Ferrari Mailing List: Re: High Capacity Firearms Magazines

[BRIGANDBAR (BRIGANDBAR]

In a message dated 9/18/2006 5:18:40 A.M. Central Daylight Time,  
ferrari-request [at] ferrarilist.com writes:

These  times with people on drugs are not like any days anyone remembers. You 
venture  100 yards of Beale Street to your parked car and you're going to be 
a victim  sooner or later. 



Robert:
 
In this case I can share a personal experience. It wasn't far from Beale  
Street, but it was on what I think is called River Road (it is the road that  
runs parallel with the Mississippi River) We were walking back from Mud Island  
to the hotel that has the ducks walk every day (senior moment and the name  
escapes me when we were "confronted" by a male about 30+/- years of age who  
first accosted us about the fact that my wife and I were wearing jewelry and he 
 
was hungry, then made a comment about my children carrying souvenirs. First he  
just walked backwards, facing us but in front of us, talking some BS about 
being  a "licensed" beggar (I don't think that is the exact term but it is 
close 
enough  for the purpose of this discussion., then he stopped to let us pass 
and started  to follow us. It took no more than pulling my coat back exposing a 
pistol and  telling him that I was beginning to consider him a threat to the 
life and safety  of my family for him to move on. Shortly thereafter I came 
across a mounted  Memphis police officer and explained to him what had 
happened. 
I described the  culprit to him, and from his higher vantage point on the 
horse the saw the  offender about a block behind us and he asked us to wait and 
identify him. Just  a few minutes later the offender walked back, in some form 
of detention or  custody and when I informed the officer he had the correct 
offender he was  promptly loaded into a recently arrived police cruiser. I 
asked 
if we needed to  file a complaint or anything but the officer said not to 
worry about it, the  offender has some outstanding warrants and we would be 
back 
home and on a second  trip to Memphis before he saw daylight again.
 
Long story with the point that in this case a simple show of the capability  
for the willingness to use force, and the availability of a firearm, never  
unholstered, to resolve the issue at hand. I didn't even need 7/8 rounds. We  
both understood that I would do as I said to defend my family and that the best 
 
course of action was to part company. Would he have moved on to bother other  
tourists in Memphis, probably but that part of the equation was rectified by 
the  report to the mounted officer. At the time I was still an active (Federal 
 Special Agent) law enforcement officer, but off-duty and on vacation. My 
main  concern was the safety of my family, which would not have been enhanced 
by 
a  7-shot, or a 15 shot encounter with the violator. Even if I had been alone 
I  would not have acted differently. Drawing down on an offender while dressed 
in  civilian close, particularly casual or "soft clothes" will divert any 
responding  police officers attention from the violator to you, the armed 
victim, 
his  perceived most immediate threat to him. The situation will only become 
more  complicated as he disarms you, reviews your permit, listens to your 
account of  events, etc. And we learn early in our careers in law enforcement 
that 
"one on  one" arrests, without backup in place are a particularly hazardous 
event and an  action only to be taken in the most critical and time-sensitive  
situations.
 
Of course, your situation(s) may vary, and this is not a "cure all" or  
absolute prescribed procedure, just one that worked well for me, and  
specifically 
in your city.
 
Dr. Steve