Pennsylvania Firearm Owners Association
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  1. #1
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    Default Situational Awareness Discussion

    As gun owners, we all share a very common skill, whether it be learned or inherent, and that skill is Situational Awareness. We practice to heighten that skill so that we can do whatever we need to avoid conflict without actually having to draw down on someone, and use our guns as our last defense. It's something that I know I practice regularly, and have had several incidents over the years that I know if I hadn't been aware of what was going on around me, things could have turned out very differently.

    I do remember the first time I learned about it, believe it or not, it was around 7th grade and I was reading the book Shane. What stuck in my head was the scene where Shane first enters the farmer's home for dinner and promptly sits in the father's seat with his back to the wall. A tactically smart position to take as he could watch who entered the room and no one could sneak up on him from behind. Something I've always thought about as the "gunfighter" position. Since then, when I'm in a restaurant or other unfamiliar places I always try to take such a position. A place where entrances can be watched and it would be difficult for someone to be behind me. Of course, this isn't always possible, but when I can't do that, I try to be more aware of what's around me.

    I'm going to write out several of my incidents and I welcome everyone to write out theirs, so that maybe we call all learn from each other. After all, we can do all the training in the comfort of our ranges that we want, but the best training is of course real world. Many times if you write something out, you'll realize where you did things wrong, and what you could do to improve.

    I'd figure I'd start this thread since it does seem as a group we've had lots of experiences in our past we could possibly share.
    Rules are written in the stone,
    Break the rules and you get no bones,
    all you get is ridicule, laughter,
    and a trip to the house of pain.

  2. #2
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    Default First Incident -- St. Patty's Day Weekend, 1990

    This was a weekend that I volunteered to help a new friend work on his grandfather's boat for the weekend. We were staying in his cabin outside of Bethany Beach, but we had the evenings free to do whatever. On Friday evening his grandfather had told us that if we go down to OCMD do not walk off the end of the boardwalk in the offseason as it can be dangerous down there. I had just turned 21, my friend was 18 and the other guy with us was 21, so you can imagine that we figured we knew what we were doing.

    Off to OCMD we go after we spent a day repainting the bottom of the boat, drinking beer and eating fried chicken. We parked about halfway up the boardwalk on a sidestreet and started to walk south towards the pier just to see if anything was open. Going past Shenanigans we see there's a big line to get in, so we push on further down the boardwalk. It's pretty dark down there as they apparently don't light it up during the off season. I don't remember where the board walk ended but pretty soon we were walking on the concrete walkway a couple blocks from the pier.

    We keep on walking down, and then I spotted some movement in the shadows by the buildings. My friend asks me if I saw it, and I said yep, but we figured we'd keep on walking. When we got within about 20' of where we saw movement two guys came out and spread out, basically forcing us to walk between them. As we got closer, they moved in even closer to us until they were pretty much in our faces. Then came the line that will always be in my memory, and has been a joke among my friends since this happened:

    "Ain't nobody fuckin' nobody tonight, cause we're goin fishin'".

    Have no idea what it means, but we just said "ok" and we kind of pushed past them, but without touching them. They fell in step about 10' behind us and we were doing what we could to keep track of them, but still appear nonchalant about the whole thing. As we keep on walking, they're still following and now we're getting a little paniced. We have no idea what their intents are, so we came up with a plan. We were getting closer to the pier which is Wicocomo street, we whispered to each other that as soon as we got there, around the corner we'd run to the end of the street back out to the main road. A few more steps, and we break out into a run, well at least two of us did, the other guy instead of running ducked down behind a dumpster. My friend and I turned around in front of the Bearded Clam to see what was happening and those two guys were coming around the corner in a dead run, they saw we were so far ahead and they turned around and headed away as a bunch of people started coming out of the Bearded Clam.

    We collected the other guy with us, who was a total idiot/jackass the entire weekend and headed back up to the truck on the main road.

    What did we learn from this? Listen to the old man who told us to not walk off the boardwalk in the off season. Overall, I think we handled it well, we didn't hurt, but it was pretty scary there for a bit.
    Rules are written in the stone,
    Break the rules and you get no bones,
    all you get is ridicule, laughter,
    and a trip to the house of pain.

  3. #3
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    Default Re: First Incident -- St. Patty's Day Weekend, 1990

    I try to be "tactically minded" at all times. SA is obviously the most important thing. When I carry my one year old daugher, I carry her on my weak side so I can still draw and hold onto her. I make sure my doors are locked as soon as I get in my car. I scan the area before unlocking my doors or getting out of my car. I also try to have my back against a wall and pick seats in a restaurant that are a good view of the entrance/exits. I always go with my gut and avoid areas or situations that make me feel uneasy. I wouldn't consider myself paranoid, and I'm not nervous about being somewhere without a gun. I think its just a basic instinct to stay alive and keep my family alive.

  4. #4
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    Default Re: First Incident -- St. Patty's Day Weekend, 1990

    Parking lots, especially multi level are my main concern. Frankly, I move there like friggin paranoic. But you know what - it worth it.
    Je suis déplorable

  5. #5
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    Default Re: Situational Awareness Discussion

    Quote Originally Posted by streaker69 View Post
    . . . around 7th grade and I was reading the book Shane. What stuck in my head was the scene where Shane first enters the farmer's home for dinner and promptly sits in the father's seat with his back to the wall . . .
    Ha!! I've done this one for years also, but I picked it up from reading Dune (also about 7th grade).

    Parking lots are also tops on the list, good tips mentioned. I'm also wary getting on or off elevators, but that may just be the result of too many old Star Trek episodes or 500 viewings of The Godfather.

    ..
    Blessed are they who, faced with danger, think only of the front sight. -- Jeff Cooper

  6. #6
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    Default Re: First Incident -- St. Patty's Day Weekend, 1990

    Quote Originally Posted by Metz View Post
    paranoic.

    Had to look this up.


    My wife thinks its foolish of me to want to keep an eye on the door.

    I think its foolish not to.

    .

  7. #7
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    Default Re: First Incident -- St. Patty's Day Weekend, 1990

    Quote Originally Posted by RaisedByWolves View Post
    My wife thinks its foolish of me to want to keep an eye on the door.

    I think its foolish not to.
    The whole "paranoic" ordeal reminds me of few liberals, that I encountered. They are sure that I'm paranoid, because i carry two guns (frankly, just one is enough for thiis diagnosys). Yet, I trust every law abiding citizen to carry or have gun, yet they they don't. They dont' trust anyone, even themselves. So who's paranoid now?
    Je suis déplorable

  8. #8
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    Default Re: Situational Awareness Discussion

    Quote Originally Posted by Roland of Gilead View Post
    Ha!! I've done this one for years also, but I picked it up from reading Dune (also about 7th grade).

    Parking lots are also tops on the list, good tips mentioned. I'm also wary getting on or off elevators, but that may just be the result of too many old Star Trek episodes or 500 viewings of The Godfather.

    ..
    A lot can be learned from sci-fi.
    NRA life member/ILA/PVA/Whittington Center sponsor
    GOA member/Second Amendment Foundation member
    NAHC life member/KECA founding committee member

  9. #9
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    Default Re: Situational Awareness Discussion

    I spend a lot of time people watching when I'm out. Reading body language and watching behaviors. Mostly because it keeps me in practice and there's so much you can learn from people that way.
    Rules are written in the stone,
    Break the rules and you get no bones,
    all you get is ridicule, laughter,
    and a trip to the house of pain.

  10. #10
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    Default Re: Situational Awareness Discussion

    Quote Originally Posted by streaker69 View Post
    I spend a lot of time people watching when I'm out. Reading body language and watching behaviors. Mostly because it keeps me in practice and there's so much you can learn from people that way.
    Watching people is illuminating.
    NRA life member/ILA/PVA/Whittington Center sponsor
    GOA member/Second Amendment Foundation member
    NAHC life member/KECA founding committee member

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