“They were both leaving the gun range, which was open for business at the time of the shooting, when a man and a woman, both armed with handguns, approached them in the parking lot and demanded their firearms, wallets and cell phones,” philly.com reports, unloading the last of the week’s supply of commas. “The witness told police that both he and his friend complied, handing over seven guns, their wallets and phones, but that the male assailant shot the 67-year-old man anyway, hitting him in the groin and critically wounding him. The pair then fled east on Geiger in a dark-colored car with tinted windows.” Wow. Who expects . . .
to be robbed at gun point at a gun range? Well, you and me, now. But criminals are clever. Ish. Clever enough to know that it’s best to rob someone by surprise (engraved invitations cost a fortune). And while we advise everyone to maintain situational awareness at all times, good luck with that.
Truth be told, it’s entirely possible to be caught on the proverbial hop, staring at the business end of a gun, whose holder or holders (hopefully not including Eric) demand immediate compliance. Never draw on a drawn gun? Yes, except if you absolutely have to. Or want to. If not, you have very few options.
It’s best to think of compliance as a holding pattern. A temporal gap between the beginning and the end of an assault that may offer you a chance to counter-attack. May. ‘Cause you don’t know. You may be outnumbered, out-gunned and out-maneuvered. But this much is true: unless you’re actively looking for an opportunity to attack, chances are you’re going to miss it.
Remember: compliance is a complicated business. In this case, the victims had to transfer firearms, wallets and cell phones to the bad guys. That puts the victims in close proximity to their assailants. Close enough to attack? Dunno. There were two ‘scrotes. Chances are one covered the good guys while they surrendered their belongings. Without a detailed diagram showing what happened when, and maybe even then, it’s impossible to know what chance the groin-shot guy had to avoid his life-threatening injury.
I know this though: I sure wouldn’t want to get whacked in the head by a gun case. Done properly, a gun case to the head may have liberated some space and time in which one of the good guys could have drawn a weapon and fired. Assuming one or both were carrying concealed. ALWAYS carry a concealed gun at a gun range, even while shooting. Just sayin’ . . .
Again, there are way too many unknown variables to second-guess this incident – including the victims’ strength and reflexes. Again, there may have been nothing the victims could have done to stop the robbers from shooting them. But their experience underlines my central point: look for an opportunity to attack.
Have an attack mindset even as you passively comply with your attackers. Look to launch. Speed, surprise and violence of action are your friends. Because there’s no guarantee that your attackers will reward compliance by leaving you unmolested or, for that matter, alive. No matter what the antis say. [h/t Tyler Kee]