Assessment of cover in a laundromat.

ZeSpectre · May 19, 2008, 01:13 PM

The wife and I were in a laundromat late in the evening this weekend when two guys at the other end got into some sort of a heated dispute. We simply stayed on the opposite end and got ready to call 911 if push came to shove.

Eventually one of the guys stormed out the door but before he left he said that someday he was going to "bust cap" into the other guy if the "disrespect" didn't stop.

Now we were pretty much done so we packed everything out to the car and left the laundromat (though we did call the police non-emergency to report the threat/situation). However the whole thing got me to thinking about how much cover there actually is in your typical laundromat.

-We had at least three double-rows of washers between us and the other folks.
-Some of the washers were operating, thus full of water and wet clothes.
-Commercial laundry machines have quite a bit of thick gauge metal in them.
-The machines all sit on concrete pads so we could have hit the ground and been behind them.

Seems to me that the inside of a laundromat actually does provide a decent amount of both concealment AND some cover. What do you think?

Keltyke · May 19, 2008, 01:52 PM

Concealment - certainly. Cover - possibly. You'd be surprised at how much a high-powered pistol round can go through.

Personally, I think you should have called the police immediately. Tell them "fight in progress" and they'll come running. Was it actually a fight? No. Could it have developed into one in a split-second? Yes! Was someone packing? You didn't know. Better to be safe than to be diving for cover if you're not carrying and the doody hits the fan. After I called the cops, I'da gotten outta there RIGHT THEN.

Dwight55 · May 21, 2008, 06:52 AM

+1 Keltyke

Actually, . . . I may have left first, . . . then called, . . . especially if my wife or one of the kids was with me.

May God bless,
Dwight

ActivShootr · May 21, 2008, 10:46 AM

I think you would have pretty good cover against anything short of heavy machine-gun fire.

I would look for a back door or emergency exit if one is available and call the cops to report the fight as I was leaving for a safer laundromat.

ZeSpectre · May 21, 2008, 12:58 PM

Well at first it just seemed like two guys talking loudly so I just assumed it was to be heard over the noise of all the washers and dryers that were running. I also assumed that they were having a -friendly- argument over the soccer game playing (again loudly) on the TV. The threat level only tripped in the last 4-8 seconds before guy #2 stormed out the door so there wasn't really any reason to think we should get out before that.

Still I appreciate that y'all are looking out for the missus and myself!

May 19, 2008, 01:13 PM	#1
ZeSpectre Senior Member Join Date: June 4, 2007 Location: Shenandoah Valley Posts: 3,276	Assessment of cover in a laundromat. The wife and I were in a laundromat late in the evening this weekend when two guys at the other end got into some sort of a heated dispute. We simply stayed on the opposite end and got ready to call 911 if push came to shove. Eventually one of the guys stormed out the door but before he left he said that someday he was going to "bust cap" into the other guy if the "disrespect" didn't stop. Now we were pretty much done so we packed everything out to the car and left the laundromat (though we did call the police non-emergency to report the threat/situation). However the whole thing got me to thinking about how much cover there actually is in your typical laundromat. -We had at least three double-rows of washers between us and the other folks. -Some of the washers were operating, thus full of water and wet clothes. -Commercial laundry machines have quite a bit of thick gauge metal in them. -The machines all sit on concrete pads so we could have hit the ground and been behind them. Seems to me that the inside of a laundromat actually does provide a decent amount of both concealment AND some cover. What do you think?

May 21, 2008, 06:52 AM	#3
Dwight55 Senior Member Join Date: June 18, 2004 Location: Central Ohio Posts: 2,568	+1 Keltyke Actually, . . . I may have left first, . . . then called, . . . especially if my wife or one of the kids was with me. May God bless, Dwight __________________ www.dwightsgunleather.com If you can breathe, . . . thank God! If you can read, . . . thank a teacher! If you are reading this in English, . . . thank a Veteran!

May 19, 2008, 01:52 PM	#2
Keltyke Junior member Join Date: April 6, 2008 Location: Spartanburg, SC Posts: 2,933	Concealment - certainly. Cover - possibly. You'd be surprised at how much a high-powered pistol round can go through. Personally, I think you should have called the police immediately. Tell them "fight in progress" and they'll come running. Was it actually a fight? No. Could it have developed into one in a split-second? Yes! Was someone packing? You didn't know. Better to be safe than to be diving for cover if you're not carrying and the doody hits the fan. After I called the cops, I'da gotten outta there RIGHT THEN.

May 21, 2008, 10:46 AM	#4
ActivShootr Senior Member Join Date: August 15, 2007 Posts: 1,040	I think you would have pretty good cover against anything short of heavy machine-gun fire. I would look for a back door or emergency exit if one is available and call the cops to report the fight as I was leaving for a safer laundromat.

May 21, 2008, 12:58 PM	#5
ZeSpectre Senior Member Join Date: June 4, 2007 Location: Shenandoah Valley Posts: 3,276	Well at first it just seemed like two guys talking loudly so I just assumed it was to be heard over the noise of all the washers and dryers that were running. I also assumed that they were having a -friendly- argument over the soccer game playing (again loudly) on the TV. The threat level only tripped in the last 4-8 seconds before guy #2 stormed out the door so there wasn't really any reason to think we should get out before that. Still I appreciate that y'all are looking out for the missus and myself!