Episode 81 with Robyn Street

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Rob- Introduction- Welcome to episode 81 of Self-Defense Gun Stories.  This podcast is for people who think they might want a firearm to protect themselves.. and for those who already have one.  I’m Rob Morse and Robyn Street is with us this week.

Hi, Robyn.  You went through the eye of a Hurricane since we talked.  Does all that prepping stuff really work?

Robyn- Hi, Rob.  

 

• Grateful for the time we spend preparing

Comfort and health

Training and materials to defend ourselves if necessary

Training and materials to take care of medical issues

• More than a few days with no power and no means of communication
• We would not only be our own first responder, we would be our only responder

• We live in an affluent community that become rather third world like in a few hours

• You are preparing for a storm now.  Are you ready?

 

Rob- I hope so. We did some dry practice in the dark and worked with a flashlight.

Robyn, That is good practice. Let me say hi to our new listeners, and welcome back to our regular listeners. Today we’ll look at three examples of armed civilian defense.  We hope you use these reports as part of your self-defense exercise program. If you have any comments, then please leave us a message on our facebook page.

Robyn- Our first story took place last week in Hammond, Indiana.

Rob- First story-  Are you armed at home?  

You are in your room, but you hear a crash at your front door.  There are voices and then shouts.  You hear a stranger order your three roommates to go down to the basement. The robber says he has a gun. You duck back into your room and grab your own gun.  You wonder if you should go downstairs to help your friends.  A few moments later, you see your roommates coming back up the stairs with the armed robber behind them.  You shoot the robber several times.  He drops the gun and all of you run outside.

You call police.

Robyn, was our defender lucky or was he prepared?

Robyn – Crash at the front door.  It sounds like the door was locked

Rob- A locked door is a poor man’s burglar alarm, and it works.  

Robyn- Thank goodness that our good guy was not in the room with his friends.  If they had all been rounded up together, who would help them?

Rob- It sounds like our defender was in his bedroom where he kept his gun.  What if he’d been in the bathroom at the other end of the house?

Robyn- Our good guy is lucky that he had the time and ability to get to his gun.

I’m glad he had a gun, but imagine how much better this could have been if the homeowners were carrying on body.  

Rob- So that is some homework.  He can get a carry license and carry on body.  What else did he do correctly?

Robyn – I was particularly worried when the robber moved everyone down stairs.  Don’t go with him.  In this case, there were multiple friend and one robber with a gun.  They were at the mercy of the armed robber.

Rob- Why is that a danger sign if a robber wants to move you?

Robyn- Your situation as the selected victim rarely improves if you are taken to a second location that your attacker get to select.  Often, that means the robber wants to kill you out of sight.

Robyn- I would not have suggested that our armed homeowner to have tried to work his way to the basement. Doors are hard to go through with a gun. Stairs are even harder.

Robyn- I would have preferred that the good guy barricade himself in relative safety or even exit the house to get to safety.  Once he was safe, he could call the police to get help on the way.

Robyn- In this case, our armed good guy was able to save his friends.  In this case, he shot their attacker until the robber dropped his gun and the threat went away. After that, they did a good job.  They got to a place of safety and then called the police.

Rob- So once he got his gun and stayed upstairs, he did pretty well.  Anything else?

Robyn- That is enough for now.  Our second story happened last week in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Rob- Second Story- Are you armed at church late at night?

You are driving around the grounds of the Grand Strand Baptist Church. It is dark, and a man waves you down.  He asks if you have change for a 20 dollar bill.  You get out of your car and start to make change.  That is when the stranger draws his gun and points it at you.  He demands your money.

You hand over your wallet.  As the robber walks away, you draw your own handgun.  The robber turns and shoots at you. Fortunately, he misses.  You fire back and wound the robber.

It isn’t clear who called police.

Robyn – Even at church we need to stay focused on self-defense. The criminal was conducting an interview with the conversation.  Fail that interview so that the bad guy goes to look for an easier target.

Rob- How do we fail that interview.

Robyn-  The answer is no.  No, I don’t have a match.  No, I don’t have the time, or have change.  In a dark parking lot all alone, the answer is no.

Rob- Unfortunately, our good got out of his car and showed some cash.

Robyn- Right.  That is when the robber produced a gun and demanded the wallet.  Remember that compliance does not guarantee safety.  At first it looked like the robber only wanted the wallet, but then the robber turned around and shot at the victim rather than run away with the money.

Rob- What should we do as a robber walks away.

Robyn – I am glad that the victim was focused on his safety after the robbery.  He had his gun ready to defend himself.  If possible, carry your gun on body.  You probably will not have time to go get anything.  You have what you have and that is it. Our victim fired after he was fired upon.

Rob- What do we do next?

Robyn- Run to safety, and then call the police.  If you can, find witnesses.

Rob- I’m noticing a pattern here. Like in the first story, we stop the threat, move to safety, and call police.

Robyn- That is the plan.  Our third story happened last week in Stanley, North Carolina

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Rob- Third story- Are you armed when you’re at home?  

You’re at home with your two small children.  It is 10:30 in the morning when you hear strange sounds coming from your back door.  Two men have entered your back porch and are prying at the back door to your house.  You step back and grab your handgun.  Then you walk towards the intruders and yell for them to get out of your house.  The intruders run. You call police.

Robyn – Locked doors slow the criminals down, force them to make noise.  Beyond that, this is a very common story.  The victim had a gun and the criminal ran. Even better, she had her door locked.

Rob- This could have been a very different story if the back door was open.

Robyn- The locked door gave her time to get her gun.  I would rather she had her gun on her.  Find a good holster (secure and comfortable) to increase the likelihood that you have your gun with you when you need it.

Rob- 10:30 in the morning seems like a safe time. She showed that her home was occupied and that she was armed.  Should she do that, or should she retreat to the kids room with her firearm and call police?

 

Robyn- That is a tough call.  She could have been shot in a gunfight if the criminals were armed.  She didn’t shoot through her back door.  That is good.

Rob- When do your students learn to make those decisions?

Robyn- Using these stories is a great way to practice the decision making process.  Thinking about what happened to other people lets our brain compare different plans. That takes away some of the element of surprise if it happens to us.  

We want our brain to say “well we knew this might happen and this is the best reaction to this situation, so get to work.

Mental rehearsal helps to reduce the likelihood of the startle freeze or time wasted in the denial loop.

Rob- You talk about these examples with your students?  Are you teaching again after the hurricane?

Robyn- They come up with great ideas as we talk about these stories.

Exit- Rob- That wraps up this episode. Robyn, thank you for helping me today.  Where can our listeners learn more about you?

Robyn- I teach in Naples Florida, and you can find me at Step by Step Gun Training.com.  We provide custom training courses as well as group classes.  Our listeners can leave me a message on Facebook.

Rob- You can share your thoughts with us by leaving a message on the podcast facebook page.

Robyn- We share this podcast with you for free.  Please share it with a friend and give us a rating on I-Tunes and Stitcher.  We’re also available on Google Play Music.

Rob- I’m Rob Morse.  We’ll be back next week with more Self-Defense Gun Stories.

Please support Buckeye Firearms Foundation at https://www.buckeyefirearmsfoundation.org/