Screaming "He's got a GUN!", 43 year old Michael Foster attacked 62 year old Clarence Daniels as he walked into a Hillsborough County, Florida Wal-Mart after observing that Daniels had a firearm on his person. Only problem for Foster: Daniels has a concealed-weapons permit and was lawfully carrying his firearm when Foster jumped on him and knocked him to the ground.
Vigilante arrested for tackling licensed gunowner in Florida Wal-Mart
Foster was arrested by responding police and charged with battery, as he should have been.
Now my concerns go a bit deeper than the original story. First of all, it sounds as if Mr. Daniels, though a lawful CCW permit holder, was not doing a very good job concealing his sidearm if Foster could spot it like he did. (Remember folks, if bad guys can see it, they can attack--like Foster did--or take you out pre-emptively if they want to. The option is theirs.)
My second concern is that Mr. Daniels was apparently not aware of the fact that he was about to be attacked until Foster grabbed him. A major part of self-defense is situational awareness, and that means keeping an eye as to your surroundings and other people in proximity to you, especially those who seem to be eyeballing you. Now can we all be 100% aware 100% of the time? Not likely. However it sounds like Mr. Daniels definitely got caught not paying attention. Not good. Not good at all.
Now let's go back to Foster again. Was he simply some wanna-be do-gooder with a hero complex, another George Zimmerman wanna-be? (It is Florida, after all.) Or was he something worse, namely one of those whack-job anti-gun loons who urge each other on the internet to attack or call the police on anyone that they suspect to be armed? Hopefully this gets investigated, and if it's the latter, hopefully he is exposed and he pulls some serious jail time.
Either way, this is the sort of thing that anyone who carries a concealed firearm needs to be aware of, and it's a lesson showing that we've got to remain vigilant. And having a "Plan B" for those times when someone gets too close to draw on or tries to disarm you is never a bad thing. Does YOUR holster have any retention features, and have YOU thought of what you'll do if/when someone hits you from behind and goes for your gun?
If not, why not?
Unarmed guy jumped guy with gun... He's lucky the guy with gun WAS caught off guard and wasn't able to demonstrate Darwin.
ReplyDeleteI read in one of the original stories (I don't remember where, so I can't cite it) that the victim stepped out of his car and put a cover garment over the gun. He had not been carrying concealed inside his car.
ReplyDeleteThe offender/assailant saw him do that, and that's how he knew the victim was carrying concealed.
Yep, I think Old is right. And SA is SA... period...
ReplyDeleteI'd a stabbed him if I was unable to get to my gun.
ReplyDeleteAFAIK is would be self defense. Some dude attacked (and assaulted) me.
Situational awareness is all good to talk about. But keeping the defense perimeter is hard in a crowd. THat defensive perimeter becomes harder to maintain.
It is something we all think about.
good points to consider
ReplyDeleteOne of these wack jobs will get killed doing this sometime.
ReplyDeleteThen wait for the crap storm from the media
Gah. SA and carrying concealed means just that.
ReplyDeleteDamn those old people! Even if I am one myself.
ReplyDelete