Wrong place at wrong time

[Bgriff1974]

Thank you, I appreciate it. as far as did my friend learn a lesson.. I dont think so. He still goes to those type of places and hangs out at regular bars.. I understand why his girl left him! IDIOT!

[goose]

Thank you for the share. I am glad that it turned out well for you.

[texanjoker]

Look at a different perspective. You are out with your friend who is drinking. How much did you have to drink? One can drink a couple of beers and still be sober and drive. There is a incident in the bar so you decide to leave - very smart. They follow you to the parking lot and as you stated your friend "starts letting his ego get involved and smart talks back at the 4 men as they approached." That is now a two sided incident that is escalating and will result in a typical bar fight. The key word is "fight." Is that a deadly force situation? He isn't saying he is going to kill you and he is not displaying any weapons. You didn't mention anybody else being armed other then you, and you were the one displaying your gun and getting ready to fire a round per your post. You are very lucky those other guys didn't call 911 wanting to make a report. Had you used deadly force it would have been ugly and could have cost you your freedom. Sure they "may" have been gang members but is fighting a deadly force issue when your buddy is running his mouth off escalating the situation? I am glad you didn't have to find out. Depending on the grand jury it could be cleared or you could have been charged. He owes you a good bottle or dinner. Be thankful it ended the way it did.

[JALLEN]

My impression is that if you are justified in bringing up the gun you are justified to shoot, or perhaps that you don't bring the gun into play unless you intend to shoot it. "It's too late for that!" The cop was probably right.

How many rounds in your magazine? Any spares handy? 4 on 1 is really pretty tough, I imagine.

The Iron Triangle of Trouble. That's a good one to remember!

[StewNTexas]

Paragraphs are your friend.

I do not frequent Gentlemen's Clubs as they are more commonly known. I do not have a muddy duallie, and I do not have a large welder to carry in the back. I would probably be barred from the parking lot.

I will always remember what a friend one told me when I seemed close to a lapse in judgement, "Don't let fear and common sense hold you back."

[jmra]

Look at a different perspective. You are out with your friend who is drinking. How much did you have to drink? One can drink a couple of beers and still be sober and drive. There is a incident in the bar so you decide to leave - very smart. They follow you to the parking lot and as you stated your friend "starts letting his ego get involved and smart talks back at the 4 men as they approached." That is now a two sided incident that is escalating and will result in a typical bar fight. The key word is "fight." Is that a deadly force situation? He isn't saying he is going to kill you and he is not displaying any weapons. You didn't mention anybody else being armed other then you, and you were the one displaying your gun and getting ready to fire a round per your post. You are very lucky those other guys didn't call 911 wanting to make a report. Had you used deadly force it would have been ugly and could have cost you your freedom. Sure they "may" have been gang members but is fighting a deadly force issue when your buddy is running his mouth off escalating the situation? I am glad you didn't have to find out. Depending on the grand jury it could be cleared or you could have been charged. He owes you a good bottle or dinner. Be thankful it ended the way it did.

I'm not ever looking for a fight and I avoid situations that lead to one. However, as shown by the recent death of the soccer referee who was punched by a 17 yr old and died, one punch can be deadly. If someone approaches me intent on doing harm, they will be asked to stop. If they do not, I will draw and ask them again to stop. If they do not, I will defend myself by whatever means necessary.
The problem I see here which I believe you are alluding to is an altercation prior to the gun being drawn. However the OP and his friend were actually retreating when confronted. It would be messy but you do what you have to do.

[Crossfire]

My personal philosophy:

1. Don't hang out with stupid people

2. Don't go to stupid places

3. Don't do stupid things

Helps to avoid a whole bunch of stupid trouble

[Charles L. Cotton]

My question is: Do you think that your 'friend' learned anything from this experience?

I am quite certain that you did.

I've had a number of near misses in by 63 years and as Purplehood noted, I learned from all of them. This might make you mad, but I'm glad this happened. No blood was drawn, you didn't wind up in jail, and the experience just may save your life down the road. Who knows, it might save your friend's life too.

BTW, calling the police was a very smart move too often missed by others in similar situations.

Chas.

[Pawpaw]

3) Now that the treat had retreated, I may have sat there and waited on the LEO. They may have had a conversation with the aggressors.

IMO, this is bad advise. What if the aggressors had run around the corner or back in the bar, only to come back with their "homeboys"? The OP said they were wearing colors.

I too would have left post-haste and then made the 911 call.

[bevojoe]

I've been reading this forum for a long time to educate myself and learn from everybody here. I am not trying to be a troll, but felt the need to reply to this topic. the OP stated he had not had anything to drink. was just supporting a buddy. he tried to diffuse the situation inside by giving the girl $5. the fact that the "bangers" followed him out of the bar is where this situation is escalated by the bangers and not the OP. I agree with one of the responses that 3' was WAY too close. I believe the OP would have been justified by drawing his weapon earlier. there was an imminent threat. he was being confronted by 3 bangers that have already threatened him. his life WAS in danger. he didn't know if they were armed and i'm quite sure they weren't there to shake his hand for tipping the dancer. i think the OP did everything right. I too would have left the scene to call LEO. bad guys could have been running to their vehicle to get bigger guns. This is a very real situation that any of us could see (could also happen in parking lot of Applebees...so no topless connection). I would have drawn my weapon as soon as I could get to it and the bad guys crossed the 50' mark. I would have yelled at them to stop and if they continued, i would shoot the lead aggressor first. you did good. you and your weapon ended the threat and everybody got away clean. if you did not have your weapon, you would probably have spend the night in the hospital or worse.

[Bgriff1974]

Thank you everyone for your feedback but I have a few points to clarify.
1- when the men followed us to the parking lot my friend was not saying anything.. he only responded to them initially when they said he stole the 5.00 from "their girl." When we exited the building he was scared to death and didnt say a word. He only tried to get into the car.
As far as them not branishing a weapon, you are correct they did not have a weapon that I could see however there were 4 of them and they were wearing colors. I felt like my life was in danger so I did not wait for them to prove me right. I didnt post this origionally but I did tell them to stop and were leaving .. We dont want any trouble.. They said too late..and were not interested in us leaving.
2- As far as how much ammo, I had a glock 22. 16+1. I did have an extra mag however it was in the car and not accessible at the time.
3- As far as leaving then calling the police. I didnt not know were they went. They took off to the other side of the parking lot and I was not going to allow them to go and get a weapon out of the car and come back to us. So we took off and called the police as soon as we were at a safe location.

I understand this was not the perfect situation. However I dont know if there ever is a perfect situation. I am very thankful no one got hurt and I didnt have to find out what the Grand Jury would decide.. Instead I get to post it here and hear what you guys would decide! I will take that any day!

Thank again

[anygunanywhere]

I understand this was not the perfect situation. However I dont know if there ever is a perfect situation.

You can certainly learn how to improve your future situations. Lots of great suggestions here.

Anygunanywhere

[Wodathunkit]

After reading all your comments, I think you conducted yourself accordingly. My only suggestion is to find a new friend.

[CainA]

Thanks for sharing that story. I'm glad you guys made it out of there safely.

[jmra]

find a real friend.

Fixed for you.