wait for emotions to stop running high and make your decision with a cool head. I am generally against guns and could go on and on about how bad the laws are here and how it's fucked Mexico and shit, but when it comes to my family I would go to jail for defending them rather then them die... This assumption that its not defense doesn't make sense to me. Someone pulls a gun on you are you supposed to let them kill you? just because it's violence with a gun doesn't mean it's not defense. Some idiot throws a punch at me, I'm ducking and swinging back. Same goes for a gun.

I most certainly would not have shown the weapon at all in this or any other situation until absolutely necessary, like when she pulls her gun.

[snipelfritz]

I just wish there was a constitutional amendment about pot. Then everyone would be saying, "Well, they're gonna smoke it illegally anyway. Might as well make it easier and tax the shit out of it."

Legally aside(that argument could go on forever), please explain to me why anyone needs to bring a gun to a local fireworks show. Other people having guns/other weapons DOES NOT count as a legitimate answer.

Astricli reminded me how white people are so much scarier than any ethnicities. If inner city youth of color are mugging you, that's expected, that's survival. If some rural white person attacks you, they're gonna go all Ed Gein/John Wayne Gacy and rape your organs and shit like that because they must be fucking crazy. It's the truth...

[unownunown]

Astricli reminded me how white people are so much scarier than any ethnicities. If inner city youth of color are mugging you, that's expected, that's survival. If some rural white person attacks you, they're gonna go all Ed Gein/John Wayne Gacy and rape your organs and shit like that because they must be fucking crazy. It's the truth...

your wisconsin is showing.

[snipelfritz]

Astricli reminded me how white people are so much scarier than any ethnicities. If inner city youth of color are mugging you, that's expected, that's survival. If some rural white person attacks you, they're gonna go all Ed Gein/John Wayne Gacy and rape your organs and shit like that because they must be fucking crazy. It's the truth...

your wisconsin is showing.

[culturejam]

I don't think jwar did anything wrong leading up to when the crazy cunt mentioned the gun. It's not like you can tell a gun-cunt just by looking, and 99 times out of 100, it's not a chick that's going to get the drop on you. And asking if she would wait is not an unreasonable question to ask someone who's vehicle is mere inches from your own. Nothing wrong here.

But the second the bitch says "I've got a gun and I'll shoot you!", I think you should've said something like: "I'll let you in front of me immediately, ma'am." No good can come from mouthing off to a person who has, or claims to have, a gun and appears ready to use it over something so trivial.

If you had a gun at the time, things might have been far worse. If you pull a gun on somebody else that also has a gun, you should expect to shoot them. And in a crowded parking lot, you could also injure or kill bystanders. At the least, if you shot and missed, you'd be arrested.

I'm not exactly sure how to defuse a situation like that once it's escalating. Maybe getting out of the car and putting your hands in the air while yelling as loud as you can: "Please ma'am, put your gun away. There is no need for you to shoot me with your gun. Please put the gun away." If enough people get freaked out, the cops will find out pretty soon, and maybe even a small mob would've beat her down MS13 style.