I did something really, really stupid last week......

by Harry O-1, Friday, November 15, 2013, 08:00 (3970 days ago)

Last Saturday morning, I went to my barber to get my hair cut (that was not the stupid part – I really needed my hair cut). While I was in the chair a 20’s-something guy came in and sat down. He was mostly white, but with a little ethnic of some kind mixed in. When I was done, I went over to pick up my coat and the guy walked past me towards the barber. While I was putting my coat on (with my back to him), I heard, “Gimme all your money”.

I turned around and saw that he had a handgun. The moment I turned around, he left the barber and came back over to me and said, “Gimme all your money”. The gun was a fairly new, totally black, generic 9mm or 40cal, high-cap, blocky-looking, semi-automatic in excellent condition. It was NOT a Glock. I am a revolver guy, not a semi-auto expert, but it looked like a Springfield XD or maybe one of the new S&W M&P’s. There was no sign of a red or orange cap on the barrel or the remains of one. The hammer was down, but that means nothing with everything being DA anymore. It was pointing towards me, but below the waist, instead of being pointed at my heart.

My carry gun (Kel-Tec P32) was in my front left pocket, in a leather pocket holster, without a round in the chamber. I have practiced drawing it, wiping the holster off as it comes out of the pocket, chambering a round with my other hand, and shooting – at the range. There was absolutely no possibility that I was going to get that done with a DA gun pointing at me.

I heard myself say, “No.” The very next thought I had was; That was really, really stupid. But, I did not contradict myself, at least out-loud. We stared at each other for probably 15 or 20 seconds. The gun barrel moved around on my body, but did not rise to my heart. Then he backed away and said something that I did not hear (I wasn’t wearing my hearing aids), then went out the door and ran away. I told the barber to call the police. There were two armed robberies later that day on the same street, one about a half mile west and the other about a mile west of the barber shop. NONE of the news media said anything about what the robber looked like so I don't know if it was the same guy.

I guess I won the lottery. What I did was totally stupid. I won’t be doing that again. I only had about $80 in my wallet. I have been thinking about what other options I have for concealed carry and cannot think of any way out-draw a DA gun that is already pointing at me. I have also been trying to understand why he did not shoot me. It could be that it was not a real gun (but I doubt it). It could be that he could not get any ammunition for it (but I doubt it). It could be that he was not ready to make the jump from armed robber to murderer at this time. I have no way of knowing. I got lucky. Very lucky.