Barely missed a Convenience Store Robbery

[snatchel]

Pulled up to my corner store to get a soda and a bunch of police cars were there. Had this young guy in cuffs & were searching him. I walked in and got my soda, and asked the clerks what happened. They told me he had his hands in a hoodie saying he had a gun, and to empty the register. Apparently an officer pulled in to get a cup of coffee about that time and arrested the guy. Not clear if he actually had a gun--

So. Assuming you would have been inside getting a soda when this went down, what would you have done?

--Assuming I didn't actually see a weapon, I would have done nothing. If he had a handgun out and was waving it around, I may react differently. In this case I would most likely have stood back and watched, and tried to get a license/make/model when he left.

[C-dub]

--Assuming I didn't actually see a weapon, I would have done nothing. If he had a handgun out and was waving it around, I may react differently. In this case I would most likely have stood back and watched, and tried to get a license/make/model when he left.

Same as you. Not a thing until he actually produced a weapon.

[MoJo]

Yessir!

[C-dub]

BTW, this store seems to get quite a bit of this type of activity if I'm not mistaken. Haven't you mentioned having a couple other near misses here before?

[snatchel]

I'm not sure if I have posted any other near misses..... they seem to happen frequently around here. San Angelo is a nice town.... but it's not what it used to be. Over the last couple of years crime rate has sky-rocketed, and it's hard to go anywhere without seeing something or another. Home burglaries have been a big issue in every neighborhood of the town. Pharmacy/Convenience store robberies have also been way up.

[barstoolguru]

The threat of a gun is good enough to get pistol whooped. I for one am not waiting for conformation

[kjolly]

If mine or the clerks life was being threatened would have to respond. Beyond that I am not being paid to enforce the law and suspect my wife would like me coming home in the evening.

[beefmobile]

Now, i wouldn't go John Wayne on the guy, but i would definitely do more than just stand there while the clerk's life was being threatened. No, we aren't law enforcement, but i would want a fellow CHL holder to have my back in that situation. I would at least draw my weapon and order him to the ground, then call 911. If the weapon came out, he would go from 'punk kid that might have a gun' to an armed robber, and that situation would unfold as such.

[barstoolguru]

Edmund Burke once said, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”

[VMI77]

Of course it depends on the exact circumstances, but in general, if the store owners want security for their store, they can hire security guards. I'm not risking my life or my life savings paying legal fees to stop some thug from making off with a couple hundred dollars. The store owners don't think it's worth their money, why should I put mine on the line? If he starts shooting, that's a different matter.

[SRH78]

If someone claims to have a weapon, I am taking them at their word. A chl is not a baton license but I am not giving a threat the upper hand if i can help it and if i allowed an innocent person to be murdered when I was in a position of advantage, I would have a very difficult time living with myself.

I would greatly prefer to not have to draw anytime I can help it but if I feel it absolutely necessary, I don't want to draw second.

Now, what would I have done had I been in this exact situation? I can't honestly say for sure because i wasn't there. There are always variables.

Before I had my CHL, I was at an incident where a thug was waving around a pistol only a few feet away. Honestly, I probably would not have handled the situation any differently if I had been armed. I actually felt somewhat confident that he wasn't going to use it as strange and foolish as that sounds and he was holding his little girl at the time. Shooting at someone using a child for a shield is not something I want any part of.

[JJVP]

If someone claims to have a weapon, I am taking them at their word. A chl is not a baton license but I am not giving a threat the upper hand if i can help it and if i allowed an innocent person to be murdered when I was in a position of advantage, I would have a very difficult time living with myself.

I would greatly prefer to not have to draw anytime I can help it but if I feel it absolutely necessary, I don't want to draw second.

Now, what would I have done had I been in this exact situation? I can't honestly say for sure because i wasn't there. There are always variables.

Before I had my CHL, I was at an incident where a thug was waving around a pistol only a few feet away. Honestly, I probably would not have handled the situation any differently if I had been armed. I actually felt somewhat confident that he wasn't going to use it as strange and foolish as that sounds and he was holding his little girl at the time. Shooting at someone using a child for a shield is not something I want any part of.

What kind of low life would bring his little child to an armed robbery?

[SRH78]

It wasn't a robbery. It was actually right outside his apartment which was next to my wife's aunt's apartment. He was definitely a low life, though. He was trying to scare the heck out of his girlfriend who, I suspect, was a prostitute.

[Jim Beaux]

My policy is; when in doubt, behave as if I am not armed.

Many of the store chains have a do not resist policy & since its their money, it works for me too. You can bet they wont be offering to pay your legal expenses if things go south.

[threoh8]

"Armed" robbery means that money is not the most important thing at stake. It is not a business transaction.