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Criminals Target OC'ers

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Grapeshot

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Kopis

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Good point about situational awareness. It's probably the single most important thing you can do.
 

Grapeshot

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Since I'm going to be targeted, I'm going to start wearing a bullet proof vest from now on:)

Try this. :cool:

Available as a blue, long sleeved undergarment intended to be worn under your business shirt.

Provides peace of mind knowing that it worked for the original wearer and it is legal in all 50 states.


Warning: Just to be safe, avoid green lasers. I've heard stories...............
 

OC for ME

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I have let ya'll go on long enough. There are successful gun grabs happening, likely every day, in multiple locations across the country. There are numerous, likely too many to count, videos of these successful gun grabs. Audio too of these successful gun grabs occurring where the citizen has recorded his protests of having his gun grabbed.

The successful gun grab is usually preceded by a audible noise that is distinctly unique to the successful gun grab....."I'll need to secure your firearm for my safety and your safety......mmm K?"
 

color of law

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Good point about situational awareness. It's probably the single most important thing you can do.
And the single most toughest to achieve.

We don't have eyes in the back of our heads. Many times we are placed in a position that does not allow or place us in the proper position to ensure total awareness. There is no such thing as multitasking.
 

since9

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Does anyone have any links to when an OCer was targeted by criminals?

I can't think of any instances and my quick google search didn't find any either. Anti OCers like to say that OC makes you a target. I have not seen any data to support that. Perhaps it has happened and if so I wonder how often it occurs. Then you have to look on the flip side. How would you determine how many victimizations, assaults, muggings, robberies, or other crimes were deterred or stopped because of OCers.

Although I'd been CCing since 1991, I began OCing in 2009. I've searched the world over to ensure it's the right thing to do. To date, I've found much evidence indicated OC is far better than CC, and not much evidence to indicate the other.

My personal experience involves one direct incidence, multiple ancillary incidences, and who knows how many incidences of which I was unaware?

The only direct incidence involved an individual who approached me with obviously clear, growing, and peaking mal-intent in mind, right up to the point where he spied my OC firearm, at which point he performed an immediate and flawless 180, dove into a car full of his friends, and they roared out of the parking lot. Date: 2010.

The indirect evidence involves my walking out of a surplus camping store, being accosted by four men, only to have the fifth individual, sitting hidden in the back seat of the car, who screamed, "He's got a gun!" I didn't need to pull it. Their lookout may very well have saved one of their lives.

On two other occasions, while OCing, I've walked into/past situations where I've noticed they've noticed my firearm and where had I not been as congeniel as I was, I may have caused more harm than good by OCing.

Seriously, folks - I've said this time and time again: Be better. Take the high road. It doesn't matter how much right you have on your side. When your'e carrying , take the high road. That doesn't mean "defer." It means user better judgement than the other guy, than society at large.

Prove them wrong.
 

WalkingWolf

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Everybody knows that it is the "Element of Surprise" that turns the criminal away and not the gun....

I just joined the Glock site in the last couple of weeks. I have heard the EOS myth so much there it is nauseating. It is stated as fact several times a day, as well "First One Targeted"(FOT) myth.
 

Kopis

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I just joined the Glock site in the last couple of weeks. I have heard the EOS myth so much there it is nauseating. It is stated as fact several times a day, as well "First One Targeted"(FOT) myth.

I dont get where the EOS and FOT myths come from? Why else would cops OC, why do banks, jewelry stores and liquor stores hire ARMED guards that OC? If surprise and FOT were the case, they would have undercover guards that CC but no one does. Criminals want an easy target. Every video ive seen of a criminal confronted by an armed citizen ends with the criminal running and falling down faster than his legs can carry him. I too OC a lot lately and noticed that less than reputable people take care to avoid me while normal people dont even seem to notice. Criminals dont want to get shot anymore than you or i do so their natural tendency is to avoid an armed citizen.
 

MamaLiberty

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Unreported – The Crime That Didn’t Happen

I live in rural Wyoming, with almost zero violent crime, but I've encountered several close calls just in the last five years. Here's a few of the absolutely true stories. I'm an older woman, obviously not strong or fit. I'm sure I look like a weak and easy victim... until they see the gun.

http://www.thepriceofliberty.org/?p=3570

By MamaLiberty

The evening was advancing much too quickly for me and I regretted staying in the city so long, then was dismayed to find that I was running low on fuel. I pulled into an old station in a small town just east of Custer, South Dakota, ran my credit card and started the pump. There were no other cars in the lot, and only a single clerk in the mini-mart.

Scanning the area, as always, I noticed a man come from behind the building and start to walk toward me. Continuing the scan, I saw another man coming toward me from the opposite direction. He seemed to be trying hard not to look at me, but failed badly. I was immediately on full alert and turned my head to see the other person. He was now within my 20 foot “danger zone” and maintaining eye contact as well. I put up my hand flat out with a command to stop. He just laughed and said, “Give me some money, lady.”

I turned my body at that point, backed up against the car, and swept the coat away from my holstered gun, gripped it firmly and flipped off the retention strap. His eyes had followed the motion of my hand and he stopped suddenly, then waved his hands over his head and ran toward the street past another pump. I turned my head instantly to look for the other man, and saw him running away in the opposite direction.

Nobody but those men will ever know what their intentions were, from simple begging to carjacking or murder, and it doesn’t matter. I had zero obligation to read their minds or establish their motives before I took a defensive posture. Either one of the men could have overpowered a woman my age easily, but since I had a gun and was obviously ready to use it, they ran away instead.

Smart move… Even stupid criminals don’t want to get hurt themselves, and even hardened felons with years of crime behind them will say they fear the armed citizen far more than the police. That doesn’t mean they would never attack a potential victim who is armed, just that it is far less likely. Those who carry concealed have to consider that the criminal doesn’t usually have the opportunity to disengage early, and that the defender might well be forced to shoot in a situation where it would not have been necessary if the mugger understood the danger to him/herself before the attack began. But that’s a discussion for another time.

I was shaken and very angry after that, mostly for being forced to even contemplate drawing the gun. I walked into the mini-mart to warn the clerk about possible robbers at the pumps, and was sad to learn that she had not even noticed the men “bothering” me. She was upset at that point and asked if I wanted to call the sheriff, but I declined. There was nothing the police could have done about it, even if they wanted to – and I had no desire to be detained and hassled about it myself.

[Read the rest here - http://www.thepriceofliberty.org/?p=3570 ]
 

Grapeshot

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^ ^ ^ There are more very real stories like that in the naked city than many people realize.

Problem is we can't document them. :(

Glad you were prepared MamaLiberty.
icon14.png
 

Kopis

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I read your story, a lot of good info there and all seems to lend itself to supporting open carrying. If you were open carrying while filling up at a gas station, i can almost guarantee someone with nefarious purposes would not even approach you if you had situational awareness and a well holstered firearm.
 

MamaLiberty

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I read your story, a lot of good info there and all seems to lend itself to supporting open carrying. If you were open carrying while filling up at a gas station, i can almost guarantee someone with nefarious purposes would not even approach you if you had situational awareness and a well holstered firearm.

LOL! I WAS "open carrying" - and have been for many long years. We just have a winter coat problem occasionally here in Wyoming. I'm a certified firearms and self defense instructor... and practice serious situational awareness, which is why those bums didn't get any closer.

My take on situational awareness: http://www.thepriceofliberty.org/?page_id=2223
 

WalkingWolf

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The coat is why I wear a gun belt instead of a dress gun belt. I only takes seconds when going from inside to outside, or reverse to undo the belt and put it around the coat. I am glad Mama that they decided to take the route of fleeing, instead of getting lead poisoning and putting you through post shooting hassle.

I am willing to bet that GZ had no conceivable idea of what he would go through out of having to use his tool. But in Florida he had no choice in his form of carry.
 

marshaul

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Those who carry concealed have to consider that the criminal doesn’t usually have the opportunity to disengage early, and that the defender might well be forced to shoot in a situation where it would not have been necessary if the mugger understood the danger to him/herself before the attack began. But that’s a discussion for another time.

I have no doubt that for every OCer who has been "targeted" for being armed, there are a few hundred CCers who have been targeted for (apparently) not being armed.
 

since9

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I have no doubt that for every OCer who has been "targeted" for being armed, there are a few hundred CCers who have been targeted for (apparently) not being armed.

I concur wholeheartedly.

A good friend of mine and I get into this debate every now and then. The problem is he is approaching it on the basis of what he would do if he were criminal. He is not, however, a criminal. He's retired Army Infantry. Of course he'd take out any armed resistance, first. The overarching rule, however, is to accomplish the mission.

That's not what drives criminals. Their goal is to do crime without getting caught. Very few criminals will continue the crime if they even suspect that doing so will increase their chances of getting caught. It's more like:

- Break in, hear sirens approaching, abort mission and flee.

- Stalk a potential victim, realize they have the means to END you, run away.

Having said that, there are a few who operate with more of a military mindset than a criminal mindset. Most of those types are behind bars. As marshaul well notes, criminals do not target the strong before trying to "take them out." They target the weak in order to victimize them.

Final thought: Lions don't mess with healthy adult elephants, for very good reason. If a criminal tries "targeting" me, they'll quickly learn what happens to lions who mess with healthy adult elephants.
 
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