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| Member |
As we are preparing for Hurricane Irma, I discovered a local Walmart Gas Station was open and had a good supply of fuel, so I took my wife’s car down to top it off. It was 10:30 PM. As I got out of the car and started to fill the tank, I immediately noticed a young man (early 20’s) come from the street though heavy bushes(good cover) and immediately start walking toward me. He then walked right between the pumps and me actually lifting the fueling hose and said “excuse me man”. I backed up and stopped filling the tank and then he walked a short distance off and disappeared behind the center casher station. Then just as I was getting in my car, he approached me again and showed a fist of one crumpled $1.00 bills and said “I have got money, can you give me a ride downtown”. I told him, I could not help him and he left again. Approaching suddenly while you are occupied doing something is sort of an ambush tactic, even if they just want some money. I must confess this gave me quite a start! I think he was likely sizing up a 70 old man and seeing if he could improve his situation. If I had agreed to take him for the ride, he would have had me alone in the car. At my age and with weak heart, I would be no match for a young fit man, should he have decided to get physical. I have decided that in future, I am going to packing 38 Spl revolver, pepper spray and a decoy wallet to give me some options in case this happens again. I felt very vulnerable being that I am of the elderly persuasion, have a weak heart and on blood thinners! Despite these facts, I think it would be a bad idea to shoot an unarmed individual. This must be a common scenario and non-shooting options need to be exhausted before going to last resort. | ||
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Member |
10:30 at night, hurricane evacuation zone? Yes, I'd wager desperation can be up a few notches, over the norm. One needs to keep that S.A. tuned regardless. Someone coming out of the shadows(or bushes) while you're at the gas pump is cause for concern. Most will be warded off once you square with them, ready to deal with what they may offer. | |||
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| Member |
I always try to maintain awareness of my surroundings at the pumps. The little Gas Station TV screens are a further distraction to those who aren't inclined to be engaged. Dumb idea. | |||
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| No place to go and all day to get there  |
I do not buy gas at night. I have told my wife, daughter and son to fill up in the day time and to not get below 1/2 tank. Just another day in paradise. | |||
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| You're going to feel a little pressure... |
This. And if approached by anyone while fueling, I always have my hand on the fuel pump nozzle. Just pull it out, casually "muzzle" them with it with your hand on the trigger. Any false moves and the attacker is now covered in gasoline. It will lessen their enthusiasm for a tussle. Pro tip: avoid shooting someone who is soaked in gasoline unless you're a good distance back  Bruce "The designer of the gun had clearly not been instructed to beat about the bush. 'Make it evil,' he'd been told. 'Make it totally clear that this gun has a right end and a wrong end. Make it totally clear to anyone standing at the wrong end that things are going badly for them. If that means sticking all sort of spikes and prongs and blackened bits all over it then so be it. This is not a gun for hanging over the fireplace or sticking in the umbrella stand, it is a gun for going out and making people miserable with." -Douglas Adams “It is just as difficult and dangerous to try to free a people that wants to remain servile as it is to try to enslave a people that wants to remain free." -Niccolo Machiavelli The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all. -Mencken | |||
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| His diet consists of black coffee, and sarcasm.  |
If you're pumping gas and the miscreant is close enough, you have a short-range weapon ready to hand - the hose/nozzle. A face or snootful of gas will at least distract him. | |||
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| Member |
This is excellent advice. I could have done it the next morning after 0600. Thanks to all for your thoughts! | |||
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| I have not yet begun to procrastinate |
Anyone who screws with me when I have a running gas pump nozzle in my hand has not thought things through.
There are 2 beggars in ABQ, NM that got taught that very lesson. They decided to tell their tales of woe from a *much* farther distance. (2 separate encounters) -------- After the game, the King and the pawn go into the same box. | |||
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Who else? |
Couple of years back in DFW, pumping gas after dark, see a young fellow sitting at periphery of gas station. It is bitter cold and blowing wind. He approached me and about 15 ft away, asks me for money. I reply, "No". He gets agitated and starts raising his voice, trying to tell me I have a bad attitude, and starts to advance. I pull back my Ike jacket behind my holstered .45 and tell him he's not going to like the response he's about to get. He backs off, then goes into the store, followed by his fellow micreant who was standing outside the door. As I finish pumping, the pair emerges, splits up and the second guy is heading off down the road, but first guy is yelling at me, making gestures and threats, but moves to sit on a concrete light pole base at one of the two exits. I had paid, but went inside to inform the attendant (owner) that he had thugs working his parking lot intimidating customers for handouts. He said he did not know and immediately called police. I waited at the pump until they rolled in. Couldn't have been 4 minutes. As they rolled up on him, he knew he was about to get rousted and why. As I pulled out of the exit, I smiled and waved at him as if we were old friends. It was too much for him and he began advancing toward my vehicle, hurling epithets. Bad move, loser. You just vindicated the call. Officers immediately moved to cuff and detain. I'm 6'1", 250. Don't get too many urchins get belligerent with me. When they do, I take it they must be rabid, or have reinforcement and I'm not wrestling with them. I'm also older, and cut straight to the point. I let them know I have a firearm and offer them a choice. Step off or hemorrhage. So far they've gotten to steppin'. Be aware at the pumps. It's become an arena for distractions, theft, carjacking and robbery. Maintain your head on a swivel and let no one get close enough to you that you can't put a couple into them if it comes to that. | |||
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| Member |
Thanks for sharing your story. Your situation was a lot worse, but then circumstances can escalate if conditions are right. Lot of these bastards have personality disorders and can be dangerous. I'll wager having .45 was comforting. | |||
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| Member |
I prefer to leave the door of the truck open when pumping gas, it gives a buffer and some protection / isolation from someone approaching from the front of the truck, It also gives you the option to be able to get back in the vehicle if needed. RC | |||
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| Member |
when I had to wash my car in Phoenix, az in the summer time , I washed it at 05:00 . I made very sure of who was where and who drove in , in what . I did not waste any time , in , wash and out, dry it three blocks away in a better area. Safety, Situational Awareness and proficiency. Neck Ties, Hats and ammo brass, Never ,ever touch'em w/o asking first | |||
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| Member |
This made me think of the FBI agent that got carjacked at the gas station in Chicago. It really pisses me off when somebody approaches me in these situations. The other one is when you are loading groceries. I typically square off with them tell them to back off and touch my pocket. They know what that means. | |||
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| Member |
Late evening this spring, we get a heavy rain and I find the truck's upper radio antenna leaking. I pull into a gas station under the awning, fill up, and start drying around the antenna. While I'm busy with that, a woman approaches, asks for help. I look to see who's with her; appears to be just little kids. Turns out she had engine trouble, no money. I parked the fire vehicle, spent the next six hours getting her car patched, filled, and ready. I don't recall ever being rousted at a fueling station, but I've been approached and asked for help more than a few times. We do what we can. | |||
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Sigforum K9 handler |
The only thing I'll add is ditch the pepper spray. Unless you are willing to fight after being exposed to that stuff, you don't need it. Anytime you deploy OC, you're going to get a dose of it. The wind changes, you get splash back, etc. If your health isn't great, you aren't going to react well to it. Better to have the gun as a last resort, and a good plan of retreat instead of trying to OC someone and the results that may come from it. I tell people constantly, a good run is way better than a bad stand. If it comes time to shoot, shoot and don't worry about retreating. But, no good things come from deploying OC. Every time I've used it, I've got a dose. Every time I have been around anyone else that has used it, I've got a dose. Oh, and use it one time in doors, and you'll really hate it. Tools are great things. Having a plan and playing what if are far better tools. | |||
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Spread the Disease |
I've also always thought about the gas pump as a deterrent. If that still doesn't work after they are doused, I carry a Zippo. ________________________________________ -- Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past me I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. -- | |||
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Truckin' On |
I always try to plan on early-morning fill-ups. Most people at those times are on their way to work. Not as many hangers-around. Still retain high vigilance though. ____________ Μολὼν Λαβέ 01 03 04 14 16 18 | |||
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| Member |
next time you are in line at a drive through lane, stop to think for a few minutes, can't forward, can't back up, and here I sit, no escape if Waldo convicted felon wants to walk up to my window and demand your whole wallet Safety, Situational Awareness and proficiency. Neck Ties, Hats and ammo brass, Never ,ever touch'em w/o asking first | |||
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Member |
Verbal commands work a lot of the time. But if I was pumping gas late at night, I would be armed. I'm usually armed anyway. ----------------------------------------- Roll Tide! Glock Certified Armorer NRA Certified Firearms Instructor | |||
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| Freethinker |
I almost never drive through anything even in the daytime for the reasons you mention. Even if we’re armed, we’re much more vulnerable and have fewer defensive options when seated in a car with no way to move. ► 6.4/93.6 “I regret that I am to now die in the belief, that the useless sacrifice of themselves by the generation of 1776, to acquire self-government and happiness to their country, is to be thrown away by the unwise and unworthy passions of their sons, and that my only consolation is to be, that I live not to weep over it.” — Thomas Jefferson | |||
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