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Old December 2, 2012, 06:52 PM   #51
langenc
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In a theater the best would be on an aisle. In the middle is a nightmare.. How do you get out past 5 or more between you and the aisle?
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Old December 2, 2012, 08:04 PM   #52
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Quote:
Posted by Seamn: How do you get the bad guys to let you know when you're going to have time to get an M22-4 out of your holster instead of using an M442 snubby fired from in your pocket?
If it takes longer for you to draw from a holster than it does to pull a J-frame out of a pocket, you may want to re-examine your carry choices and/or practice regimen.
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Old December 2, 2012, 08:53 PM   #53
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I try to sit back to the wall, away from entrance and bathrooms, and out of the line of traffic. I do this not only for reasons of security but also to avoid noise, weather, odors, privacy, and intrusion by other patrons, intentional or not. This applies to restraunts. I don't go to theaters because my wife smokes and I won't go without her.

I don't go in paranoid that an assailant is going to come in, but I try to keep in mind the possibility. The place I feel most likely to encounter a shooter is my workplace. I work in a factory and we ocassionally have disgruntled employees who get fired. There have been some threats, not to me, but I am in one of the more potential "hotspots", very near an entrance in an office. I still don't lose sleep at night over it though.
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Old December 3, 2012, 10:24 AM   #54
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I suppose I can be serious this time.

Generally, I like everything in front of me. When I ride a bicycle on back roads, I ride on the left side so I can see cars coming at me. When I have a desk in an office, it faces the door. In a restaurant, I like to sit where I face the flow of traffic.

But I don't put any thought at all into defending myself from some sort of attack. The chances of something like that happening are, in my opinion, so low that it isn't really worth acting on. I'd rather sit with my back to the door in a restaurant than wait ten minutes for "tactically correct" table.
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Old December 3, 2012, 02:59 PM   #55
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The difficult thing for me is most times we are out and about I need to help take care of the kiddos. That makes it a little more difficult to be so watchful of the surroundings when I also need to be watchful of the kids.

Not to say I am oblivious to my surroundings. The Wife instinctively knows that my back is against the wall and we sit in the corner opposite the main entrance and within good eyesight of secondary entrances.

I have always been a habitual people watcher so I guess that was some good training for watching to protect myself and family.

It is very important to note that while I am watchful I still know how to relax and have a good time. I definitely don't always think someone is out to get us. But why not be prepared in case something does happen. I see it as wearing
your seatbelt. I don't plan on getting into an accident but I prepare in case
something goes wrong.


I almost forgot the most important part. Wherever I sit there is never an alcoholic drink in front of me. I do not ever drink. I feel it dulls the senses and reflexes too much. (not to mention avoiding my proclivity to indulge too much in things I enjoy)

Last edited by Yung.gunr; December 3, 2012 at 03:21 PM.
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Old December 3, 2012, 03:33 PM   #56
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Quote:
I see it as wearing
your seatbelt. I don't plan on getting into an accident but I prepare in case
Wearing a seat belt is definitely a good idea.

America is the gun violence capital of the world. According to FBI crime statistics, there were 9,146 murders by firearm in 2009.

Motor vehicle deaths 2009

33,808.

My concern would be driving safely to the restaurant.
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Old December 3, 2012, 05:17 PM   #57
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Quote:
America is the gun violence capital of the world. According to FBI crime statistics, there were 9,146 murders by firearm in 2009.
Being in Ireland you probably don't hear about it as much, but I assure you, America is NOT the gun violence capital of the world.

Here in Texas, there are bullets that come from across the border on a daily basis. I promise you, Mexico is the gun violence capital of the world.


There are many people who are murdered in Mexico with firearms that no one ever hears about...... and there are plenty of others murdered by other means that are never reported either...
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Old December 4, 2012, 09:58 AM   #58
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Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics

Quote:
According to FBI crime statistics, there were 9,146 murders by firearm in 2009.
I also refute this allegation. It depends on how you define "murder" and count the numbers. I believe the FBI counts any killing by firearm, including self-defense as being murder.
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Old December 4, 2012, 10:07 AM   #59
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I just sit where it is convenient, or where I can see and hear if a movie.
If I had any idea that the odds of someone coming in and shooting the place up were other than miniscule I would not go.

I don't build my life or actions around self defense or fear of attack. I don't even worry about where I am in the "color code."

Somehow it has worked for me and mine, and I might add all the people that I personally know. Very few who even carry.

Jerry
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Old December 4, 2012, 10:26 AM   #60
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""Quote:
Posted by Seamn: How do you get the bad guys to let you know when you're going to have time to get an M22-4 out of your holster instead of using an M442 snubby fired from in your pocket? "....
If it takes longer for you to draw from a holster than it does to pull a J-frame out of a pocket, you may want to re-examine your carry choices and/or practice regimen. " [dawg23]

Ahoy dawg23,

Did not author this, you have misquoted, this was posted by '45 auto.'
Please read Posts #24, #33, and #35 for the rest of the story.

All the best.
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Old December 4, 2012, 11:16 AM   #61
Frank Ettin
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin Rohrer
Quote:
According to FBI crime statistics, there were 9,146 murders by firearm in 2009.
I also refute this allegation. It depends on how you define "murder" and count the numbers. I believe the FBI counts any killing by firearm, including self-defense as being murder.
If the FBI is taking specifically about murder, that would not include justifiable homicide. They know the difference.

This FBI table show murder by weapon type. It show 9,199 murders by firearm (out of 13,752 total murders) in 2009.

The FBI publishes separate statistics for justifiable homicides. According to FBI data, there were 216 justifiable homicides by private citizens in 2009, and 411 justifiable homicides by LEO in 2009.
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Old December 7, 2012, 09:28 AM   #62
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It's simple:

Back to the wall with a clear field of vision. There are some restaurants I just won't go to at night anymore, not because of what's inside, but because what may be lurking outside, in the parking lot or on the street.

My wife's favorite steak house is in a very bad neighborhood. I told her we would go again after she gets her CCW permit.
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Old December 7, 2012, 12:10 PM   #63
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Quote:
America is the gun violence capital of the world.
Been to Mexico lately?
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Old December 7, 2012, 01:10 PM   #64
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I worry more about what I'm eating at the restaurant and the drive there more than the place I sit at one because I feel those first two things are orders of magnitude more probable to impact my life.
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Old December 7, 2012, 01:32 PM   #65
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what KMAX said

Quote:
I try to sit back to the wall, away from entrance and bathrooms, and out of the line of traffic. I do this not only for reasons of security but also to avoid noise, weather, odors, privacy, and intrusion by other patrons, intentional or not.
Me too.
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Old December 7, 2012, 01:42 PM   #66
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To try and find a simple answer to a complicated question is tough. Ask 50 people and get 50 different answers.

I myself when I sit I like to sit facing the front door preferably next to a window (doors are not the only outs) but not in front of it (ya never know what comes through it) and I don't like people walking behind me like next to the kitchen door. The threat can come from anywhere so the best thing it to mentally map the place out on your way in.

I live in Texas so the luby’s shooting in Killeen ever present as is the McDonald’s shooting in California. To say it will never happen is to be in denial but to stop living because it might is even worse
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Old December 8, 2012, 11:14 AM   #67
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This has nothing to do with sitting in a restaurant or theater but a situation that happened in a small sporting goods store and before CCL. Myself, my wife, and daughter were shopping and i was on one end of the store and the girls on the other end. Two employees were working and no one else was in the store.

Five men came in the store very quickly in a planned manner(yes stereotyping. dressed gangsta style)and automatically spread out seemingly to divert attention to the employees. I overheard the largest man(who seemed to be "in charge") tell two of his crew to get over by the cash register and he told the others were to move too.

When I heard that I immediately felt something was up so I went to my wife and said we need to leave now!She was being helped by one of the employees and I was thinking in my head i need to say something to him but all I was thinking about was get my family out of there. When i told my wife what was up she kind of blew it off but I just had a feeling something wasn't right. Again I told her we need to go NOW!

When we left the store I felt bad for not saying anything to the employees and I thought about calling the police. I did nothing but get my family out of there!(also got a license #) I thought about going back by the store after we left to see if anything was going on and I did check the police reports the next day but nothing was reported. I really feel had we not been in the store it might have been robbed. It was that intense in that store at that moment.

Again nothing happened but instinct told me to go! In all our ''what if" games and planning scenarios it never seems to pan out the way we plan. Has anyone ever had that "feeling" in a similar situation? Would you have left also and do you think i over-reacted?
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Old December 8, 2012, 12:28 PM   #68
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No particular rule I follow. Personally I look to control variables. I need to enjoy life. Increasing my comfort level in my immediate surroundings helps me do that. I also manage risk. If it can't be managed to a level that provides me comfort, I move on. That is much more fun than staying home and peeking out of the window.
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Old December 8, 2012, 02:55 PM   #69
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Best defensive place?


At home- in the corner of my bedroom with my guns out.


And for when I run out of peanut butter I have my CCW- I keep to the dark alleys.


hahahah I love this forum but some people need a valium prescription.
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Old December 8, 2012, 03:05 PM   #70
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biggun,

You did not over react, and you did do the right thing. It's always good to listen to your gut, and equally good to get away from trouble before it starts.

Maybe nothing happened because the would-be criminals realized you'd picked up on their plan. Or maybe nothing happened because nothing was going to happen. Does it matter, really? In either case, you did the right thing by listening to your gut and quietly leaving the situation.

A lot of people are so enslaved to looking cool that they put themselves and their loved ones at unnecessary risk of dying of embarrassment. For example, I had a friend who was sitting in a restaurant when the smoke alarms began to sound. He did not get up and leave -- simply because no one else did, and he didn't want to look like a coward or a fool. He looked a great deal more foolish ten minutes later, when the fire engines arrived and the fire marshall yelled at everyone who'd remained (and esp. at the manager) for being a bunch of damn fools too cool to heed an alarm system designed to keep them safe.

Listen to your alarm system. That's what it's for.

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Old December 8, 2012, 03:33 PM   #71
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Pax,
Nice reply! Thanks! Liked the link too.
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Old December 9, 2012, 01:30 PM   #72
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My wife and I have been together for a long time ... so she knows to check, with me, where the exits are in restaurants and theaters .... and to give me the seat facing the door, so I can watch who's coming in ... in theaters, we generally try to sit near an aisle and closer to the back than the front, simply to try and evade the volume most theaters think is appropriate for the theater experience ... we try to give ourselves the best tactical advantage we can without inconveniencing ourselves ..
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Old December 9, 2012, 03:46 PM   #73
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dawg23
If it takes longer for you to draw from a holster than it does to pull a J-frame out of a pocket, you may want to re-examine your carry choices and/or practice regimen.
Who said anything about pulling a j-frame out of a pocket? If I've decided to shoot you, worrying about replacing a jacket hasn't even crossed my mind.

The quote you're referring to is below. Notice the phrase that I highlighted for you.

Quote:
How do you get the bad guys to let you know when you're going to have time to get an M22-4 out of your holster instead of using an M442 snubby fired from in your pocket?
I don't need to re-examine my carry choices and/or practice regimen. If you think you can outdraw someone with a j-frame in their coat pocket pointed at you with their finger on the trigger, good luck and keep up your practice!
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Old December 9, 2012, 07:44 PM   #74
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I've always prefered sitting near a rear exit with my back to the wall where I can see the main entrance.

Just my opinion.
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Old December 9, 2012, 07:53 PM   #75
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My preference also but doesn't always happen. I always want to a least be facing the door.
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