What would YOU do?

**TheFue** · July 27th, 2010, 12:11 AM

Allow me to present you with a couple situations. assume in each one you have with you what you would normall carry (IE Not stark naked, nor ready to take out a third world nation) A few of these aren't shoot or don't shoot situations, just curious to know what you people would do;

Situation One -
You're leaving a restaurant, having had your fill of viddles. You get in your car and before starting to leave, you notice three younger guys heading back in towards the restaurant. As they reach the front corner of the building the one reaches under his shirt and pulls a pistol.

Situation Two -
In the bathroom of Walmart, you're in the stall doing your thing, finished up and ready to exit when you hear the bathroom door open, fight shuffling, muffled voices and then the stall shakes as the two obviously fighting bodies hit the stall. One guy hits the floor, and you hear the offender rack the slide on a pistol.

Situation Three -
You're driving on the interstate in the wee hours of the morning and come around a corner to see a Motorcycle in the gaurdrail on the right, with a car stopped just beyond and a guy running towards the wreck. You pull over to see whats happening. Checking a pulse on the motorcycle's rider you feel nothing and he begins gurgling. The other driver is on the phone with 911. After hanging up he announces he's drunk and can't stick around and starts running across the interstate.

Situation Four -
You're walking down the street in a nice area, not usually known for crime. its dark out, around midnight, when passing an alley way you see one college aged kid walking while a second who is sneaking up behind him pulls what appears to be a gun and puts it to the back of the first kids head.

Situation Five -
You work at a place that employs a few high-school aged people. You walk in the back door one day to see a younger new hiree pointing what appears to be a gun directly in the face of a fellow employee. The attacker's body language is not of a directly threatening fashion, aside from the weapon, however the other employee is scared to death.

So, what would you do?

**Brudog** · July 27th, 2010, 12:17 AM

Move to a safer neighborhood.

I think these scenarios are impossible to predict.

**TheFue** · July 27th, 2010, 12:20 AM

Originally Posted by Brudog

Move to a safer neighborhood.

I think these scenarios are impossible to predict.

Quite right, however while we may never find ourselves in each specific situation, there's been way worse that others here HAVE been in. I've been thinking about the ability to decide in situations, and while this is all realitively calm compared to actually being in each situation, I'd like to see how you all would react.

**newskate9** · July 27th, 2010, 07:20 AM

I'm not a cop. I carry for DEFENSE and would consider aiding others as I might want to be aided.

1. Dial 911. Wait on-scene in my car.
2. You don't know the "offender" is the one racking the slide. You also don't know it's a slide by just the sound. I'd retreat to back of stall, stay silent and draw (if I did think it was a gun). I would not intervene.
3. Do nothing. Administer first aide. Call 911 myself to establish contact.
4. In that situation too many variables. Retreat, take cover, observe, dial 911, be defensive minded.
5. Do nothing. Let the incident play out as it doesn't appear "threatening". Ask gun-toter to knock it off. At first safe point, call 911 and report the incident.

**The_Game** · July 27th, 2010, 07:29 AM

Originally Posted by TheFue

Allow me to present you with a couple situations. assume in each one you have with you what you would normall carry (IE Not stark naked, nor ready to take out a third world nation) A few of these aren't shoot or don't shoot situations, just curious to know what you people would do;

Situation One -
You're leaving a restaurant, having had your fill of viddles. You get in your car and before starting to leave, you notice three younger guys heading back in towards the restaurant. As they reach the front corner of the building the one reaches under his shirt and pulls a pistol.

Situation Two -
In the bathroom of Walmart, you're in the stall doing your thing, finished up and ready to exit when you hear the bathroom door open, fight shuffling, muffled voices and then the stall shakes as the two obviously fighting bodies hit the stall. One guy hits the floor, and you hear the offender rack the slide on a pistol.

Situation Three -
You're driving on the interstate in the wee hours of the morning and come around a corner to see a Motorcycle in the gaurdrail on the right, with a car stopped just beyond and a guy running towards the wreck. You pull over to see whats happening. Checking a pulse on the motorcycle's rider you feel nothing and he begins gurgling. The other driver is on the phone with 911. After hanging up he announces he's drunk and can't stick around and starts running across the interstate.

Situation Four -
You're walking down the street in a nice area, not usually known for crime. its dark out, around midnight, when passing an alley way you see one college aged kid walking while a second who is sneaking up behind him pulls what appears to be a gun and puts it to the back of the first kids head.

Situation Five -
You work at a place that employs a few high-school aged people. You walk in the back door one day to see a younger new hiree pointing what appears to be a gun directly in the face of a fellow employee. The attacker's body language is not of a directly threatening fashion, aside from the weapon, however the other employee is scared to death.

So, what would you do?

Call 911, leave.

Silently call 911, stay quiet. Hope everything stops at that point.

Call 911 myself, be a good witness, take photos of driver/car if possible. Stay long enough to provide a statement to police.

Call 911, continue.

Walk back out, call 911.

I'm not the police. If my life is not in danger, nor the life of one of my loved ones, it quite honestly isn't my problem and some random person's life isn't worth mine should I intervene and be killed/hurt.

**electronics** · July 27th, 2010, 08:12 AM

Originally Posted by TheFue

Allow me to present you with a couple situations. assume in each one you have with you what you would normall carry (IE Not stark naked, nor ready to take out a third world nation) A few of these aren't shoot or don't shoot situations, just curious to know what you people would do;

Situation One -
You're leaving a restaurant, having had your fill of viddles. You get in your car and before starting to leave, you notice three younger guys heading back in towards the restaurant. As they reach the front corner of the building the one reaches under his shirt and pulls a pistol.

Situation Two -
In the bathroom of Walmart, you're in the stall doing your thing, finished up and ready to exit when you hear the bathroom door open, fight shuffling, muffled voices and then the stall shakes as the two obviously fighting bodies hit the stall. One guy hits the floor, and you hear the offender rack the slide on a pistol.

Situation Three -
You're driving on the interstate in the wee hours of the morning and come around a corner to see a Motorcycle in the gaurdrail on the right, with a car stopped just beyond and a guy running towards the wreck. You pull over to see whats happening. Checking a pulse on the motorcycle's rider you feel nothing and he begins gurgling. The other driver is on the phone with 911. After hanging up he announces he's drunk and can't stick around and starts running across the interstate.

Situation Four -
You're walking down the street in a nice area, not usually known for crime. its dark out, around midnight, when passing an alley way you see one college aged kid walking while a second who is sneaking up behind him pulls what appears to be a gun and puts it to the back of the first kids head.

Situation Five -
You work at a place that employs a few high-school aged people. You walk in the back door one day to see a younger new hiree pointing what appears to be a gun directly in the face of a fellow employee. The attacker's body language is not of a directly threatening fashion, aside from the weapon, however the other employee is scared to death.

So, what would you do?

One, call 911.

Two, lecture the gunman on the merits of carrying +1.

Three, write down the license plate number and take note of his appearance for police.

Four, lecture the intended victim on situational awareness.

Five, sue for unsafe working conditions.

One and three are serious responses. The rest, not so much. Mainly because they are much more difficult to answer without more information, likely without being there. I could see getting involved, or not, in all three scenarios. When in doubt, call 911 and stay out of it, IMO.

**sjohn26** · July 27th, 2010, 08:20 AM

I would not respond to what-ifs and wait for the real questions...................

**JoshIronshaft** · July 27th, 2010, 08:47 AM

Wargaming is a healthy mental exercise that can help you make quicker decisions if you ever find yourself, God forbid, in a situation like those described.

1. Call 911. Remember to describe myself/vehicle/location and inform the police I am carrying in the unlikely event I have to exit my vehicle. Start the jeep and position it for a quick exit (read: not tightly parallel parked). Lock the doors. If shots are fired, move to safer distance. Take note of directions perps leave.

2. Move away from the stall while drawing/loading and issuing orders to stop in the most commanding voice I have. Exit, if possible and call 911.

3. As tempting as it is to shoot the drunk in the leg who probably hit the motorcyclist, you have to let him go and take note of his description and license plate while calling 911. This reminds me I need to get recertified for CPR.

4. Take cover. Call 911 and sit phone on ground. Trust the 911 GPS. Remove flashlight and firearm. Aim both at guy with firearm and issue command to drop the firearm and tell him the police are coming. I would hope the guy with a firearm would do something smart, but if he starts firing, I'm not returning fire unless I had no exit. If I'm at the entrance to an alley, I wouldn't go past the corner, and I would then exit down the street in a zig-zag pattern. I know this sounds incredably risky to some people, but I feel like I should try and deter the guy with a firearm from commiting a crime if I can do it vocally from a location of cover with a clear exit. If there is no exit, I would seriously reconsider making my presence known. In some situations it might be impossible to keep your presense unknown and then, if you're trapped you have to defend yourself. I know I would be very upset with myself if I let someone innocent get executed while I watched and did nothing when I could have. I'm young and I have no dependent family. Maybe the guy about to get shot knows the cure to cancer. Maybe he is a junkie who owes money...idk. Nuff said.

5. This sort of implies IMO I've snuck up on someone from behind, same as the last situation. In this situation I would pray my hours and hours of martial arts training would kick in so I could disarm and non-lethaly disable the person with the firearm. If not, then it kind of plays out in my mind like the last situation.

I have never been in a situation remotely like any of these. I pray I never will be. These are just my thoughts about what I COULD do, but in the moment you follow your instincts and training and try not to do anything stupid or rash.

**The_Game** · July 27th, 2010, 08:59 AM

You aren't a cop?

Why would you try to play the part?

**JoshIronshaft** · July 27th, 2010, 09:03 AM

Originally Posted by The_Game

You aren't a cop?

Why would you try to play the part?

No I'm not, but If it was me with a gun to my head I would want someone to try and help and not just call 911.

I know a lot of my actions in those situations would be considered risky, but my nature is to take calculated risks (winter mountain climbing, white water rafting, sky diving, etc). The risks I suggested taking in those situations seem worthwhile if you can save a life and not stick your own neck out too far.