# Where is the CCW discussion?



## topgun47 (Sep 18, 2013)

It's pretty dead around the CCW forum.

Maybe I can jump-start this thread.

I went with the wife shopping this afternoon. When she went into a woman's store to buy Christmas gifts, I told her I would sit in the car and listen to Outlaw Country on the satellite radio. I dropped her off at the door and found a spot to park. I backed into the spot so I could see when she came out of the store.

About 20 minutes later two suspicious-looking guys park across the aisle from me. They had also backed into a spot, so our vehicles were facing each other. They didn't notice me at all sitting in my car. I could see that they were smoking something in a glass pipe and passing it back and forth.

Then, all of a sudden, the passenger door flies open and the passenger gets out, and starts looking into the windows of a couple of the parked cars. I carry an XD40 at all times, I should insert here. Anyway, I undo my seatbelt and feel for my XD, to be certain that it's good to go if needed. I guess I made the mistake of taking my eyes off of this perp because when I look up, he's looking right at me with a deer in the headlights look. I carry cross-draw, so I think he may have seen me reaching there or something. His partner now has his door open, is half-standing and is screaming at his buddy to forget it, and get back in the car. The perp runs back to the car, and they both hightail it out of there. Because of another car driving through the aisle, I was unable to get the plate number.

About ten minutes later a cop is driving through the parking lot. I flag him down and explained what just happened. When I described the vehicle and the perps, he said that they were on the lookout for a similar vehicle and people for smash and grab from parked cars there. 

Now that I'm safely home contemplating what happened, I wonder if I should have handled it differently. What would you have done differently?


----------



## SouthernBoy (Jun 27, 2007)

The only thing I would suggest is as soon as you noticed suspicious behavior, call the police. Better to get on the horn quickly. And keeping your sidearm handy was a good idea, too.


----------



## rex (Jan 27, 2012)

I think you did fine.I suspect the dirtbag looked that way because he just realized you were there and were watching him,and his buddy saw you also.May have seen the move but if he didn't see the gun it probably never entered his mind.


----------



## desertman (Aug 29, 2013)

Just thank God you didn't have to use that gun. Property crimes are not a valid reason to use deadly physical force. If the individual did not have a weapon, just roll up the window, drive to a safe spot and call the police.


----------



## topgun47 (Sep 18, 2013)

SouthernBoy said:


> The only thing I would suggest is as soon as you noticed suspicious behavior, call the police. Better to get on the horn quickly. And keeping your sidearm handy was a good idea, too.


 My wife said the same thing to me when I told her what happened. I didn't have my cell phone with me for the last couple of days of shopping. I hate phones, but it made me realize how important that dumb thing is.


----------



## topgun47 (Sep 18, 2013)

desertman said:


> Just thank God you didn't have to use that gun. *Property crimes are not a valid reason to use deadly physical force.* If the individual did not have a weapon, just roll up the window, drive to a safe spot and call the police.


Yes, this is the law in Michigan. I just wanted to have the gun ready in case he crossed the aisle to approach my vehicle. With the colder weather now, my heavy jacket causes some concern about the ability to draw as quickly as I normally do in practice. I think I'll leave my jacket on at my weekly visits to the range for awhile, to get used to having the extra bulk.

One thing I've learned from working in larger cities like Detroit, Shreveport, Atlanta, etc., is never trust a crack head, ever.


----------



## SouthernBoy (Jun 27, 2007)

topgun47 said:


> My wife said the same thing to me when I told her what happened. I didn't have my cell phone with me for the last couple of days of shopping. I hate phones, but it made me realize how important that dumb thing is.


You and I think alike when it comes to phones.... especially cell phones. I rarely carry mine though it does come with my in my car sometimes (my car had a bluetooth link). Have to admit that at times they're needed, but damn I hate to carry one.


----------



## SouthernBoy (Jun 27, 2007)

All in all the OP did fine. He wasn't hurt, he actually thwarted a potential crime or crimes, and he told an LEO what he saw. We can play armchair all we want but the reality is when something starts to go down, you may not have everything at your disposal (for example, I wrote about not carrying my cell phone above). Probably the last thing he expected to see while out shopping.


----------



## Old11Bravo (Dec 24, 2013)

Anytime no one gets shot is a good outcome


----------



## HighlandLofts (Jan 7, 2014)

This subject shows the importance of having a cell phone, with these new cellphones you can record, take video and take pictures. If he had his a quick call to 911 assoon as he suspected something the lawman might of made it there before the scumbags took off. I have my phone at all times, if you have a heart attack all you have to do is dial 911.You don't have to say a word, they'll zero in to where the phone is located and send some one there to see what the problem is. 
I went to a personal protection class that the Mount Lake Terrace Police Dept was putting on last summer, they were giving away door prizes. A few Mt. Lake Terr. Police Dept coffe cups, a few flashlights.the big door prize was a small nylon hand bag that has a flashlight, a transistor radio, a small first-aid kit and a old cell phone & charger. He said to keep the cell phone charged at all times, if you have a problem dial911 and they will locate where the phone is and send out a squad car to that location to see what the call was about. 
He said all cell phones will dial 911 with no paid phone service. A handy device to have in your car even if you don't have phone service.


----------



## desertman (Aug 29, 2013)

HighlandLofts:


> "if you have a problem dial911 and they will locate where the phone is and send out a squad car to that location to see what the call was about."


I've been to some pretty remote places, and only out of curiosity, tried using my cell phone only to get the message "service unavailable". I rarely use the damn thing and wonder if the 911 feature would still work in these places? I certainly would not want to test that feature, and unnecessarily send out an air rescue.


----------



## topgun47 (Sep 18, 2013)

HighlandLofts said:


> This subject shows the importance of having a cell phone, with these new cellphones you can record, take video and take pictures. If he had his a quick call to 911 assoon as he suspected something* the lawman might of made it there before the scumbags took off*. I have my phone at all times, if you have a heart attack all you have to do is dial 911.You don't have to say a word, they'll zero in to where the phone is located and send some one there to see what the problem is.
> I went to a personal protection class that the Mount Lake Terrace Police Dept was putting on last summer, they were giving away door prizes. A few Mt. Lake Terr. Police Dept coffe cups, a few flashlights.the big door prize was a small nylon hand bag that has a flashlight, a transistor radio, a small first-aid kit and a old cell phone & charger. He said to keep the cell phone charged at all times, if you have a problem dial911 and they will locate where the phone is and send out a squad car to that location to see what the call was about.
> He said all cell phones will dial 911 with no paid phone service. A handy device to have in your car even if you don't have phone service.


This is fine in theory. A 911 call in my area will get a cop there just in time to draw the chalk outline.


----------



## desertman (Aug 29, 2013)

topgun47:


> "This is fine in theory. A 911 call in my area will get a cop there just in time to draw the chalk outline."


Outstanding!


----------



## HighlandLofts (Jan 7, 2014)

Generally when a person calls 911 it is to report a crime. I'll put my trust into what ever handgun I decided to carry that day. 99.9% of the time the law is way to many minutes away when you have only a few seconds sometimes split seconds to defend yourself. 

I'll have to ask about if a 911 call will go through when it says "Service Unavailable" I've thought about that myself a few tmes.

Today I made my rounds, I hit Cabelas around 8:30 just after opening time, then to Puget Sound Lock & Gun Shop, after the lock & gun shop I stop into Big 5 to see if they recieved any 22lr ammo. I have about fifteen minutes to kill before Big 5 opened so I stopped by a Goodwill Thrift Store to pick up a old coat or vest for the next time I go shooting, I want to shoot my S&W 642 from inside the pocket and see if I can hit the target from around 30 feet away,And I want to shoot my Kahr PM9 from the pocket to see if it will cycle. 
Any way to get back to the Conceal Carry story, When I got out of my pickup there was a heroin needl laying in the next parking spot. These pieces of shit that shot up their herion in this parking lot are the ones who will give you trouble. This strip mall has a travel agency, a pet store, the good will and a good size daycare. You just never know where trouble might come a knocking. What decent person would shoot up herion in a daycare parking lot. 

Scum works 24/7 you never know when they will focus their violence upon you. If your not prepared you might get the shitty end of the stick.

By the way no one had any 22lr ammo, this was the 12th trip looking for 22lr ammo. I did buy five guns in these twelve trips, Another one tomorrow. 
I still have 5'000 rounds left so I really don'r need any. last week Big 5 only got two 100 round pask and one 1000 round pack of 22lr, I diddn't take any. I won't buy any unless they have atleast twenty-five boxes, I let the other guys buy it when they don't have that much. 

Cabelas has about 200 packes of 17hmr if any one needs it, I can pick it up and ship it to you. I think it about $17 a box, they had three different brand. I'll look at the price tomorrow when I go back there looking for 22 shells.


----------



## Glock Doctor (Mar 14, 2011)

The last time someone in our family had to call 911 in order to report an armed robbery WITH A BODY DOWN the operator (I swear!) didn't believe the call, and asked for someone to go check the scene. It took two more phone calls to 911 in order to finally get a police response.

How long did it take the first officer to arrive on scene? Exactly 28 minutes from the moment when the first call was placed! After failing to promptly discover a victim; and, worse, to provide immediate aid, the officer began to waste time screwing around with a crowd of witnesses in the parking lot. He had to be - literally - called to from inside the building, and invited to enter the premises.

So, what happens next? You'll never guess who that officer decided to hold at gunpoint! (Because there was obviously nobody else to force to put his hands in the air!) If this ever happens to you, whatever you do don't be incredulous or hesitate because the next thing you'll see and hear is, '_I'm not going to warn you twice!_' as the now visibly nervous bozo thrusts the muzzle of his pistol at your center chest!

(The facts that you're the one who called the police, then had to introduce yourself; and, finally, had to deliberately invite the officer to, 'suck it up' and come into the building apparently don't count! It was like a comedy of errors! Thank God that the only other person in the building (besides the victim) just happened to be a forensic police scientist who looked up from treating the severely wounded man in order to shout at the gun-wielding officer, '_Stop!_' '_I'm a retired NYPD medical examiner!_' '_Back up!_' '_You're walking through the blood evidence!_')

What really pissed me off, though? The next day's newspaper had gratuitous front page comments from our local Chief of Police about how proud he was of, 'his officers' for their excellent response time to this event. According to the chief his officers arrived in less than 3 minutes! I did some quick math in order to discover that the difference between 28 and 3 is 25 lost minutes; and 1 plus 0 still equals 1; but, no matter, the victim (more or less) recovered; and the FBI's Scranton, PA; and Brooklyn, NY field offices rather quickly captured all the BG's who got away.

(PS: To avoid any confusion, I'm not the family member this happened to - OK.)


----------



## acepilot (Dec 16, 2012)

HighlandLofts said:


> I'll have to ask about if a 911 call will go through when it says "Service Unavailable" I've thought about that myself a few tmes.


Nope. Obviously, cellphones are just radios. If the cellphone doesn't detect an incoming radio signal from a cell tower, it's no-workie, my friend. Still, in an emergency, move a few feet and try again...you may find a "hotspot" and get through. If you do, stay put in that spot as long as it's safe to do so.


----------



## desertman (Aug 29, 2013)

acepilot:


> "If the cellphone doesn't detect an incoming radio signal from a cell tower, it's no-workie, my friend."


I didn't think so, depending on where you are you can walk around or drive for miles and it still won't work. I've heard of satellite phones, but know of no one who has one, as they are very expensive, around $50 a week. Supposedly they are good anywhere as long as your outside, with an un obstructed view of the sky.


----------

