Two thugs in a Walmart parking lot

[ryanmercer]

It was a balmy Sunday morning several years ago, and Little Darling had been saving her dollars and cents for a GameBoy. I am a man of the pinball generation, and I have little appreciation of video games. I see the results they build in skilled hand eye coordination among the younger laproscopic surgeons, compared to the surgeons of my own age strata, but still, I resisted buying her the toy. When she proudly announced she had the funds herself, I relented. Better to teach her the benefits of thrift than the tyranny of a father my wife told me. So, before church, we took off for Wal-Mart. She had her little purse of greenbacks and I had a 1911 under my sportscoat.

The rest of the write-up at

Xavier Thoughts: An Encounter At Wal-Mart

 

[slacker]

Pulling the gun for being followed seems a little extreme. I could see if they grabbed the little girl or threatened him in some way, but to just pull the gun on them for following you is NOT self-defense as far as I am concerned.

At least he did the right thing calling the police to inform them of the event.

 

[Bigum1969]

Pulling the gun for being followed seems a little extreme. I could see if they grabbed the little girl or threatened him in some way, but to just pull the gun on them for following you is NOT self-defense as far as I am concerned.

At least he did the right thing calling the police to inform them of the event.

If he waited until someone grabbed his little girl, it might've been too late. I think he reacted calmly and made sure the bad guys knew he was armed and would not be an easy target.

From what he described, he waited until the two men separated and began to circle him before drawing his weapon. In my humble opinion, he made the right decision and acted responsibly.

I must also comment on the fact that he had his child with him. Since my son arrived four years ago, it has changed me. I will absolutely protect him and do all I can to keep him out of harms way. Defending myself is one thing, protecting my son is an absolute.

 

[WestSider]

If he waited until someone grabbed his little girl, it might've been too late. I think he reacted calmly and made sure the bad guys knew he was armed and would not be an easy target.

From what he described, he waited until the two men separated and began to circle him before drawing his weapon. In my humble opinion, he made the right decision and acted responsibly.

I must also comment on the fact that he had his child with him. Since my son arrived four years ago, it has changed me. I will absolutely protect him and do all I can to keep him out of harms way. Defending myself is one thing, protecting my son is an absolute.

I agree with you, I think the man did what he needed to do.

 

[BloodEclipse]

Thanks for the post, good read with a good end result.

 

[ryanmercer]

Thanks for the post, good read with a good end result.

Welcome, I try to post things that I find that are semi-decent and/or interesting.

 

[indyjoe]

From what I read, drawing was perfectly justified. Disparity of force when it is two on one. If you waited until they attacked, you might never get the upper hand again. He tested them twice to see if their intentions were good. They failed twice. If he tried lesser force, he might have been able to fight one as the other grabbed his daughter.

In that situation, I would have personally verbally challenged them. "Can I help you guys with something?" While quickly preparing to draw.

 

[40calPUNISHER]

I'd rather be wrong and have to explain to the police how I thought we were being followed and endanger than it be too late to do anything.

 

[SavageEagle]

I must also comment on the fact that he had his child with him. Since my son arrived four years ago, it has changed me. I will absolutely protect him and do all I can to keep him out of harms way. Defending myself is one thing, protecting my son is an absolute.

I too started carrying for this reason. I've made enemies in my past and our world has certainly changed A LOT. Anything we do can trigger that one nerve in the right person to do that one evil thing and we have to be prepared.

This guy was six foot with a crew cut. That say military/LEO to me. I'm 5'7", skin and bones, and look like a damn kid. Which is good I guess, but to a "thug" that says "mark". When I was younger and much dumber, the enemies I made, well, ok. I wasn't worried because I had friends and no family to worry about. Once my daughter was born my world changed dramaticlly. It wasn't until my son was born and my neighbor who was a drunk and a pothead threatened me with a gun and drove us out of our apartment that I realized I had no real way to protect my family. So I purchased a shotgun and some OO Buck. If that wouldn't stop an alcholic, I don't know what would.

My point is I got my carry license and my "Baby" because of what happened to this guy and because me and Natalie both have "undesirables" in our past. As much as I hate to quote a rapper...

"...some punk that I ruffed up way back, comin back after all these years... ratta tat tat tat tat. It's just the way it is..."

I can't let that be my family. I refuse...

 

[Prometheus]

Through church and over the next few days I was perplexed. Why would a man of my stature, a fit six foot one, be chosen as prey by two criminals? I could not understand it. Those kind of things happened to the elderly, women, the weak. They did not happen to big guys with crew cuts and broken noses. Hell, most of the time, all it took was a cold professional stare to change the direction of young men. Was my world changing? Was I getting older? Did it show? Or were the cretins becoming bolder? I was dumbfounded. I did not know why I was singled out as prey, and it bothered me

Answer: Child. Most fathers with a child (especially a young daughter) will "give them what they want". Even the big guys... they don't want to risk the life of the child and since they don't carry guns, they have no equalizer.

As a father of two young girls (2 and 4) I can 100% agree with what he did and I'd definitely do the same thing. Donno if I'd call the cops or just get the heck out of there....

One thing most people who don't have a young child even if the child is 10 years old, is that they are 'baggage you can't leave unattended'. If for no other reason as SHTF and you wind up in a struggle for your life, "little darling" runs off to find help (on instinct) and gets run down by the soccer mom on the cell phone eating a krispy creme. That's assuming thug #2 doesn't grab her and use her as a hostage. You can't fight with a child tying up a hand either. You have no choice but to 'go to guns'.

Hardly any one ever considers those things. You do NOT risk yout child. Ever.

Guy did VERY good. Very good.

 

[Denny347]

Outstanding. As an officer myself, I would have responded the same way as the officer in this story. If more people refused to be sheep then the wolves might stop targeting them. Unfortunately, there are FAR too many sheep in this world. Be prepared to defend you and your family's lives. Refuse to be a victim. Remember, having a gun does not make you safer. Having the tools AND a warriors mind will keep you safe.

 

[BennyBlown2v]

Pulling the gun for being followed seems a little extreme. I could see if they grabbed the little girl or threatened him in some way, but to just pull the gun on them for following you is NOT self-defense as far as I am concerned.

At least he did the right thing calling the police to inform them of the event.

I'll agree that sometimes it's not a good idea to remove your conceal firearm from the holster in a public place, but in a case like this where a child is present, and in possible danger (and especially in this case where the guy purposefully distracted the thugs and walked past his car to test and see if they were following him) is completely understandable. What good is a gun if you're unwilling to remove it from it's holster to save your life or the life of a loved one? Different situations and different circumstances call for different actions. Could he have left the gun in the holster but made it visible? Maybe. Could he have confronted the guys first? Maybe. But in either case it might have escalated the situation further before ending it without putting himself in a place where shooting the guys was the only way to diffuse the situation.

I know would, and regularly do, put family and loved ones before myself, and especially before the scum bag who wants to rob me.

 

[bwframe]

One thing most people who don't have a young child even if the child is 10 years old, is that they are 'baggage you can't leave unattended'. If for no other reason as SHTF and you wind up in a struggle for your life, "little darling" runs off to find help (on instinct) and gets run down by the soccer mom on the cell phone eating a krispy creme. That's assuming thug #2 doesn't grab her and use her as a hostage. You can't fight with a child tying up a hand either. You have no choice but to 'go to guns'.

Hardly any one ever considers those things. You do NOT risk your child. Ever.

Guy did VERY good. Very good.

Absolutely.

 

[Caleb]

I approve of this guy's action...

 

[Mr.Hoppes]

Not as dramatic but A month or so ago I had a similar experience at a local Rural Kiing. It was over wreckless driving and road rage on their part. I had my 3 small children with me and all it took for the young men to turn around was the view of my side arm, worn Open carry.

I had noted them pulling into the same place I was going but failed to think they would be bold enough or were even agitated with me. I was parked well away from them and they choose to go in my direction, clearly away from the enterance of the store or any product, or other vehicles. I had a Trailer on the back and parked way out from the enterance on the other side of the lot, just so I could keep my eye on them. Life is too precious and although nothing really hapened, it made me accutely alert of "Situational awareness" and following my gut instinct. My mistake of the day was to go in and shop even though the men were inside. At the time I thought better to be inside where there were witnesses. Since then I have realized it would have been better to have just put the children back into the vehicle and drive away , and come back some time laer.

 

[txgho1911]

The confronting thug was cussing his partner for not being on the other side of the victim. This was going to be a smash and grab. Holding and protecting the child within arms is what these guys where counting on. Push and shove and away they go and victim is in shock holding and checking the little darling. That is just maybe one possibility. He did real good.

 

[Rey B]

Xavier has a blog that is on my daily read list. He is a surgical scrub/emergency care nurse. Usually some good insights on 1911s and other interesting guns. See Xavier Thoughts

 

[right winger]

Two Thugs

If he waited until someone grabbed his little girl, it might've been too late. I think he reacted calmly and made sure the bad guys knew he was armed and would not be an easy target.

From what he described, he waited until the two men separated and began to circle him before drawing his weapon. In my humble opinion, he made the right decision and acted responsibly.

I must also comment on the fact that he had his child with him. Since my son arrived four years ago, it has changed me. I will absolutely protect him and do all I can to keep him out of harms way. Defending myself is one thing, protecting my son is an absolute.

Amen

 

[Helrazr1]

I think that those without young children are the only ones who will think that this guy reacted poorly. Great post!

 

[Caleb]

I think that those without young children are the only ones who will think that this guy reacted poorly. Great post!

not necessarily