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Venus Pax wrote: Frankie,
I don't believe you're handing over "turf" to them by avoiding these places. Many people still frequent these places; most are law-abiding tax payers that aren't there to knock off the person at the cash register.

I just don't think it's wise to go there at 9:00 at night for a slurpy. (I don't even care for these places during the day.)

I still think the best gun fight is the one you don't have to get into. There's no making comments to police, no wasted bullets, no legal fees (no offense, Chas), and no giving my dad another heart attack. The gun fight you avoid does not bless you with accusations by the attacker's mother that you shot someone in cold blood. If you were really lucky and your attacker was black, you skip the portion of your name being trampled all over the news by Quanel X. The gunfight you miss also means that you aren't dealing with accusatory glances when you return to your job.

If your life is in danger, defend it no matter what. But if you can avoid it, do so. You'll save yourself some trouble.

I hear you, but no one walks into a store thinking they are going to get into a gunfight.

Think of all the people who "risk" using the store who are NOT armed. They will never have to answer all those weird questions. Quanel X will never get on their cases.

But sometimes, they get shot in the back like dogs.

I don't live my life to carry a gun. Closer to the truth would be the other way around.

So I would never think, "Gee, I want a cold soda, but someone might try to rob that store while I'm inside, and since I'm carrying I might possibly end up using deadly force if I reasonably believe that I have no choice. And then the police will come and pepper me with a bunch of tough questions. And even worse, some big mouthed jerk with a self-given dweeb name like "Quanel X" will start a "jerk crusade" against me in the media. So I think I'm just going to stay thirsty until I find a great big store somewhere where I think the chance of it being robbed while I'm in there is a lot smaller."

All I think is, "I want a soda. Oh, there's a store. Problem solved."

Or sometimes, maybe, "I want a soda, but no way am I stopping for anything (even a flat tire) in this neighborhood. This place gives me the creeps. The soda can wait. I'm outta here."

HKUSP45C wrote: 2. Don't pen yourself in. If I MUST buy something that I need now but didn't need when I left the house I try to limit my purchases to places that are inconvenient for robbers. Like the grocery.

Only one problem. In some places, like where I live, the grocery will have a long line while the stop 'n rob will have a short or no line. That's why they call them "convenience stores". Time is money as the saying goes.

Besides, I don't want to simply hand over that "turf" to the BG's.

Now there's plenty of places I will avoid out of simple prudence and a desire to avoid problems. But if a place looks "normal", I will use it if I want/need to. Maintaining a high level of alertness puts me ahead of the game, IMO. The last thing the BG's want to see when they enter the store is someone who has "made" them and is "ready".

Ruin their whole day.

FWIW, when I'm waiting in line or even shopping in a small store I make it a point to glance out the windows every so often. I started doing this after a donut shop that I frequently stop at was robbed by two armed guys one morning when I could have been there but wasn't.