How do you handle this?

[Irving]

This is assuming you are carrying or course.

You are in a convenience store, and three drunk kids come in and start making a rukus. You are minding your business and don't do or say anything. As you are leaving, one of the drunk thugs is near the door, sneers at you, and says "What choo gonna do?" while he lifts his shirt and shows you the handle of a gun tucked into his waist band.

So what would YOU do?

I'm a little torn on this because you can likely just keep right on walking right out of the store. At the same time, when you are minding your own business, and someone aggressively confronts you verbally, and by flashing a pistol at you, it is hard to not feel mortally threatened. I'd like to know what you guys think.

This didn't happen to me, but happened to a friend, at a convenience store that I have been in, and drive by twice every day because it is between my house and grandma's house where I take my daughter every day.

[Circuits]

Leave the immediate area for your own safety, and call 911 to report the drunken person brandishing a firearm at the convenience store.

Unless the drunk draws down on you, there's no reason to escalate by showing, or drawing your own piece, but good reason to report the implied threat.

[Mtn.man]

Leave the immediate area for your own safety, and call 911 to report the drunken person brandishing a firearm at the convenience store.

Unless the drunk draws down on you, there's no reason to escalate by showing, or drawing your own piece, but good reason to report the implied threat.

Yeah That...

[CareyH]

remember this line "I was scared for my life."

[Mtn.man]

remember this line "I was scared for my life."

and hope a jury agrees...

[7idl]

what is "dial 911 and cower in a corner"?

[Batteriesnare]

and hope a jury agrees...

I don't think it matters, as long as he perceived it as a threat on his life and there is reasonable evidence to show it wasn't completely unfounded.

[TFOGGER]

In this situation, I guess it would depend on how much of a threat I felt these jokers were. My first inclination would be to avoid confrontation, keep my eyes on the punks(s), leave the store, and call the cops with words that include "brandishing" "gun" "armed robbery" and "potential shooting" I'd stay close enough to be a good witness, and try to take note of things like the type of car they were in, the plate number, and detailed descriptions. I may have a permit and a gun, but nobody's paying me to play cop/security guard, so unless there's an immediate and grave threat to health and life, the only person who is gonna know about my sidearm is me.

[Bailey Guns]

What I'd want to do, and I what I would do, are two different things.

In this scenario, once he's made the overt action of showing the gun after making the statement he did, it's felony menacing, IMHO.

Menacing is defined as any threat or physical action that knowingly places or attempts to place a person in fear of serious bodily injury. It's a misdemeanor unless comitted by use of a deadly weapon. A handgun is obviously a deadly weapon.

If I were placed into that situation, I'd still try to de-escalate, seek a position of cover/concealment, attempt to discreetly draw my gun and wait until the turds left. Or, if it was possible, I'd leave.

However, I do think a person would be legally justified in drawing on that person who displayed the gun. It would be dicey since in this case it's a 3 on 1 situation and that wouldn't be MY first choice.

Frankly, that punk's gonna try that crap on the wrong person some day...an off-duty cop or an armed civilian who's gonna be quick on the draw and might shoot. I think you could make a decent argument that you felt your life, not to mention the lives of others in the store, was in imminent danger and you reasonably believed a lesser degree of force was inadequate. After all, once he's displayed the weapon in a waistband, it only takes maybe 3/4 of a second to actually draw the gun. And by the act of lifting the shirt I think a reasonable person might conclude he was taking that action prior to drawing the gun. That sort of behavior is a good way to get yourself shot.

[GreenScoutII]

A wrong is forever a wrong, there isn't anything you can do to bake shit into a cake.

A work friend of mine recently got into some trouble in a situation similar to this one.

He, his wife, and thier two sons were broadsided by another vehicle which blew through a stop sign. My friend exited the vehicle to confront the other driver. Words were exchanged, but no physical violence.

This all transpired in a residential neighborhood where there happened to be people out and about. Two of these people were young men who, apparantley, were friends of the driver who ran the stop sign. They informed my friend they were going to kick his ass. Friend withdraws a Leatherman tool, yes, a Leatherman tool and opens the knife blade. He tells them GET. THE. FUCK. BACK!! They comply...

Someone from the group of people who witnessed the whole thing calls the police. When the cops arrive, my friend, instead of being assisted out of an ugly situation, is arrested and charged with a FELONY!

Fortunately for him, he is 43 years old with NO criminal record of any kind prior to this incident and was given a deferred sentence and will have no felony record if he completes his probation. Totally bogus deal IMO..

What did he do wrong?

He needlessly escalated the level of danger in the situation.

He was running his mouth and talking big shit out of anger..

The lesson? Don't draw a weapon unless there is no other alternative.

The cops will not necessarally see your side of it. They can and will charge a guy with a felony even if no one was harmed in any way...