Whatcha gonna do

[Ray Z]

Your wife is stopped at a stop light. Cars in front and behind you. A person comes up to the window point a gun at her through the side window and says "Roll down the window or I'll shoot you". You've got a 380. Should you......

• Roll the window down
• Shoot him through the window.
• Ignore him and hope he goes away
• Or?

[nightrunner]

What does this have to do with zombies?

[Ronald_55]

2 minutes ago, Ray Z said:

Your wife is stopped at a stop light. Cars in front and behind you. A person comes up to the window point a gun at her through the side window and says "Roll down the window or I'll shoot you". You've got a 380. Should you......

• Roll the window down
• Shoot him through the window.
• Ignore him and hope he goes away
• Or?

Where did the guy come from? Was he in one of the cars?

If he was not, best bet might be to lay on the horn. Start making a HUGE racket. Hopefully your doors  are already locked and this amount of attention will cause him to flee. 

If he does not flee, look for a chance to draw your weapon if the noise is causing him to not focus on you. Then if you have a safe backstop, fire several rounds through the window.

If he was in one of the cars then chances are both cars are involved. So unless there are a lot of others around, you may not get much attention.

[Ray Z]

4 minutes ago, nightrunner said:

What does this have to do with zombies?

Didn't know where else to put this one

[Garufa]

Never allow yourself to get boxed in at a stop light.

[peejman]

Lay on the horn and floor it, forwards or backwards. Push the other cars out of the way if necessary. 

If he's a foot or two from the door, open the door suddenly and knock him backwards, then floor it. 

[Ronald_55]

30 minutes ago, Garufa said:

Never allow yourself to get boxed in at a stop light.

Goes back to situational awareness, though sometimes in normal traffic it might be impossible to avoid. best you can do is leave room in front of you to maneuver. 

[Omega]

Situational awareness is key, first never allow anyone to approach your window without already having your weapon at the ready and as was already stated always leave room to maneuver, if the BG is just about to reach you, floor it and get out of that situation and call 911 immediately.  If it was an innocent situation, you want to be the first caller, if it wasn't you want LEO to get to them before they get to someone else.

If someone is already pointing a gun, the best bet is to floor it, whether you have the room or not, and always forward, you don't have time to change gears.  Remember, all he has to do is squeeze the trigger so no movements he can see until you floor it, then lean on back as far as possible because chances are that he will shoot and you want the door jamb in the way...you may get shot anyway because unless you are driving a funny car, you are just not getting out of the slot faster than a bullet, be ready for that.

[No_0ne]

The presence of airbags is going to complicate some of these maneuvers ...

[dralarms]

I've practiced unbuckeling my seat belt and drawing at the same time, so if you want my wallet I gotta take off the seat belt, and if you want my truck again I gotta take off the belt. Both give me a chance at getting to my gun.

[Sidecarist]

If they are pointing a gun at you threatening you... SHOOT THEM IN THE FACE. They are not expecting a violent response they are cowards. Then get away using any means you have and dial 911 asap. You have just been the VICTIM of a crime!

It's surprisingly hard to set an airbag off. The sensors measure g load, speed and other parameters. They MAY not be an issue. Either way keep your thumbs out of the wheel for safety.

This is a bad deal, I work hard on situational awareness and always try to keep 1/2 car length in front of me at a stop. Situational awareness is key, and quick reactions will be needed.

What if........ your wife didn't have that 380!

[Ronald_55]

29 minutes ago, Sidecarist said:

What if........ your wife didn't have that 380!

Then she should be concealed carrying a Serbu SuperShorty. Lol 

 

In that case if fleeing is not an option and no Serbu is lying around, then make use of you vehicle to shield you and provide endangerment to the BG. If you have insufficient room to flee forwards or backwards, but room to move backwards,  open the door and plow it into him in reverse. Cut the wheel to force the front of the car in his direction as you floor it. Remember you have 2000 lbs of vehicle, use it.  Like others said if the only option is flooring it into the car ahead of you, do it. Now you have caused a commotion, involved a (hopefully) third party, and damaged the vehicle if that is his goal. 

[peejman]

18 hours ago, No_0ne said:

The presence of airbags is going to complicate some of these maneuvers ...

As mentioned, it's supposed to take a pretty serious whack to deploy an air bag. Just pushing or side-swiping past another car at 10 mph shouldn't set off a frontal airbag. 

[Karl Fairburne]

Defend yourself and DO NOT say a word to anyone until you get a lawyer. PERIOD!

[bersaguy]

17 minutes ago, Karl Fairburne said:

Defend yourself and DO NOT say a word to anyone until you get a lawyer. PERIOD!

Defend your self and Call 911 and then call your lawyer. The first 911 call is the important one in a case like this.

Edited September 29, 2018 by bersaguy

[RED333]

On 6/9/2017 at 7:49 AM, Ronald_55 said:

best you can do is leave room in front of you to maneuver. 

Yep, in everyday traffic it is next to impossible to not get trapped.

As far as to the OP question, head on a swivel, do not let the guy get next to the car.

Edited September 29, 2018 by RED333

[Whisper]

22 hours ago, Karl Fairburne said:

Defend yourself and DO NOT say a word to anyone until you get a lawyer. PERIOD!

Wrong advice here.  "Defend yourself" is correct, and you should call 911, but when the cops get there, you should be eager to talk, though only in a limited way.  

"Oh, thank God you're here, officer.  Thank you for coming. This man had a gun and made clear he was going to murder me, so I had to defend myself.  Is EMS coming?  My heart is racing and I'm feeling a little dizzy right now.  I'd like to have a medic check me out.  Once I'm feeling a little better I'll be happy to cooperate in the investigation, and I certainly want to sign a complaint against my attacker."

Don't say any more, but don't say any less.  Lawyering up at the first sign of the cops is not the sign of an honest man, and the cops will remember that.  You want them on your side from the start.

Cheers,

Whisper

 

Edited September 30, 2018 by Whisper

[chances R]

limited conversation with officers...if you don't just blabber.  Point out witnesses, also where weapons may have been thrown, stashed, etc.  description of fleeing automobiles, or one that may have dropped off the attacker....then as above.

[DaveTN]

If someone has a gun pointed at you or someone else, whether it is a Police Officer, criminal, or Citizen, you have a decision to make; do what they are telling you to do or take some action.

As a Police Officer this question always came up with store employees asking what to do during an armed robbery. I always told them; give them whatever they want. The chances are better they will take it and run than they will shoot you. If you resist the chances are better you or someone else will get shot.

If you decide to resist you have to ask yourself, can I draw my weapon and make him unable or unwilling to fire his weapon before he shoots me or someone else? In your case you have a .380. That’s a terrible self-defense round and will not stop someone unless you make a shot that turns them off like a switch. (Not that a .45 or .357mag would be any better in that situation) The chances of you being able to do that in the most adrenaline charged situation you probably have ever been in in your life are slim. Your wife will probably get shot.

Drawing a weapon while someone already has theirs pointed at you isn’t smart. Shooting them and them falling back and dropping is TV nonsense.

You should think out all kinds of scenarios in your head and what you would do. Then if they happen to you in real life you have a better chance. Also, don’t think because someone is a criminal thug they don’t know how to use a gun. They may be better trained than you.

There is no correct answer for the scenario you present here. The choices are do what he says, don’t do anything and see if he shoots your wife, shoot him while he has a gun pointed at your wife. None of those are good choices, but unless he’s going to kill you anyway; one has the best possibility of leaving you and your wife alive with a good story to tell.

As far as talking to the Police let me add this from someone that has been the detail Officer on shootings. If you are going to invoke the 5th; have an attorney that you can call right then, anytime of the day or night and get someone. If it’s a good shoot any good criminal defense attorney is going to want to cooperate with the investigators at the scene to keep it from turning into something that it doesn’t need to be.

I don’t know how Tennessee law or local Police procedures is, but where I was once we read someone their rights and they invoked; we were done talking….about anything.

[bersaguy]

I keep hearing that a 380 Caliber gun is not a good self defense weapon. Yea, it's not a 9mm or 45 caliber but I have shot some targets that were tacked onto 2x6 hardwood saw mill lumber boards at 25 feet and it went threw the saw mill lumber well enough and I was shooting 94 Gr FMJ. I don't know if anyone here has ever been shot by a 380 Caliber but I don't think I would want to be. I know we were discussing a 380 in this post and unless a person is very knowledgeable about guns and is not expecting to have one pointed at them or shot by one could they tell it was not a 9mm at first glance. If I ever needed to shoot someone in self defense I will shoot a minimum of 3 rounds and see if I need to follow up with more at that point. My self defense ammo is all Hornady Critical defense ammo in all of my magazines. I have four 380's and I have all the faith in the world in them saving my life in a life or death situation if I put the first 3 rounds where they need to be.............JMHO

[chances R]

According to Branca, not saying anything is excellent advice for criminals.  There can be evidence that is lost forever if not discovered immediately.  Additionally, being silent can be used against you, sort of a conscienceness of guilt impression upon a prosecutor and jury.

[Karl Fairburne]

I'll say it again... DO NOT say anything. Whether it is a cop, a witness, or anybody for that matter. You tell the cop that you want to speak to an an attorney. Let your attorney do all the work. The cops aren't your friend in matters like this.  Google: NEVER TALK TO THE COPS. It's a great video. You will thank me later.

Edited September 30, 2018 by Karl Fairburne
errors

[chances R]

That video is a farce.  Would you not tell the police a gun was thrown behind the bushes?  An a compliance drove off?  Some evidence is perishable.  Educate yourself by reading “The Law of Self Defense “.  You should practice your defense if you carry a gun.

[Karl Fairburne]

 You and I disagree. I'll leave it at that.

[chances R]

4 minutes ago, Karl Fairburne said:

 You and I disagree. I'll leave it at that.

Certainly your perogative.  And better not to say anything than to talk indiscriminately.  However, I continue to educate myself on this subject by personally attending classes plus reading articles by known authors with expertise in this area.  Nothing wrong with helping your attorney help you.  Hopefully neither of us has to experience this.