What would you do if restaurant you are dining in is being held up

[FlyinBryan]

it depends. lets say they have handguns, or maybe just one handgun is i big variable in by behavior.

if they are being very aggresive and facing my way, i will probably comply with their every command, unless given a golden opportunity.

if theres one, and hes facing away from me brandishing a weapon in a threatening manner, his troubles will be over as soon as i can break leather with my commander 1911.

i would without a doubt take a headshot.this has always been my plan of action should it present itself.

if there are 2, facing away, i will size up the mentality of the "assistant" and make a decision based on what i think his reaction would be to wearing most of his partners brains, "will he advance if hes covered in his buds grey matter, or will he consider wiping his eyes and finding the door?

my location and available cover would play into any decision i make.

it would largely depend on their behavior.

it could be an easy score, or their last mistake. who knows, maybe my last mistake.

i dont think i could be executed without at least making a go at it though.

lets pray i never have to go through that.

either way, i will need a clean pair of drawers.

 

[gunNoob]

I'd take all the money and cards out of my wallet and hide them somewhere quick.

 

[Triphammer]

Being in Arizona, I'm prohibited from bringing a firearm into ANY establishment that serves alcohol on premises. I won't have a gun if I'm in a resturant, from a lowly Denny's on up. I check & sit near a secondary exit. & if given the opportunity to I'll leave. If the business is being robbed I won't do much, if I'm aware at all there's a robery going on. If the patrons are being robbed, I'll just have to beat someone about the head & shoulders w/ my cane.

 

[Geno]

Your situational awareness needed to start long before you became aware there was a hold-up. That is reactive.

First, have a code-word for the family for emergencies. Know where they will be above all else! Second, know the place: scan it as you enter, be alert to exits, scan the occupants, and request a seat where your back is against the wall. Now you need scan only 180 degrees. If you can get a corner table, you only need scan 90 degrees. Be alert as to who moves around where. No, my wife does not always like that I am vigilant, but then neither would any bad guys. Many bad guys are cowards. They seek out the weak and distracted.

We seldom eat at an unknown restaurant. Call me paranoid if you will; I call myself alert. Beyond these basics, there is not much that can be pre-planned in steel and stone. So much depends on the situation.

Geno

 

[Diamondback6]

Depends--are we talking about "just any", or one where I'm a regular complete with table reserved and on such good terms that the cook personally handles taking and delivering my order herself?

 

[wheelgunslinger]

I would lasso them with my OODA loop and tie them to a booth until the fuzz arrive.

too many variables.

 

[GaryD]

I would avoid confrontation unless my life or someone else's life seemed to be in immediate danger, then hopefully, I would have my HK .45 with me and not my .38 revolver!

 

[03Shadowbob]

If someone enters a place I am at with a bat, knife, machete, gun, etc. (something that can kill), I am going to end him as soon as the opportunity arises.
2 things I learned years ago.
1. It is better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6
2. I go home every day or night. Period.

I do not believe in letting people make my decisions for me or choosing my destiny/fate. They may influence my decisions but I make them. What they do to influence my decisions is their choice.

 

[Gryffydd]

If this happened to me and I waited until they started killing people before doing anything what would stay with me forever is the fact that I did nothing until they had already taken someone's life.

I can't really say what I would do, there are too many variables. But what I do know is that if they appear to be a real threat and that I could safely eliminate that threat *before* they did permanent damage I would do so.

I wouldn't want to tell the family of someone innocent who was killed that I just didn't feel like getting involved until the BGs actually killed someone. That I could have topped it but didn't

 

[wrxguyusa]

These threads crack me up. Every range from sensible to mall ninja.

When I read "I'll make a head shot on every BG from across the room" I think they really mean "I will wet myself and cry"

Why does the situation change the fact that we should be carrying to defend our lives and the lives of our loved ones? No immediate mortal threat means the gun stays hidden.

 

[Gryffydd]

These threads crack me up. Every range from sensible to mall ninja.

I would say it ranges from "just another one of the sheeple" to "mall ninja" with sensible being somewhere in the middle--though probably closer to sheeple than ninja.

When someone walks into an establishment and starts waving weapons around and demanding cash and valuables from everyone present you are most certainly in immediate mortal danger. How do you know if you won't just happen to be the one they shoot first as an example? How do you KNOW they won't hurt you or yours? They've already established the entire deadly force triangle at this point. I'm not saying you should just start blazing away immediately, but at what point do you decide you and yours are in danger? If you're not in danger when they first arrive and start making threats and showing weapons, when WILL you be in danger? When they've got their pistol shoved into your forehead? Once they've pistol whipped you? When they've already fired shots? When?

I think they really mean "I will wet myself and cry"

Is this what Psychologists call "Projection?"

 

[Templar223]

What would you do if restaurant you are dining in is being held up
There has been a string of hold ups/robbery at crowded restaurants in Houston recently. These robberies/gangs targeted Asian restaurants during fairly busy hours. They would force people including customers to remove all their valuable belongings before making a getaway. What would you do if you were carried and are faced with this situation?

That's a real conundrum you have there.

I use a similar scenario for my lecture on use of deadly force. Where in the continuum of the bad guy's actions do you actually employ deadly force?

Is it when he's just sticking up the clerk, or when he gets mouthy or when he fires a shot to let you know he's serious, or when he shoots the clerk, or when he starts shooting customers, or when he starts shooting your loved ones to when he's got a gun pointed at your head?

That's up to you.

And there's consequences for acting or not acting. All the risks of shooting vs. living with yourself for the rest of your life for not acting and an innocent gets crippled or killed because you didn't act.

Are you confident you can take the shot? Are you confident that you won't get shot?

Who knows until you're actually there...


ETA: So what to do? Put distance and cover between you and the BG. From there, go with the flow.

 

[DHJenkins]

I'd watch everyone else draw their weapons...

 

[Duke of Doubt]

I originally said I'd fade into the woodwork and scoot out the back door, but on further reflection it strikes me that nothing would be more hilarious in that situation than shrugging, pulling my Beretta, coolly disassembling the robber, and calling for the dessert menu and more coffee. I mean, they'd talk about it for years. So, much as it may be unwise, I'd probably do that.

 

[EHL]

There was a fast food restaurant robbery close to where I worked several years ago that I remember had a couple of robbers come in. They held up the place after they closed and rounded up all the crew into the walk in freezer, while the other robber was with the manager unlocking the safe. They all complied as they stood there bawling and freezing in that cold freezer while they had a gun pointed at them. The manager hurried to give them the money out of the safe so they'd leave. After they got the money, they took the manager to join his crew in the freezer. They turned them all around and one by one put a bullet in each of their heads, executioner style. I remembered thinking that day that we were taught to do the exact same thing should we be robbed, and how it could be me if similar thugs robbed us.

Years later and much older now, I can only shake my head in disbelief that I even considered following orders to basically put my head between my knees and kiss my rear goodbye. That's basically what it amounts to the moment you allow yourself to be controlled by thugs waving weapons threatening bodily injury. Sorry, I'm not betting my life on any thug's mercy.

 

[LaBulldog]

What would you do if restaurant you are dining in is being held up
There has been a string of hold ups/robbery at crowded restaurants in Houston recently. These robberies/gangs targeted Asian restaurants during fairly busy hours. They would force people including customers to remove all their valuable belongings before making a getaway. What would you do if you were carried and are faced with this situation?

Sounds like a scene from Pulp Fiction, a Mexican standoff in a diner.
I like the part where Vincent tells Jules, "Jules, you give the nimrod fifteen-hundred dollars and I'll shoot him on general principle."

 

[chuckusaret]

I carry 99.9% of the time and I believe I would take the fight to them and defend the customers. In most cases after shots are fired the BG's vacate the area. I could not live with myself if I did not attempt to disarm them and they shot even one unarmed customer.

 

[ezenbrowntown]

As mentioned by many so far, there are a lot of variables to consider. Secondly, what I plan to do, and what I'm actually capable of doing in the circumstance is remained to be seen. To quote Mike Tyson, "Everyone has a plan until they get hit in the mouth."