What do you 'think' you would do in this situation. (Chicago: crime, movies)

[lenniel]

I got into a discussion about this with a guy at the bar:

You're walking down the street and you're carrying a concealed weapon. A thug catches you by surprise, has a knife or gun, mugs you of your wallet, watch, but not your pistol, and then he takes off running in the other direction.

What would you do?

[chet everett]

If you mean a "stick up" (which pretty much only happens in comic books...) I suppose I would head to a police station, give a description of the perp and be done with it.

The way real muggings happen in Chicago-style is the thug(s) sidle up toward you and then belt you in the side of the head. They go through your pocket for you wallet while you are splayed out on the sidewalk, grab any backpacks or purses and run. If your hogleg was in any normal concealed holster they would probably feel it and grab it. If they did not odds are by the time you came too/ vision cleared they would be long gone. If you starting randomly firing down the street you would almost certainly get prosecuted at least for unlawful discharge...

The best defense against a typical Chicago style mugging is to never be anyplace where there are no witnesses...

[Avengerfire]

I sure would not shoot him. Unless the cops find a gun on him you will be in deep crap for shooting someone in the back.

[Sid and Nancy]

Originally Posted by lenniel

I got into a discussion about this with a guy at the bar:

You're walking down the street and you're carrying a concealed weapon. A thug catches you by surprise, has a knife or gun, mugs you of your wallet, watch, but not your pistol, and then he takes off running in the other direction.

What would you do?

One can guess but unless you have been in that situation you don't know. The average human being has such a great psychological aversion to killing another person that most cannot bring themselves do doing it. This is probably the reason why many gun owners end up getting killed with their own guns. Even some cops end up getting shot with their own guns. Former Army Ranger Colonel David Grossman wrote a book titled "On Killing" discussing the psychology of killing. He concluded that human beings have such an aversion to killing that it even plays out in warfare. Estimates indicate that during World War 1 and 2, less than 15% of front line soldiers actually fired at the enemy, and many intentionally fired over their heads. Apparently killing someone is not as easy as portrayed in Hollywood movies.

[Sid and Nancy]

Originally Posted by Avengerfire

Radical Muslims have no problem whatsoever. They must not be human.

I don't think anyone who is radical or fundamental anything would be considered an average human. You may still have an aversion but be able to overcome it. Just because you don't currently posses the aversion doesn't mean you didn't have it at one point. If you were to read Grossman's book you would see that he goes on to say that the Military recognizes this natural aversion to violence and attempts to overcome it with psychological conditioning and desensitization. Now of course this natural aversion doesn't apply to everyone, some people don't have a capacity for empathy, but they make up approximately less than 1% of the general population, thank God.

[grapico]

Originally Posted by chet everett

If you mean a "stick up" (which pretty much only happens in comic books...) I suppose I would head to a police station, give a description of the perp and be done with it.

The way real muggings happen in Chicago-style is the thug(s) sidle up toward you and then belt you in the side of the head. They go through your pocket for you wallet while you are splayed out on the sidewalk, grab any backpacks or purses and run. If your hogleg was in any normal concealed holster they would probably feel it and grab it. If they did not odds are by the time you came too/ vision cleared they would be long gone. If you starting randomly firing down the street you would almost certainly get prosecuted at least for unlawful discharge...

The best defense against a typical Chicago style mugging is to never be anyplace where there are no witnesses...

Not sure about that... I have never had it happened to me in Chicago, but was in Las Vegas off the strip and got held up at gun point. Told me to give me any cash I had, so I did, then walk the other way and don't look back.
I've also been robbed twice when I was a cashier in college, one guy had a knife, the other one jumped over the counter shoved me and grabbed the cash register drawer.

If I were in close range I would shoot/stab but I do not carry either... long range with him running I would not shoot.

If I saw a family member get assaulted/murdered and the perpetrator was there, I would probably shoot them as I do have guns in my house, and with a 12 gauge shotgun, it would be a very unlikely miss.

[chet everett]

The stats in Chicago for a true armed robbery of a random person on the street put this in the same category as being struck by lightening. The stats for muggings ( that are listed as a strong arm assault theft / robbery) are still pretty uncommon, but do happen enough that one can speculate about a reaction. As I doubt that even a champion boxer would remain standing when be unexpectedly cold cocked in the head you can imagine why no firearm or knife is needed, further e it her of those would complicate both the events leading up to the crime and raise the stakes for prosecution. Criminals do not have to be geniuses to do the math on worst case sentance for strong arm robbery vs assault with a deadly weapon...

I personally believe in the value of firearms for many purposes (including appropriate self-defense in situations where deadly force is warranted) however muggings, as are common in Chicago, would not be one of them. In a way the OP's question could be reframed: "If a thug smashed your car window and grabbed your laptop off the seat would you run the pnk down with your car?" Again I would argue this is all but impossible, as any thug that knows the smash&grab knows to hit a car that is not in a maneuverable position, will basically smash & grab all at once, then turn the opposite direction of the car's heading, running the wrong way down one way streets and onto sidewalks / parks to prevent any pursuit. In theory a person with exceptional ability to both drive like a stuntman and think like Rambo might have the presence of mind to smash their way against the flow of traffic and crush the punk under their Micheliens, but anybody that combat ready ain't going to have laptop on the seat of their hopped up city car...

[Irishtom29]

Originally Posted by Sid and Nancy

Estimates indicate that during World War 1 and 2, less than 15% of front line soldiers actually fired at the enemy, and many intentionally fired over their heads.

Those estimates were made by historian S.L.A. Marshall and are strongly disputed by other historians; some calling into question the thoroughness and even the honesty of Marshall's methods.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by Avengerfire

I sure would not shoot him. Unless the cops find a gun on him you will be in deep crap for shooting someone in the back.

Even if they do find a gun on him you will still be in deep crap for shooting someone in the back.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by Drover

Even if they do find a gun on him you will still be in deep crap for shooting someone in the back.

Well you have a little better chance if the guy had a gun.