Close call

[Daemon688]

It was saturday night and we were leaving the warehouse district in Minneapolis. We were walking back to campus (about 4 miles away) at 3:30 AM in the morning. There was only three of us.

We got lost (most likely because of the lack of sleep) and walked into the less friendly part of town (south Minneapolis). While trying to find our way out we went through some darker neighborhoods. As we turn a corner, we see a group of like 10 guys. They start yelling at us "HEY YOU! GET OVER HERE! STOP!" etc. They start moving towards us and I told my friends to walk faster and ignore them. Even creepier as we walked down the block, guys were whistling and more people came out of the shadows.

We hauled ass out of there and (thank god) a bus driver stopped for us because they saw what was going on. Nothing happened to us, but this was the first time I have ever feared for my life. The whole time I was wishing I had a handgun on me. To make the situation worse, I left my knife at my friends dorm.

I wish I was 21 and I wish Minnesota still had shall issue CCW. I also realized that having more than 10 rounds is necessary since you may not have enough time to stop firing and reload.

It was lucky that we got out of there, but what if they stopped us?
Getting beat down or killed by 10+ people really doesn't sound appealing to me....

 

[birdv]

darker neighborhoods

Your in Minnesota. I can't really picture this neighborhood.

Unless your saying that the house are painted darker.


But if you were in Dallas, Texas in the Black part of town. And I was black I think I might get scared, because your a white teen in the black part of town in the middle of the night, which means you are either stupid or crazy. If your one of those crazy white kids I don't want any part of you, because white kids don't kill one person they kill groups of people.

 

[psyopspec]

bird man

Trust me, the warehouse district in Minneapolis isn't a place to be at 3:30AM. I don't attach race to it one way or another, but rather classify it as situational awareness nightmare.

Daemon 688, I know the feeling. I live right on the ND side of the border for the sole reason that I can ccw easily here (my college is in MN, and I'd live closer if it weren't for this...). However comma I have a group of female friends that like to attend concerts at the Quest on a regular basis. For the sole reason that they're not wandering the area alone, I usually go with as a driver/guide/security escort (okay, babysitter).

Everytime I get a view of that area I'm more tempted to conceal my piece IWB and proceed as normal. So far I haven't given into that temptation, getting by instead with an ASP palm defender (OC) and a couple small knives. I'd encourage you to do the same till all this nonsense with the shall issue law in that state gets cleared up (and here's hoping it does).

One more note about situational awareness, while being able to pack in that area might have been a comfort, far exceeding that would have been not being there at all. Next time know the route, or just take a bus or cab (and they're not terribly expensive with 4 people splitting).

Glad everyone's ok...

 

[WEPS]

why do these stories always end with "i wish i had my weapon" ? there is a good lesson to be learned here. ALWAYS CARRY, the day you leave your house without it is the day you don't come back.

 

[JamisJockey]

But if you were in Dallas, Texas in the Black part of town.

I think he meant poorly lit, older neighborhoods.

 

[reagansquad]

I've been in that situation far too many times. Best things to do, in order;

ignore them
run
run faster
run and hide
give them whatever they want
try to run again
finally fight if you think you are in danger of anything more than a mild beating.

Where I'm from, a lot of times the hispanic gangs just wanted to punk a white kid. They could punk me all they wanted when it was 10 on 1. I was usually just glad to get away. (No, I'm not racist. I'm not assuming your group was a minority. I'm just saying that I'd get beat up for being white.)

 

[Daemon688]

Yeah, I did mean poorly lit neighborhood. Also, I'm not white, I'm asian ahem....with my white friends. There's been alot of shootings/murders lately in Minneapolis and it just so happened a kid got kidnapped two days ago in the same area we were walking through.

If they wanted our wallets all they would have had was our ID's and under 10 bucks (broke college kids). Even if I had my knife on me, I would rather not bring it out since it would most likely involve my death.

What boggles my mind is that it's ok to buy a rifle at 18 but not handguns.

 

[CGofMP]

I also realized that having more than 10 rounds is necessary since you may not have enough time to stop firing and reload.

I rather suspect that when the lead dog hits the ground with a well mushroomed round in his face that many if not most of the others will likely abandon him to his death.

This of course presuposes that he was going to do you great bodily harm or death and you could legally shoot yada yada yada

IMHO most of these types are not what the Japanese Army would have wanted in WWII for human wave attacks... You are not dealing with professional soldiers, instead you are dealing with punks. As such, I sincerely doubt that they would have the temerity to press an attack beyond the first couple of casualties.

YMMV no advice is given just my uninformed opinion.

 

[carpettbaggerr]

Even if you don't have a weapon, they'd probably run if their alpha hits the ground screaming in pain with a broken knee. Get some training in unarmed self-defense.

Get some larger knives, and a 2 oz pepperspray too. The ASP's more of a last ditch, have it always device.

And I like the key defender better than the palm. It's longer, and the ends sticking out make a hammer-fist much more effective.

 

[Andrew Rothman]

Looking again at your narrative, I'm struck by several things:

1. Whatinhell are you doing walking from the Warehouse District to the campus at 3:30 in the morning?

2. Howinhell can you get lost, when Washington Avenue runs directly from the District to the campus?

And I remember this sage advice:

The best way to handle any potentially injurious encounter is: Don't be there. Arrange to be somewhere else. Don't go to stupid places. Don't associate with stupid people. Don't do stupid things.

...

Crowds of any kind...are good examples of "stupid places." Any crowd with a high collective energy level harbors potential catastrophe. To a lesser degree, bank buildings, hospital emergency rooms, airports, government buildings, and bars (particularly crowded ones) fall into the same category. All should be avoided.

- http://www.defense-training.com/quips/2003/19Mar03.html

If it's 3:30 and not one of you is coherent enough to follow a straight road home, I'm guessing that alcohol played as big a part as fatigue.

In any case, walking around Minneapolis at o-dark-hundred when you're so incapacitated as to be unable to find your way home is just, well, not bright.

Don't worry so much about weapons and techniques, and pay a bit more attention to common sense.

 

[Lupine]

I think the most effective measure of protecting yourself, given the circumstances, would have been to take a cab. Wouldn't have cost you much split among your friends, considering the short distance.

Considering you were previously aware of the risks involved in walking through that part of town in the middle of the night, I thought I'd chime in to say that having a gun isn't a talisman to protect you from bad things happening. Even though I have a firearm, I still don't go to ATMs at night even in the best of neighborhoods, nor do I walk through questionable parts of town.

You'd probably been partying all night (I'm guessing), and lack of sleep had already caused you to get lost. At the risk of supporting the "you asked for it" argument, if you had been forced to shoot in self-defense, you'd probably have had to explain why you'd put yourself at such a position in the first place, and second, was your judgment at its best after a night of revelry and lack of sleep?

Third, if you were, indeed, at a bar or warehouse rave/ party, would you have been allowed to take in a firearm or other weapon? Probably not.

Not to be a party pooper, but especially when I know I'm going to be in a situation in which my faculties will be comprimised, or where I will be disarmed, I make sure I have a good plan for getting home that doesn't put me at unnecessary risk.

I'm not trying to be all holier-than-thou. I wish I knew better when I was in college. I learned it the hard way. I got mugged walking home one night from a college job, and though a gun would NOT have helped me in that situation (the guy had the drop on me, and I was completely clueless), making better choices beforehand would have.

These are all among the benefits of having a CCW...you really learn how important it is to avoid ever having to use your gun in the first place.