Meth-head at the stop-n-rob…what happens next?

As you’re filling up with gas, you watch a guy trying to smoking meth out of a Monster Energy Drink can across the street.

You think…”They” shouldn’t be in “this” part of town…especially in the middle of the day.

The dude’s trying really hard, but it’s obvious…even from across the street…that his lighter is out of fuel.

He walks away…you put away the gas nozzle and go inside to take advantage of the only clean gas-station restroom in 20 miles.

When you come out and are almost to your car, “Toothie” appears from behind a gas pump…homemade tin-can meth-pipe in one hand, and his gimp lighter in the other.

Meth has not done his body good, but right now he has needs…

“Hey, do you have a couple of bucks I can use to get a lighter to light my cigarettes?”

You’re a little confused. You had your phone away, you were switched on, you WERE scanning, and you still didn’t see him.

“YOU! I know you’ve got money…GIVE IT TO ME!” as he closes distance.

What do you do?

I’ll tell you what I WOULDN’T do…

I wouldn’t draw unless I had no other option.

I wouldn’t insult him, his hygiene, his dentist, or his mother.

I wouldn’t posture or say anything smart-assed.

IF POSSIBLE, I’d raise my support hand out in front –between him and me–in a gentle posture that would allow me to defend an attack or draw my gun quickly.  I’d move my shooting hand a bit closer to my gun.  Then I’d say, “I’m sorry, I can’t help you.” as I tried to safely put an obstacle between me and him and possibly get back to the gas station.

My ego would have no say in the matter.  I would do everything I could to deescalate the situation and nothing to make it worse.  If I had a couple of bucks or a lighter I could quickly grab from my pocket and toss at his feet, I would.

If he persisted, I’d say (louder), “Get back, I’m armed, police are on the way!” as I attempted to “cheat the draw” with my shooting hand while keeping my support hand out in front of me.

At this point, if something happened–if he came at me–it is very unlikely that it would be slow.

It would be fast and chaotic.

Let’s say he huffed and puffed a couple of times, dropped what was in his hands, and grabbed for his waistband as he started screaming and sprinting at you.

At that point, you would need to simultaneously get off of the line of attack, assess the backstop, and…if shooting was your only option…put fast, effective hits on target while moving with a less-than-perfect sight picture until the behavior changed…until the threat was stopped.

Threat stopped…but it’s not over.

Then, you need to get to temporary safety and try to be the first person to call 911.

(Have you ever practiced SAFELY transitioning from shooting to using your phone?)

You need to say what you need to say and nothing extra that will come back to haunt you.

And if you don’t practice these kinds of skills and get good at them when things are calm, it’s almost impossible to bolt them together successfully under stress.

These are not skills that you can learn standing flat footed punching holes in paper.

They’re not skills taught in most live training and definitely not in most at-home training.

The first place where I learned these integrated skills that combined the pre-fight, the fight, and the post-fight was >HERE<.

I’d encourage you to check this out…it’s pure gold.

This story is a combination of events that I’ve had happen and is similar to about a bazillion similar events.  It’s worth thinking through AND practicing for.  If you’ve got a similar story, please share it by commenting below.

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