carrying in convenience store. . .close call?

[Texas_Blaze]

Mom & Pop own the store. Let them hire security or handle it themselves. Get out.

[Keith B]

I've responded to a LOT of calls over the years where the clerk calls in a suspicious person, and the only reason they really called is because of the color of their skin. That could be the case here with mom and pop, and their demeanor amped you up and escalated everybody.

Then again, they could have been casing the place. When your spidey sense start tingling...

[RPBrown]

Not for sure how I would have handled the situation. My first obligation is to my family and this means (at least to me) to protect myself so I can care for my family.

At the very least, I would have gone outside and watched from there, be a good witness. I may have even called 911 and reported suspicious person.

However, the moral side of me says to stay inside to help if something were to happen.

This is like 2 dogs fighting inside yourself. Which one wins? The one you feed the most.

[Abraham]

This is the sort of story that reminds me to stay the heck out of inconvenience stores as they get robbed more often than any other business including banks.

[Paul's Shield]

This is the sort of story that reminds me to stay the heck out of inconvenience stores as they get robbed more often than any other business including banks.

+1......On that. When I want to go to a convenience store I usually end up at Buccees and then I'm inconvenienced...

[Charles L. Cotton]

This is the sort of story that reminds me to stay the heck out of inconvenience stores as they get robbed more often than any other business including banks.

They earned the name "stop and rob."

Chas.

[Rrash]

Nobody got hurt, you did good. My 2 cents:
In the future, if you perceive there is high likelihood of a life-threatening situation, consider doing your best to get out of harms way and making yourself a good witness. If you are really concerned, call 911 and let them know what you see. Kudos for checking back with mom & pop.

Of course, every situation is unique to itself, so had something happened differently, you have to do what you have to do in the moment. Personal safety must always be a high priority, especially if others are dependent on you. Always have a plan, but don't 2nd guess yourself in the heat of the moment.

[Charles L. Cotton]

Thanks for posting, this is an excellent discussion topic.

I'm glad to see you are rethinking your regular carry gun. I know a lot of folks carry a .380 and some even a .32ACP, but the undeniable fact is you are at a huge disadvantage against someone with a larger caliber weapon or multiple attackers. This disadvantage isn't limited to caliber of the gun. It includes a very short sight radius, small sights, limited capacity and less control due to the small grip.

Our club ran a BUG (back-up gun) match in December and it was a real eye-opener for a lot of shooters. Kel Tec, LCP, LCR, SIG P238, Bersa, PPK and most other tiny handguns were well represented. Many guys/gals shot 3" 1911's also and some M&P Compacts and Shields. A large number of people carrying the first 6 categories decided to change to something else, either a full size gun, or at least one of the 3" 1911s or M&Ps. Shooting an IDPA match under somewhat realistic conditions drove home the fact that pocket pistols are designed to be firmly screwed into someone's ear before pulling the trigger. Engaging someone even at 7 to 15 yards and/or multiple attackers, sometimes on the move (you'd better be moving in a fight), brought home the reality of the precarious position one is in when defending their life with a mouse gun.

I realize many will disagree with my position, but when you talk to people who have been in a position to have to use a mouse gun in self-defense, my thoughts are widely accepted. My youngest son is among those folks. (He was carrying a Walther PPK instead of his 45ACP Commander.) I'm 5'9", weigh 175 lbs and I carry a 5" 1911 every waking moment and it conceals just fine.

Chas.

[RogueUSMC]

I have been carrying for about a year. I bought the XDS specifically because of it's concealability. Once I started carrying it regularly, I realized I could probably conceal alot more gun just as easily. This was verified when I borrowed a GI 1911 to carry during the time my XDS was gone for recall. That much barrel inside my pants at about 5o'clock was the only minor downside. other than that, I saw no noticable difference between that big hogleg and my XDS.

[dwsintxs]

This is the sort of story that reminds me to stay the heck out of inconvenience stores as they get robbed more often than any other business including banks.

My only other 'close call' was back in the 80's when I was a district manager of a small burger chain. (anyone in the Dallas area remember a gun-toting lunatic named Harvey Goff?)

This was the night before Thanksgiving, and I was called by the store manager of the store at Lovers and Greenville ave . . she was getting the flu and wanted to bug out early. I drove to the store, told her to go home, and then told the cook to start shutting it down.

I pulled the cash register cash and put it in my pocket - Company policy: the cash was in pocket until we wrote out the deposit slip and then drove to the banks night deposit and made the drop.

The cook was in the back, I was behind the counter, and i see a guy walk across the parking lot while looking in at me. He walks on by and I thought nothing more of it. No customers in the store.

For those who knew or have heard of Harvey Goff, you'll know that I'm not lying when I say that Harvey was a 'gun guy'. (He kept a Sherman tank parked in his back yard in Highland Park)
Anyway, and that particular store, there was a 1911 .45 acp in the drawer behind the counter. Same drawer where I kept those slim leather bank bags with register change (rolled quarters, dimes, nickels, and some extra packets of $1 bills. Harvey always kept his guns locked and loaded.

A few minutes later, I look up and happen to see the same guy walk across the parking lot again, and I very specifically thought, 'I bet he comes in here and asks for change for a dollar and when I open the register he'll rob me. . .'

Well, a moment later, he walks in and when he is about 4 feet from the counter, he pulls out a dollar and asks for change, exactly as had thought he would! (how's that for some spidey-sense?) . I look down at the register and open it (knowing there is nothing but a couple $1's in it and some loose change . . .) and when I look back up at him, he has a little Saturday night special .38 about 6 inches from my face and his hand is shaking like a leaf. 'Gimme all the money!' he says.

Well, for some reason, I was just unbelievably, almost unnaturally calm. And, some will say, (at this next part) VERY stupid.

I thought to myself, 'he will shoot me out of sheer nervousness if I don't get him to get that gun out of my face. So, I handed him the 40 or so $1 bills from the register and tell him, 'that's all there is.' and he looks at me, and I reach up and slowly put my finger on the side of his gun hand and gently push it away so that he doesn't shoot me in the face.
I tell him, 'put that away, and go on out of here, that's all we have, i've already made the deposit'

He puts the gun pack into his windbreaker pocket and turns to leave, and takes 2 steps, then turns around and pulls the gun back out and sticks it in my face again. "I know you got more in that drawer back there! Gimme that!' Again, I reach up and slowly, and TENDERLY, gently push the gun so that it's not pointed at my face. His hand was shaking like a leaf, and I realized that he was more nervous than I was ! I tell him, 'Okay, I'll give it to you, just put that away so no one gets hurt, and he puts it back in his windbreaker pocket.

So, now I'm thinking, 'Harvey's gun is in that drawer, along with a bank bag of about $30 in rolled coins. Should I give him the money, or show him that my gun is bigger than his?'
I make my decision, that I will show him that I have a bigger gun, my thinking being that as nervous as he is, he will turn tail and run, and if not, then it won't be the 1st time gunshots have rang out in one of Harvey's places. (I saw him shoot a mouse inside the store he stayed at)

I turned around, took a deep breath, and opened the drawer and . . .the gun was gone! I found out later that Harvey had taken it home the night before.

So, I grabbed the leather bank bag and pulled it out and walked out from behind the counter and walked up to the guy and handed it to him. As I put it in his hand he took his hand off the gun in his pocket, and I took him by the arm, at the elbow and started walking him to the door. As we walked, I said, that's all we got, you can leave now, and I walked him right up to the side door and didn't open it, thinking that he would put his fingers on it and the cops could get fingerprints from that.

He opened the door and was about to walk out, and I turned and started heading back to the back and then I felt something in my back (the business end of the little .38 he was carrying. He said 'I want you to go in the back' and I asked 'what for?'
His answer, 'I want you to lay down on the floor, face down. . . '

At this point I wasn't quite as calm as I had been throughout the whole ordeal. I knew what 'lay down face down on the floor' meant. . .

At this point my employee came walking out of the walk-in cooler and he looks at me, sees some guy behind me, and was confused, until I moved to one side and then nodded down towards the gun the bad guy was pointing. The employee starts looking very pale.

I turned to the bad guy and as firmly as I could, said 'I'm not going to lay down, come on, I'll take you to the door before the cops arrive.' and I take him by the arm and led him to the same door again, and this time he opened it and started running off across the parking lot.

I sighed a long sigh of relief and called the police. They were there, I kid you not, within 20 seconds! Yes, they did get fingerprints off the doorknob (I was SO proud of that! LOL) then I called Harvey and told him. His response? Wish I'd a been there! I'd a put a few holes in him!

Of course, the police told me that I was very lucky, and I agree.

The moral to the story, for me anyway, is; firstly, we never know how we'll react in a stressful situation, and as we get older I think we become a lot more conservative in how we act. (I highly doubt I'd be so calm if this type of thing happened nowadays)

Secondly, the act of having access to a gun in a situation could be good OR bad. In this instance, I honestly think it would have ended BADLY had I been able to pull that gun out of that drawer, and I'm glad I didn't have to. At that time in my life, I had NO firearms training. I knew enough to point and shoot, but I think the small amount of knowledge I had at that point would have gotten me killed. Especially since that kid was so nervous, because he might NOT have cut and run as I thought he would.

Sorry for the long post, but that incident years ago was one that made me realize that gun training (proper gun training and knowledge) is just as important as having a gun, and the lack of such knowledge when around a gun could, in fact, be deadly, even when using it for 'self-defense'.

[strider67]

I frequently carry a front-pocket LCP to work. I typically work in a construction environment and wear a small pouch for my tools. It is a good fit for my situation but I carry a Sig P229 .40 all other times and with family.
My LCP, 'L'ast 'C'hance 'P'rotection, as Mr.Cotton pointed out, is for close-quarter, grappling situations. Or perhaps scaring someone from the noise while retreating or seeking cover. It's certainly better than nothing, but thanks to this thread, makes me want to retire it to full-time bug action and explore additional options.
Just me, armed with that, I think I would have taken cover or retreated and observed while probably calling it in, to where you at least have them on the line during observation in case it kicks up a notch. I would have avoided "eye contact" but would have known where each and every one was at all times. Furthermore, I would not have been sitting in a front spot where all 3 of them could have emptied their mags into my windshield, should they have chosen to.
That is, at least, how it plays out in my mind...

And a little note to your new story, don't take your eyes off of a guy 3 times after he has already pulled a gun on you.

[dwsintxs]

And a little note to your new story, don't take your eyes off of a guy 3 times after he has already pulled a gun on you.

You are correct! Like I said, I was young and dumb. When you're young, you feel invincible and think you're never going to die.

[Pecos]

LCP to the S&W Shield 9mm

Or better yet, an M&P 9 or Glock 17....with a spare magazine of course.

These are both great guns or even a Glock 19. I'm not a btg fan of fannie packs,

[strider67]

So true, my friend. I could have sworn I had an "S" on my chest when I was young and dumb!

Nice thread, really made me think long and hard on a VERY important aspect of my carry piece...most all of us are still learning new things on a daily basis.

[Embalmo]

An LCP is only a bad choice if it stays in your pocket at the range.