A Man Carrying in a Park
Sean Utley Photo

QUESTION: You are walking home through the park near sunset. Suddenly, you are confronted with several very large young men who tell you to “give me your money and your phone!” You know a robbery when you see it. You draw your gun and tell them no. They flee into the park leaving you alone. What should you do now?

  1. Be glad you had a gun for protection and go home. Tell your wife and friends what happened.
  2. Chase after the fleeing youths and attempt to apprehend them.
  3. Call 911 and report that you were almost the victim of a robbery.
  4. Keep your gun at the ready and in your hand until you return home or to your vehicle in case they come back.

Mission First Tactical

 

TEST YOUR LEGAL IQ ANSWER: The clear best answer is 3. Why? Pursuing criminals unless you’re the police is a very dangerous idea and may result in your being victimized twice. And if you just go home and the would-be adolescent robber calls 911 and reports “some wild person pulled a gun on them and threatened them for no reason,” the police will then be looking for you! It is no news flash that if a person is willing to rob you that they will lie to the police. Further, inaction could be interpreted as culpability resulting in at minimum one big potential legal mess. Likewise, continuing to walk or stand around with your gun out will most certainly frighten others and get the police called on you, also landing you in legal jeopardy.

The best course of action is to make it a rule that if you ever have to pull or show your gun, or threaten someone that you have a gun, call 911 and tell them what type of a crime you were almost a victim of and that you need the police. So even if the youths call, you are on the record first that they tried to rob you. It may prevent you from being wrongfully arrested and charged with a crime when you did nothing wrong.

48 COMMENTS

    • If you had loaded your magazines with gloves on in the first place, there would be no need for this.

      • I seriously doubt finger prints can be taken from a fired case.
        Seems to me the swelling of the case, powder residue and extraction process would negate valid fingerprints.

        • good luck with that, because the technology to get prints off of fired shell case has been used for a long time.

  1. That advice goes contrary to my decades of experience. That old saying, “any landing you walk away from is a good landing” has always been good enough for me. That is, if there is to be a gun fight, or the threat of a gun fight, and I walk away, all is good. Over aggressive police are not a new phenomenon, starting in 2001, or in 1990, or even 1980. Cops who don’t like you because you’re white, Latino, Black, or Native American aren’t new. I’ve met good cops and bad cops as far back as the 1960s. My rule of thumb has always been to avoid contact with the police, unless it’s absolutely necessary.

    In the scenario above, I haven’t shot anybody, I may or may not have even warned those “kids” that I’m armed, I’m probably going to the house and calling it a day.

    • Paul, you are full of it. There are some bad cops, but damn few. “Overly aggressive cops”? You mean when someone points a gun at them they should call a social worker to find out what is the perpetrator’s problem? Get a grip!

      • Mr. Beverly, what do you call those cops who have bad cop colleagues and tolerate or cover for them?

      • I’ll give you an example Walter. You drive into a city, and you don’t really know where you’re going. You’re following directions, one turn after another. You miss a turn. You stop, to examine the map, you examine your directions, you use an empty lot to make a U-turn. You approach the turn that you missed, slow down, real slow, and start to make your turn. Six freaking cop cars surround you, and all six cops get out of their cars, three of them with weapons drawn.

        Dude, those are bad cops.

        I’ve witnessed similar, in another state. An aging old black lady approaches a gas pump at a convenience store. She gets the door open, but doesn’t yet get out of the car. Four cop cars come whipping in, out of nowhere, and surround her – again, with weapons drawn. It takes 30 frigging seconds to determine that the old lady is alone in the vehicle, but it takes 30 MINUTES for those assholes to allow the old woman to go her way.

        Again, those are bad cops.

        You can make excuses forever, but the people who are supposed to protect and serve us DO NOT DO SO, far too often.

        Oh, another situation, in another city. Low rent housing, people coming and going about their lives. Cops, cops, cops – in and out, driving across yards, lighting people up at random, all night long. These aren’t police, they’re an occupation force. Kinda like the Gaza Strip, but without the missiles and tanks.

        Don’t tell me how rare bad cops are, and expect any respect from me.

  2. “What should you do now?”

    Call a social worker who specializes in conflict deescalation and ask them to come give the poor disenfranchised youths a hug.

    Is that right? What do I win?

    Oh, also, do an interview on MSNBCNNBC in which you state that you have learned that, “violence is never the answer,” pledge to “learn and do better,” and commit to giving your guns to a local school art program so they can be welded into a pile of scrap.

  3. “… if you ever have to pull or show your gun, or threaten someone that you have a gun, call 911 and tell them what type of a crime you were almost a victim of …”

    In my humble opinion, if you were legally justified to present a firearm in self-defense, you WERE the victim of a crime, you were not almost the victim of a crime. Rather, in the scenario of this article you managed to avoid physical injury and additional loss of property.

    • Which is in every case, the goal of the encounter. Just like with the #1 goal of law enforcement personnel. Going home alive and uninjured. Regardless of what it takes to do so. I was working traffic and crowd control at a local event a couple of years ago. A person who was obviously drunk believed he wasn’t required to follow directions and preceded to tell me he was going to ‘Kick My Ass”. I reached down and pulled back the flap of my safety vest and jacket. To show the attacker the Ruger P89 quietly resting in a shoulder holster. After a quick glance at it and the look on my face. He decided moving along was his best course of action. After the event, I reported the situation to the police chief. Who’s only response was “I’m glad you didn’t have to shoot him,it would have spoiled the days events.” There were also witnesses who corroborated the confrontation and my actions.

  4. I shared weeks ago a threat at a gas station. Just the threat of a gat was enough to dissuade a punk(but I WAS armed). So no call to the local 5-O. They’re idiots on their best day🙄

    • “I shared weeks ago a threat at a gas station. Just the threat of a gat was enough to dissuade a punk(but I WAS armed).”

      I have drawn twice in my life, both times as soon as I cleared leather, the individual rapidly advancing towards me got the hell out of there as fast as they could…

      • One guy charged me I punched him in the gut with the barrel and the other guy reached into his coat pocket. I pointed the gunm at his head and said ” Do it.”
        They left with threats of vengeance.

  5. Unfortunately, here in NYS, a Park is considered a “sensitive place”. In other words, a target rich environment, in other words, I place I do not go to.

    • “Unfortunately, here in NYS, a Park is considered a “sensitive place”.”

      Not for long, hang in there.

      Where it will do the most good is those using public transportation, like the subway in NYC.

      It’s high time the muggers feel trapped in a subway car at midnight in motion, instead of the single mother, trying to feed her kids… 😉

    • The entire STATE of NY is a NOGO “sensitive place” to be avoided. NO circumstances that would justify being present in that place.

  6. I’m confused. “The clear answer is C.” Really! I can only see responses 1,2,3,and 4 listed. Am I missing something? My answer would be to leave and “get out of Dodge” immediately. With gun laws constantly being challenged and changing, the last thing I would do is call the police, and still end up being a victim of flashing a firearm crime.

    • Exactly my first thought. In a normal world, the third option would be optimal. But there’s nothing normal about post-2020 Soviet-Amerika, where a 911 call from the victim lands that victim in one of the Soviet-Amerika GULAGS!

      • I thought being a Pinochet, you would escort the would-be mugger to the helipad just outside of the park, to give the thug a well-deserved one-way helicopter ride… 🙂

  7. OMG stop with mixed metaphors !!
    Author gives us 1,2,3,4 choices, and the correct answer is C ?!
    Wtf
    Did all editors die off with the advent of the internet ??

    • “institution of higher learning that, at least until recently” if 30+ years is recent!

      NYC is a “great city” – when was that? Has been a cesspool for at least 200years.

      Adams a liar? Thats just shocking!

  8. #3, you’ve justified your arrest, incarceration, and status as a felon; in Maryland. That Wear & Carry guarantees a conviction against you (you know better than to carry a firearm in a ‘sensitive place’). Who wants to be the first guinea pig to test the waters full of piranha (demoncrats) and bring a law suit against the state for the unconstitutionality of your arrest/incarceration.

  9. It’s pretty sad when you can’t take your young child to play in the park.
    And you’re told that it’s better to just allow criminals to take over. Instead of fighting for your rights.

    This is why I support a National Divorce. Because those that want to allow criminals to take over the parks. They can have that in their part of the World.

    And those of us that want to kill criminals so the law-abiding can play with their children. In the parks. We can go ahead and do that, in our part of the world.

  10. Just go home and keep your mouth shut.
    If, and that’s a mighty big if, the crooks call the cops deny any knowledge of it.
    Calling the cops to report a crime that almost happened is just setting yourself up for a bunch of questions that. ” Everything You Say Can And Will Be Used Against You.”
    Or,,,,, you whisper, “The gold, you forgot the gold.”

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