Information on locations most CCW incidents occur

[Snidely Whiplash]

I’m not looking to lower or increase my readiness state given different locations (recognizing most incidents will occur whenever/ wherever completely unexpected) but I’m curious if there’s a location that has proven to be more at-risk than others. Gas stations anecdotally seem to be pretty risky. I’d imagine ATM’s or maybe even liquor stores too?

[Dfariswheel]

A bad place to be unarmed is a "Stop N Rob", like a 7-11 store or local equivalent. Since these often include gas stations, that's a bad area.
They get robbed far more then liquor stores and more often than around an ATM.

Restaurant and bar parking lots and car parking lots or garages at night are bad.
Any city area that's dark and has few people about is dangerous.

Truth is, most big city crime can actually be narrowed down to a specific several block area, and in some cases to a few specific street corners in a relatively small area.
Stay away from those places.

The best answer is: Always be aware of what's going on around you, and ALWAYS be armed.
Being aware was something Jeff Cooper assigned a color code system to.
Most people wander around in Condition White, totally oblivious.
Smart people like Cooper trained themselves to always be in Condition Yellow, totally aware and ready to go to Condition Red, which is shooting or about to.
This does take specific training on your part to work. It's best summed up as "Keep your head UP, Look around".
God gave us a ball bearing neck to look for danger.

Next spend less time shooting at 7 yards and over. Do a lot of practice at 5 feet and UNDER.
This technique is to use the off hand to attack and block the opponents face and eyes or deflect his weapon, while you hold your gun with the wrist against your side just below the ribs and with the body turned away to prevent a gun grab or block.
Don't allow the actual gun to touch your side, just have your wrist firmly pressed against your side.
For practice, wear an old heavy shirt to prevent powder burns, but the idea is for the gun to be positioned so it won't.

This requires practice to be able to shoot into the torso area without shooting high or low.
In practice, hold your off hand in the air above your head to prevent accidentally shooting your own hand.
This is similar to a Nazi Salute.

[Ed4032]

People always say that they came out of nowhere. Truth is that they were not watching their surroundings. Where does this happen? Where ever you are distracted.

[TJB101]

Originally Posted by Ed4032

People always say that they came out of nowhere. Truth is that they were not watching their surroundings. Where does this happen? Where ever you are distracted.

Well said ... have your head on a swivel ... be aware of your surroundings.

[MarkCO]

At least in my neck of the woods, large mall parking lots and WalMarts enjoy the most crime and that translates to the highest percentage of CCW holders being involved. If you pull up the crime map, you can actually guess the WalMart locations pretty accurately.

The suburb of Denver I live in had a few officer involved shootings between 2009 and 2018, then in 2019, we had more than those previous 9 years combined, what changed? We got a new Huge WalMart. About half of the gun related incidents ended up starting or stopping at, you guessed it, that new WalMart. A few months ago, in a span of 7 days, there were three shootings, one between the criminals and police, combined with two home invasions, a car jacking and an attempted abduction of a young woman. Two of those involved lockdowns of at risk facilities in my zip code. The few large mall parking lots are also crime magnets for drug sales, vehicle thefts and break-ins.

Go to your city or county and search for the crime stats. Most have a crime map and you can search by crime type as well as find the photos and addresses of registered sex offenders, halfway houses, etc. That should give you local information to help you decide what places might be better to avoid.

Yeah, then DITTO Ed4032's comment.

[Ben Dover]

Any place that is attractive to pukes.

[chuck jones]

where you least expect them.

[dfwkid]

Any place that attracts a large amount of people is where criminals like to prowl. It use to be malls that attracted folks but now its a Walmart. Lots of potential victims.

[J.G. Terry]

Mall Parking Lot Combat Zones: We have a nearby Big Box where an employee was shot and killed in the parking lot. My relatives will go to Big Box's just across the state line. There are no homeless or lurkers in that parking lot. These marauders often go in small packs. Weakness and vulnerability is assessed by roving varmints. Large crowds are threatening to these turds.

People I have talked shared about cars being broken into in parking lots during daylight hours. I don't see taking risk going into these combat zones just to make a point. I find ordering off Amazon quicker and safer than going into the combat zones.

I'm seeing, among my friends, a growing list of places not to go after dark. Being senior citizens influences these decisions. I'd prefer to to pick the battlefield. I'm not looking for trouble. I do not want "to run around in the lions cage in a hamburger suit."

It looks as if parts of our town are being given over to these people. I've heard people speak of the "vampires" , thugs, who only come out at night. One of my major professors in grad school called these people "mutates" meaning some sort of violent social aberrations.

Added: It appeared that I had connected homeless as a group to the thugs. This connection was unintentional

[USNRet93]

Originally Posted by dfwkid

Any place that attracts a large amount of people is where criminals like to prowl. It use to be malls that attracted folks but now its a Walmart. Lots of potential victims.

What he said..I try to say alert anywhere, but particularly when with grand daughters and wife but anyplace where there is a concentration of people. Malls, theaters, big stores..

[J.G. Terry]

Predators: Actually, the violent criminals will look for weakness. Meaning sort out powerless victims where there is little chance of interventions. That is, look for situations that are in their favor. That could be in the parking lot. Places like the parking lot can get remote fast and make for an ambush. Right, you gotta pay attention to what's going on no matter where.

[dyl]

I read an article years ago (forgot where) that really stuck with me, and I have seen it played out to a lesser level with con men just twice in the same trip a couple months ago.

Predators will often use transition areas that are a bit removed from the populated place you just visited or were about to visit. An alleyway, parking lot. And predators may wait until you are distracted with a task, like loading/unloading groceries, stooping down to get into your car or getting out. Or pumping gas.

I was on a trip to Florida not long ago, and had 2 encounters with people trying to trick me into giving them money. They each had a setup, 1 pulled up in in their car at the corner of a fast food parking lot during the day, and the other pulled up next to me at night while I was pumping gas. Funny how each specified a specific amount of money they were aiming for. And how they each supposedly set off to travel without any money, knowing that they needed money.

[J.G. Terry]

How about can I use your cell phone?